History & Society

The brilliant first book from the number one bestselling author of The Psychopath Test.

Examines the basis of story telling in literature, film, and libretto. This book provides an answer to the riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using many examples, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes.The author then leads us through the changes in the nature of storytelling.

When The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century.

Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. This anthology of his major work contains a foreword by his daughter Mary Katherine Bateson.

History Of Western Philosophy was published in 1946. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy.

The sensational sequel to 'Papillon'.

One of a number of major works written by Jung during his seventies in which he discusses the relationships between psychology, alchemy and religion. The particular focus in this volume is the rise of Christinity and the figure of Christ.

A story of a flower that has made men mad. This book tells how the tulip arrived from Turkey and took the whole of Western Europe by storm. Illustrated from a range of sources, it also features descriptions of eighty wild-species tulips and several hundred garden varieties.

Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, this title argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, it considers issues of liberty and law, as well as freedom and justice.

In the struggle for women's equality, there is one subject still shrouded in silence - women's compulsive pursuit of beauty.

Stimulating, succinct and accessible, the fully revised and updated fourth edition of this highly successful text offers a truly comprehensive introduction to the study of politics, written from an international perspective.

The selections made in this volume shed light on these esoteric doctrines revealing intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene throws new light on his relationship with this favourite disciple. The Gospel of Thomas contains concentrated mini-parables, containing deep inward and symbolic meaning, many of which are not found in the New Testament. The texts chosen are relevant to many of the perplexities of contemporary life and deal with the questions of good and evil, sin and suffering and the path to salvation.

Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees' Award.A Waterstones.com History Book of the Year.Longlisted for the Orwell Prize.Shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize.In this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, Elizabethan 'blackamoors' and the global slave-trading empire. It shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Black British history is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation. It is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all.Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries.

In private life, we try to induce or suppress love, envy, and anger through deep acting or "e;emotion work,"e; just as we manage our outer expressions of feeling through surface acting. In trying to bridge a gap between what we feel and what we "e;ought"e; to feel, we take guidance from "e;feeling rules"e; about what is owing to others in a given situation. Based on our private mutual understandings of feeling rules, we make a "e;gift exchange"e; of acts of emotion management. We bow to each other not simply from the waist, but from the heart.But what occurs when emotion work, feeling rules, and the gift of exchange are introduced into the public world of work? In search of the answer, Arlie Russell Hochschild closely examines two groups of public-contact workers: flight attendants and bill collectors. The flight attendant's job is to deliver a service and create further demand for it, to enhance the status of the customer and be "e;nicer than natural."e; The bill collector's job is to collect on the service, and if necessary, to deflate the status of the customer by being "e;nastier than natural."e; Between these extremes, roughly one-third of American men and one-half of American women hold jobs that call for substantial emotional labor. In many of these jobs, they are trained to accept feeling rules and techniques of emotion management that serve the company's commercial purpose.Just as we have seldom recognized or understood emotional labor, we have not appreciated its cost to those who do it for a living. Like a physical laborer who becomes estranged from what he or she makes, an emotional laborer, such as a flight attendant, can become estranged not only from her own expressions of feeling (her smile is not "e;her"e; smile), but also from what she actually feels (her managed friendliness). This estrangement, though a valuable defense against stress, is also an important occupational hazard, because it is through our feelings that we are connected with those around us.On the basis of this book, Hochschild was featured in Key Sociological Thinkers, edited by Rob Stones. This book was also the winner of the Charles Cooley Award in 1983, awarded by the American Sociological Association and received an honorable mention for the C. Wright Mills Award.

