I had not particularly liked the way in which he wrote about literature in Beginnings, and I was always on my guard if not outright hostile when any tincture of 'deconstruction' or 'postmodernism' was applied to my beloved canon of English writing, but when Edward talked about English literature and quoted from it, he passed the test that I always privately apply: Do you truly love this subject and could you bear to live for one moment if it was obliterated?

In November 2010 Hitchens cancelled a scheduled appearance in New York where he was to debate writers David Hazony and Stephen Prothero on the subject of the Ten Commandments. He also criticised Bush's support of intelligent design and capital punishment. He will tell it really well.

His anti-religion polemic God Is Not Great sold over 500000 copies. Hitchens died on 15 December 2011 from complications arising from oesophageal cancer a disease that he acknowledged was likely due to his lifelong predilection for heavy smoking and drinking.