Essays Books
Carcanet Press Ltd A Responsibility to Awe
Book SynopsisRebecca Elson's A Responsibility to Awe reissued as a Carcanet Classic. A Responsibility to Awe is a contemporary classic, a book of poems and reflections by a scientist for whom poetry was a necessary aspect of research, crucial to understanding the world and her place in it, even as, having contracted terminal cancer, she confronted her early death. Rebecca Elson was an astronomer; her work took her to the boundary of the visible and measurable. `Facts are only as interesting as the possibilities they open up to the imagination,’ she wrote. Her poems, like her researches, build imaginative inferences and speculations, setting out from observation, undeterred by knowing how little we can know.
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Power of the Powerless
Book SynopsisVáclav Havel’s remarkable and rousing essay on the tyranny of apathy, with a new introduction by Timothy Snyder Cowed by life under Communist Party rule, a greengrocer hangs a placard in their shop window: Workers of the world, unite! Is it a sign of the grocer’s unerring ideology? Or a symbol of the lies we perform to protect ourselves? Written in 1978, Václav Havel’s meditation on political dissent – the rituals of its suppression, and the sparks that re-ignite it – would prove the guiding manifesto for uniting Solidarity movements across the Soviet Union. A portrait of activism in the face of falsehood and intimidation, The Power of the Powerless remains a rousing call against the allure of apathy.'Havel’s diagnosis of political pathologies has a special resonance in the age of Trump' Pankaj MishraTrade ReviewHavel’s diagnosis of political pathologies has a special resonance in the age of Trump -- Pankaj MishraFew voices did more to undermine the foundations of the Berlin Wall and the entire edifice of Soviet-imposed totalitarianism than this shy bourgeois, this sly, reticent, playwright and essayist -- David Remnick * New Yorker *In gentle, ironic but scathing prose, Havel's The Power of the Powerless exposed the lies and cowardice that made possible the communist grip on power * The Economist *In his now iconic 1978 essay, which circulated in underground editions in Czechoslovakia and was smuggled to other Warsaw Pact countries and to the West, Havel foresaw that the opposition could eventually prevail against the totalitarian state * The New York Times *
£8.54
Verso Books Taking A Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time
For nearly fifty years, Vivian Gornick's essays, written with her characteristic clarity of perception and vibrant prose, have explored feminism and writing, literature and culture, politics and personal experience. Drawing writing from the course of her career, Taking a Long Look illuminates one of the driving themes behind Gornick's work: that the painful process of understanding one's self is what binds us to the larger world.In these essays, Gornick explores the lives and literature of Alfred Kazin, Mary McCarthy, Diana Trilling, Philip Roth, Joan Didion, and Herman Melville; the cultural impact of Silent Spring and Uncle Tom's Cabin; and the characters you might only find in a New York barber shop or midtown bus terminal. Even more, All That Is Given brings back into print her incendiary essays, first published in the Village Voice, championing the emergence of the women's liberation movement of the 1970s.Alternately crackling with urgency or lucid with insight, the essays in Taking a Long Look demonstrate one of America's most beloved critics at her best.
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group When I Was A Child I Read Books
Book SynopsisFrom the author of the magnificent, award-winning novels GILEAD, HOME and LILA comes this wonderful, heart-warming collection of essays about reading.'Grace and intelligence ...[her work] defines universal truths about what it means to be human' Barack ObamaMarilynne Robinson is not only a writer of sharp, subtly moving fiction, but also a rigorous thinker and incisive essayist. In this luminous collection she returns to the themes which have preoccupied her bestselling novels: the place literature has in life, the role of faith in modern living, the contradictions inherent in human nature. Clear-eyed and forceful as ever, Robinson demonstrates once again why she is regarded as one of our best-loved writers.
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Four Elements: Reflections on Nature
Book SynopsisIn The Four Elements, poet and philosopher John O'Donohue draws upon his Celtic heritage and the love of his native landscape, the west of Ireland, to weave together a tapestry of beautifully evoked images of nature. As John explores a range of themes relating to the way we live our lives today, he reveals how the energy and rhythm of the natural world - its innocence and creativity, its power and splendour - hold profound lessons for us all. With a foreword written by his beloved brother Pat, this illuminating treasury is a unique collection of reflections inspired by the ancient wisdom of this earth.Trade ReviewThere are certain threads that run through the work of John O'Donohue. They manifest themselves with different colours and textures. The form may change for different purposes of rhythm and resonance, but the intention remains constant. It is grounded in human vulnerability and the desire, the longing, for a connection to the wonder of the divine in nature, and human life within it. -- Michael D Higgins, politician and broadcaster
£9.49
Carcanet Press Ltd Proofs and Theories
Book SynopsisA collection of essays in which the author writes of her own upbringing, her human and literary antecedents, and also dwells on lives and poems. The book includes writings on T.S. Eliot, George Oppen, Sylvia Plath, Robinson Jeffers, Wallace Stevens, and John Berryman.
£11.66
Daunt Books The Little Virtues
Book Synopsis
£9.49
ERIS Unpacking My Library
Book Synopsis
£7.01
HarperCollins Publishers Complete Works of Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar Collins
Book SynopsisThe Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is the only truly complete and authoritative single-volume edition of Oscar Wilde's works, and is available in both hardback and this paperback edition.Continuously in print since 1948, the Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde has long been recognised as the most comprehensive and authoritative single-volume collection of Wilde's texts available, containing his only novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts.Illustrated with many fascinating photographs, the book includes introductions to each section by Merlin Holland (Oscar's grandson), Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Terence Brown.Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Oscar Wilde, and a chronological table of his life and work.
£14.24
HarperCollins Publishers A Year With C. S. Lewis
Book SynopsisTo mark the fiftieth anniversary of C. S. Lewis' death, this attractive book offers daily inspirational readings from this much-loved writer, making this a most thoughtful gift.Few people, whether children or adults, have not been touched by the incredible literary works of C. S. Lewis. Whether their lives have been touched by the Chronicles of Narnia, or the more spiritual Mere Christianity, Lewis continues to be one of the most influential authors and his voice' is as loud today as it ever was.An attractive and collectible gift book, this volume is perfectly designed for those interested in, and intrigued by, daily meditation. It collects material from across the breadth of Lewis's writing talent, taking brief selections from many of his non-fiction works. These extracts are accompanied by brief and engaging snippets of biographical information, offering the reader a more intimate look at Lewis's life in the context of his writings.Trade Review‘I read C.S. Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.’John Updike
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers A Room of Ones Own and Three Guineas
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind'Based on a lecture given at Cambridge and first published in 1929, A Room of One's Own' interweaves Woolf's personal experience as a female writer with themes ranging from Austen and Brontë to Shakespeare's gifted (and imaginary) sister. Three Guineas', Woolf's most impassioned polemic, came almost a decade later and broke new ground by challenging the very notions of war and masculinity.This volume combines two inspirational, witty and urbane essays from one of literature's pre-eminent voices; collectively they constitute a brilliant and lucid attack on sexual inequality.Trade Review‘Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity’Kate Mosse ‘Achingly relevant’Natasha Walter, Guardian
£5.02
HarperCollins Publishers Trick Mirror
Book SynopsisA Times book of the yearA Guardian book of the yearMagnificent'The TimesDazzling' New StatesmanIt filled me with hope' Zadie SmithWhat happens to our behaviour when we live most of our lives online? What does it mean to always be optimising'? And what is it about scams and the millennial generation?Offering nuanced and witty reflections on feminism, reality TV, the internet, drugs, identity and more, Trick Mirror is a multifaceted, thought-provoking and entertaining response to our zeitgeist a must-read for anyone interested in the way we live and think today.Trade Review‘A masterclass in how to think about the world’ Samantha Irby ‘Thoroughly enjoyable’ Vogue ‘There is one guarantee with this book: it will make you stop and think … Tolentino’s writing will leave you feeling a bit more humble, and a bit more intelligent’ Independent ‘Hardcore modern intellectualism with a side of memes’ Daily Telegraph ‘A page-turning holiday read’ Elle ‘An astute and exciting new voice’ Financial Times (Books of the Year) ‘A bold and playful collection from a hugely talented writer’ Guardian ‘The best young essayist at work in the United States’ Rebecca Solnit ‘The millennial Susan Sontag, a brilliant voice in cultural criticism. . . She remains engaged with her subjects even as she scratches her head and wonders why we do what we do. Even better: She writes like a dream’ Washington Post ‘Jia Tolentino could be the Joan Didion of our time’ Vulture ‘She is the kind of writer who is talked about with a mixture of rapturous admiration and pained envy … dazzling’ New Statesman ‘The Book of the Moment’ Vice ‘Magnificent … her position as the pre-eminent genius among the millennial intellectuals is self-assured’ The Times ‘This is electrifying, vital writing’ Louise O’Neill
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers What If We Stopped Pretending Jonathan Franzen
Book SynopsisThe climate crisis is here. Our chance to stop it has come and gone, but this doesn't have to mean the world is ending.If you care about the planet, and about the people and animals who live on it, there are two ways to think about this. You can keep on hoping that catastrophe is preventable, and feel ever more frustrated or enraged by the world's inaction. Or you can accept that disaster is coming, and begin to rethink what it means to have hope.'The honesty and realism of Jonathan Franzen's writings on climate have been widely denounced and just as widely celebrated. Here, in his definitive statement on the subject, Franzen confronts the world's failure to avert destabilising climate change and takes up the question: Now what?Trade Review Praise for The End of the End of the Earth: ‘… by refusing to hope for the impossible, Franzen, improbably, manages to produce a volume that feels, if not hopeful, then at least not hopeless. There’s nothing he can do – there’s probably nothing any of us can do – to avert or even alleviate the coming catastrophe. But for now, he’s here and he’s alive, and over the course of these essays he offers us a series of partial, tentative answers to the question he poses himself at the beginning: “ How do we find meaning in our actions when the world seems to be coming to an end?” Guardian ‘Can be read, in part, as a welcome alternative to the current, dominant American political tone of one-note belligerence’ Observer ‘Franzen shows himself to be the kind of unacademic critic who recognises and does not disapprove of the Common Reader’s natural tendency to feel for the characters the author has brought into being’ Scotsman
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers Notes on Grief
Book Synopsis A devastating essay on loss and the people we love from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the bestselling author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. Trade Review Praise for Notes on Grief ‘Both emotional and austere, a work of dignity and of unravelling’ Guardian ‘With raw eloquence, Adichie’s observations have, simultaneously, an academic detachment and an inescapable anguish at being “in the centre of this churning” with “porous edges that there is no way through” … Notes on Grief is both achingly personal and stunningly familiar to anyone who has felt that scattering’ Independent ‘An exquisite howl of pain written in the aftermath, last year, of the unexpected death of her father’ Telgraph ‘Notes on Grief is a moving account of a daughter’s sorrow and it is also a love letter to the one who has gone. … She is saying don’t go and she is saying goodbye and she is also saying sorry’ Observer ‘In 30 short sections, Notes on Grief lays a path by which we might mourn our individual traumas among the aggregate suffering of this harrowing time.’ New York Times ‘Feels raw, even for a book about grief … It is no salve for her own grief, but Adichie’s brave observance of her own pain, will be a gift to those also suffering their first year of loss in these strange times’ iNews ‘When you send a great writer into the valley of the dead, the reportage is better quality. In 1961 CS Lewis wrote A Grief Observed of the year after the death of his wife; in 2005 Joan Didion wrote The Year of Magical Thinking about the same time span after the death of her husband. Into this tradition falls Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie … For fans of the famously private Adichie – this is fascinatingly intimate. It is also delivered in the most readable, tender bites for any of the many of us whose attention has been shot by the harrowing of this past year’ The Times
£15.53
HarperCollins Publishers Three Rings A Tale of Exile Narrative and Fate
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, France''s best foreign book of the year.Astounding' Sebastian BarryA masterpiece' Ayad AkhtarThis little book is ruminative, humane, and gorgeously precise'Jonathan LethemIn this genre-defying book, best-selling memoirist and critic Daniel Mendelsohn explores the mysterious links between the randomness of the lives we lead and the artfulness of the stories we tell.Combining memoir, biography, history, and literary criticism, Three Rings weaves together the stories of three exiled writers who turned to the classics of the past to create masterpieces of their own-works that pondered the nature of narrative itself.Erich Auerbach, the Jewish philologist who fled Hitler''s Germany and wrote his classic study of Western literature, Mimesis, in Istanbul.Francois Fenelon, the seventeenth-century French archbishop whose ingenious sequel to the Odyssey,The Adventures of Telemachus a veiled critique of the Sun King and the best-selling book in Trade Review‘Exquisite … Ornate and oneiric, the results are well worth circling and circling back to’New York Times Book Review ‘As always, the author's voice blends authority with considerable warmth and charm, luring readers into his complex intellectual enthusiasms … Three Rings, a short but profoundly moving work, clings with tenacity to a belief in the regenerative power of literature’Wall Street Journal ‘Spectacular … The reader feels the flow of a strong narrative, trusts the author’s seafaring skills and embarks on a brilliant journey … Three Rings is a glorious celebration of multiplicity, diversity, journeys, transformations and our common humanity’Times Literary Supplement ‘Contained in the interwoven circles of this slim, labyrinthine book is a vision that encompasses the world. Part dirge, part memoir, part exegesis, all rhapsody Mendelsohn's anatomy of literature's subtlest pleasures is itself that subtlest of literary pleasures: a masterpiece’Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Homeland Elegies ‘An astounding Borgesian document of clarity and brilliance. A book about telling stories that wanders down the seeming two roads of the Hebrew tradition and the classical, which, like Proust's two ways, might turn out to be one way after all. Three Rings has the keeled force of a long poem’Sebastian Barry ‘Classicist, historian, memoirist, cultural critic, with consummate skill and the sharp, sympathetic eye of the poet, Daniel Mendelsohn brilliantly combines these roles. Three Rings is a masterly exegesis and demonstration of digression as a high art’Joyce Carol Oates ‘Daniel Mendelsohn's Three Rings is erudition, essayism, and memoir … This little book is ruminative, humane, and gorgeously precise’Jonathan Lethem
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Wholehearted Faith
Book Synopsis
£22.94
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Ill Show Myself Out
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Poignant and brutally honest. . . will make you laugh out loud.” — Washington Post, "The Best Feel-Good Books of the Year" “A laugh-out-loud book of essays. . . . strikes gold. . . . Klein’s comedic sensibilities and abundant care for women make her the ideal writer to square off against the obligations and judgments placed on mothers. . . . an instant classic." — Glamour “Comedian Jessi Klein delivers a necessary laugh for parents just beginning to emerge from the dumpster fire otherwise known as pandemic parenting. . . . grapples with the humiliations and possibilities of midlife and motherhood, from impossible car seats to equally befuddling ‘Mama’ necklaces. Even the essay titles are funny.” — Time Magazine "Her humor and insights are spot-on." — People, "The Best New Books" "Achingly funny." — Esquire, "The 8 Best Comedy Books of the Year" “Brutally honest and so very human.” — Vulture, “The Best Comedy Books of the Year (So Far)” “Jessi Klein is back with an unflinchingly honest and hilarious memoir about navigating the absurdly high expectations of being both a mom and a woman. . . . I’ll Show Myself Out will not only make you laugh but also, and most importantly, think, ‘Hmm, so it’s not just me.’” — Shondaland “Jessi Klein has yet again ‘delivered’ (and yes I’m using that in the messy motherhood-pun way—I’m not the writer) a collection of the most relatable, achingly raw, and stunningly human essays I have read about the mess of motherhood and this chapter of life since her last collection. And… they are of course hilarious. THANK YOU JESSI for this gift. Please read it, mothers. It is nourishment.” — Kathryn Hahn “Jessi Klein’s essay collection spoke to the deepest part of my soul and being. Her framing of motherhood as a ‘hero’s journey’ made me weep from feeling seen. I also howled with laughter so many times I was politely asked to leave a restaurant. It’s a perfect book.” — Casey Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of The Wreckage of My Presence “I'll Show Myself Out is so pee-in-the-pants funny, I made sure to wear period underwear while reading it. Insanely smart and wildly relatable, Jessi Klein's highly anticipated second book is the most entertaining thing I've read in a long time.” — Ali Wong, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Girls "Jessi Klein has once again arrived with a collection of essays so familiar to me, it's like she has been directly inside my brain. Smart, bold, and uproariously funny. It's a 10/10 from me." — Kate Baer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Woman and I Hope This Finds You Well “[Klein] is gifted at turning the day-to-day minutiae into comedy gold, while simultaneously pulling back to lend commentary (often searing commentary) on the larger picture. A lot of her writing reminds me of David Sedaris, the way you find yourself laughing your ass off as you read along, and then suddenly you’re like why is my heart in my throat?” — Jenny Rosenstrach, New York Times bestselling author of The Weekday Vegetarians and Dinner: A Love Story “A bold and irreverent collection. . . . Klein is full of surprises, and moments of hilarity often dissolve into unexpected glimpses of joy. . . . Funny, clever, and full of heart, this one’s a gem.