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On Suicide
by Emile DurkheimEmile Durkheim's On Suicide (1897) was a groundbreaking book in the field of sociology. Traditionally, suicide was thought to be a matter of purely individual despair but Durkheim recognized that the phenomenon had a social dimension. He believed that if anything can explain how individuals relate to society, then it is suicide: Why does it happen? What goes wrong? Why do certain social, religious or racial groups have higher incidences of suicide than others? As Durkheim explored these questions he became convinced that abnormally high or low levels of social integration lead to an increased likelihood of suicide. On Suicide was the result of his extensive research. Divided into three parts - individual reasons for suicide, social forms of suicide and the relation of suicide to society as a whole - Durkheim's revelations have fascinated, challenged and informed readers for over a century.
On Suicide (Penguin Great Ideas)
by David HumeOne of the most important thinkers ever to write in English, the Empiricist David Hume liberated philosophy from the superstitious constraints of religion; here, he argues that all are free to choose between life and death, considers the nature of personal taste and succinctly criticises common philosophies of the time.
On Sparta
by PlutarchPlutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC. Through his Lives of Sparta's leaders and his recording of memorable Spartan Sayings he depicts a people who lived frugally and mastered their emotions in all aspects of life, who also disposed of unhealthy babies in a deep chasm, introduced a gruelling regime of military training for boys, and treated their serfs brutally. Rich in anecdote and detail, Plutarch's writing brings to life the personalities and achievements of Sparta with unparalleled flair and humanity.
On Solitude (Penguin Great Ideas)
by Michel de MontaigneBlending intellectual speculation with anecdote and personal reflection, the Renaissance thinker and writer Montaigne pioneered the modern essay. This selection contains his idiosyncratic and timeless writings on subjects as varied as the virtues of solitude, the power of the imagination, the pleasures of reading, the importance of sleep and why we sometimes laugh and cry at the same things. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
On The Slow Train: Twelve Great British Railway Journeys
by Michael Williams'A trip back in time' DAILY TELEGRAPHA love of railways, a love of history, a love of nostalgia.______________________________Get ready to board the slow train to another era, to a time when travel meant more than hurrying from one place to the next. On the Slow Train will reconnect you with that long-missed need for escape, and reminds us to lift our heads from the daily grind and remember that there are still places in Britain where we can take the time to stop and stare. This book is a paean to another age: before milk churns, train porters and cats on seats were replaced by security announcements and Burger King wrappers. These 12 spectacular journeys will help free us from what Baudelaire denounced as 'the horrible burden of time.'___________________________________'Captivating' SUNDAY EXPRESS'Deep in our soul, the railways represent an idyll that we love' INDEPENDENT'A magical world, barely changed since the golden age of rail' DAILY MAIL'Superb' RAILYWAY MAGAZINE'Memory lane . . . An intriguing social snapshot' HERITAGE RAILWAY
On Saturdays (Storycuts)
by Su TongYou don't expect some guy making small talk on a train to turn into a real friend, but that was just the kind of friend Papa Qi was. And afterwards, Saturday became Papa Qi's visiting day. Every Saturday.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Madwoman on the Bridge.`
On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families
by Jeremy PaxmanWhat is the point of Kings and Queens? What do they do all day? And what does it mean to be one of them? Jeremy Paxman is used to making politicians explain themselves – but royalty has always been off limits. Until now. In On Royalty he delves deep into the past and takes a long hard look at our present incumbents to find out just what makes them tick. Along the way he discovers some fascinating and little-known details. Such as: • how Albania came to advertise in England for a king• which English queen gave birth in front of 67 people• how easy it is to beat up future kings of England • and how meeting the Queen is a bit scary – whoever you are …No other book will tell you quite as much about our kings, queens, princes and princesses: who they are and what they’re for.
