Books published by Granta Books

This exhilarating single-volume history of the whole world from the Iron Age to the Information Age, by one of Latin America's greatest living writers, gives a voice back to the voiceless, and lets the demonized, the starved and the discarded speak their History.

The definitive history of ballet and one of Granta's 2010 bestsellers, Apollo's Angels was ecstatically reviewed on publication.

Why do teenagers need so much sleep? Why do their feet begin to smell? Why are they suddenly attracted to sex, drugs and rock and roll? This book gives you the biological, anthropological, zoological and cultural answers.

A book that asks - and answers - one of life's most uncomfortable questions: what if I'm wrong?

'Madeleine Bunting's multidimensional chronicle is among the very best pieces of non-fiction to have been published in a long while about what it is like to be English' Simon Schama, Financial Times

'This astonishing debut novel from young New Zealander Eleanor Catton is a cause for surprise and celebration: smart, playful and self-possessed, it has the glitter and mystery of the true literary original' Guardian

'A vital account of being a woman in the 20th century ... chronicles the growth of a woman from a privileged childhood of horses and country estates to a middle-class existence in Andre Deutsch's publishing house and love affairs, to a late contemplation on old age. The prose is breathtaking, and the honesty exhilarating' Independent on Sunday

A philosopher takes a second look at sayings, proverbs, and bits of homespun wisdom: ';Every society needs its guardian of good sense: Baggini is ours.' The Financial Times These short, stimulating, and entertaining capsules of philosophy delve into the familiar words that live in our consciousness yet are rarely examined. Should you really do as the Romans do when in Rome and practice what you preach? Is the grass always in fact greener on the other side of the fence, and is there ever smoke without fire? Is beauty always in the eye of the beholder and is it actually better to be safe than sorry? From the popular author of The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, cofounder of The Philosophers' Magazine, and academic director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, this is a witty, deeply thought-provoking reminder that we should never stop asking questions.

This is the story of architecture as never seen before. A brilliantly original book that takes us from the colossal achievements of antiquity to their ersatz rebuilding in Las Vegas, telling stories about buildings and the ways they change

Sloane Crosley's essays talk about the experience of being young and living in New York. Sparkling, witty, urbane, her book soared straight to the top of the US best-seller lists. Prepare to be amused and delighted and to laugh out loud.

An extraordinarily open and moving account of Susan Sontag's final months, written by her son and drawing on previously unpublished letters and journals.

'Fishing in Utopia [winner of the 2009 Orwell Prize] is a lament for a lost Eden. But it is more than that. Essentially it is a story of modern rootlessness and the search for something to believe in' Sunday Times

In Jew Town in India's Cochin, two small communities descended from 'a lost tribe of Israel' are living side by side, on the brink of extinction. When their last two members of child-bearing age refuse to marry, their fate is sealed. This is their story.