Essays Books

Book SynopsisA WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTHIn this love letter to reading, curated by Pandora Sykes in aid of the National Literacy Trust, bestselling and beloved writers share their favourite books: the ones they hold most dearly, that they return to time and again and that helped make them the writers they are.WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM : NICK HORNBY * RUTH OZEKI * ANN PATCHETT * BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH * MARIAN KEYES * ELIZABETH STROUT * DEBORAH LEVY * TESSA HADLEY * ELIF SHAFAK * GEORGE THE POET * LEILA SLIMANI * ALI SMITH * DEREK OWUSU * DOLLY ALDERTON * PARIS LEES * JOJO MOYES * PAUL MENDEZ * SEBASTIAN FAULKS * DIANA EVANS * MEENA KANDASAMY * LISA TADDEO * NIKESH SHUKLA * TAIYE SELASI * MONICA ALI * NINA STIBBE * CALEB AZUMAH NELSON * ELIZABETH DAY * SARA COLLINS * DAMON GALGUT * NAOISE DOLAN * WILLIAM BOYD * EMMA DABIRI * FATIMA BHUTTO * KIT DE WAAL

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Book SynopsisBlending intellectual speculation with anecdote and personal reflection, the Renaissance thinker and writer Montaigne pioneered the modern essay. This selection contains his idiosyncratic and timeless writings on subjects as varied as the virtues of solitude, the power of the imagination, the pleasures of reading, the importance of sleep and why we sometimes laugh and cry at the same things. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

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Book SynopsisBeautifully written yet highly controversial, An Image of Africa asserts Achebe''s belief in Joseph Conrad as a ''bloody racist'' and his conviction that Conrad''s novel Heart of Darkness only serves to perpetuate damaging stereotypes of black people. Also included is The Trouble with Nigeria, Achebe''s searing outpouring of his frustrations with his country. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

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Book Synopsis''Genius ... bringing ardent intelligence to bear upon poetry, politics and autobiography'' Seamus HeaneyEssayist and poet Joseph Brodsky was one of the most penetrating voices of the twentieth century. This prize-winning collection of his diverse essays includes uniquely powerful appreciations of great writers: on Dostoevsky and the development of Russian prose, on Auden and Akhmatova, Cavafy, Montale and Mandelstam. These are contrasted with his reflections on larger themes of tyranny and evil, and subtle evocations of his childhood in Leningrad. Brodsky''s insightful appreciation of the intricacies of language, culture and identity connect these works, revealing his remarkable gifts as a prose writer.''Sparkles with intellect, and combines the precision of scholarship with the passion of the poet'' The TimesWinner of the Nobel Prize for LiteratureTrade Review'Sparkles with intellect, and combines the precision of scholarship with the passion of the poet' * The Times *'Genius ... bringing ardent intelligence to bear upon poetry, politics and autobiography' * Seamus Heaney *

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Book SynopsisFor the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, an anthology chronicling the tumultuous fight for LGBTQ rights in the 1960s and the activists who spearheaded it, with a foreword by Edmund White.Finalist for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, presented by The Publishing TriangleTor.com, Best Books of 2019 (So Far) Harper’s Bazaar, The 20 Best LGBTQ Books of 2019 The Advocate, The Best Queer(ish) Non-Fiction Tomes We Read in 2019June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following tTrade Review“This window into the daily lives of activists and ordinary people fighting passionately against injustice is illuminating and inspiring.”—Publishers Weekly“Through his skillful curation, [editor Jason Baumann] offers a corrective for what is too often a sanitized, homogenous, and whitewashed portrayal of academics and professionals about the event sometimes termed 'the hairpin drop heard around the world.' ... The first-person narratives collected here effectively spotlight the social inequalities surrounding the LGBTQ community, many of which persist today. A bold rallying cry that should help in the continuing fight for LGBTQ rights.”—Kirkus Reviews“This masterful collection is perhaps one of the most exhaustive looks at the events surrounding Stonewall from the LGBTQ perspective and provides a wonderfully diverse cast of voices.”—Library Journal“…Excellent compilation of first-person accounts from before, during, and after the pivotal 1969 riot…THE STONEWALL READER features a diverse array of voices—folks from across the LGBTQ spectrum telling their stories over decades in essays and interviews and letters.”—The Atlantic“This significant book does welcome justice to an event that author Edmund White, who wrote the foreword, says sparked 'an oceanic change in thinking.'”—Booklist“The Stonewall Reader gives us a richer, messier, more dangerous picture of the Stonewall uprising, its foreground, and aftermath. The book wonderfully reflects how revolutionary moments rarely get portrayed accurately through single voices, and Baumann has produced here a history worth revisiting again and again.”—Lambda Literary“An excellent companion to those famous bricks the patrons threw at police that night in June 1969 (…) aims to correct a narrative that has so often excluded LGBTQ people of color. (…) The book de-gentrifies the narrative, returning the street-smart stories of the original protesters to history. The inclusion of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson in the “During” and “After” sections also subtly underlines the role of transgender people, as they tell the story first of that night and then of how their abandonment by the movement began almost immediately. The book’s mix of familiar and unfamiliar didn’t just re-contextualize the riots for me. I came to understand myself and my life differently. I didn’t even know what I’d lost or gained from these stories and their contexts. The Stonewall Reader seems designed to be widely adopted in classrooms and should be, but, to be sure, it is for anyone, even those who think they know this history.”—Alexander Chee, The New Republic“An essential read for any member of the community who wants to learn about those who paved the way before us.”—Harper’s Bazaar“Brush up on your LGBTQ history with this definitive collection of first-hand accounts, diary entries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented the years leading up to and immediately following the Stonewall riots.”—Queerty“The Stonewall Reader, a collection featuring works by figures such as the writer Audre Lorde and the activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya, demonstrates this expansiveness in the variety of experiences it chronicles. The book is named for one of history’s most powerful displays of queer protest, but focuses instead on intimate self-reckoning. The pieces in it ponder visibility, self-understanding, and the development of queerness as an identity.”—The Atlantic“A compilation of first-person accounts and diary entries from activists and participants, along with news articles, essays and more, this work tells the story of events that surrounded the 1969 Stonewall riots, largely seen as the start of the nation’s LGBT civil rights movement.”—CNN.com “To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riot, Jason Baumann, New York Public Library coordinator of humanities and LGBTQ collections, edited a volume drawing from the NYPL archives that includes first accounts, diaries, newspaper articles, and more chronicling the years leading up to the riots and documenting the fight itself. It also spotlights iconic activists who were pivotal to the movement, giving room and space for the forgotten figures of the fight. It features a ton of diverse voices and interviews and helps to paint a crucial moment in queer history in the voices and contexts of the people who were there.”—Book Riot

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Book SynopsisBlack joy is . . .The babble and buzz of the barber shop.Chicken and chips after school with your girls.Stepping foot in your mother country for the very first time.Feeling at one with nature.Learning to cook souse with your mum.Connecting with the only other Black colleague in your workplace.Loving and finding complete happiness in your fatness.Joy surrounds us. It can be found it in the day to day. It''s what we live for. So why do we so rarely allow ourselves to revel in it? This must-read anthology is your invitation to do so - and is a true celebration of Black British culture in all its glory.Edited by award-winning journalist, and former gal-dem editor-in-chief, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and up-and-coming talent Timi Sotire, twenty-eight iconic voices speak on what Black joy means to them in this uplifting and empowering anthology.With essays from:Munya Chawawa -- Leigh-Anne Pinnock -- Diane Abbott -- Jason Okundaye --Bukky Bakray -- Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé -- Lavinya Stennett -- Henrie Kwushue Chanté Joseph -- Travis Alabanza -- Isaac James -- Sophia Tassew -- Lauryn Green -- Melz Owusu -- Timi Sotire -- Fope Olaleye -- Richie Brave -- Tope Olufemi -- Athian Akec -- Mikai Mcdermott -- Ife Grillo -- Rukiat Ashawe -- Mayowa Quadri -- Tobi Kyeremateng -- Haaniyah Angus -- Theophina Gabriel -- Ruby Fatimilehin -- Vanessa Kissule---A refreshing and invigorating burst of joy, exploring the beauty in the nuances of our existence, honing in on what propels us forward, and establishing a vital hope - BOLU BABALOLA, author of Love in ColourEvery bit as joyous as the title suggests'' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of QueenieA rich, gorgeous celebration of the power in embracing joy LIV LITTLEBlack Joy is a delightful celebration of Black Britishness MASHABLETrade ReviewA refreshing and invigorating burst of joy, exploring the beauty in the nuances of our existence, honing in on what propels us forward, and establishing a vital hope -- Bolu Babalola, author of Love in ColourEvery bit as joyous as the title suggests -- Candice Carty-Williams, author of QueenieA story a day from Black Joy should be a mandatory process to ward off any negative vibes -- Yomi Sode, author of ManorismA rich, gorgeous celebration of the power in embracing joy -- Liv Little, author of RosewaterBlack Joy is an unapologetic celebration of Black British culture and an ode to our food, our friendships and our love -- Melissa Cummings-Quarry, co-author of Grown: The Black Girls' Guide to Growing UpA beautiful, audacious collection that serves to remind us who we are and accompany collective healing. -- Jade LB, author of Keisha the Sket

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed author of On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored and On KindnessA collection of literary essays like no other - exploring the deep connections between literature and psychoanalysis - from Britain''s leading psychoanalyst.For Adam Phillips - as for Freud and many of his followers - poetry and poets have always held an essential place, as both precursors and unofficial collaborators in the psychoanalytic project. But the same has never held true in reverse. What, Phillips wonders, at the start of this deeply engaging book, has psychoanalysis meant for writers? And what can writing do for psychoanalysis?Phillips explores these questions through an exhilarating series of encounters with - and vivid readings of - writers he has loved, from Byron and Barthes to Shakespeare and Sebald. And in the process he demonstrates, through his own unique style, how literature and psychoanalysis can speak to and of each other.''Adam PTrade ReviewPublisher's description. Adam Phillips explores the relationship between psychoanalysis and writing in a thrillingly erudite sequence of essays. From Byron to Barthes and Shakespeare to Sebald, Phillips demonstrates how literature and psychoanalysis are closely interlinked, sharing many ideas, theories and narratives. * Penguin *

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Book Synopsis‘Determination, grit and humour shine through’ Lindsey Hilsum, ObserverNineteen Arab women journalists speak out about what it’s like to report on their changing homelands in this first-of-its-kind essay collection.A growing number of intrepid Arab and Middle Eastern sahafiyat – female journalists – are working tirelessly to shape nuanced narratives about their changing homelands, often risking their lives on the front lines of war.Here, nineteen of these women tell us, in their own words, about what it’s like to report on conflicts that (quite literally) hit close to home. Their daring and heartfelt stories, told here for the first time, shatter stereotypes about the region’s women and provide an urgently needed perspective on a part of the world that is frequently misunderstood.With a foreword by CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour.INCLUDING ESSAYS BY: Donna Abu-Nasr, Aida Alami, Hannah Allam, Jane Arraf, Lina Attalah, Nada Bakri, Shamael Elnoor, Zaina Erhaim, Asmaa al-Ghoul, Hind Hassan, Eman Helal, Zeina Karam, Roula Khalaf, Nour Malas, Hwaida Saad, Amira Al-Sharif, Heba Shibani, Lina Sinjab, and Natacha YazbeckTrade ReviewThe journalists in this book have demonstrated the highest professional achievements and courage. . . Without them, the stories of today and tomorrow will remain only partly told. -- Christiane Amanpour, from the ForewordA refreshing insight...our knowledge of the Middle East is richer and more nuanced thanks to these courageous women; it is long past time that we looked at things from their perspectives. -- Bethan McKernan * Guardian *Showcases journalism at its bravest. Determination, grit and humour shine through the writing. -- Lindsey Hilsum * Observer Books of the Year *Zahra Hankir’s pioneering collection is required reading... An antidote to the endless stream of 'clickbait' and 'content', this is journalism at its most honest and reflective – a multi-dimensional narrative about what it means to be a female journalist in the Arab world and in the West... Hankir shines a light on the strength of those who have reported on war and womanhood and invites us to 'listen to what they have to say'. I urge you to accept her invitation. -- Sarah Collins * The Arts Desk Books of the Year *A stirring, provocative and well-made new anthology . . . a book that banishes all manner of silences... that rewrites the hoary rules of the foreign correspondent playbook, deactivating the old clichés. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *

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Book Synopsis'Remarkable' Robert Macfarlane'Gorgeous' Amy Liptrot'Urgent and nourishing' Jessica J. LeeNina Mingya Powles first learned to swim in Borneo - where her mother was born and her grandfather studied freshwater fish. There, the local swimming pool became her first body of water. Through her life there have been others that have meant different things, but have still been, in their own way, home: from the wild coastline of New Zealand to a pond in northwest London.In lyrical, powerful prose, Small Bodies of Water weaves together memories, dreams and nature writing. Exploring everything from migration, food, family, earthquakes and the ancient lunisolar calendar, Nina reflects on a girlhood spent growing up between two cultures, and what it means to belong.Trade ReviewA remarkable book . . . Its language trembles on the brink of poetry; these sentences have surety to their rhythms, subtlety to their weightings. Beautifully, dreamily, intricately, it explores movement, migration and memory. Identity, here, is experienced as liquid, as fluent. Small Bodies of Water was the winner of the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize, and it's my belief that Shepherd would have loved this book - and would have wanted to walk and swim with Nina, talking of all that her book brings to the surface -- ROBERT MACFARLANENina Mingya Powles is a distinctive new voice: attentive and tender. Her experience of belonging to many places is one that so many of us can relate to. This book is a beautiful personal journey through plants and sea creatures, food and language . . . A gorgeous read -- AMY LIPTROTElegant, understated, urgent and nourishing, this is a book that gives shape to the many intimate waters that connect us, to languages loved, lost and longed for, to the lands that honour us by giving us a home. With poetic precision, Nina Mingya Powles shows us what nature writing can be, braiding place, food, family, migration and all their legacies. This is non-fiction at its most dynamic, its most transporting. I will keep this book close by and return to it often -- JESSICA J. LEESo cool and crystalline, but with deep currents of association shifting like tides beneath -- MELISSA HARRISONNature writing lovers will adore this collection of lyrical essays . . . Traversing Borneo to New Zealand to North London, it explores what bodies of water have meant to [Powles] while navigating girlhood and growing up * * Evening Standard, Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year * *Small Bodies of Water gave me such a longing for travel. It is so full of texture and taste and different kinds of light . . . Nina Mingya Powles takes very small moments and details and skilfully imbues them with poignancy and meaning. It feels like a renewed form of nature writing, in which nature is not necessarily to the fore but nonetheless ever-present; in which nature is a medium for remembering and discovering -- SARA BAUMEVividly connected to nature . . . Captivating . . . Evocative literary sketches of Powles' life are drawn thoughtfully together . . . Mesmerising . . . Tender, like a flower pressed between the pages of a book -- Alycia Pirmohamed * * Big Issue * *A tender and tactile meditation on the elements that hold us together and keep us apart, Small Bodies of Water is a luminous, flowing book. Nina Mingya Powles's mind shimmers -- SEÁN HEWITTA shimmering, poetic masterpiece * * Time Out * *A hauntingly beautiful work - as deep and varied as the bodies of water it explores - and just as affecting. Powles writes of the body, the self and the natural world in ways I've not experienced before; full of raw and glistening truth. This book is exquisite and perfectly formed and reflective and it leaves ripples on your insides like the sea. The writing is off the scale -- KERRI NÍ DOCHARTAIGH

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Book SynopsisDogs throughout history have enjoyed a special relationship with humankind, and our favourite four-legged creatures continue to grow in popularity. The writers and poets collected within this anthology reflect on the joys and pitfalls of dog ownership with brilliant wit, insight, and affection. From Roald Amundsen’s account of using and eating sled dogs in his expedition to the South Pole, to J.R. Ackerley’s tender portrayal of his ill-behaved dog Tulip, ON DOGS traces the canine’s journey from working animal to pampered pet. With a humorous introduction by Tracey Ullman (an inveterate adopter of strays), and 6 characterful dog portraits by animal photographer Rhian ap Gruffydd and a cover image by Picasso of his dog Lump. Contributors include Alice Walker, Charles Dickens, James Thurber, Miranda Hart, Brigitte Bardot, A.A. Gill, David Sedaris, Barbara Woodhouse, and many more.Trade Review"The infectious joy of dogs figures large in On Dogs: An Anthology, introduced by the actor and comedian Tracey Ullman. Although she is a devoted dog-lover…the selections in the anthology are not all feel-good. S everal are dark or poignant pieces on a dog’s death; others offer sour or sardonic comments on pet dogs. The collection is an eclectic mixture drawn from fiction, poems, anecdotes, and scientific or philosophical essays….It is… an enjoyable collection in which many aspects of our complex relationship with dogs are touched on.” — David E. Cooper, The TLS “This heartwarming compendium includes short essays, stories, reflections and poetry from note- worthy writers ranging from Virginia Woolf and David Sedaris to Shakespeare and Brigitte Bardot. A linen-bound hardcover sized to fit perfectly in the hand, it’s ideal for gift-giving.” — The Bark “Introduced by Tracey Ullman, this elegant, pocketsize tribute to our most loyal friends is realised in excerpts from novels, poems and literary theory.” — Louise Darblay, Art ReviewTable of ContentsContributors: Shakespeare, Alice Walker, Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, James Thurber, Miranda Hart, Roald Amundsen, Will Self, Roger Scruton, Mikhail Bulgakov, J.M. Barrie, Jack London, Barbara Woodhouse, Lord Byron, Brigitte Bardot, A.A. Gill, J.R. Ackerley, Jack London, John Steinbeck, David Sedaris, Virginia Woolf, Attila Jozsef, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Dr Temple Grandin, Vita Sackville-West, Barbara Woodhouse, George Catlin, Elizabeth Gaskill, Kathryn Hughes, David Redmalm, Father Mark Osborne, Heli Chatelain, Eileen Battersby, Wislawa Szymborska & the Dowager Empress of China Tzu-his.

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Book SynopsisEnter into theabyrinths of the mind of adman andyricist Prasoon Joshi, as he takes you on a roller-coaster ride through cultural fields, creative mountains, cinematic valleys and tunnels of ideas. Joshi''s musings, in the form of a collection of columns, are divided into four sections, each exploring a specific theme, and all of them tied together by a common thread. They stem from ideas he has stumbled upon whilst working on and interacting about various projects, films, forums,iterature festival discussions, and so forth. Some of them are set earlier in the decade, reflecting a simpler context, while theater ones have a more complex weave. Prasoon Joshi is a highly regarded socio-cultural voice of our times, deemed to have a finger on the pulse of the people. His views on the evolving story of India reflect the sharp intellect and sensitive perspective heayers his narrative with. Thinking Aloud promises to ignite the readers'' mind and makes them think about things which may have beenying dormant in their subconscious.

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together a collection of essays written by scholars inspired by Eugene Gendlin's work, particularly those interested in thinking with and beyond Gendlin for the sake of a global community facing significant crises. The contributors take inspiration from Gendlin's philosophy of the implicit, and his theoretical approach to psychology. The essays engage with Gendlin's ideas for our era, including critiques and corrections as well as extrapolations of his work. Gendlin himself worried that knowing about a problem is too often conflated with actions that might lead to change; the essays in this book point to a form of understanding that is activated, an embodied and immediate way of thinking about today's problems. Throughout the volume, the contributors creatively engage with Gendlin's work and its applicability to the complex, pressing crises of our time: the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental/climate issues, racism, sexism, economic inequality, and other factorsTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Starting from Experience, and Knowing When You Do 2. Where is Emotion? Gendlin's Radical Answer 3. Is Responsibility Implicit? 4. The Experiencing Model: Saying What We Mean in the Context of Focusing and Psychotherapy 5. The Responsive Order, Oppressive Order, and Disorder in Human Growth: Challenging and Carrying Forward Postmodernism 6. Liberating language: Gendlin and Nietzsche on the refreshing power of metaphors 7. Missing the Felt Sense: When Correct Political Answers Go Wrong 8. Toward a Concept of "Freedom to Make Sense" 9. Kangaroo Know-how: Animal practices from the perspective of implying 10. Is an Intricate Institution a Paradox or an Oxymoron? Gendlin's Political Optimism, the Formal Limitation of Politics, and the Relevance of Activity Theory 11. Epilogue: Showing How he Means - Thinking Along with Gene Gendlin

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Book SynopsisThe world first publication of a previously unknown work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father.Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. Hapless Kullervo', as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.Tolkien wrote that The Story of Kullervo was the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own', and was a majTrade ReviewPraise for J.R.R. Tolkien:‘One marvels anew at the depth, breadth and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s labour. No one sympathetic to his aims – the invention of a secondary universe – will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation.’Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis'A mine of treasures, a source of visions, a microcosm of human experience and suffering, the philosopher's stone: Migraine is a remarkable achievement' - Sunday Telegraph. Migraine is an age-old – the first recorded instances date back over two thousand years – and often debilitating condition, affecting a 'substantial minority' of the population across the globe. In Migraine, Oliver Sacks offers at once a medical account of its occurrence and management; an exploration of its physical, physiological, and psychological underpinnings and consequences; and a meditation on the nature and experience of health and illness.Trade ReviewIt delves into the workings of the brain with brilliant complexity, and should be required reading for migraine sufferers or those with an intellectual bent. * Cosmopolitan *Migraine is full of those wondrous insights that have made Oliver Sacks the most accessible and at the same time the most magisterial of doctors. -- Anita Brookner * Spectator *Written with Sacks's customary insight and grace, no book has helped me understand more about the mind-body connection. -- Hilary Mantel * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisTolstoy's passionate and iconoclastic writings--on issues of faith, immortality, freedom, violence, and morality--reflect his intellectual search for truth and a religion firmly grounded in reality. The selection includes 'A Confession,' 'Religion and Morality,' 'What Is Religion, and of What Does Its Essence Consist?,' and 'The Law of Love and the Law of Violence.'For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Table of ContentsA Confession and Other Religious Writings IntroductionA ConfessionWhat Is Religion and Of What Does Its Essence Consist?Religion and MoralityThe Law of Love and the Law of ViolenceExplanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisEric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn astonishingly fine book * Dublin Review of Books *Light on its feet and goes in deep * Deborah Levy *Wry, shocking, winningly frank . . . What is most striking about the collection is its universality. [These stories] urgently need to be told. Pine does so with an honesty and vigour that are always uplifting * Guardian *This compelling memoir crystallises the human experience and gives words to the feelings you never knew you had * Sunday Times Style *A truly brilliant writer . . . A great book * Evening Standard *A brilliant collection * David Nicholls *An exceptional collection of essays . . . Pine's sharp, unadorned writing style allows the unobscured truths to rise to the surface * Refinery29 *What resonates is Pine's articulation of the small, cumulative frustrations of life as a woman * FT *