On Power
by William ShakespeareThese are Shakespeare's greatest writings on power in all its forms - in love, in war, in politics and in the family. From Macbeth's vaulting ambition to Richard II's fragile grip on authority, from the violent rivalries of King Lear to the exquisite poetry of the love sonnets, these pieces show, with philosophical subtlety and psychological acuity, how we manipulate and dominate each other.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
On Penalties
by Andrew Anthony'Score and few will remember; miss and no one will forget'Talking to some of the game's most successful players and managers, the question the book seeks to address is simple: can England overcome their fear of the penalty?The penalty shoot-out is the greatest set piece of sporting drama ever conceived. Cruel, arbitrary, tortuous and unfair, it has also presented the England football team with a new and infinitely more punishing manner in which to lose. Three times in the past decade the nation has sat on the edge of its collective sofa and watched the seemingly inevitable unfold as Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle, Gareth Southgate, Paul Ince and David Batty have selected the wrong shots in the lottery of international championship shoot-outs. Except it's not a lottery. There is an art to scoring penalties, which calls upon a unique combination of physical prowess and psychological strength. In the corridor of truth that leads from the penalty spot to the goal-line, a succession of English footballers have had to confront not only the opposing goalkeeper but the hopes and dreams of fans and fellow countrymen and, of course, themselves. 'A tour de force of narrative journalism' Observer
On Painting
by Leon AlbertiArtist, architect, poet and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti revolutionized the history of art with his theories of perspective in On Painting (1435). Inspired by the order and beauty inherent in nature, his groundbreaking work sets out the principles of distance, dimension and proportion; instructs the painter on how to use the rules of composition, representation, light and colour to create work that is graceful and pleasing to the eye; and stipulates the moral and artistic pre-requisites of the successful painter. On Painting had an immediate and profound influence on Italian Renaissance artists including Ghiberti, Fra Angelico and Veneziano and on later figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, and remains a compelling theory of art.
On Murder, Mourning and Melancholia (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Sigmund FreudThese works were written against a background of war and racism. Freud sought the sources of conflict in the deepest memories of humankind, finding clear continuities between our 'primitive' past and 'civilized' modernity. In Totem and Taboo he explores institutions of tribal life, tracing analogies between the rites of hunter-gatherers and the obsessions of urban-dwellers, while Mourning and Melancholia sees a similarly self-destructive savagery underlying individual life in the modern age, which issues at times in self-harm and suicide. And Freud's extraordinary letter to Einstein, Why War? - rejecting what he saw as the physicist's naïve pacifism - sums up his unsparing view of history in a few profoundly pessimistic, yet grimly persuasive pages.
On Mother Brown's Doorstep: (The Adams Family: 4): A wonderfully heart-warming and funny Cockney saga you won’t want to end (The Adams Family #4)
by Mary Jane StaplesBy Sunday Times bestseller Mary Jane Staples, this is the gritty and uplifting next instalment in the Adams Family saga. Perfect for fans of Maggie Ford and Kitty Neale and Donna Douglas.PRAISE FOR THE ADAMS FAMILY SERIES! "Mary Jane Staples makes you care about her characters, which explains why her books have enjoyed so much popularity" -- Take a Break"Forget Eastenders, this it the London of old, when people knew each other's names and communities really pulled together." -- Woman's Realm"Mary Jane Staples completely capture the feel of the period and the essence of the people...has warmth, humour and charm. An ideal book for you holiday reading." Finesse "I get so engrossed in the stories I feel like one of the family." - ***** Reader review. "These books about the Adam's family are fantastic! These books are the kind you can read, leave a while and read again & again!" - ***** Reader review*********************************AS WEDDING BELLS RING, WALWORTH IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN BY TRAGIC EVENTS ...Susie Brown is overjoyed when her brother, Will, turns up unexpectedly on leave from service in time for her wedding to Sammy Adams.But Will's leave is an extended one due to bad health and he's unsure whether the army will keep him or whether he'll be able to find a job in the slump of the Twenties. To make matters worse, he's at risk of falling in love with the young and personable Annie Ford ...Amidst the joyous wedding preparations, a cloud hangs over Walworth - the mystery of three young girls missing from their homes. A mystery that will culminate - along with Will's personal problems - on the night of the wedding.On Mother Brown's Doorstep is the fourth in Mary Jane Staples's Adams Family series. Their story continues in A Family Affair. Have you read Down Lambeth Way, Our Emily and King of Camberwell - the first three Adams Family novels ?
On The Missionary Trail
by Tom HineyThis is the strange and wondrous story of an eight-year voyage and a mission to save souls. Their mission started in the South Seas, where they reported scenes of chiefs surfing, perpetual warfare and a sudden surge of Christianity. From there they went via New Zealand, Australia and its aboriginal hinterland, through 'the Orient' to India and slave-ridden Mauritius. Based on contemporary journals, mission reports, letters and illustrations, and bursting with character and anecdote. ON THE MISSIONARY TRAIL is both the enthralling narrative of the longest missionary voyage ever undertaken and a colourful, detailed, eye-opening snapshot of little-known worlds, set against the wider picture of evangelism and guilt, heroism and humanity.