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Klein isn't here to make motherhood look pretty, but she ends up making it look pretty great in the truest sense of the word, mixing laughs with poignancy and treating heavy topics with a brightening kind of honesty.” — Booklist Praise for You'll Grow Out of It: "A book like Jessi Klein's YOU'LL GROW OUT OF IT comes along to remind us just what an artful confessional essay can do." — New York Times "Is it really a surprise that comedian Jessi Klein, head writer and executive producer for Inside Amy Schumer, would write a book of personal essays brimming with sharp observations and insights and poignant recollections but that above all is very, very funny? ...We guarantee that this book will quickly become one of your summer favorites." — Entertainment Weekly "[Jessi Klein's] astute, hilarious essays about the perilous path to modern womanhood will have you wincing in recognition." — People "Klein shares her eccentric path to adulthood, from her tomboyish girlhood to sidesplitting dating tales and beyond in this uproarious, relatable, and irresistible memoir." — Harper’s Bazaar "Deftly blending irreverent humor with poignant insights, Klein's writing is wonderfully intimate." — New York magazine "Never afraid to share insights and reveal the raw truth behind her own stories, Klein makes readers laugh while inspiring them, a feat that calls to mind the work of the late Nora Ephron. This uplifting and uproarious collection of personal essays will be repeatedly shared among friends." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Reading [Jessi Klein's] book is like watching her--doubtless superb--stand-up act." — Booklist (starred review) "A gifted comedian turns the anxieties, obsessions, insecurities, and impossible-to-meet expectations that make up human nature into laughter." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
£12.34
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Sellout
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Engrossing…a rigorously researched look at how labels targeted bands and fought to sign them.” — Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times “[Ozzi] looked at the major label debuts of different bands in this genre, tracing a music industry in flux, fans betrayed by their idols, and bands trying to navigate the machine.” — NPR’s All Things Considered “A forensic and uniquely sympathetic dive into one of the most uncouth actions for an artist—selling out, baby.” — Jeff Rosenstock “Fascinating… When it comes to the topic of punk, or more specifically, the iteration of the genre that existed during the last era of the traditional music industry, Dan Ozzi’s Sellout is poised to serve as a definitive text.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Based on a trove of original interviews and personal stories from band members and other crucial players, Ozzi examines how 11 groups grappled with the tension between punk’s core tenets and major label possibilities, and parses what success and failure looked like in this fraught realm.” — Rolling Stone
£11.69
Cornerstone Death in the Afternoon
Book SynopsisErnest Miller Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899 as the son of a doctor and the second of six children. After a stint as an ambulance driver at the Italian front, Hemingway came home to America in 1919, only to return to the battlefield this time as a reporter on the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. Resigning from journalism to focus on his writing instead, he moved to Paris where he renewed his earlier friendship with fellow American expatriates such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Through the years, Hemingway travelled widely and wrote avidly, becoming an internationally recognized literary master of his craft. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.Trade ReviewHemingway's style, at its best, is a superb vehicle for revealing tenderness of feeling beneath descriptions of brutality * Guardian *The most readable and the most nearly exhaustive account of the Spanish Bullfight that we haveHemingway's style, at its best, is a superb vehicle for revealing tenderness of feeling beneath descrptions of brutality * Guardian *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Discourses and Selected Writings
Book SynopsisThe Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion''I must die. But must I die bawling?''Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.Translated and Edited with an Introduction by Robert DobbinTable of ContentsEpictetusIntroductionFurther ReadingNote on the TranslationThe DiscoursesFragmentsEnchiridionGlossary of NamesNotes
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc All Art Is Propaganda
Book SynopsisThe essential collection of critical essays from a twentieth-century master and author of 1984.As a critic, George Orwell cast a wide net.