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Book SynopsisThis collection of autobiographical essays from the inimitable Elspeth Barker, author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia, is a delightful portrait of a riotous, rapturous, remarkable lifeTrade ReviewElspeth Barker could write about anything and have you longing for more . . . Notes from the Henhouse is a book for which one feels incredulous gratitude. How come, you think, she is not better known? The book deserves to be permanently on the bedside table - to cheer, reassure and inspire . . . [Barker's] essays are sympathetic little masterpieces to which she brings storytelling capacity and an intensity that absorbs as the best fiction does -- Kate Kellaway * THE OBSERVER *Barker's prose is poetic but not inflated, visceral but smooth... Notes from the Henhouse is a vibrant, jubilant testament to both her life and work -- Lucy Scholes * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Elspeth Barker speaks her mind fearlessly, and her mind is scintillating. Witty, caustic, erudite - as fiercely funny in writing about heartbreak and mortality as she is about drunken dinner parties and delinquent dogs -- Lucy Hughes-HallettA collection of utterly captivating essays about love, children, pigs, dogs, jealousy, grief, ponds, bereavement, widowhood . . . I would also recommend her only novel, O Caledonia, as an optimal curl-up read. I hope I'm not making her sound cosy - she was much too sharp and original for that -- India Knight * THE TIMES *A masterclass in the art of the personal essay. These pieces - about pigs, and loss, and the delicate balance between art and life - are vital, and funny, and true. Though memoir, they have a powerful ambiguity, like the very best short stories -- Charlie Gilmour, author of FEATHERHOODWhat a pleasure it was to read Notes from the Henhouse. An original voice, gothic, poetic and exuberantly funny -- Esther Freud, author of HIDEOUS KINKYThis book is heaven. Elspeth Barker writes like no one else -- Olivia Laing, author of CRUDOElspeth Barker is magnificent, the most underrated British writer of the last century. I loved Notes from the Henhouse so much. Laugh-out-loud funny, sad and beautiful, these essays are a revelation, full of love and joy and life lessons (never go for a man who will intentionally step on a frog and be pragmatic about hens). I will read them again and again -- Camilla Grudova, author of CHILDREN OF PARADISEBrings joy to the bleak midwinter -- Belinda Bamber * COUNTRY AND TOWN HOUSE MAGAZINE *Her writing is glorious and this book of essays is a wonder. Every essay is a masterpiece in miniature . . . Barker is a gift and so is this book. Buy one for yourself and one for those you love. It is that sort of book -- Natasha Poliszczuk * BOOK(ISH) *Elspeth Barker is a writer whose work is so delightful there's almost no point in reviewing it. Why not just fill the page with quotations? . . . Those who have read Barker's only novel know the sweet bitterness and wild glitter of her writing . . . Enchanting -- Louisa Young * PERSPECTIVE *Joyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and complex. The perfect stocking filler, I'd say, for the clever women in your life. -- Melanie Reid * THE TIMES *

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1923 but failing to gain the same fame as her groundbreaking collection Monday or Tuesday, Woolf's short story In the Orchard is perhaps her most experimental, painting the same picture in three very different ways.

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Book SynopsisThings I Don't Want to Know is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell's famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a sequence of thrilling reflections on the writing life, this is a perfect companion not just to Orwell's essay, but also to Levy's own, essential oeuvre.Trade Review'Levy's strength is her originality of thought and expression.' Jeanette Winterson

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Book SynopsisAn essay with the reach and momentum of a novel, Kate Briggs’s This Little Art is a genre-bending song for the practice of literary translation, offering fresh, fierce and timely thinking on reading, writing and living with the works of others. Taking her own experience of translating Roland Barthes’s lecture notes as a starting point, the author threads various stories together to give us this portrait of translation as a compelling, complex and intensely relational activity. She recounts the story of Helen Lowe-Porter’s translations of Thomas Mann, and their posthumous vilification. She writes about the loving relationship between André Gide and his translator Dorothy Bussy. She recalls how Robinson Crusoe laboriously made a table, for him for the first time, on an undeserted island. With This Little Art, a beautifully layered account of a subjective translating experience, Kate Briggs emerges as a truly remarkable writer: distinctive, wise, frank, funny and utterly original.Trade Review‘Kate Briggs’s This Little Art shares some wonderful qualities with Barthes’s own work – the wit, thoughtfulness, invitation to converse, and especially the attention to the ordinary and everyday in the context of meticulously examined theoretical and scholarly questions. This is a highly enjoyable read: informative and stimulating for anyone interested in translation, writing, language, and expression.’ — Lydia Davis, author of Can’t and Won’t‘I have been thinking, many weeks after having finished it, of Kate Briggs’ truly lovely This Little Art, a book-length essay on translation that's as wry and thoughtful and probing as any book I’ve read in the past year. My favourite works are those in which one feels the writer wrestling with genre even as she is writing; Kate Briggs does this with her own kind of magic, never failing to write beguilingly and intelligently and passionately about the little art of translation, which in the end shows itself to be not so little, at all.’ — Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies‘In This Little Art, a digressive, scholarly, absorbing 350-page essay, Kate Briggs roams across the vast terrain – practical, theoretical, historical, philosophical – of translation. Briggs’s writing is erudite and assured, while maintaining a tone that is modest and speculative; this paradox encapsulates something of the essence of translation, which is always contingent (no translation is ever definitive) yet also – for its time at least – authoritative.... There have been many books written about translation, but few as engaging, intriguing or exciting as Kate Briggs’s exploration, with its digressive forays, infinite self-questioning, curiosity, modesty and devotion to the concrete – the very qualities, as it happens, that distinguish the translator’s labour.’ — Natasha Lehrer, Times Literary Supplement‘Maurice Blanchot once wrote that translators are “the silent masters of culture”. Kate Briggs amends this, commenting that Blanchot wrote “hidden masters of culture” and that it’s “our recognition” of translators’ “zeal” that “remains silent”.... Her engaging memoir unfolds in unnumbered, untitled, unstructured short chapters: a pillow book on the translator’s love affair with words and writers. ... Briggs can sound like a visionary.’ — Marina Warner, London Review of Books‘Lucid and engaging, Briggs’s book is essential, not just for translators, but anyone who has felt the magic of reading.’ — Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Book SynopsisHenry David Thoreau is considered one of the leading figures in early American literature, and Walden is without doubt his most influential book. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. This edition includes a new afterword by Sam Gilpin.Walden recounts the author's experiences living in a small house in the woods around Walden Pond near Concord in Massachusetts. Thoreau constructed the house himself, with the help of a few friends, to see if he could live 'deliberately' - independently and apart from society. The result is an intriguing work which blends natural history with philosophical insights, and includes many illuminating quotations from other authors. Thoreau's wooden shack has won a place for itself in the collective American psyche, a remarkable achievement for a book with such modest and rustic beginnings.

