In the earliest human civilisations, there were many people whose approach to life was what today we could call humanist: think for yourself, act for everyone.

As far back as records go, there is ample evidence – some fragmentary, some extensive – of people who believed this was the only life we have, that human beings were the makers of their own fate, and that notions of gods were, at best, a distraction from the meaningful work of making a happy life among human beings. Historians can trace the lineage of this kind of thinking – ideas and approaches to life we now would group together as 'humanism' – through Western and Eastern philosophy, influencing politics, social movements, art, and even religions along the way.

At a time when many are pushing ahistorical claims that Christianity lies at the heart of British or Western or human values, or was otherwise exceptional or pivotal in the development of our species' understanding of right and wrong, we will be looking at the real history of humanist thought, from early Greek, and Roman sources, through Dark Ages, renaissances, and periods of Enlightenment, through to today's humanists, today's mainstream common sense, and the amazing stories on our Humanist Heritage website.

Join The Darkening Age author Catherine Nixey and A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Tim Whitmarsh for an exploration of the real 3,000-year history of humanism, chaired by Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson.