History of ideas Books

Book SynopsisProf Yuval Noah Harari has a PhD in History from the University of Oxford and now lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specialising in World History. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind has become an international phenomenon attracting a legion of fans from Bill Gates and Barack Obama to Chris Evans and Jarvis Cocker, and is published in sixty languages worldwide. It was a Sunday Times Number One bestseller and was in the Top Ten for over nine months in paperback. His follow-up to Sapiens, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow was also a Top Ten Bestseller and was described by the Guardian as 'even more readable, even more important, than his excellent Sapiens'. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, was a Number One Bestseller and was described by Bill Gates as 'fascinating' and 'crucial'. Harari worked closely with renowned comics illustrator Daniel Casanave and co-writer David Vandermeulen to create his latest book, an adaptation of his first bestseller, Sapiens Graphic Novel: Volume 1.Trade ReviewI would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species * Bill Gates *Interesting and provocative… It gives you a sense of how briefly we’ve been on this Earth * Barack Obama *Jaw-dropping from the first word to the last… It may be the best book I’ve ever read * Chris Evans *Tackles the biggest questions of history and the modern world… Written in unforgettably vivid language * Jared Diamond *Startling... It changes the way you look at the world * Simon Mayo *Sapiens is a starburst of a book, as enjoyable as it is stimulating * Sunday Express *One of the best books I’ve read recently… Gives an excellent overview of how our species has developed * Lily Cole *Sweeps the cobwebs out of your brain… Radiates power and clarity, making the world strange and new * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisBy walking, you escape from the very idea of identity, the temptation to be someone, to have a name and a history ... The freedom in walking lies in not being anyone; for the walking body has no history, it is just an eddy in the stream of immemorial life.In A Philosophy of Walking, a bestseller in France, leading thinker Frédéric Gros charts the many different ways we get from A to B-the pilgrimage, the promenade, the protest march, the nature ramble-and reveals what they say about us. Gros draws attention to other thinkers who also saw walking as something central to their practice. On his travels he ponders Thoreau's eager seclusion in Walden Woods; the reason Rimbaud walked in a fury, while Nerval rambled to cure his melancholy. He shows us how Rousseau walked in order to think, while Nietzsche wandered the mountainside to write. In contrast, Kant marched through his hometown every day, exactly at the same hour, to escape the compulsion of thought. Brilliant and erudite, A Philosophy of Walking is an entertaining and insightful manifesto for putting one foot in front of the other.Trade Review"Resolving to take more walks in the new year might sound like promising to take more naps--choosing idleness over work. But a lot of clever people don't see it that way [...] Frédéric Gros asks why so many of our most productive writers and philosophers--Rousseau, Kant, Rimbaud, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nietzsche, Jack Kerouac--have also been indefatigable walkers." -- Christopher Caldwell * Financial Times *A passionate affirmation of the simple life, and joy in simple things. And it's beautifully written: clear, simple, precise. -- Carole Cadwalladr * Observer *Poignant life-stories ... are interspersed with the author's own meditations on walking... In the way a landscape is gradually absorbed by the long-distance rambler they steadily build into an insistent exhortation: get up, get out and walk! * Independent *Impressive. * Telegraph *"Life-affirming stuff." * National Geographic Traveller *"Philosopher Gros ponders walking, that most mundane mode of transportation or exercise, elevating it to its rightful place in inspiring creativity, evoking freedom, and quieting a troubled soul." * Booklist *"This elegant book inspires consideration of an oft-overlooked subject." * Publisher's Weekly *This short, simple and profound book... will be read and re-read. * Times Higher Education *Frédéric Gros asks why so many of our most productive writers and philosophers - Rousseau, Kant, Rimbaud, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nietzsche, Jack Kerouac - have also been indefatigable walkers . there are certain magical things that happen on the trail, and Gros is familiar with them. He thinks like a hiker. * Financial Times *An admirable little book which will delight even the most sedentary. * Le Monde *An unclassifiable book in which ideas are illuminated by the bright light of the morning. * L’Express *Unpretentious and refreshing. -- Jonathon Sturgeon * Flavorwire *A long walk, Gros suggests, allows us to commune with the sublime. * New York Times *Celebrates the liberation of the mind that comes with walking, especially in natural areas: I hike, therefore, I am. -- Matt Jaffe

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Book Synopsis**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER**Sapiens showed us where we came from. In our increasingly uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we're going.'Spellbinding' GuardianThe world-renowned historian and intellectual Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond - from overcoming death to creating artificial life.It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold?'Even more readable, even more important, than his excellent Sapiens' Kazuo Ishiguro'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before' Daniel Kahneman, bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and SlowTrade ReviewHomo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. Above all, it will make you think in ways you had not thought before. -- Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and SlowShows us where mankind is headed in an absolutely clear-sighted and accessible manner * Jarvis Cocker *Even more readable, even more important, than his excellent Sapiens -- Kazuo Ishiguro * Guardian Books of the Year *An exhilarating book that takes the reader deep into questions of identity, consciousness and intelligence * Observer *A brilliantly original, thought-provoking and important study of where mankind is heading. * Evening Standard *Spellbinding… a quirky and cool book, with a sliver of ice at its heart * Guardian *An intoxicating brew of science, philosophy and futurism. * Mail on Sunday *Yuval Noah Harari is the most entertaining and thought-provoking writer of non-fiction at the moment. As with Sapiens, you finish the book feeling much wiser -- Matt HaigIt is thrilling to watch such a talented author trample so freely across so many disciplines... Harrari's skill lies in the way he tilts the prism in all these fields and looks at the world in different ways, providing fresh angles on what we thought we knew... the result is scintillating -- John Thornhill * Financial Times *What elevates Harari above many chroniclers of our age is his exceptional clarity and focus. -- Josh Glancy * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisFor centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture - and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, The SilTrade ReviewThe axis of history writing seemed to shift east with Frankopan's sweeping history, which placed the Silk Road at the very centre of world events -- Books of the Decade * Sunday Times *Many books have been written which claim to be “A New History of the World”. This one fully deserves the title . . . It is difficult, in a short review, to do justice to a book so ambitious, so detailed and so fascinating as this one -- Gerald DeGroot * The Times *A book that roves as widely as the geography it describes, encompassing worlds as far removed as those of Herodotus and Saddam Hussein, Hammurabi and Hitler . . . It is a tribute to Frankopan’s scholarship and mastery of sources in multiple languages that he is as sure-footed on the ancient world as he is on the medieval and modern -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *My book of the year: history on a grand scale, with a sweep of ambition that is rare . . . A remarkable book on many levels, and one that anyone would have been proud to write: a proper historical epic of dazzling range, ambition and achievement -- William Dalrymple * Observer *The most illuminating book of the year . . . A healthy antidote to Eurocentric accounts of history -- Books of the Year * Times Literary Supplement *Splendid . . . tightly researched . . . invigorating and profound with enough storytelling to excite the reader and enough fresh scholarship to satisfy the intellect . . . charismatic and essential -- Bettany Hughes * Daily Telegraph *A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world * Wall Street Journal *Dazzlingly good * Evening Standard *Based on astonishingly wide and deep reading and in all areas draws on the latest research . . . It is full of vivid and recondite details * Independent *Full of intriguing insights and fascinating details * Observer *With extraordinary erudition and a vivid style, he takes us on a dazzling tour of these parts from the rise of the first empires right through to the present * Open (Weekly) *Beautifully constructed, a terrific and exhilarating read and a new perspective on world history -- Averil Cameron * History Today *As well-written, entertaining, disturbing and exciting as a detective story * Svenska Dagbladet *A dazzling piece of historical writing * South China Morning Post *This book lives up to its claim to be a new history of the world because of its geopolitical paradigm shift . . . He is a Herodotus of the twenty first century * Irish Left Review *Monumental . . . prodigious . . . astonishing. Frankopan is an exhilarating companion for the journey along the routes which conveyed silk, slaves, ideas, religion, and disease, and around which today may hang the destiny of the world * Vanity Fair *An exceptional storyteller . . . Frankopan does a superb job of explaining the history that has led to this modern era of new Silk Roads running across “the spine of Asia.” . . . Frankopan’s book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to make sense of this union of past and present * Dallas Morning News *Sumptuous, intriguing and surprising -- Sir Paddy AshdownA big book like this would have taken the whole year to read if I had followed up every reference that piqued my interest -- Readers' Books of the Year 2016 * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA beautiful new hardback anniversary edition of the multi-million copy sensationINCLUDES A NEW AFTERWORD FROM YUVAL NOAH HARARIWhat makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens?One of the world's preeminent historians and thinkers, Yuval Noah Harari challenges everything we know about being human. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it: us.In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where we're going.PRAISE FOR SAPIENS:'Interesting and provocative... It gives you a sense of how briefly we've been on this Earth' Barack Obama'Jaw-dropping from the first word to the last... It may be the best book I've ever read' Chris Evans'Startling... It changes the way you look at the world' Simon Mayo'I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who's interested in the history and future of our species' Bill GatesTrade ReviewSapiens is a starburst of a book, as enjoyable as it is stimulating * Sunday Express *Unforgettably vivid language. I urge everyone to read it * H Edition *A fantastic book about how homo sapiens came to conquer the world * Mail on Sunday *