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Book SynopsisProvides a standard English version of Aristotle. This work contains the substance of the original translation.Trade Review"A splendid achievement."--Times Higher Education Supplement "This new edition makes a landmark of scholarship available in a very usable form."--Library Journal "It is hard to picture a more attractive presentation of a philosopher's work for study or reference."--ChristianCenturyTable of ContentsVolume Two ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTE TO THE READER ON PLANTS** ON MARVELLOUS THINGS HEARD** MECHANICS** PROBLEMS* ON INDIVISIBLE LINES** THE SITUATIONS AND NAMES OF WINDS** ON MELISSUS, XENOPHANES, AND GORGIAS** METAPHYSICS NICOMACHEAN ETHICS MAGNA MORALIA* EUDEMIAN ETHICS ON VIRTUES AND VICES** POLITICS ECONOMICS* RHETORIC RHETORIC TO ALEXANDER** POETICS CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS FRAGMENTS INDEX OF NAMES GENERAL INDEX *and **: See the Note to the Reader

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Book SynopsisAn “excellent” (The New York Times) modern tribute to an ageless pastime, and a practical guide to the art, philosophy, and rituals of fly fishing, by an expert, lifelong angler.In The Optimist, David Coggins makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide. Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats. Or the patience to land the elusive Atlantic salmon, “the fish of a thousand casts,” in eastern Canada. Pursuing these challenges, Coggins, “a confirmed obsessive,” travels to one fishing paradise after another, including the great rivers of Patagonia, private chalk streams in England, remote ponds in Maine, and New York City’s Jamaica Bay. In each setting, he chronicles his fortunes and misfortunes with honesty and humor while meditating on how fishing teaches focus, inner stillness, and a connection to the natural world. Perfect for the novice, the enthusiastic amateur, and the devoted angler alike, The Optimist offers a practical path to enlightenment while providing “a rueful, thoughtful, and very funny examination of an elegant obsession” (Jay McInerney).Trade Review“Anyone interested in fly fishing or curious how the sport could possibly be of interest to anyone should hop to David Coggins’s excellent The Optimist." —The New York Times “This is a wonderful book but to be honest, Coggins writes so well that he could rivet our attention to anything—cottage cheese, Ted Cruz, the Detroit Lions—and we would follow every sentence with remarkable obedience." —Thomas McGuane, author of The Longest Silence "Coggins' keen observations of this genteel pursuit are offered with humor, a dash of wisdom, and an enthusiasm so infectious you'll be itching to perfect your backcast between chapters." —Fortune Magazine, "Best Books of 2021" "Humorous and relatable. . . . A great read for fly fishing enthusiasts and novices alike." —Flylords “David Coggins is a pro, and his book is smart and aware and generous, the writing elegant, the humor tucked in just the right places." —TROUT Magazine “Immersive, true, pitch-perfect, and a soon-to-be classic. Coggins is a fresh voice in the fly-fishing canon, a wry genius, and the perfect guide for angler and non-angler alike.” —Chris Dombrowski, author of Body of Water “Lively, humoristic but informative. . . . [Coggins is] a talented and entertaining writer." —Atlantic Salmon Journal "[The Optimist] makes a nice philosophical case for fly fishing." —GQ "An entertaining read and intelligent resource for anglers and non-anglers alike. . . . At the height of his literary talents, the author ultimately reveals a healthy approach to angling--and to life in general." —Virginia Sportsman “To paraphrase an old saying: Writing about fly fishing is like dancing about architecture. It's nearly impossible to capture but David Coggins does it as well as anyone, and I thrilled to his adventures from England to Patagonia to America's great rivers.” —Tom Rosenbauer, author of The Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide “I’ve fished many of the rivers in this book but I hadn’t seen them run and shimmer the way they do in Coggins’s lively prose. What’s more, I’d given up on fishing, I don’t know why—maybe the world was too much with me; okay, let’s just say I’ve been preoccupied with ephemera rather than the eternal, which is what fly-fishing makes one confront. I closed this last chapter and said hell or high water, I was going to get back to the rivers and streams I’ve missed. There’s much to fall in love with in this world, and this book reminded me of that.” —Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horse Soldiers “The Optimist is a rueful, thoughtful and very funny examination of an elegant obsession. Coggins does a terrific job of evoking the joys of fly fishing and also the frustrations, which are inextricably linked. This is the best book I’ve read on fishing since Thomas McGuane’s The Longest Silence.” —Jay McInerney “Wonderfully written, consistently amusing, grand but never grandiose.” —Lesley M.M. Blume, author of Fallout “An excellent primer for the beginning fly angler and a lyrical reminder of all there is to love about the sport for even the most jaded of old hands.” —Monte Burke, author of Lords of the Fly and Saban “A wise, affectionate chronicle of a passion pursued.” —Kirkus Reviews "Coggins is a virtuoso. He has written a modern fly fishing classic." —Oppstrøms “A pure and extended love letter to fishing. . . . what grows on you and ultimately stays with you while reading The Optimist is his sheer exuberance and honesty. The real brotherhood of fishing might occasionally be about fishing triumphs, but just as often if not more, it is about failures. And we get streamside seats to all of Coggins’s." —The Washington Free Beacon "A lovely, ruminative book about a venerable sport. . . . Coggins’s enthusiasm for fly fishing is so infectious that the book will readily hook non-fishers as well.” —Library Journal

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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 *

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Book SynopsisWritten in the thirteenth century, Njal''s Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law''s inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence beyond their control. It is populated by memorable and complex characters like Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a powerful warrior with an aversion to killing, and the not-so-villainous Mord Valgardsson. Full of dreams, strange prophecies, violent power struggles, and fragile peace agreements, Njal''s Saga tells the compelling story of a fifty-year blood feud that, despite its distance from us in time and place, is driven by passions familiar to us all. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction, chronology, index of characters, plot summary, explanatory notes, maps, and suggestions for further reading.