£10.44
Oxford University Press The Tain
Book Synopsis"The T 'ain B 'o Cuailnge", centre-piece of the 8th century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's greatest epic. This translation is based on the partial texts in two medieval manuscripts, with elements from other versions, and adds a group of related stories which prepare for the T 'ain.Table of ContentsTranslator's Note and Acknowledgements ; Artist's Note ; Introduction ; Maps ; Some Recommended Books ; Pronunciation of Irish Words ; Before the Tain ; The Tain ; Notes on the Text
£11.39
Oxford University Press Phaedo
Book SynopsisThe Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato''s greatest masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a seminal document for many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato''s thought. This new edition is a revised version of the Clarendon Press translation, and is eminently suitable for readers new to Plato, and ideal for classroom use, thanks to the provision of Stephanus page and letter numbering. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clariTrade ReviewThe new translation is freer in some places making it more accessible to those encountering Plato for the first time. An essential book for those who desire an introduction to Platonic philosophy. * The Greek Gazette *
£8.20
Penguin Books Ltd Notes of a Native Son
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA straight-from-the-shoulder writer, writing about the troubled problems of this troubled earth with an illuminating intensity that should influence for the better all who ponder on the things books say -- Langston Hughes * The New York Times *Powerful . . . I wish I could press this book into the hands of every American - actually, every human. -- Celeste Ng * Guardian *Edgy and provocative . . . entertainingly satirical -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *A classic . . . Take the words out of the 1950s, when they were published, and they could apply to the women in pink hats, the scientists, the Black Lives Matter activists, the climate-change believers and the LGBTQ-rights supporters who have flooded the streets of Washington this year * Washington Post *A classic ... In a divided America, James Baldwin's fiery critiques reverberate anew * Washington Post *Cemented his reputation as a cultural seer ... Notes of a Native Son endures as his defining work, and his greatest * Time *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Fascism and Democracy
Book Synopsis''The feeling that the very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world ... this prospect frightens me much more than bombs''On the 70th anniversary of George Orwell''s death, a new collection of his brilliant essays written during the Second World WarFascism and Democracy collects five brilliant examples of Orwell''s writing during the darkest days of World War Two. Grappling with the principles of democracy and the potential of reform, the meaning of literature and free speech in times of violence, and the sustainability of objective truth, Orwell offers a compelling portrayal of a nation where norms and ideals can no longer be taken for granted. Like the best of Orwell''s writing, these essays also serve as timeless reminders of the fragility of freedom.
£5.02
HarperCollins Publishers The Monsters and the Critics
Book Synopsis"The seven 'essays' by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this paperback were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien's work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given to the University of Glasgow in 1953. Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on invented languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien's approach to the whole genre. The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique 'academic' lecture on
£10.44
Zondervan How Far You Have Come
Book SynopsisAs popular Instagram poet and artist Morgan Harper Nichols shares glimpses of her story in How Far You Have Come, she inspires us to reframe the stories we tell ourselves so we can see through our own brokenness to the beauty inside.
£13.49
Little, Brown No Judgement
Book Synopsis A brilliant and addictive collection of brand-new essays on modern culture - from ''the pre-eminent and most widely read critic of her generation'' The Times Included as a 2024 highlight in the Observer, Stylist, the Skinny, BBC Online and the Independent ''Funny, insightful and bang on the money'' Stylist''Very fun to read ... exhilarating and original'' New Statesman--------------------------------------------I heard this crazy story, and I want you to know.It is the age of internet gossip; of social networks, repackaged ideas and rating everything out of five stars. Mega-famous celebrities respond with fury to critics who publish less-than-rapturous reviews of their work (and then delete their tweets); CEOs talk about reclaiming ''the power of vulnerability''; and in the world of fiction, writers eschew actually
£13.49
Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Book Synopsis Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion's first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, is considered a watershed moment in American writing. First published in 1968, the collection was critically praised as one of the best prose written in this country.More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion's focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: [Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.
£14.40
Dover Publications Inc. Self Reliance
Book Synopsis
£6.23
Dover Publications Inc. The Republic
Book SynopsisFamous philosophical treatise of the 4th century BC concerns itself chiefly with the idea of justice, as well as such Platonic theories as that of ideas, the criticism of poetry, and the philosopher''s role. Source of the famous cave myth and prototype for other imaginary commonwealths, including those of Cicero, St. Augustine, and More. Benjamin Jowett translation.
£6.49
Dover Publications Inc. Euclid Thirteen Books of the Elements Vol. 2
Book SynopsisVolume 2 of 3-volume set containing complete English text of all 13 books of the Elements plus critical analysis of each definition, postulate, and proposition. Covers textual and linguistic matters; mathematical analyses of Euclid''s ideas; classical, medieval, Renaissance and modern commentators; refutations, supports, extrapolations, reinterpretations and historical notes. Vol. 2 includes Books III-IX: Circles, relationships, rectilineal figures.
£14.39
University of California Press The Wedding Dress
Book SynopsisIn times of great uncertainty, the urgency of the artist's task is only surpassed by its difficulty. This work suggests fruitful ways of thinking about both the artist's role and the condition of doubt. It focuses on questions of race, gender, religion, faith, language, and political thought.
£20.70
Random House USA Inc The Source of SelfRegard
Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Here is the Nobel Prize winner in her own words: a rich gathering of her most important essays and speeches, spanning four decades that speaks to today’s social and political moment as directly as this morning’s headlines” (NPR).These pages give us her searing prayer for the dead of 9/11, her Nobel lecture on the power of language, her searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., her heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. She looks deeply into the fault lines of culture and freedom: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, “black matter(s),” human rights, the artist in society, the Afro-American presence in American literature. And she turns her incisive critical eye to her own work (The Bluest Eye, Sula, Tar Baby, Jazz, Beloved, Paradise) and that of others. An essential collection from an essential writer, The Source of Self-Regard shines with the literary elegance, intellectual prowess, spiritual depth, and moral compass that have made Toni Morrison our most cherished and enduring voice.
£14.25
Faber & Faber The Redress of Poetry
Book SynopsisThese lectures were delivered by Seamus Heaney while he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. In the first of them, Heaney discusses and celebrates poetry''s special ability to redress spiritual balance and to function as a counterweight to hostile and oppressive forces in the world. He proceeds to explore how this ''redress'' manifests itself in a diverse range of poems and poets, including Christopher Marlowe''s ''Hero and Leander'', ''The Midnight Court'' by the eighteenth-century Irish poet Brian Merriman, John Clare''s vernacular writing and Oscar Wilde''s ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol''. Several twentieth-century poets are also discussed - W. B. Yeats, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop and others - and the whole book constitutes a vivid proof of the claim that ''poetry is strong enough to help''.
£15.29
Faber & Faber Poetry in the Making A Handbook for Writing and
Book SynopsisIn a series of chapters built round poems by a number of writers including himself . . . [Ted Hughes] explores, colourfully and intensively, themes such as ''Capturing Animals'', ''Wind and Weather'' and ''Writing about People''. The purpose throughout is to lead on, via a discussion of the poems (which he does with riveting skill) to some direct encouragement to the children to think and write for themselves. He makes the whole venture seem enjoyable, and somehow urgent . . . '' Times Literary SupplementTrade Review"A classic anthology of creative writing by a 'guardian spirit of the land and language.' (Seamus Heaney) 'In a series of chapters built round poems by a number of writers including himself... [Ted Hughes] explores, colourfully and intensively, themes such as 'Capturing Animals', 'Wind and Weather' and 'Writing about People'. The purpose throughout is to lead on, via a discussion of the poems (which he does with riveting skill) to some direct encouragement to the children to think and write for themselves. He makes the whole venture seem enjoyable, and somehow urgent...' Times Literary Supplement"
£10.44
Faber & Faber A Grief Observed Readers Edition
Book SynopsisThe perennial classic: this intimate journal chronicling the Narnia author''s experience of grief after his wife''s death has consoled readers for half a century; this edition features responses from authors like Hilary Mantel, Francis Spufford, Rowan Williams, Jenna Bailey ...''An intimate, anguished account of a man grappling with the mysteries of faith and love ... Elegant and raw ... A powerful record of thought and emotion experienced in real time.'' Guardian ''Raw and modern ... This unsentimental, even bracing, account of one man's dialogue with despair becomes both compelling and consoling ... A contemporary classic.'' Observer''A source of great consolation ... Lewis deploys his genius for vivid imagery ... It is a relief for the reader to find that he or she is not alone in the intense loneliness or feelings of anguish that bereavement brings.'' Henry Marsh, The Times''Testimony from a sensitive and eloquent witness [on] The Human Condition'. It offers an interrogation of experience and a glimmer of hardwon hope. It allows one bewildered mind to reach out to another. Death is no barrier to that.'' Hilary Mantel''Here, sorrow and despair, the tiredness and numbness and petulance and nightmarishness of grief, all have their full, uncontrolled, experienced force ... [Such] radical openness ... Brilliant.'' Francis Spufford***No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.Narnia author C.S. Lewis had been married to his wife for four blissful years. When she died of cancer, he found himself alone, inconsolable in his grief. In this intimate journal, he chronicles the aftermath of the bereavement and mourning with blazing honesty. He grapples with a crisis of religious faith, navigating hope, rage, despair, and love - but eventually regains his bearings, finding his way back to life.A luminous modern classic, A Grief Observed has offered solace to countless readers for decades. This companion edition combines the original text with personal responses from Hilary Mantel, Rowan Williams, Francis Spufford, Maureen Freely, Kate Saunders, Jessica Martin and Jenna Bailey.***What readers are saying:''A truly great book - inspirational and untold help.'' ''Every human being, living or dead, understands what Lewis means ... One of the most valuable books ever written.'' ''Lewis, as always, sits down next to you and validates your grief like a true friend. He lets you rage, and cry, and even be furious with God, just as he did.''''If you are grieving an enormous loss, you may find comfort here ... A great mind and wonderful writer who understands your grief well enough to put words to it.''''His journal was also my journal as I worked through my own grief. Reading this book was actually comforting in that I knew that someone else understood my situation and offered insight and hope ... I highly recommend this book for anyone who has gone through the death of a loved one or who wants to comfort. ''This little book has had me in floods of tears [and] shows a real understanding of grief ... To read the words of this great man who shared and understood my pain and is a life affirming and faith affirming experience.''