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Book Synopsis''A brilliant display of fireworks, attacking the widespread and banal notion that in the beginning sexual activity was guilt-free and delicious, being repressed and blighted only by the gloom of Victorianism'' Spectator We talk about sex more and more, but are we more liberated? The first part of Michel Foucault''s landmark account of our evolving attitudes in the west shows how the nineteenth century, far from suppressing sexuality, led to an explosion of discussion about sex as a separate sphere of life for study and examination. As a result, he argues, we are making a science of sex which is devoted to the analysis of desire rather than the increase of pleasure. ''A wealth of insights, original conceptualizations and provocative ideas'' The Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewA wealth of insights, original conceptualizations and provocative ideas -- Peter Oborne * Daily Telegraph *A brilliant display of fireworks, attacking the widespread and banal notion that 'in the beginning' sexual activity was guilt-free and delicious, being repressed and blighted only by the gloom of Victorianism -- Jasper Griffin * Spectator *Foucault is at his polemical best. He brilliantly succeeds in turning commonplaces on their heads -- Hayden White * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis'There to fill the Sapiens-size hole in your life' Observer A groundbreaking global overview of philosophy, travelling the world to provide a wide-ranging map of human thought One of the great unexplained wonders of history is that philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These writings would have a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. In How the World Thinks Julian Baggini sets out to expand our horizons, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia's first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, Baggini asks questions such as: why is the West is more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less powerful force in the Islamic world than in Europe? And how has China resisted pressures for greater political freedom? Baggini shows that by gaining greater knowledge of how others think we take the first step to a greater understanding of ourselves. 'Terrific. The intellectual and spiritual generosity of this book makes it an essential text for our fractious and dangerously divided era' Richard Holloway, author of Stories We Tell Ourselves 'This bold fascinating book seeks to inhabit other philosophical traditions, with humility but without patronisingly exempting them from the critique he applies to ours... Deft [and] rigorous' Jane O'Grady, Financial TimesTrade ReviewThis bold fascinating book seeks to inhabit other philosophical traditions, with humility but without patronisingly exempting them from the critique he applies to ours... Deft [and] rigorous -- Jane O'Grady * Financial Times *There to fill the Sapiens-size hole in your life * Observer *Terrific. The intellectual and spiritual generosity of this book makes it an essential text for our fractious and dangerously divided era -- Richard HollowaySuch scope, and such lucid, lightly worn learning. Enlightening, perspective-shifting, mind-expanding - a superb tour through world philosophies with an erudite and friendly guide -- Sarah BakewellTimely and important...this is his best [book] to date... Enthralling... This ingenious and open-hearted book is about the art of living well, something the West's philosophy has often neglected -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *Fascinating and unexpected... a dazzling kaleidoscope... [Baggini] has a true gift for making the difficult accessible in lapidary prose... Worth reading and re-reading -- Marina Vaizey * Arts Desk *What I loved about Julian Baggini's How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy was its spiritual and intellectual generosity, and the author's ability to engage sympathetically with philosophical traditions that do not conform to his own preferred rationalist approach -- Book of the Year selected by Richard Holloway * Tablet *If you've ever wondered why the West tends to reward individual success, why some religions prioritise speech and some silence, or what lessons can be drawn by comparing Vincent Van Gogh and Michael Winner, this is a book for you * History Revealed *One of the great philosophical popularisers of his age... Baggini summarises and explicates with the greatest precision, compression and élan -- Christopher Bray * Tablet *One of the great unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These early philosophies have had a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. Baggini also looks at the differences between east and west and different religions * Four Shires Magazine *Ground-breaking -- Sarah Dennis * Oxford Times *Eye-opening * Prospect *[For] a broader audience with no philosophical training... Baggini [...] is cheerful and wide-eyed, moving from one big idea to another like a food lover at an opulent buffet * TLS *Highly readable * Times Higher Education *A brilliantly accessible coalescence of thought and belief from around the world...A triumph of comparative philosophy with widespread relevance for the way we live today -- Book of the Month * Waterstones *There is also a need for books that explain non-Western philosophical traditions to the interested non-specialist. Julian Baggini's How The World Thinks is an excellent example of this genre * TLS *

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Book SynopsisExistentialism is backCarpe diem – ‘seize the day’ – is one of the oldest pieces of life advice in Western history. But its true spirit has been hijacked by ad men and self-help gurus, reduced to the instant hit of one-click online shopping, or slogans like ‘live in the now’. We need to reclaim it to make sense of our complex, confusing times.The last great expression of carpe diem was in the electrifying existential philosophy of the 1940s. Today it’s an idea that challenges us to confront our mortality and live with greater passion and intention rather than scroll mindlessly on our phones or allow freedom to become a mere choice between brands. In Carpe Diem Regained,Roman Krznaric reinvents existentialism for our age of information and choice overload. An essential and empowering work of contemporary philosophy, the book unveils the surprising ways of seizing the day that humankind has discovered over the centuries, ones we urgently need to revive.Carpe diem is the Nexistentialism for our times.Trade Review"I’ve started reading Roman Krznaric’s Carpe Diem Regained: The Vanishing Art of Seizing the Day – and it’s brilliant. One of those rare books that forces you to ask what the hell you’re doing with your life." -- George Monbiot * Guardian *"I have always been inspired by carpe diem so I'm delighted to have your book." -- Dame Judi Dench"With more than ever distracting us, it’s an insightful guide to staying foc – er, what did you want?" -- Best Books for Summer * Forbes *"A rather wonderful new book is trying to seize back the noble art of day-seizing." -- Viv Groskop * The Pool *"As always Roman takes a unique look at the world we’ve created. Insightful and thought provoking." -- Tim Lovejoy

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Book Synopsis“Immensely rich and exciting . . . Christopher Hill has that supreme gift of being able to show us the seventeenth-century world from the inside.”—Arthur Marwick in New Society Within the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century which resulted in the triumph of the protestant ethic—the ideology of the propertied class—there threatened another, quite different, revolution. Its success “might have established communal property, a far wider democracy in political and legal institutions, might have disestablished the state church and rejected the protestant ethic.” In The World Turned Upside Down Christopher Hill studies the beliefs of such radical groups as the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers, and others, and the social and emotional impulses that gave rise to them. The relations between rich and poor classes, the part played by wandering “master-less” men, the outbursts of sexual freedom

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Book SynopsisTHE TIMES BEST IDEAS BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2024 'A splendid book: economical, invigorating and surprising' The Times'He has that gift, both as a podcaster and as a writer, to illuminate abstruse and abstract ideas with human charm' ObserverIn this bold new follow-up to Confronting Leviathan, David Runciman unmasks modern politics and reveals the great men and women of ideas behind it. What can Samuel Butler's ideas teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies? How did Frederick Douglass not only expose the horrors of slavery, but champion a new approach to abolishing it? Why should we tolerate snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy, as Judith Shklar suggested? And what does Friedrich Nietzsche predict for our future?From Rousseau to Rawls, fascism to feminism and pleasure to anarchy, this is a mind-bending tour through the history of ideas which will forever change your view of politics today.

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Book SynopsisWitchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas''s classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.Trade ReviewMonumental ... with a living treasure on each page, and probably the book that, in my whole life, I've pressed on other people most energetically. (Selected people, of course. They have to care for history, and they need a sense of wonder and a sense of fun.) -- Hilary Mantel * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisRyan North is the (New York Times bestselling, Eisner-award winning) creator of Dinosaur Comics, the co-editor of the Machine of Death series, and the author of To Be or Not To Be, the choose-your-own-path version of Hamlet! He has written the "Adventure Time" comic and writes "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" for Marvel Comics, who you might know from their movies about an iron man. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife Jenn and his dog Noam Chompsky.Trade ReviewHow to Invent Everything is such a cool book ... essential reading * Randall Munroe, xkcd creator and bestelling author of WHAT IF? and THING EXPLAINER *Ryan North is as funny as he is smart, and he is hilarious ... an almost essential primer on the story so far when it comes to science ... suitable for anyone with a sense of humour and some curiosity. Brilliant stuff * Starburst magazine *A dazzling piece of work that's also genuinely hilarious * Elan Mastai, author of ALL OUR WRONG TODAYS *An essential handbook for any hapless time-traveller * Prof Lewis Dartnell, author of THE KNOWLEDGE: How to Rebuild our World from Scratch *Technically, we are all time travelers and we are all trapped. So, even if you happen to be scanning this blurb in what you perceive to be a 'normal' timeline, I heartily recommend you read this book cover to cover. * Zach Weinersmith, creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and author of SOONISH *A hilarious and practical guide * Atlas Obscura *Packed with cool, fun, and useful stuff... a friendly and thought-provoking reference, just the thing for the bright kid in the family, to say nothing of the neighbourhood time traveller * Kirkus Reviews *A brilliant conceit ... a slyly funny piece of popular science writing * Glen Weldon, NPR’s Great Reads of 2018 *North is incredibly funny, so you’ll be entertained while inventing fundamental technology for your fellow, albeit less-developed, man ... Avoid the pitfalls of our ancestors with this handy guide * BookPage *whip-smart and hilarious . . . Combine that humour, intelligence and style with the history of human technology and you’ve got How to Invent Everything * Winnipeg Free Press *

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Book SynopsisA pioneering treatise on embracing cooperation and reciprocity to usher in a greener and more inclusive world, from the major anarchist thinkerA Penguin ClassicWelcome to the anarchist history of the world. In this lively, provocative work, Peter Kropotkin argues that mutual aid is a natural instinct in all of us, animal and human. Cooperation, reciprocity, support: these, for Kropotkin, are the overlooked foundations of our history. From the earliest days of evolution through to artisanal guilds, indigenous nomads, and even the Royal National Lifeboat Association, it is a pragmatic, mutually beneficial bond to our fellow humans that has allowed us to survive. In this, Kropotkin challenges all the major orthodoxies of his age, from individualism and social Darwinism to Marxist theories of the savior state. Instead, these essays insist that a better life for all of us--and our planet--begins when we reject competition, and embrace the local, the mutual, and the collective.