'Queer: A Graphic History Could Totally Change the Way You Think About Sex and Gender' ViceActivist-academic Meg-John Barker and cartoonist Jules Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel.From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.Along the way we look at key landmarks which shift our perspective of what's 'normal' - Alfred Kinsey's view of sexuality as a spectrum, Judith Butler's view of gendered behaviour as a performance, the play Wicked, or moments in Casino Royale when we're invited to view James Bond with the kind of desiring gaze usually directed at female bodies in mainstream media. Presented in a brilliantly engaging and witty style, this is a unique portrait of the universe of queer thinking.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER FROM PABLO ESCOBAR S SONUntil now, we believed that everything had been said about the rise and fall of the most infamous drug lord of all time, Pablo Escobar from books to film to the cult series Narcos . But these versions have always been told from the outside, only capturing half the truth, and never from the intimacy of his own home. Now, more than two decades after the full-fledged manhunt finally caught up with Escobar, his son brings us the dramatic truth as never before.Here we find a man of contradictions generosity and infinite love for his family; yet capable of the most extreme acts of cruelty and violence. In a deeply personal exploration of his father, we see the inner world of a man who was celebrated by some as a benevolent Robin Hood figure and by others, as a dangerous leader of the most ruthless mafia organisation in human history, reaping vengeance and death on anyone that might stand in his way. When Escobar died, his then teenage son vowed revenge. But Escobar Jr. quickly recognised that meant following in his father's footsteps something neither of them had ever wanted. With his change of heart, he denounced the Pablo Escobar legacy. This is far from the story of a child seeking redemption, but a shocking look at the consequences of violence and his attempt to come to terms with it.

When Neale Donald Walsch was experiencing a low point in his life, he decided to write a letter to God. What he did not expect was a response and the result was Conversations with God Book 1. In Book 2, the dialogue expands to deal with the more global topics of geopolitical and metaphysical life on the planet, and the challenges now facing the world. This incredible series contains answers that will change you, your life, and the way you view other beings.

From the international bestselling auhor of Gomorrah, this searing expos of dirty money and the drug trade reveals how they are at the heart of our lives, our economy, and our world.'The most important book of the year ... Here it is, laid bare: cartel as corporation, corporation as cartel; cocaine as pure capitalism ... Saviano realises the brutal truth: that to understand narco-traffic is to understand the modern world ... it is revolutionary' Ed Vulliamy, Observer 'A dense, dazzling, dizzying narrative about the terrifying violence of the cocaine trade, but also the vast, unassailable reach of it' Rose George, Independent 'A tremendously gripping work of reportage' Ian Thomson, Evening Standard'Italy's bravest investigative writer ... must-read nonfiction' GQ'Impassioned, remarkable' Misha Glenny, Financial Times'After reading Saviano, it becomes impossible to see Italy, and the global market, in the same way again' The New York Times

At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union unexpectedly found itself in control of a huge swathe of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to a completely new political and moral system: communism. In Iron Curtain, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum describes how the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete. Applebaum describes in devastating detail how political parties, the church, the media, young people's organizations - the institutions of civil society on every level - were quickly eviscerated. She explains how the secret police services were organized, how the media came to be dominated by communists, and how all forms of opposition were undermined and destroyed. Ranging widely across new archival material and many sources unknown in English, she follows the communists' tactics as they bullied, threatened and murdered their way to power. She also chronicles individual lives to show the choices people had to make - to fight, to flee, or to collaborate. Within a remarkably short period after the end of the war, Eastern Europe had been ruthlessly Stalinized. Iron Curtain is a brilliant history of a brutal period and a haunting reminder of how fragile free societies can be. Today the Soviet Bloc is a lost civilization, one whose cruelty, paranoia, bizarre morality, and strange aesthetics Anne Applebaum captures in the pages of this exceptional work of historical and moral reckoning.

Everything drug cartels do to survive and prosper they ve learnt from big business brand value and franchising from McDonald s, supply chain management from Walmart, diversification from Coca-Cola. Whether it s human resourcing, R&D, corporate social responsibility, off-shoring, problems with e-commerce or troublesome changes in legislation, the drug lords face the same strategic concerns companies like Ryanair or Apple. So when the drug cartels start to think like big business, the only way to understand them is using economics. In Narconomics, Tom Wainwright meets everyone from coca farmers in secret Andean locations, deluded heads of state in presidential palaces, journalists with a price on their head, gang leaders who run their empires from dangerous prisons and teenage hitmen on city streets - all in search of the economic truth.

