The subtitle of this book is ‘adventures with the enemies of science’, which is perhaps slightly misleading because not only does Will Storr interview a creationist, a UFO expert and a homeopath (the so-called ‘enemies’), he also spends time talking to neuroscientists, oncologists and biologists in his quest to understand exactly why we believe what we believe.

Storr refers to himself as a ‘longform’ journalist, and several of these chapters have appeared in publications like The Guardian and the Good Weekend. Storr has covered some of this territory before in his first book, Will Storr vs. the Supernatural – One Man’s Search For the Truth About Ghosts; however, the difference with Heretics is that rather than trying to find out the truth about what a person believes, he is more interested in why they might hold that belief in the first place.

This leads to some interesting conclusions about how the brain works to create narratives in order to make sense of the world. Storr asks, ‘[H]ow is the conscious function of the ‘mind’ created?’ and receives some fascinating responses from a variety of philosophers and neuroscientists. As well as one-on-one interviews, Storr tours Holocaust sites with David Irving and talks to Lord Monckton about climate change. He is particularity interested in how different people respond to facts and evidence, and how their upbringing may influence this process.

Storr is often compared to Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux and their styles are certainly very similar; Storr is perhaps a little darker and not afraid to confront his own history and belief system. Heretics is a compelling read and highly recommended to anyone who is interested in a variety of theories about how our brains might actually work.

Kara Nicholson