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Book SynopsisQuadratic equations, Pythagoras’ theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi — you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear — bestselling science writer, and your new favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help. In The Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of the wonders of numbers: how they enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens; how they won wars and halted the HIV epidemic; how they are responsible for the design of your home and almost everything in it, down to the smartphone in your pocket. His clear explanations of the maths that built our world, along with stories about where it came from and how it shaped human history, will engage and delight. From ancient Egyptian priests to the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to juggling robots, join Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of characters in discovering how maths made us who we are today.Trade Review‘At school, many of us wondered about the point of geometry, calculus, and algebra. Brooks shows how the childhood question “What’s the point of this?” can be reframed: esoteric concepts such as imaginary numbers, cryptography, and the semi-mystical digits of pi are revealed to be the essential building blocks of the 21st century.’ -- Liz Else and Simon Ings * New Scientist *‘An alternative textbook that suggests a new way of thinking about maths, and a more congenial way of teaching it — as not simply an abstract science but as a cultural achievement, an indelible and indispensable part of human history.’ -- Lola Seaton * New Statesman *‘How brilliant of Michael Brooks to be able to reignite my almost-forgotten childhood love of mathematics. Written with beauty, style, and care for the history as well as for the science. A tour de force.’ -- Angela Saini, author of Superior: the return of race science‘Michael Brooks has written the formula that reduces to near zero any sense that maths could be a dull subject to study. [The Maths That Made Us] brings to life in accessible, lively terms how maths helps us navigate pandemics, space travel, and encrypted apps — all while celebrating the complicated and fascinating characters, from Euclid to Florence Nightingale, who have pushed our knowledge forward. Why isn’t school maths taught like this?’ -- David Rowan, founding editor-in-chief of WIRED UK and author of Non-Bullshit Innovation‘In this thrilling, colourful, and deeply researched book, Michael Brooks tells the epic story of how mathematics has driven human progress, spanning millennia to trace the numerical innovations — from geometry and algebra to the mind-bending landscapes of imaginary numbers and extra dimensions — that have woven our history and shape our lives today. Along the way, he explores the passions and intrigues of the people behind the numbers, transforming mathematics from dry equations into a gripping drama. This is maths as you’ve never experienced it: inspiring, fun, and utterly human.’ -- Jo Marchant, author of The Human Cosmos‘Michael Brooks has a rare gift for making science come to life, and in this book he is at his best, fusing mathematics with storytelling as he takes us on an exhilarating sweep through human history. [The Maths That Made Us] shows just how deeply numbers have propelled the advance of civilisation. And it does so with enormous narrative brio and good cheer. This is a serious — but seriously readable — history which I enjoyed from the first page to the last.’ -- Dan Jones, New York Times bestselling historian‘A friendly, readable account of the huge influence that mathematics has had on human civilisation. If you’ve ever wondered what the maths you did at school was for, and what it has done for us, you’ll find the answer here. Michael Brooks’s enthusiasm for the beauty and utility of the subject shines from every page.’ -- Ian Stewart, author of What’s the Use?‘From Fermat’s last theorem to quantum computers, pi to probability, slides rules to golden ratios, [The Maths That Made Us] is no mere bluffer’s guide, but a rich introduction to the elegance and importance of mathematics. Michael Brooks shows what a global and multicultural task it has been, ever since prehistory, to figure out how we can benefit from quantification and calculation. He shows that maths is not just, as Eugene Wigner said, unreasonably effective for understanding the world, but also unfathomably wonderful in its own right.’ -- Philip Ball, science writer and author of Beyond Weird‘Suddenly it all makes sense. This brilliant book shows maths as something concrete, real, and crucial to our lives, rather than some dry, abstract code designed to make school kids’ lives miserable.’ -- Charlie Higson, actor, comedian, and author of the Enemy series‘Michael Brooks has written both a lively history of civilisation, and a delightful introduction to the power of mathematics. Either would be an achievement, but to do both simultaneously is a wonder.’ -- Tim Harford, author of How To Make the World Add Up‘If you love maths, you’ll enjoy this book. But if you’re a little scared of maths (as I am), you’ll adore [The Maths That Made Us]. Michael Brooks knows how to tell the hidden stories behind numbers, formulas, and logarithms.’ -- Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature‘Mathematics is quite unique in that even much earlier results do not change with the passing of time. This book is not only a passionate love letter to mathematics, it offers an important lesson in the appreciation of mathematics, and of its crucial role in humanity’s history.’ -- Mario Livio, astrophysicist, and author of Galileo and The Science Deniers‘A more or less chronological history and compelling case that advances in mathematics provided the foundation for the advance of civilisation … An unabashed lover of mathematics, Brooks refuses to take the traditional pop writer’s pledge to eschew equations. Most readers will follow his description of ancient navigation across the Mediterranean and the birth of linear perspective in Renaissance Italy, but when he turns his attention to calculus, logarithms, statistics, and cryptography, there is no shortage of complex equation … Not a mathematics-is-fun romp but a serious, persuasive effort to describe how its discoveries paralleled human progress.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘An enviably good history of how ideas in mathematics have shaped (and been shaped by) the progress of civilisation.’ -- Tim Harford, author of How To Make the World Add Up‘What is the driving force behind the development of human civilisation? In this unique and surprising book, Michael Brooks makes the case that it is the growth and progress of mathematics — and he does it in a way that will be interesting to the mathematical and math-phobic alike! As entertaining as it is informative, [The Maths That Made Us] takes us on a journey through the ages, demonstrating how mathematics played a crucial role in the evolution of how we live. Not since Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel has there been such an insightful and compelling analysis of how we got here.’ -- Leonard Mlodinow, New York Times bestselling author of The Drunkard’s Walk‘Moving from ancient Egyptian priests to a hobbyist who solved a mapmaking puzzle that confounded NASA and the US Geological Survey, science writer Brooks aims to persuade readers that mathematics was one of the great innovations that made civilisation happen.’ -- Barbara Hoffert * Library Journal *‘He begins by diligently explaining the basics of algebra, arithmetic, calculus, and geometry, and introducing key figures in math’s history … Brooks uses the work of these thinkers to break down the math behind facets of everyday life: he describes the statistics that underlie life expectancies; the equations that allow scientists to understand the cosmos; and the imaginary numbers that give guitar amplifiers their power … It’s a show-stopping paean to the wonder of numbers.’ * Publishers Weekly, starred review *‘Ambitious.’ -- Tom Gatti * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisWhen should we revolt? A life-changing insight into violent political change by one of the world''s greatest political thinkers and author of surprise recent bestseller The Origins of Totalitarianism.''More than any thinker it was Arendt who identified how movements of ideas, racial theories, people and methods ... ultimately disfigured the twentieth century.'' David Olusoga''Arendt''s most profound legacy is in establishing that one has to consider oneself political as part of the human condition. What are your political acts, and what politics do they serve?'' Guardian''How could such a book speak so powerfully to our present moment? The short answer is that we, too, live in dark times.'' Washington Post (on The Origins of Totalitarianism)On Revolution is world-famous political thinker Hannah Arendt''s classic exploration of a phenomenon that has radically res

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE GRAND PRIX DU LIVRE D''IDÉESThe French: serious and frivolous, charming and infuriating, rational and mystical, pessimistic, pleasure-loving - and perhaps more than any other people, intellectual. This original and entertaining book shows exactly what makes the French so ... French.Trade ReviewThere could be no wiser or more witty guide to the problems of France today. -- Julian Jackson * Times Literary Supplement *A first-rate book... Sudhir Hazareesingh, brings an engaging personal angle to his ambitious cavalcade through four centuries of French intellectual thought... This vast, opinionated and wholly original book reminds us that ideas still count and that intellectual endeavour still has resonance in the face of the mercantile plutocracy that so much defines the way we live now. -- Douglas Kennedy * New Statesman *This book depicts Parisian society like a Cambridge party in which everyone knows the jokes, and everyone knows where the bodies are buried. You will read it not just with fascination, but with relish. -- Jonathan Clark * Times Literary Supplement (Books of the Year) *

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Book SynopsisIn this dazzling history of the imagination, Patrick Harpur links together fields as far apart as Greek philosophy and depth psychology, Renaissance magic and tribal ritual, Romantic poetry and modern models of the Universe, to trace how myths have been used to make sense of the world. In so doing he uncovers that tradition which alchemists imagined as a Golden Chain of initiates, who passed their mysterious 'secret fire' down through the ages. As this inspiring book shows, the secret of this perennial wisdom is of an imaginative insight: a simple way of seeing that re-enchants our existence and restores us to our own true selves..."His flame-like knowledge is central to the urgent seriousness of this book; buy a copy before it vanishes." THE LONDON MAGAZINE ..."It would be hard to overestimate the value of Harpur's book or to praise it too highly." RESURGENCE MAGAZINE ..."Once we believed that truth was 'out there', now we hold that it's 'in here', but if Harpur is right then it lies in the line of vision between the two" THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ..."Mr. Harpur links together fields as far apart as Greek philosophy and depth psychology, Renaissance magic and tribal ritual, Romantic poetry and the ecstasy of the shaman, to trace how societies over time have used myths to make sense of the world. Harpur leads us through history's secret chambers with such grace of language and insight that we forget the hour. I would make Harpur's book required reading for every student of philosophy, depth psychology, and history." DIANNE SKAFTE

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Book SynopsisWell-being for all is not a dream.In this brilliantly enjoyable rallying-cry of a book, Kropotkin lays out the heart of his anarchist beliefs—beliefs that surged around the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and that have a renewed relevance and poignancy today. Humane and thoughtful, but also a devastating critique of how modern society is organized (with the brutal, narrow few clinging onto their wealth and privileges at the expense of the many), The Conquest of Bread is a book to be argued over, again and again.For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 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 auth

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Book SynopsisBooks That Changed the World tells the fascinating stories behind 50 books that, in ways great and small, have changed the course of human history. Andrew Taylor sets each text in its historical context and explores its wider influence and legacy. Whether he's discussing the incandescent effect of The Qu'ran, the enduring influence of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, of the way in which Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe galavanized the anti-slavery movement, Taylor has written a stirring and informative testament to human ingenuity and endeavour. Ranging from The Iliad to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the Kama Sutra to Lady Chatterley's Lover, this is the ultimate, thought-provoking read for book-lovers everywhere.Trade Review'Fascinating to dip into' Manchester Evening News. * Manchester Evening News *Table of ContentsIntroduction. THE ILIAD - c.8th century, Homer. THE HISTORIES - 5th century BC, Herodotus. THE ANALECTS - 5th century BC, Confucius. THE REPUBLIC - 4th century BC, Plato. THE BIBLE - 2nd century BC-2nd century AD. ODES - 23-13 BC, Horace. GEOGRAPHIA - c.AD 100-170. KAMA SUTRA - 2nd or 2rd century AD, Mallanaga Vatsyanyana. THE QU'RAN - 7th century. CANON OF MEDICINE - 1025, Avicenna. THE CANTERBURY TALES - 1380s-90s, Geoffrey Chaucer. THE PRINCE - 1532, Niccolo Machiavelli. ATLAS, or, COSMOGRAPHIC MEDITATIONS - 1585-95, Gerard Mercator. DON QUIXOTE - 1605-15, Miguel de Cervantes. FIRST FOLIO - 1623, William Shakespeare. AN ANATOMICAL STUDY OF THE MOTION OF THE HEART AND BLOOD IN ANIMALS - 1628, William Harvey. DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE TWO CHIEF WORLD SYSTEMS - 1632, Galileo Galiliei. PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA - 1687, Isaac Newton. A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - 1755, Samuel Johnson. THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER - 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. THE WEALTH OF NATIONS - 1776, Adam Smith. COMMON SENSE - 1776, Thomas Paine. LYRICAL BALLADS - 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - 1813, Jane Austen. A CHRISTMAS CAROL - 1843, Charles Dickens. THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO - 1848, Karl Marx. MOBY-DICK - 1851, Herman Melville. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN - 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe. MADAME BOVARY - 1857, Gustave Flaubert. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES - 1859, Charles Darwin. ON LIBERTY - 1859, John Stuart Mill. WAR AND PEACE - 1869, Leo Tolstoy. THE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY - 1878, New Haven District Telephone Company. THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS - 1885, translated by Sir Richard Burton. A STUDY IN SCARLET - 1888, Arthur Conan Doyle. THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS - 1899, Sigmund Freud. THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION - 1905. POEMS - 1920, Wilfred Owen. RELATIVITY: THE SPECIAL AND THE GENERAL THEORY - 1920, Albert Einstein. ULYSSES - 1922, James Joyce. LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER - 1928, D.H. Lawrence. THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST AND MONEY - 1936, John Maynard Keynes. IF THIS IS A MAN - 1947, Primo Levi. NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR - 1949, George Orwell. THE SECOND SEX - 1949, Simone de Beauvoir. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE - 1951, J.D. Salinger. THINGS FALL APART - 1958, Chinua Achebe. SILENT SPRING - 1962, Rachel Carson. QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN MAO - 1964, Mao Zedong. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE - 1997, J.K. Rowling. Index.

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Book SynopsisDan Heath (Author) Dan Heath is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author/author of six books, including Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments. His books have sold over four million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-five languages. Dan also hosts the award-winning podcast What It's Like To Be, which explores what it's like to walk in the shoes of people from different professions (a mystery novelist, a cattle rancher, a forensic accountant, and more). He lives in Durham, North Carolina.Chip Heath (Author) Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Chip and his brother, Dan, have written four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive and The Power of Moments. He has helped over 530 start-ups refine and articulate their strategy and mission. Chip lives in California.Trade ReviewAn entertaining, practical guide to communication. * Financial Times *Smart, lively . . . such fun to read . . . Inspiring. * Guardian *Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts . . . This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick. * New Statesman *This is great for anyone planning a speech or trying to get their message across at work. * Psychologies *Anyone interested in influencing others . . . can learn from this book. * The Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisSELECTED AS A 2018 SUMMER READ BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, I-PAPER AND THE BIG ISSUE''Enormously entertaining'' SUNDAY TIMES''Fascinating'' NEW STATESMAN''Excoriating, brilliant'' ALI SMITH''Enthralling'' GUARDIAN''My number one contributor when it comes to US politics'' DAN SNOWThe American dream is dead,' Donald Trump said when announcing his candidacy for president in 2015. How would he revive it? By putting America First'. The American Dream' and America First' are two of the most loaded phrases in America today and also two of the most misunderstood. As divides within America widen, Sarah Churchwell looks to the past to reveal what the surprising history of these two phrases can tell us about today.Trade ReviewA ripping yarn ... Behold, America is an enthralling book ... Passionate, well-researched and comprehensive * Guardian *Excoriating, brilliant -- Ali Smith * Big Issue, Summer Reads *Enormously entertaining. Churchwell is a careful and sensitive reader, writes with great vigour and has a magpie’s eye for a revealing story -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *A fascinating history of the two intersecting tropes of modern America * New Statesman *Lively and eminently readable … Churchwell has produced a timely and clearly argued book that makes a clear case for the intellectual parallels between the first third of the 20th century and our own * Financial Times *[An] enlightening new cultural history … The shadow of the 45th President hangs over all 300 pages of Behold, America, a book designed expressly to demonstrate just how that history rhymes with the present … While it is indeed a history of two phrases, Behold, America is also a history of the people who used them … An American in the UK, [Churchwell] has the benefit of an outside perspective on the country of her birth, which is prone to national self-delusions just as grand as Britain’s, if not more so. Behold, America punctures many of them * The i *The Trump administration has prompted a veritable landslide of books about the current state of US culture and politics. Literary journalist and professor Sarah Churchwell digs a little deeper than most, providing a thoughtful long view on a highly topical subject * BBC History Magazine, Summer Reads *Churchwell takes us on a whirlwind tour of the first decades of the 20th century … We hear the discordant voices of American reformers, immigrants, reactionaries and nativists, satirists and polemicists, Ku Klux Klansmen and ersatz Hitlers … Churchwell is well attuned to the nuances of the national conversation * Literary Review *The figure of Donald Trump looms over Sarah Churchwell’s new history of American national identity, which highlights the ugliest features of the country’s ingrained traditions of intolerance and bigotry. But it is the current president’s father, Fred, who first leaps off the page in a startling cameo appearance ... Churchwell is at her best when she relates in horrific detail the once commonplace public lynching of blacks, both in the North and in the South, and she is astute about the crackpot/booster strains in American culture * Spectator *Churchwell’s thorough, fascinating history of the birth of the America First movement uses the past to throw disturbing light on present-day politics in the US -- What to read in 2018 * i *Churchwell’s thoroughness in delineating America’s decade-by-decade bigotry through primary sources from speeches to newspapers to novels is a marvel. But it is more than a history lesson. She’s constructing the case for how the US elected Donald Trump, a catastrophe many of us struggle to understand * Prospect Magazine *

