Books in the A Reader's Guides series

"Writing and Difference" is one of Jacques Derrida's most widely read and studied books. This book deals with the original French text and offers guidance on: philosophical and historical context; key themes; reading the text; reception and influence; and, further reading.

Alain Badiou's "Being and Event" is one of the significant works of French philosophy. It is the magnum opus of a thinker who is widely considered to have reshaped the character and set new terms for the future development of philosophy in France and elsewhere. This book offers guidance on philosophical and intellectual context.

A guide to ten of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges' best-known and widely studied short stories. It offers an analysis of such key terms in Borges' work as 'labyrinth' and the 'infinite' and analyses Borges' particular narrative strategies.

Martin Heidegger is one of the important thinkers of the twentieth century. His later writings are profoundly original and innovative, giving rise to much of postmodernist thinking, yet they are infamously difficult to approach. This guide offers an introduction to eight of Heidegger's important essays.

Gilles Deleuze is one of the influential thinkers of the twentieth century. "Difference and Repetition" is a classic work of contemporary philosophy and a key text in Deleuze's oeuvre. This book offers an introduction to important work. It offers guidance on: philosophical and historical context; key themes; and reading the text.

Mill's "Utilitarianism" is one of the important texts in the teaching of ethics. This title offers an account of this key philosophical work. It provides review of the key themes and a commentary that enables readers to navigate the text. It explores the ideas inherent in the text.

Chinua Achebe's remarkable novel "Things Fall Apart" (1958) is probably the best known African novel and has become one of the world's most influential literary masterpieces. This guide to the text sets "Things Fall Apart" in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, offering analyses of its themes, style and structure.

A guide to Spinoza's masterpiece of Rationalist thought. It offers reader an unorthodox account of God, a novel version of the mind-body relation, a systematic theory of emotions and a prescription for human virtue and blessedness. It explains the philosophical background against which the book was written and the key themes inherent in the text.

Thomas Hobbes' most enduring work, "Leviathan", is a key text in the study of political philosophy. Explaining the philosophical background against which the text was written, this book guides the reader to a clear understanding of the text as a whole, and then, explores the reception and influence of this classic philosophical work.

"The Great Gatsby" (1925) is a classic of modern American literature and is often seen as the quintessential novel of 'the jazz age'. This guide sets "The Great Gatsby" in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, offering analyses of its themes, style and structure. It includes points for discussion and suggestions for further study.

Challenging the twin orthodoxies of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Althusserian Marxism, "Anti-Oedipus" is an important and exciting, yet challenging piece of philosophical writing. This work is a suitable companion to one of the twentieth-century's most influential philosophical works. It is suitable for undergraduate students.

J D Salinger's 1951 novel, "The Catcher in the Rye", is the definitive coming-of-age novel and one of the most controversial, and successful, books of post-war America. This study opens up ways of thinking about the novel.

A readers guide to Kant, the philosopher who best typifies the thought and ideals of the Enlightenment. He was influenced by the modern physics of Newton, the rationalist perfectionism of Leibniz and Wolff, the critical empiricism of Locke and Hume, and Rousseau's celebration of liberty and individualism.

In the "Politics", Aristotle sets out to discover what is the best form that the state can take. This book presents an introduction to Aristotle's "Politics" - a classic of political theory, widely considered to be the founding text of Western political science.

Soren Kierkegaard was without question one of the most important and influential thinkers of the nineteenth century. "Fear and Trembling" is his classic text in the history that challenges readers with its original philosophical perspective and idiosyncratic literary style. This guide offers an introduction to this important work.

Presents an important work in the history of philosophy. Concentrating on Kant's Critique of Aesthetic Judgment, this book explores the important ideas inherent in the text and provides a survey of the reception and influence of Kant's work. It is suitable for undergraduate students.

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is one of the most famous literay works of the nineteenth century and has inspired generations of students. This guide to the text introduces its contexts, language, reception and adaptation from its first publication to the present. It also includes points for discussion, and suggestions for further study.

Enables the new reader of "Ulysses" to understand, analyse and appreciate the most famous, and famously 'difficult', novel of the twentieth century. This guide shows how Joyce reacted to the historical and cultural context in which he was situated. It is suitable for undergraduate students.

Tackles one of Sartre's challenging works "Being and Nothingness". This book gives a unified view of the (seemingly disparate) topics discussed in "Being and Nothingness" by taking them as answers to the problem of human freedom. It also shows how Sartre's work can be placed in a tradition of philosophical reflection deriving from Kant.

"To the Lighthouse" is one of Virginia Woolf's most widely read and commonly studied novels. This guide introduces its context, language, themes, criticism and afterlife. It is suitable for undergraduate students.

"Berkeley's Principles of Human Knowledge" is a key text in the history of British Empiricism and 18th - century thought. This title offers an introduction to Berkeley's seminal text, a key text in the history of philosophy that is widely studied at undergraduate level. It provides guidance on philosophical and historical context.

Offers an account of the key philosophical work. This book provides a review of the key themes and a commentary that enable readers to navigate the text. It explores the complex and important ideas inherent in the text and provides a cogent survey of the reception and influence of Kant's important work.

John Locke's "Second Treatise of Government" is one of the most influential texts in the history of political theory. Part of the Continuum's "Reader's Guides", this book offers an account of this key philosophical work. It provides a review of the key themes and a lucid commentary.

First published in 1859, John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" has exerted an enormous influence on philosophical and political thought. This title is part of Continuum's "Reader's Guides" that offers an introduction to this classic work of philosophy.

John Fowles' 1969 novel "The French Lieutenant's Woman" has become a modern classic but it is a complex novel. This guide offers readings of the text as well as accounts of Fowles' influences and the context of the novel's composition. It also discusses Fowles' manipulation of the story's Victorian setting and source material.

A guide to Chaucer's poem "The Canterbury Tales" which introduces readers to Chaucer's life and times and reconsiders both the impact and the context of its inception. It details Chaucer's cultural and literary world, as well as reviews the publishing history of the Tales.

"Berkeley's Three Dialogues" is a key text in the history of philosophy - the dialogues are, with the exception of Hume's, arguably the most important philosophical dialogues written in English. This book offers an account of this philosophical work. It gives a review of the key themes and a commentary that can enable readers to navigate the text.

Explains the philosophical and political background and guides the reader to an understanding of the text. This book offers guidance on philosophical and historical context; key themes; reading the text; reception and influence; and, further reading.

"Dracula" (1897) is one of the most commonly studied gothic novels and has been hugely influential through adaptations in fiction, on stage and in cinema. This book introduces its context, language, themes, criticism and afterlife, leading students to an understanding of the text.

William Blake is a popular romantic poet, partly because of the relevance of his insights into psychological, political and social issues. This title introduces the readers to Blake's major themes and then moves on to reading his key works. It also includes sections on its context and critical adaptation, and an annotated guide to further reading.