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Book Synopsis''If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light, If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you.''Henry Rollins, renowned spoken-word performer, musician, actor and author of several books, has a unique, hard-edged view of the world. This collection of writings from 1989 - 1991 is the classic Rollins book.From dramatic fiction shorts detailing stark, disturbing realities to gut-wrenching tour journals destroying all misconceptions of the glamour of fame and the music industry; from the challenging poetry to revealing dream sequences, Rollins'' writing is unflinching in its honesty, uncompromising in its truth and irresistibly addictive.Trade ReviewAn intelligent and perceptive man. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe Communist Manifesto is one of the most influential pieces of political propaganda ever written. It is a summary of the whole Marxist vision of history and is the foundation document of the Marxist movement.Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were aged 29 and 27 respectively when The Communist Manifesto was published on the eve of the 1848 revolutions. The authors had been close collaborators since 1844, and the Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the world-view they had evolved during their hectic intellectual and political involvement of the previous few years.This new edition is critically and textually up to date, and includes the Prefaces written by Marx and Engels subsequent to the 1848 edition. 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 clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewAn excellent and scholarly edition with a very useful introduction and notes - very accessible and informative for students with little to no background knowledge. / Rebecca Braun, Lancaster University

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Book SynopsisFrom William Faulkner's famous reply, 'The writer's only responsibility is to his art,' to James Salter's confession 'What is the ultimate impulse to write? Because all this is going to vanish', the Paris Review has elicited many of the most arresting, illuminating, and revealing discussions of life and craft from the greatest writers of our age. Under its original editor, George Plimpton, the Paris Review is credited with inventing the modern literary interview, and more than half a century later the magazine remains the master of the form. By turns intimate, instructive, gossipy, curmudgeonly, elegant, hilarious, cunning, and consoling, the Paris Review interviews have come to be celebrated as classic literary works in their own right. Now, from the treasure trove of the archives, Paris Review editor Philip Gourevitch has selected twenty of the most essential interviews for the first of a four volume set. The authors are: Dorothy Parker, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, Saul Bellow, Jorge Luis Borges, Kurt Vonnegut, James M. Cain, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Stone, Robert Gottlieb, Richard Price, Billy Wilder, Jack Gilbert and Joan Didion.Trade ReviewNothing is lonelier or riskier than being a writer, and these interviews provide writers at all stages the companionship and guidance they need. -- Edmund WhiteThe Paris Review Interviews, in their old Penguin trade paperback editions, were objects of wonder that formed my first and fiercest impression of what it was to be an author. I still ascribe any vivid remembered quote to their pages, even when it didn't appear there. -- Jonathan LethemI have all the copies of the Review and like the interviews very much. They will make a good book when collected and that will be very good for the Review. -- Ernest Hemingway

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Book Synopsis''Dear holy cleric,'' they said, ''these old warriors tell you no more than a third of their stories, because their memories are faulty. Have these stories written down on poets'' tablets in refined language, so that the hearing of them will provide entertainment for the lords and commons of later times.'' The angels then left them. Tales of the Elders of Ireland is the first complete translation of the late Middle Irish Acallam na Senórach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick, with his scribes, clerics, occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell, the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings, and the parallel, timeless Otherworld, peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies. It also provides the most extensive account available of the inhabitants of the Irish Otherworld - theTrade Review"One of the masterpieces of the second millennium" Paul Muldoon, TLS December, 1999

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Book SynopsisCloser to Dylan Thomas than Matthew Arnold in his ‘creative violence’ and insistence on the sound of poetry, Gerard Manley Hopkins was no staid, conventional Victorian. On entering the Society of Jesus and the age of twenty-four, he burnt all his poetry and ‘resolved to write no more, as not belonging to my profession, unless by the wish of my superiors.'' The poems, letters, and journal entries selected for this edition were written in the following twenty years of his life and published posthumously in 1918.   His verse is wrought from the creative tensions and paradoxes of a poet-priest who wanted to evoke the spiritual essence of nature sensuously, and to communicate this revelation in natural language and speech-rhythms while using condensed, innovative diction and all the skills of poetic artifice. Intense, vital, and individual, his writing is the ‘terrible crystal’ through which the soul—the inscape, the nature of

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Book SynopsisThe Gallic War, published on the eve of the civil war which led to the end of the Roman Republic, is an autobiographical account written by one of the most famous figures of European history. This new translation reflects the purity of Caesar's Latin while preserving the pace and flow of his momentous narrative. As well as an introduction and notes, this edition offers maps, a table of dates, and a glossary.Trade ReviewI read Caesar with rather more reverence and respect than one feels in reading human works...the only thing to be said against him is that he speaks too sparingly of himself. * Montaigne *

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Book SynopsisA trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor's reign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different—and dangerous—history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave. The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works t

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Book SynopsisHerman Hesse remained clear-sighted and consistent in his political views and his passionate espousal of pacifism and the bloody absurdity of war from the start of the First World War to the end of his life. He wrote the earliest essay in this book in September 1914, before he cemented his fame with the novels Steppenwolf and Siddhartha, and continued writing a stream of letters, essays and pamphlets throughout the war. In his native Germany his views earned him the labels 'traitor' and 'viper', but after World War II he was moved to reiterate his beliefs in another series of essays and letters.If the War Goes On . . . resonates as strongly today as it did when originally published and begs the question: have our politicians learnt nothing in the last seventy years?Trade ReviewJust as telling now as it must have been when it first appeared * * Guardian * *A writer of genius * * The Times * *A spectacular and deeply insightful read * * Brain Pickings * *

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Book Synopsis''Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life''The two works brought together here, ''The Decay of Lying'' and ''The Critic as Artist'', are Oscar Wilde''s wittiest and most profound writings on aesthetics, in which he proposes that criticism is the highest form of creation and that lying, the telling of a beautiful untruth, is the ultimate aim of art.One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