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Book SynopsisSo much has been written about forbidden pleasures. What about pleasures that are unforbidden?Society is fascinated by taboo - we spend our lives chasing illicit pleasures - but nobody pays much attention to all the unforbidden pleasures freely available to us every day. Could we be gaining just as much reward from these unnoticed, unforbidden indulgences as from the much-glorified forbidden - or even more?Starting with Oscar Wilde, Adam Phillips elegantly unfolds all the meanings and significances of the Unforbidden, from Genesis to Freud and his 20th century colleagues. Unforbidden Pleasures explores the philosophical, psychological and social complexities that govern human desire and shape our reality.Trade ReviewThe most interestingly subversive meditation on modern life I have read for many years... Phillips ranges over a wide field, including reflections on Hamlet and the tyrannical power of conscience. Elegant, forceful and rich in insight, this is a book that can be read again and again * New Statesman - Books of the Year 2015 *The best living essayist writing in English[A] playfully digressive style... He is the finest living decipherer of affective life [and] the Bob Dylan of psychoanalysis * Daily Telegraph *There is a lot of philosophy and psychoanalysis packed into these 200 pages * Radar *Adam Phillips is single-handedly continuing the tradition of the world's best essayists * Observer *He's brilliantPhillips radiates infectious charm * Sunday Times *Publisher's description. Adam Phillips elegantly unfolds the concept of the 'unforbidden', from the Old Testament to Freud and beyond, exploring the philosophical, psychological and social complexities that govern human desire and shape our reality. * Penguin *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThis unique and brilliant book is a history of human knowledge. Before the invention of printing, a trained memory was of vital importance. Based on a technique of impressing 'places' and 'images' on the mind, the ancient Greeks created an elaborate memory system which in turn was inherited by the Romans and passed into the European tradition, to be revived, in occult form, during the Renaissance. Frances Yates sheds light on Dante’s Divine Comedy, the form of the Shakespearian theatre and the history of ancient architecture; The Art of Memory is an invaluable contribution to aesthetics and psychology, and to the history of philosophy, of science and of literature.Trade ReviewFrances Yates is that rare thing, a truly thrilling scholar -- Michael Ratcliffe * The Times *One of those quite remarkable and unclassifiable books on the history of knowledge which suddenly makes sense of three or four issues in terms of one commanding metaphor -- Jonathan Miller * Observer *

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Book SynopsisThough he was a prolific writer and an original thinker of vast erudition, Jung lacked a gift for clear exposition and his ideas are less widely appreciated than they deserve. In this concise introduction, Anthony Stevens explains clearly the basic concepts of Jungian psychology: the collective unconscious, complex, archetype, shadow, persona, anima, animus, and the individuation of the Self. He examines Jung''s views on such disparate subjects as myth, religion, alchemy, `sychronicity'', and the psychology of gender differences, and he devotes separate chapters to the stages of life, Jung''s theory of psychological types, the interpretation of dreams, the practice of Jungian analysis, and to the unjust allegation that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. Finally, he argues that Jung''s visionary powers and profound spirituality have helped many to find an alternative set of values to the arid materialism prevailing in Western society.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewoffers a concise introduction to Jungian psychology, covering everything from the collective unconscious and the archetype to the theories of synchronicity and individuation. * Ken McGoogan, Calgary Herald *Table of ContentsList of illustrations ; 1. The man and his psychology ; 2. Archetypes and the collective unconsious ; 3. The stages of life ; 4. Psychological types ; 5. Dreams ; 6. Therapy ; 7. Jung's alleged anti-Semitism ; 8. The summing-up ; Further reading ; Index

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Book Synopsis''A landmark new book.'' - The GuardianAge of Discovery looks at the world on the brink of a new Renaissance and asks the question, how do we avoid chaos and disruption, and share more widely the benefits of progress?Now is humanity's best moment. And our most fragile. Global health, wealth and education are booming. Scientific discovery is flourishing. But the same forces that make big gains possible for some of us deliver big losses to othersand tangle us together in ways that make everyone vulnerable.We've been here before. The first Renaissance, the time of Columbus, Copernicus, Gutenberg and others, redrew all maps of the world, liberated information and shifted Western civilization from the medieval to the early modern era. Such change came at a price: social division, political extremism, economic shocks, pandemics and other unintended consequences of human endeavour.Now is our second Renaissance. In the face Trade ReviewA landmark new book. -- The GuardianA bold mega-analysis of global education, health, prosperity and technology...incisive and rich in context and granularity. -- NatureAn essential guide - and a superb ride - through our current stormy moment. -- Arianna Huffington * Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post *A powerful journey…This book will help the world. -- Richard Branson * Founder, Virgin Group *Everyone should read it. -- Michael Spence * Nobel Laureate in Economics *Ian and Chris ask—and answer—the big, essential questions…We should thank them for their audacity. -- Christine Lagarde * Managing Director, International Monetary Fund *This fascinating book…should interest all who care about the future of humanity. -- Lord Martin Rees * Astronomer Royal & past President of the Royal Society *A much-needed dose of perspective in our increasingly short-term-focused world. -- Dominic Barton * Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Co *Essential reading to navigate the waves of innovation we face today. -- Garry Kasparov * 13th World Chess Champion *A call to action we all need to hear. -- Kumi Naidoo * International Executive Director, Greenpeace *An education and a great read in one. -- AC Grayling * Philosopher *Outstanding insights for all those interested in the stresses of the modern world and how other ages have confronted them. -- Andrew Hamilton * President, NYU & past Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University *A very important reminder to grasp the opportunities in the many challenges we are facing today. -- Hans-Paul Bürkner * Chairman, Boston Consulting Group *A refreshing change from the shallow analyses and sterile nostrums of the right and the left…an impressive and important book. -- Edmund Phelps * Nobel Laureate in Economics *A hugely stimulating book…Everyone should heed the authors’ call. -- Niall Ferguson * Professor of History, Harvard University *A must-read for present and future leaders everywhere. -- Asha Kanwar * President, Commonwealth of Learning *A remarkable feat of both history and prophecy. Ian and Chris have given us a gift of self-reflection that is indeed rare. I can’t believe the book is so light and small for accomplishing such a heavy lift. -- Larry Brilliant * President, Skoll Global Threats Fund & past Executive Director, Google.org *A masterpiece. -- Vijay Govindarajan * New York Times best-selling author *A rich portrait…powerful parallels…essential insights for all of us—including for every emerging Michelangelo and da Vinci. -- Reid Hoffman * Founder & Chairman, LinkedIn *‘[A] lively account of both Renaissance and modern history...Maybe someone should send Mr. Trump a copy of this book; it might yield some thought-­provoking tweets. -- Financial TimesIf you read only one thing... -- PoliticoFar-sighted...Age of Discovery succeeds in convincing that this is an uncommonly interesting time to be alive, with unusual levels of promise—and peril. -- Times Higher Education SupplementA highly stimulating, indeed challenging book. -- ForbesEnlightening. -- The Sunday TelegraphAge of Discovery will leave its readers drained by the scale of the problems we face…but its scope and authority reward the effort. -- Daily TelegraphBreathless. -- New StatesmanUrgent reading everywhere. -- Shanghai Review of BooksThis book completely blows my mind. -- ‘Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang’ on Sirius/XMWow. -- ABC Afternoons with James ValentineAudacious. -- Salon.comCharts the birth of a brave new world…Impressive. -- Morning StarA rallying cry for an aspirational future. -- CBC NewsA fantastic new book. -- Breitbart.comEdifying and thoroughly entertaining. -- Inside Higher EdA brilliant, “big-think” read of serious scholarship and keen observation of our present moment. It is a prescient warning, a call to action to the better angels of our nature, and a map for a new age of discovery. -- 800-CEO-READThe best book I’ve read in the past five years. -- 33Voices.comImportant. Powerful. -- FutureSquaredAn immense contribution to rethinking our epoch. -- Cambridge Business ReviewTable of Contents1. What’s Past is Prologue Part I: The Facts of a Renaissance Age 2. The New World 3. New Tangles 4. Vitruvian Man Part II: Flourishing Genius 5. Copernican Revolutions 6. Cathedrals, Believers and Doubt Part III: Flourishing Risk 7. The Pox is Spreading, Venice is Sinking 8. Bonfires and Belonging Part IV: The Contest for our Future 9. David