Full of insights and very practical, this important book by the Dalai Lama shows that self-knowledge is the key to personal development and creating positive relationshipsHow to See Yourself As You Really Are is based on a fundamental Buddhist belief that love and insight work together to bring about enlightenment, like two wings of a bird. It provides a new perspective on the psychological problems of hurting ourselves through misguided, exaggerated notions of self, others, events and physical things. It shows how even our senses deceive us, drawing us into unwise attachments and negative actions that can only come back to haunt us in the future.Drawing on wisdom and techniques refined in Tibetan monasteries for more than a thousand years, and adopting as its structure traditional Buddhist steps of meditative reflection, How to See Yourself As You Really Are includes practical exercises and gives readers a clear path to assess their growth and personal development. The book is enlivened throughout with warm personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's experiences as a life-long student, a meditator, a political leader and an international figure working with other Nobel Peace Laureates to address crises around the world.His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet. Today, he lives in exile in Northern India and works tirelessly on behalf of the Tibetan people, as well as travelling the world to give spiritual teachings to sell-out audiences. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The samurai sword: a symbol of the spirit of old Japan, it embodies the samurai's steel discipline, unswerving devotion and peerless skill. With its creation, a feat of craftsmanship passed down by generations of artisans, the samurai sword is generally considered to be superior even to the famed blades of Western Damascus and Toledo. The Samurai Sword Handbook is a precise exploration of the samurai sword designed for sword collectors as well as anyone intrigued by these ancient blades. Detailing the origins and development of the samurai sword, its historical background, styles, famous schools and differences in construction, this revised edition of the classic reference outlines methods of identifying and researching the sword, as well as caring for it properly. This must-have for sword lovers is sure to be a bestseller.Topics of this Samurai book include:Japanese History and the Samurai SwordTypes of swordsParts of the swordBlade shape, construction, and grainThe making of the swordInscriptions and their readingsCare and maintenanceAppraisal and valueRelative point values

This tenth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and sees the addition of a new co-author. Retaining its characteristic clarity of expression and breadth of coverage, it provides a lively account and explanation of the variety of political systems around the world.

The Unfinished Revolution is the definitive story of New Labour from its genesis to its election defeat 2010 - covering over 25 years and six general elections of strategy, rebuilding and reinvention. In this extraordinary book, Philip Gould, one of the world's leading political strategists and a key adviser to Tony Blair during the period, brilliantly describes how New Labour came to dominate, falter and fall, assessing how successful it was in government, and where it should go from here. Drawing on his years of experience at the heart of New Labour he gives us his unique perspective on how best to understand the electorate, how to communicate policy and how to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

ANNE LISTER IS THE INSPIRATION FOR GENTLEMAN JACK, A NEW BBC/HBO SERIES BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT, STARRING SURANNE JONES.'Engaging, revealing, at times simply astonishing: Anne Lister's diaries are an indispensable read for anyone interested in the history of gender, sexuality, and the intimate lives of women' SARAH WATERS'The Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history; they changed everything. By resurrecting them and editing them with such loving attention and intelligence, Helena Whitbread has earned the gratitude of a whole generation' EMMA DONOGHUEWhen this volume of Anne Lister's diaries was first published in 1988, it was hailed as a vital piece of lost lesbian history. The editor, Helena Whitbread, had spent years painstakingly researching and transcribing Lister's extensive journals, much of which were written in an elaborate code - what Lister called her 'crypthand', which allowed her to record her life in intimate, and at times, explicit, detail. Until then, Anne Lister's lesbianism had been supressed or hinted at; this was the first time her story had been told. Anne Lister defied the role of nineteenth-century womanhood: she was bold, fiercely independent, a landowner, industrialist, traveller and lesbian - a woman who lived her life on her own terms.'[Anne Lister's] sense of self, and self-awareness, is what makes her modern to us. She was a woman exercising conscious choice. She controlled her cash and her body. At a time when women had to marry, or be looked after by a male relative, and when all their property on marriage passed to their husband, Anne Lister not only dodged the traps of being female, she set up a liaison with another woman that enhanced her own wealth and left both of them free to live as they wished . . . The diaries gave me courage' JEANETTE WINTERSONThese diaries include the years 1816-1824. The second volume, NO PRIEST BUT LOVE, is available in ebook.