£9.49
Faber & Faber Coventry
Book SynopsisAuthor of the Booker-longlisted novel Second Place'Cements her reputation as one of the most fierce and elegant chroniclers of how we live now.' Stephanie Merritt, ObserverCoventry is a collection of essays about choices, womanhood and art.
£10.44
Harvard University Press Agricola. Germania. Dialogus
Book SynopsisTacitus (ca. AD 55–120) is an essential historian of the early Roman empire. Agricola narrates its subject's career in Britain. Germania is a description of German tribes as known to the Romans. Dialogus concerns the decline of oratory and education.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Hellenica Volume I
Book SynopsisHellenica by Xenophon (ca. 430–ca. 354 BC) is a history of Greek affairs from 411–362 BC that begins as a continuation of Thucydides’ account.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Histories
Book SynopsisTacitus (ca. AD 55–120) is an essential historian of the early Roman empire. Agricola narrates its subject's career in Britain. Germania is a description of German tribes as known to the Romans. Dialogus concerns the decline of oratory and education.
£23.70
Harvard University Press The Persian Wars Volume II
Book SynopsisAfter personal inquiry and study of hearsay and other evidence, Herodotus (born ca. 484 BC) gives us in his famous history of warfare between the Greeks and the Persians a not uncritical estimate of the best that he could find.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Ecclesiastical History Volume I
Book SynopsisEusebius, Bishop of Caesarea from about AD 314, was the most important writer in the age of Constantine. His history of the Christian church from the ministry of Jesus to AD 324 is a treasury of information, especially on the Eastern centers.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Aeneas Tacticus. Asclepiodotus. Onasander
Book SynopsisThe surviving work of Aeneas (fourth century BC) is on defense against siege. Asclepiodotus (first century BC) wrote a work on tactics as though for the lecture room, based on earlier manuals, not personal experience. Onasander’s “The General” (first century AD) deals with the qualities expected of a general.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Lives of Eminent Philosophers Volume I
Book SynopsisDiogenes Laertius compiled his compendium on the lives and doctrines of the ancient philosophers from hundreds of sources. It ranges over three centuries, from Thales to Epicurus, portraying forty-five important figures, and is enriched by numerous quotations.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Scripta Minora
Book SynopsisMinor works by Xenophon (ca. 430–ca. 354 BC) include Hiero, a dialogue on government; Agesilaus, in praise of that king; Constitution of Lacedaemon, on the Spartan system; Ways and Means, on the finances of Athens; a manual of Horsemanship. The Constitution of the Athenians, though not by Xenophon, is an interesting document on Athenian politics.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Isocrates Volume II
Book SynopsisThe importance of Isocrates (436–338 BC) for the study of Greek civilization of the fourth century BC is indisputable. Twenty-one discourses by Isocrates survive; these include political essays, treatises on education and on ethics, and speeches for legal cases. Nine letters, more on public than private matters, are also extant.
£23.70
Harvard University Press Moral Essays Volume I De Providentia. De
Book SynopsisIn Moral Essays, Seneca expresses his Stoic philosophy on providence, steadfastness, anger, forgiveness, consolation, the happy life, leisure, tranquility, the brevity of life, and gift-giving.
£23.70
