Probably no book has ever investigated and analysed class and gender relationships as comprehensively and categorically as this one, which not only distinguishes between a hegemonic class and a subordinate pseudo-class on both alpha and omega terms within both what the author describes as upper- and lower-order contexts, but logically demonstrates the disciplinary implications of the subversions of class and pseudo-class positions from either 'above' (upper-order control of society) or from 'below' (lower-order control of society), with contrasting approaches to civilization - and hence society - in each case, whether of the female-dominated alpha or of the male-dominated omega. - A Centretruths editorial
About the Author: John (James) O'Loughlin was born in the Salthill suburb of Galway City in the Republic of Ireland in 1952. Following a parental split, he was brought to England by his mother and grandmother (who had initially returned to Ireland with intent to stay following the death of her Aldershot-based husband) in the mid-50s and subsequently attended schools in Aldershot, Hampshire and, following the death and repatriation of his grandmother, Carshalton Beeches, Surrey, where, despite an enforced change of denomination from Catholic to Protestant in consequence of having been put into care by his mother, he attended a state school. Upon leaving in 1970 with an assortment of CSEs (Certificate of Secondary Education) and GCEs (General Certificate of Education), including history and music, he moved up to London proper and went on, via two temporary jobs, to work at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Bedford Square, WC1, where he eventually became responsible for booking examination venues. After a brief flirtation with Redhill Technical College back in Surrey, where he had enrolled to study English and History, he returned to his former job in the West End but quit the ABRSM in 1976 due to a combination of factors, including ill-health, and began to dedicate himself to a literary career which, despite a brief spell as a computer tutor at Hornsey Management Agency (affiliated to Hornsey YMCA) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he has continued with ever since. His novels include 'Changing Worlds' (1976), 'Cross-Purposes' (1979), 'Thwarted Ambitions' (1980), 'Sublimated Relations' (1981), and 'Deceptive Motives' (1982). Since the mid-80s Mr O'Loughlin has dedicated himself almost exclusively to philosophy, which he regards as his true literary vocation, and has penned more than ninety titles of a philosophical order, including 'Devil and God - The Omega Book' (1985-6), 'Towards the Supernoumenon' (1987), 'Elemental Spectra' (1988-9), and 'Philosophical Truth' (1991-2). John O'Loughlin lives alone in the north London Borough of Haringey, though he hopes one day to return to Ireland, of which country he remains a citizen.