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Book SynopsisWe live in a world made by science. How and when did this happen? This book tells the story of the extraordinary intellectual and cultural revolution that gave birth to modern science, and mounts a major challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of its history.Before 1492 it was assumed that all significant knowledge was already available; there was no concept of progress; people looked for understanding to the past not the future. This book argues that the discovery of America demonstrated that new knowledge was possible: indeed it introduced the very concept of ''discovery'', and opened the way to the invention of science.The first crucial discovery was Tycho Brahe''s nova of 1572: proof that there could be change in the heavens. The telescope (1610) rendered the old astronomy obsolete. Torricelli''s experiment with the vacuum (1643) led directly to the triumph of the experimental method in the Royal Society of Boyle and Newton. By 1750 Newtonianism was being celebrateTrade ReviewThe seventeenth century saw the emergence of the mindset that characterizes modern science. David Wootton lucidly describes the individuals, the experiments and the controversies that marked this intellectually turbulent and transformative era. ... This fascinating and scholarly book should receive a wide readership. -- Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, President of the Royal Society 2005-10This is a superb book, at once cogent, revisionist and profound. It offers the most novel and significant account of the Scientific Revolution to appear for many years ... it is simply rather brilliant. -- Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of LondonA truly remarkable piece of scholarship. His work has an ingenious and innovative linguistic foundation, examining the invention and redefinition of words as tracers of a new understanding of nature and how to approach it. His erudition is awesome, and his argument is convincing. -- Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard UniversityA grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science. -- Andrea Wulf * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisFew, if any, English-language critics have written as perceptively as Isaiah Berlin about Russian thought and culture. Russian Thinkers is his unique meditation on the impact that Russia''s outstanding writers and philosophers had on its culture. In addition to Tolstoy''s philosophy of history, which he addresses in his most famous essay, ''The Hedgehog and the Fox,'' Berlin considers the social and political circumstances that produced such men as Herzen, Bakunin, Turgenev, Belinsky, and others of the Russian intelligentsia, who made up, as Berlin describes, ''the largest single Russian contribution to social change in the world.''Trade ReviewThe enduring vitality of Berlin's characterisation of Russian thought is demonstrated by the publication [...] of a new edition of Russian Thinkers, painstakingly revised and augmented by Henry Hardy ... a series of sparkling and sympathetic essays * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisSelected from the books Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah HarariHow did money come to be invented? Why does it now have such significance in our lives? Does it make us happier or unhappier? And what does the future hold for it? With brilliant clarity and insight, Yuval Noah Harari takes the reader on a journey from the very first coins through to 21st century economics and shows us how we are all on the brink of a revolution, whether we like it or not. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Home by Salman RushdieBabies by Anne EnrightEating by Nigella LawsonDrinking by John Cheever

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Book SynopsisSarah Bakewell had a wandering childhood, growing up on the "hippie trail" through Asia and in Australia. She studied philosophy at the University of Essex, and worked for many years as a curator of early printed books at the Wellcome Library, London, before becoming a full-time writer. Her books include How to Live: a life of Montaigne, which won the Duff Cooper Prize and the US National Book Critics Circle Prize, and At the Existentialist Café, a New York Times Ten Best Books of 2016. She was also among the winners of the 2018 Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. She still has a tendency to wander, but is mostly to be found either in London or in Italy with her wife and their family of dogs and chickens.www.sarahbakewell.com

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Book SynopsisScience historian Subhadra Das explores ten founding ideas of Western civilisation, uncovers their flaws and urges us to look at the world with fresh eyes

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Book Synopsis'Every Scot should read it. Scotland now has the lively, provocative and positive history it deserves.' Irvine Welsh, Guardian A dramatic and intriguing history of how Scotland produced the institutions, beliefs and human character that have made the West into the most powerful culture in the world. Arthur Herman argues that Scotland's turbulent history, from William Wallace to the Presbyterian Lords of the Covenant, laid the foundations for 'the Scottish miracle'. Within one hundred years, the nation that began the eighteenth century dominated by the harsh and repressive Scottish Kirk had evolved into Europe's most literate society, producing an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it. He follows the lives and work of thinkers such as Adam Smith and David Hume, writers such as Burns and Boswell, as well as architects, technicians and inventors, and traces their legacy into the twentieth century. Written with wit, erudition and clarity, The Scottish Enlightenment claims the Scots' rightful place in the history of the western world.Trade Review'Herman's book tells an exciting story with gusto … entertaining and illuminating.' Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times 'Stimulating. A work which deserves to be bought by any interested reader.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'Compulsively readable.' Paul Henderson Scott, Sunday Herald 'Herman carries his thesis off with brio.' Arnold Kemp, Observer 'A sparkling book. Herman argues his case with an impressive accumulation of evidence.' New Statesman

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Book SynopsisFree Speech!' is a clarion call all over the world, yet what it means today is more contested than ever. Many cultures regard it as dangerous: in China, India, and across the Islamic world, unorthodox views about politics, sex, and religion are repressed and people are often punished for expressing them. Even in the western world, where it is held up as a core value, there is widespread discord and disagreement about what freedom of expression means. Amidst perennial imbalances of power, continually evolving cultural taboos, dramatic new technologies and a fast-changing global media landscape, where free speech comes from and how we might think about it are critical questions. Through the lens of history, What Is Free Speech? shows us that freedom of speech is not an absolute from which societies and regimes have drifted or dissented at different times, but something more complicated and interesting. Our modern conceptions of press and speech liberty, Dabhoiwala shows, were inv

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Book SynopsisBeyond its housing estates and identikit high streets there is another Britain. This is the Britain of mist-drenched forests and unpredictable sea-frets: of wraith-like fog banks, druidic mistletoe and peculiar creatures that lurk, half-unseen, in the undergrowth, tantalising and teasing just at the periphery of human vision. How have the remarkably persistent folkloric traditions of the British Isles formed and been formed by the identities and psyches of those who inhabit them? In her sparkling new history, Carolyne Larrington explores the diverse ways in which a myriad of imaginary and fantastical beings has moulded the cultural history of the nation. Fairies, elves and goblins here tread purposefully, sometimes malignly, over an eerie, preternatural landscape that also conceals brownies, selkies, trows, knockers, boggarts, land-wights, Jack o''Lanterns, Barguests, the sinister Nuckleavee, or water-horse, and even Black Shuck: terrifying hell-hound of the Norfolk coast with eyes

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Book Synopsis''TOM PHILLIPS IS A VERY CLEVER, VERY FUNNY MAN'' Greg JennerThis is a book about TRUTH - and all the ingenious ways, throughout history, that we''ve managed to avoid it.We live in a ''post-truth'' age, we''re told. The US has a president who openly lies on a daily basis (or who doesn''t even know what''s true, and doesn''t care). The internet has turned our everyday lives into a misinformation battleground. People don''t trust experts any more.But was there ever really a golden age of truth-telling? As the editor of the UK''s leading independent fact-checker, Tom Phillips deals with complete bollocks every day. Here, he tells the story of how we humans have spent history lying to each other - and ourselves - and asks an important question: how can humanity move towards a truthier future?PRAISE FOR HUMANS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW WE F*CKED IT ALL UP:''F*cking brilliant'' Sarah Knight, The Life-ChaTrade ReviewFor Tom Phillips and HUMANS:In dark times, it's reassuring to learn that we've always been a bunch of clueless f*cking nitwits -- Stuart Heritage * Don't Be a Dick, Pete *A light-touch history of moments when humans have got it spectacularly wrong... Both readable and entertaining * Telegraph *If you find yourself looking at the news and wondering how humanity has got so many things wrong, over and over again, this book is a very funny answer to just that question' -- Mark Watson, comedian

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Book SynopsisFor as long as there have been wars there have been fears about the next war. Where are the new dangers? What is the best defence? How might peace come about? This is the history of how over the last 150 years we have tried - rightly and wrongly - to predict war''s future. ''Britain''s leading academic strategist ... read this book'' Economist''Insightful and opinionated ... expertly covers centuries of evolving mayhem'' Gary J. Bass, The New York Times''A bonfire of predictions ... Freedman''s purpose in this wise book is to discern patterns in the way we have thought about war''s future'' Shashank Joshi, Financial Times''It reflects the author''s immense knowledge and wisdom. It should feed our humility, because it reminds us of mankind''s unlimited capacity for folly'' Max Hastings, The TimesTrade ReviewWhat is most impressive about the book is the author's erudition and the lightness with which he wears it -- Christopher Coker * Literary Review *Arguably Britain's leading academic strategist examines how ideas about how future wars could be fought have shaped the reality, with usually baleful results. ... His message to policymakers is to beware those who tout "the ease and speed with which victory can be achieved while underestimating the resourcefulness of adversaries". Anybody who thinks otherwise should read this book * Economist *It reflects the author's immense knowledge and wisdom. It should feed our humility, because it reminds us of mankind's unlimited capacity for folly; and also of the need to sustain defences against all manner of threats, because the only certainty is that the next peril to confront us will be the one we least expect -- Max Hastings * The Times *

