Periyar has all along fought for the rights of the untouchables and his words do not spare any enemy of the suppressed people. The translated version has carefully brought out the unifying ideas of Periyar into English without damaging the idiom and the subtext. Similar are the essays on God. The English version is readable, clear and correctly exposes the anger of Periyar. I am happy that in Marx's translation the "poetry" has not been lost. Marx, a Periyarist by choice and commitment has understood Periyar's ideas in the right perspective and his command of English has helped him to bring out Periyar's ideas in English. -Prof.S.Ravindranathan