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Book Synopsis A stunning collection of essays and memoir from twice Booker Prize winner and international bestseller Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light Trade Review‘It shows the evolution in Mantel’s style, which has been considerable. Some of the pieces are segments of memoir, some are deeply informed historical essays loosely attached to discussions of books. In the earliest reviews – before she is given subjects big enough for her to walk around in – Mantel is sarky and snarky as well as brisk and breezy … Mantel’s own segments of memoir, which were published as diary pieces, are virtuoso performances … As a memoirist, Mantel is without parallel … It is only when her essays are laid out like this that we can see the inside of Mantel’s huge head, bulging with knowledge and a million connections. 5/5 STARS’ Telegraph ‘This is a work that is brisk and breezy, and further enhanced by her capacity to examine our hearts, register our feelings, and bring up with tenderness the enduring question of our frail and vulnerable bodies’ Evening Standard ‘Worth buying for the title pun alone, Mantel Pieces brings together three decades’ worth of Hilary Mantel’s criticism in the London Review of Books … her uncomplicated prose style is no less authorative for being highly readable’ Sunday Times ‘A volume of critical writing which often feels as if one is in the company of an exceptionally wise and generous friend, exept very few of us have friends who can be as erudite on Madonna as they are on Anne Boylen’ Sara Collins ‘Bad girls. Ecstatic masochists. Housewives with hidden depths. Revolutionaries who rebelled all the way to the madhouse. These unruly women are her enduring obsession’ Helen Lewis, New Statesman ‘Likely to leave readers in awe of the purity of Mantel’s prose, the breadth of her interests and the sharp intelligence she brings to every topic … Reading it is like downing a cold, sharp glass of lemonade on a swelteringly hot day: crisp, tart and unbelievably refreshing’ i Paper ‘Ferocious, witty and unapologetic’ Guardian

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Book SynopsisA woman of undeniable courage. She should be heard' New York TimesFrom trailblazing political activist Angela Y. Davis, a major new collection of essays and interviews that argue for a radical rethinking of our prison systemsAn icon of revolutionary politics, Angela Y. Davis has been at the forefront of collective movements for prison abolition for over fifty years. Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, the first of two important new volumes, brings together an essential collection of Davis's essays, conversations, and interviews over the years, showing how her thinking has sharpened and evolved even as she has remained uncompromising in her commitment to collective liberation. Davis traces a genealogy of the penal system, from slavery to the prison industrial complex, offering a trenchant analysis of the relationship between the prison system and capitalism, both in the US and on a global scale. Combining decades of analytical brilliance and lessons from organising both inside and beyond prison walls, Davis addresses the history of abolitionist practice, details the unique contributions of women to abolitionist struggles, and offers the radical tools we need for revolutionary change. Powerful and rewarding, filled with insight and provocation, Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, is essential reading for anyone seeking to imagine a world without prisons. 'A brilliantly observant, profoundly knowledgeable, and unfailingly original text . . . A must-read essay collection for anyone invested in racial equity' Kirkus (starred review)She has eyes in the back of our head. With her we can survive and resist' John Berger

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Book SynopsisEncountering an eccentric cast of characters along the way, Sebald confronts the frailty of human existence as he voyages along the Suffolk coast on foot. What begins as the record of a journey on foot through coastal East Anglia becomes the great, constellated story of people and cultures past and present: of Chateaubriand, Thomas Browne, Swinburne and Conrad, of fishing fleets, skulls and silkworms. A rich meditation on the past via a melancholy trip along the Suffolk coast, The Rings of Saturn is an intricately patterned and haunting book on the transience of all things human.VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mindTrade ReviewA great, strange and moving work * James Wood, Guardian *The finest book of long-distance mental travel that I've ever read * Jonathan Raban, Times Literary Supplement *A desperate intensity of feeling is thrillingly counterpoised by the workings of a wonderfully learned and rigorous mind * Sunday Times *Sebald is surely a major European author...he reaches the heights of epiphanic beauty only encountered normally in the likes of Proust * Independent on Sunday *A highly original work...part memoir, part fiction, part meditative essay writing, and finally an essay for the dispossessed * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HILAIRE BELLOCIn the course of a career that encompassed nearly one hundred novels and short story collections (written over more than seventy years), P.G. Wodehouse established himself as not only a fond satirist of the foppish upper class, but one of the greatest comic voices in all literature. Including stories featuring all his finest creations, including Jeeves, Lord Emsworth of Blandings, Ukridge and the disreputable members of the Drones club, this collection is an ideal introduction to the writer described by Douglas Adams as the greatest comic writer ever'.Trade ReviewMr Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in -- Evelyn WaughP.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply, or with quite as much wit and affection -- Julian FellowesHe is the head of my profession... If in, say, fifty years, Jeeves and any other of that great company shall have faded, then what we have so long called England will no longer be -- Hilaire BellocA peerless collection -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *A genius ... Elusive, delicate but lasting -- Alan Ayckbourn

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Book SynopsisAmid the corruption and power struggles of the collapse of the Roman Republic, Cicero (106-43BC) produced some of the most stirring and eloquent speeches in history. A statesman and lawyer, he was one of the only outsiders to penetrate the aristocratic circles that controlled the Roman state, and became renowned for his speaking to the Assembly, Senate and courtrooms. Whether fighting corruption, quashing the Catiline conspiracy, defending the poet Archias or railing against Mark Antony in the Philippics - the magnificent arguments in defence of liberty which led to his banishment and death - Cicero''s speeches are oratory masterpieces, vividly evocative of the cut and thrust of Roman political life.Table of ContentsIntroduction1 On the Command of Cnaeus Pompeius (In Support of the Manilian Law)2 Against Lucius Sergius Catilina (i-iv)3 In Defence of the poet Aulus Licinius Archias4 In Defence of Marcus Caelius Rufus5 In Defence of Titus Annius Milo6 In Support of Marcus Claudius Marcellus7 The First Philippic against Marcus AntoniusAppendixesA). Key to Technical TermsB). Further ReadingC). MapsIndex of Personal Names

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Book SynopsisSusan Sontag''s third essay collection brings together her most important critical writing from 1972 to 1980. In these provocative and hugely influential works she explores some of the most controversial artists and thinkers of our time, including her now-famous polemic against Hitler''s favourite film-maker, Leni Riefenstahl, and the cult of fascist art, as well as a dazzling analysis of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg''s Hitler, a Film from Germany. There are also highly personal and powerful explorations of death, art, language, history, the imagination and writing itself.Trade Review'No one has written more passionately about Antonin Artaud...Nor has anyone before Sontag taken the pains to demolish so thoroughly Hitler's favourite moveimaker, Leni Riefenstahl. This is one of the crack essays in the book.' Chicago Tribune

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