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Book SynopsisA collection of writings by a groundbreaking political thinker, including excerpts from The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem She was a Jew born in Germany in the early twentieth century, and she studied with the greatest German minds of her day—Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers among them. After the rise of the Nazis, she emigrated to America where she proceeded to write some of the most searching, hard-hitting reflections on the agonizing issues of the time: totalitarianism in both Nazi and Stalinist garb; Zionism and the legacy of the Holocaust; federally mandated school desegregation and civil rights in the United States; and the nature of evil.   The Portable Hannah Arendt offers substantial excerpts from the three works that ensured her international and enduring stature: The Origins of Totalitarianism, The Human Condition, and Eichmann in Jerusalem. Additionally, this volume incluTable of ContentsThe Portable Hannah ArendtEditor's IntroductionPrincipal DatesBibliographical NotesAcknowledgmentsI. Overview: What Remains?What Remains? The Language Remains: A Conversation with Günter GausII. Stateless PersonsThat "Infinitely Complex Red-tape Exixtence"From a Letter to Karl JaspersThe Perplexities of the RIghts of ManThe Jewish Army-The Beginning of a Jewish Politics?Jewess and Shlemihl (1771-1795)Writing Rahel Varnhagen. From a Letter to Karl JaspersIII. TotalitarianismThe Jews and SocietyExpansionTotal DominationOrganized Guilt and Universal ResponsibilityA Reply to Eric VoegelinIV. The Vita ActivaLabor, Work, ActionThe Public and the Private RealmReflections on Little RockThe Social QuestionThe Concept of History: Ancient and ModernV. Banality and Conscience: The Eichmann Trial and its ImplicationsFrom Eichmann in JerusalemAn Expert on the Jewish QuestionThe Final Solution: KillingThe Wannasee Conference, or Pontious PilateExecusionEpiloguePostscriptHoles of Oblivion: The Eichmann Trial and Totalitarianism. From a Letter to Mary McCarthyA Daughter of Out PeopleA Response to Gershom ScholemFrom The Life of the Mind (volume 1)The Answer of SocratesThe Two-in-OneVI. RevolutionRosa Luxemburg (1871-1919)What Is Freedom?What Is Authority?The Revolutionary Tradition and Its Lost TreasureVII. Of Truth and TrapsHeidegger the FoxTruth and PoliticsPermissions

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Book SynopsisProfessor Paul Mitchell joined University College London as Professor of Laws in 2010, and has previously taught at King's College London, Queen Mary University of London, and Oxford University. His main research interests include tort law, Roman law, and contract law. Much of his work is historical, exploring how and why the law developed as it did.

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Book Synopsis'Bracingly intelligent ... a wonderful read' Guardian 'Incredibly timely ... presented [with] wonderful elegance and clarity' Irish Times Based on the History Of Ideas podcast series by Talking Politics host David Runciman, Confronting Leviathan explores some of the most important thinkers and prominent ideas lying behind modern politics - from Hobbes to Gandhi, from democracy to patriarchy, and from revolution to lock down. While explaining the most important and often-cited ideas of thinkers such as Constant, De Tocqueville, Marx and Engels, Hayek, MacKinnon and Fukuyama, David Runciman shows how crises - revolutions, wars, depressions, pandemics - generated these new ways of political thinking. This is a history of ideas to help make sense of what's happening today.Trade ReviewBracingly intelligent ... a wonderful read -- Mark Mazower * Guardian *Incredibly timely ... wonderful elegance and clarity through which complex ideas are presented ... That the book helps make thinking about the state enjoyable is just the least of its many exceptional qualities -- Paschal Donohoe * Irish Times *A brilliant introduction for anyone looking to engage with political debates beyond the headlines ... Excellent -- Joshua Pugh Ginn * Herald *A studiously accessible work * Times Higher Education *Praise for How Democracy Ends: Presented in pellucid prose free of the jargon of academic political science, it is a strikingly readable and richly learned contribution to understanding the world today...one of the most luminously intelligent books on politics to have been published for many years. -- John Gray * New Statesman *Full of intriguing new lines of thought -- Gideon Rachman * FT *Clear-headed, compact and timely * Irish Times *Refreshingly free of received and rehearsed wisdoms, Runciman doesn't tiptoe around sacred cows and invites us to take part in that most adult way of thinking: to examine contradictory ideas in tandem and ponder what the dissonance amounts to. . . . [H]e argues lucidly, persuasively, even exhilaratingly at times. The nightly news will never appear exactly the same again * Australian *Refreshingly, rather than a knicker-twisting diatribe about Trump and Brexit, Runciman offers a thoughtful analysis about what popular democracy means, and its alternatives -- Katrina Gulliver * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThe No. 1 Sunday Times and international bestseller - a major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging east For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won and where they were lost. As a new eTrade ReviewBrilliant and fearlessly wide-ranging … undaunted by the complexity of the material, and the scale of the subject he has taken on, Frankopan marches briskly through the centuries, disguising his erudition with an enviable lightness of touch, enlivening his narrative with a beautifully constructed web of anecdotes and insights, backed up by an impressively wide-ranging scholarly apparatus of footnotes drawing on works in multiple languages … This is history on a grand scale, with a sweep and ambition that is rare … a remarkable book on many levels, a proper historical epic of dazzling range and achievement -- William Dalrymple, Books of the Year * Guardian *Breathtaking and addictively readable - History Book of the Year * Daily Telegraph *Many books have been written which claim to be “A New History of the World”. This one fully deserves the title…It is difficult, in a short review, to do justice to a book so ambitious, so detailed and so fascinating as this one -- Gerald DeGroot * The Times *The author’s gift for vividness is reminiscent of Jan Morris, while his command of revealing facts or fancies is not far short of Gibbon’s -- Felipe Fernández Armesto * Literary Review *A book that roves as widely as the geography it describes, encompassing worlds as far removed as those of Herodotus and Saddam Hussein, Hammurabi and Hitler…It is a tribute to Frankopan’s scholarship and mastery of sources in multiple languages that he is as sure-footed on the ancient world as he is on the medieval and modern -- Justin Marozzi * The Sunday Times *Splendid ... tightly researched ... invigorating and profound [with] enough storytelling to excite the reader and enough fresh scholarship to satisfy the intellect...charismatic and essential -- Dr Bettany Hughes * Daily Telegraph *The Silk Roads, which covers several continents and many centuries, is based on astonishingly wide and deep reading and in all areas draws on the latest research...it is full of vivid and recondite details * Independent *This is, to put it mildly, an ambitious book...Frankopan writes with clarity and memorable detail * Economist *Timely … it deserves a place by the library fireplace * Country Life *Dazzlingly good ... [Frankopan blends] deep scholarly skill with a real literary talent -- Dan Jones * Evening Standard *Bold and ambitious * Tablet *Full of intriguing insights and fascinating details -- Anthony Sattin * Observer *With extraordinary erudition and a vivid style, [Frankopan] takes us on a dazzling tour ... from the rise of the first empires right through to the present * Open (Weekly) *It’s the details that win it. Did you know that Attila’s Huns wore coats made from mouse skin? * Sunday Express *[Frankopan] tells a good story … with great panache. [The Silk Roads] is full of enthralling anecdotal details … Frankopan’s research is impeccable. The Silk Roads is based on information from sources in well over a dozen languages. It has a sweeping canvas and covers more than 2,000 years of history …[an] exhilarating rollercoaster ride * New Delhi Business Standard *Hugely ambitious in its scope * China Today *A compelling narrative and is jam-packed with stories. It contains numerous snippets of information that shed new light on major world events * China Daily *Essential reading * MoneyWeek *A compelling political, economic and social history that is as much about how we will live as how we once did * World Travel Guide *Beautifully constructed, a terrific and exhilarating read and a new perspective on world history -- Averil Cameron * History Today *An often exhilarating tour of 2,000 years of history ... Frankopan upends the usual world-history narrative oriented around ancient Rome and Greece and the irrepressible rise of Europe ... In The Silk Roads, Peter Frankopan has provided a bracing wake up call. * The National AE *As incongruous it may seem to call an intensely-researched 600-page tome with 100 pages of footnotes a romp, The Silk Roads is a fluent, page-turning gallop through the roughly 2500 years from ancient Persia and Alexander the Great to the present day ... If one had to choose an up-to-date volume from which to glean an overview of world history, this might well be it * Asian Review of Books *As well-written, entertaining, disturbing and exciting as a detective story * Svenska Dagbladet *Frankopan handles his material deftly and has an eye for telling details...a clear theme is that globalisation is not a new phenomenon. This is essential reading * Prosper Magazine *A dazzling piece of historical writing * South China Morning Post *The most illuminating book of the year ... A healthy antidote to Eurocentric accounts of history [and] an impressive, if depressing account of the disastrous Western interventions in Central Asia -- Books of the Year * Times Literary Supplement *A very well-written and wide-ranging study, founded on reading of staggering breadth and depth ... Strikingly up to date. The author has used the most recent scholarship to impressive effect ... And he is evidently constantly rethinking in the light of new scholarship ... The book is full of fascinating insights ... No one could read it without learning a great deal, or without having their conception of the course of history radically challenged * Times Literary Supplement *Frankopan casts his net widely in this work of dizzying breadth and ambition ... Frankopan approaches his craft with an acerbic wit, and his epochal perspective throws the foibles of the modern age into sharp relief * Publisher's Weekly *This book lives up to its claim to be a new history of the world because of its geopolitical paradigm shift … He is a Herodotus of the twenty first century * Irish Left Review *Breathtaking … inverts received wisdom … superb history charts mankind’s flirtation with global disaster * New Zealand Herald *Enticing, sometimes enchanting … An exceptionally, eclectically, eccentrically wide range of subjects * Sydney Morning Herald *A thumping good read * Sunday Times, South Africa *Frankopan shows that even in ancient times trade and culture bound distant people togethers ... A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world * Wall Street Journal *'Superb … Peter Frankopan is an exceptional storyteller … The lands of the Silk Roads are of renewed importance, and Frankopan’s book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to make sense of this union of past and present * Dallas Morning News *Sumptuous, intriguing and surprising -- Sir Paddy Ashdowne * The Week *‘Magisterial’ -- Books of the Year * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe team at Dorling Kindersley sheds light on thesubject matter in their own evocative way: via theuse of snappy sentences and eye-catching imagesto explain things in the clearest possible way. * How it Works *

