" Reads like an elegant love letter to the human heart itself. " -- The Spectator " Mount's canvas is far broader and more densely crowded than is indicated by this brief review. There is much to agree with in the book.Again and again he refutes the doomsters and the naysayers, and does so with good humour, warmth and wit. " --John Banville, The Times " Mount is absolutely gripping when he writes about the historical backlashes against sentimentalism. " -- Telegraph " Soft is a compassionate, compelling and entertainingly eccentric survey of collective psychology and the madness of crowds. " --Frances Wilson, TLS " As cultural criticism, Soft is persuasively entertaining. " --Hannah Rose Woods, Observer " [An] erudite, immensely entertaining book.

Mount makes for a delightful guide. " -- Literary Review " Highly readable. S plendidly readable.written with his characteristic verve and style, Mount's book.is timely. " -- Financial Times " [A] superb study. " -- The Tablet " [An] erudite, immensely entertaining book. I have seldom read a work of cultural history that made me laugh out loud as frequently as this one did.

" -- News Beep " A magisterial, personal reflection on the freedom to express our feelings in all their gushy beauty. " -- Kirkus Reviews " This is both a thoughtful study and, as befits its subject, frequently moving. " --Richard Sennett, TLS Books of the Year 2025 " Witty, robust defence of the power of sentimentality to effect change. " -- Irish Examiner " I didn't cry after reading this splendid book, but I was entertained and I did laugh quite a lot. " -- Church Times.