It's what separates hastily written, randomly punctuated, incoherent rants from learned polemics and op-eds, and cringe-worthy fan fiction from a critically acclaimed novel.
In modern western societies with an apparently abundant food supply, treating food as trivial is a common mindset, as historian Paul Freedman shows in his short new polemic Why Food Matters.
Not in the scientific world, though. The specialists were beginning to know about Dredge. His remarkable paper on Sexual Dimorphism had been translated into several languages, and a furious polemic had broken out over it.
It is plain to see that Mr Milbank has a relish, and perhaps even a certain talent, for polemic (also demonstrated by one of his earlier books, " Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America" ).