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Book Synopsis''Dark clouds were looming in the distance. We watched them gather, and we wondered... When will it come? How long will it last?'' A monumental storm brings huge and sudden change. We follow a man and his dog through the uncertainty that it brings to their lives. Through their eyes, we see the difficulties of being apart, the rollercoaster of emotions that we can all relate to, and the realisation that by pulling together we can move through difficult times with new perspective, hope and an appreciation of what matters most in life.Luke has dedicated the book to his late grandfather, who was a key figure in his life. The main characters are based on his grandfather and his own dog, Robin, who offers a reassuring guide through the challenges of the storm. It''s a story with very personal emotion, but one that speaks to us all.''Though clouds may gather again, and we may see other storms, we have realised most of all that we are stronger facing th

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Book Synopsis'A writer of genius' - William Dalrymple'Remarkable' - Kwame Anthony Appiah'Utterly captivating' - Anthony DoerrCan anyone really own a culture? This magnificent account argues that the story of global civilisations is one of mixing, sharing, and borrowing.It shows how art forms have crisscrossed continents over centuries to produce masterpieces. From Nefertiti's lost city and the Islamic Golden Age to twentieth century Nigerian theatre and Modernist poetry, Martin Puchner explores how contact between different peoples has driven artistic innovation in every era - whilst cultural policing and purism have more often undermined the very societies they tried to protect.Travelling through Classical Greece, Ashoka's India, Tang dynasty China, and many other epochs, this triumphal new history reveals the crossing points which have not only inspired the humanities, but which have made us human.Trade Review'Eminently readable ... The book's great strength lies in its ability to swoop deftly and lightly between things that may be familiar to us in themselves, but which we might be tempted to separate out in our attempts to form a picture of the world.' -- Edward Wilson-Lee * The Times Literary Supplement *'A breakneck, utterly captivating survey of threads of cultural transmission-how ideas, stories, and songs-survive, change, vanish, get borrowed, refined, coopted, and grafted through time ... I underlined sentences on every page.' -- Anthony Doerr'Compellingly written' * Financial Times *'A remarkable book.' -- Kwame Anthony Appiah'Martin Puchner has exceptional and invaluable gifts: intellectual fearlessness, dazzling erudition, trenchancy tempered by breadth of mind, and a humanist's eye for minute evidence that illumines huge problems.' -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto'Well written, nuanced and light in style, spinning a series of historical narratives in an erudite and engaging way' -- Marguerite Johnson * The Conversation *'Fearless and exhilaratingly erudite, Martin Puchner's panoramic tour of human culture across the millennia is a riveting page-turner.' -- Amy Chua'A writer of genius' -- William Dalrymple'Elegantly written and full of erudite lore, this vibrant history illuminates the inveterate human yearning for expression.' * Publishers Weekly *'A thoughtful, generous vision of human creativity across centuries of culture.' * Kirkus *'Fluent and engaging.' -- Boyd Tonkin * Wall Street Journal *'A mighty, polymathic work . . . [by] a master storyteller -- Chris Vognar * Boston Globe *'A forceful rebuke to those who argue that culture can be owned by groups, nations, religions or races. . . . [by] an adept storyteller.' -- Ismail Muhammad * New York Times *'Jaunty and readable but never lacking in depth, Culture hops through countries and eras to deliver a resonant argument.' -- Lauren Puckett-Pope * Elle *'Cultures develop by sharing, borrowing, and collaborating--but also by conquest, appropriation, and theft. Martin Puchner's timely book takes us on a breathtaking tour of world history, reminding us that as we judge the past, one day we, too, will be judged, and that when we ignore or try to erase our cultural heritage, we are only impoverishing ourselves' -- Louis Menand * Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Metaphysical Club *'Puchner creates a perfectly balanced and incisively abridged version of the story of human culture. Ultimately, this is an examination of the making and transport of ideas, which is always an interaction between old and new. Each chapter builds a new layer, adding to the depth and complexity, while Puchner also provides a global who's who of cultural diffusion' * Booklist *'So many books these days are described as being 'sweeping histories'; Culture, which promises in its subtitle to take us from our most primitive artistic impulses all the way to the machinery of modern-day fandom. But what intrigues me most about Puchner's latest isn't its scope - it's its driving question: 'What good are the arts?' In my more hopeless moments, this question bubbles up inside me, and I'm chomping at the bit to hear Puchner's answer, grounded in history and informed by cultures around the world' -- Sophia Stewart

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Book SynopsisDiscover the world''s greatest myths and legends - from Greek mythology to Norse mythology - in this comprehensive guide.What did Japanese mythology say about the beginning of the Universe? How did Oedipus become the classic tragic hero in Greek mythology? Who brought about the origin of death in Maori mythology? Combining vivid retellings of famous legends with over 1,000 illustrations of characters, famous artworks, and artefacts, Myths and Legends makes it easier than ever before to understand the stories that are central to every culture.Delve into the well-known tales of the ancient Greeks, which hold the key to such phrases as Achilles'' heel, as well as the lesser-known but richly colourful myths of Africa and the Americas. Explore global ideas such as fate and fortune, and the Underworld, and find out about the key characters - heroes, tricksters, and gods - that make up each myth system. Filled with the cultural and religious meanings behind each leg

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Book SynopsisSometimes, 1+1 = changing the world. Cathy Newman's witty, warm history on the power of determined couples will make you look at your relationship and wonder, Could we be doing more this weekend than just going to IKEA?' CAITLIN MORANFrom rivals propelling each other forwards to friends combining their talents, it's clear: often two heads are better than one.How did William and Ellen Craft work together to pull off a perilous cross-country escape from slavery? How did the queer artists Marcel Moore and Claude Cahun become icons of the surrealist movement, then heroines of the resistance in the Second World War? Why couldn't Steve Jobs have started Apple alone?Vibrant, feminist and unexpected, Cathy Newman rewrites the history books to expose this strange power of two and to ask why certain collaborators are so often left out of the narrative.Previously published as It Takes Two.Trade Review‘Sometimes, 1+1 = changing the world. Cathy Newman’s witty, warm history on the power of determined couples will make you look at your relationship and wonder, “Could we be doing more this weekend than just going to IKEA?”’ CAITLIN MORAN ‘A fascinating and illuminating insight into the relationships of extraordinary people. Cathy Newman shows us how and why (to use a familiar phrase) it takes two to tango’BRUNO TONIOLI ‘Witty and insightful, challenging and unexpected – this book is a joy’RUTH DAVIDSON ‘A fascinating look at the enduring popularity of the double act, it’s difficulties and intricacies, and just how interwoven duos are with every facet of popular culture and history. Cathy Newman takes us deeper into the relationships we’re familiar with, and lays bare the importance of these relationships in shaping our world’SARA CANNING ‘This book is chock-full of odd couples who turn out to make perfect sense – just like me and Susanna … We’re a team – and that’s the secret of a successful pairing.It Takes Two on telly – and the world stage’PIERS MORGAN ‘It’s a fascinating study of couples and collaboration, ending very often in anger and bitterness – Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan and so on’MICHAEL MORPURGO, The i ‘Filled with biographical anecdotes, this eclectic and hugely entertaining romp through the history of duos shows that “coupledom is a jewel with many facets”’GUARDIAN, BEST PAPERBACKS OF THE MONTH, AUGUST 2021

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Book SynopsisTony Judt was one of the great historians and public intellectuals of his time. Educated at King's College, Cambridge, and the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, he taught at Cambridge, Oxford and Berkeley. He was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor of European Studies at New York University, as well as the founder and director of the Remarque Institute, dedicated to creating an ongoing conversation between Europe and America.The author or editor of fourteen books, Professor Judt was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, The New Republic, and The New York Times.Timothy Snyder studied at Brown and Oxford, held fellowships in Paris, Warsaw and Vienna and at Harvard, and is The Houslum Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of five award-winning and critically-acclaimed books of European history; the most recent of which, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, won the Leipzig Prize for European Understanding, was named a book of the year by a dozen publications and has beentranslated into twenty-five languages.Trade ReviewTimothy Snyder's initiative has prompted a sparkling dialogue which, through following the stages of Tony Judt's life and emergence as an exceptional historian, offers important reflections on major currents of political thinking in the 20th century * Ian Kershaw *There is much brilliance here to enjoy ... The best kind of book -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *Brilliant to the bitter end...Tony Judt was combative and razor-sharp even as he was dying...A moving, enlightening and provocative read...It is impossible not to marvel at the dying man's extraordinary mental recall and moral integrity ... This book, bristling with learning, is a staggering achievement -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Thinking the Twentieth Century is a substantial achievement -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *Brilliantly eloquent -- Neil Ascherson * Guardian *

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