On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho
by Matsuo BashoBasho, one of the greatest of Japanese poets and the master of haiku, was also a Buddhist monk and a life-long traveller. His poems combine 'karumi', or lightness of touch, with the Zen ideal of oneness with creation. Each poem evokes the natural world - the cherry blossom, the leaping frog, the summer moon or the winter snow - suggesting the smallness of human life in comparison to the vastness and drama of nature. Basho himself enjoyed solitude and a life free from possessions, and his haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the beauty of the world around him.
On Living and Dying Well
by CiceroIn the first century BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator, statesman, and defender of republican values, created these philosophical treatises on such diverse topics as friendship, religion, death, fate and scientific inquiry. A pragmatist at heart, Cicero's philosophies were frequently personal and ethical, drawn not from abstract reasoning but through careful observation of the world. The resulting works remind us of the importance of social ties, the questions of free will, and the justification of any creative endeavour.This lively, lucid new translation from Thomas Habinek, editor of Classical Antiquity and the Classics and Contemporary Thought book series, makes Cicero's influential ideas accessible to every reader.
On Liberty and the Subjection of Women
by John Stuart MillA prodigiously brilliant thinker who sharply challenged the beliefs of his age, the political and social radical John Stuart Mill was the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century. Regarded as one of the sacred texts of liberalism, his great work On Liberty argues lucidly that any democracy risks becoming a 'tyranny of opinion' in which minority views are suppressed if they do not conform with those of the majority. Written in the same period as On Liberty, shortly after the death of Mill's beloved wife and fellow-thinker Harriet, The Subjection of Women stresses the importance of equality for the sexes. Together, the works provide a fascinating testimony to the hopes and anxieties of mid-Victorian England, and offer a compelling consideration of what it truly means to be free.
On Liberty
by Shami ChakrabartiOn Liberty is the story of today's threats to our freedoms and a highly personal, impassioned plea in defence of fundamental rights, from Shami Chakrabarti, Britain's leading human rights campaignerOn 11 September 2001, our world changed. The West's response to 9/11 has morphed into a period of exception. Governments have decided that the rule of law and human rights are often too costly. In On Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti explores why our fundamental rights and freedoms are indispensable. She shows, too, the unprecedented pressures those rights are under today. Drawing on her own work in high-profile campaigns, from privacy laws to anti-terror legislation, Chakrabarti shows the threats to our democratic institutions and why our rights are paramount in upholding democracy.'Probably the most effective public affairs lobbyist of the past 20 years' - David Aaronovitch, The Times 'The undaunted freedom fighter' - Observer'The most dangerous woman in Britain' - Sun
On Liberty (Penguin Great Ideas)
by John Stuart MillIn one of the most influential philosophical works ever writer, John Stuart Mill explores the risks and responsibilities of liberty. Examining the tyranny that can come both from government and from the herd-like opinion of the majority, Mill proposes a freedom to think, unite, and pursue our pleasures as the most important freedoms, as long as we cause no harm to others. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill'Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.' To this 'one very simple principle' the whole of Mill's essay On Liberty is dedicated. While many of his immediate predecessors and contemporaries, from Adam Smith to Godwin and Thoreau, had celebrated liberty, it was Mill who organized the idea into a philosophy, and put it into the form in which it is generally known today. The editor of this essay, Gertrude Himmelfarb records responses to Mill's books and comments on his fear of 'the tyranny of the majority'. Dr Himmelfarb concludes that the same inconsistencies which underlie On Liberty continue to complicate the moral and political stance of liberals today.
On Leadership
by Allan LeightonThere have been many books on leadership, but here at last is one that actually draws on the wisdom of those in the know. Acting on his belief that you get the most done in the first twenty minutes of a meeting, Allan Leighton invited Britain's top businessmen and women to spend just twenty minutes talking about their views on leadership. And he has talked to an astonishing range of them - the established giants such as Philip Green and Rupert Murdoch; the new generation of leaders, such as Andy Hornby at HBOS and Justin King at Sainsbury; and entrepreneurial figures who include James Dyson and Gulam Noon at Noon Foods. He has gone further too - interviewing the nation's top financial journalists, whose views can help make a company soar or sink; the money men, whose support is critical for investment and acquisition; the politicians, who help create the climate in which businesses can thrive or falter. The result is a fascinating, 360 degree view of what it takes to be a business leader in today's cut-throat global economy - thought-provoking, often surprising, always insightful.
On His Majesty's Service: (The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 11): A tense, fast-paced unputdownable military page-turner from bestselling author Allan Mallinson (Matthew Hervey #11)
by Allan MallinsonPerfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another captivating Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Allan Mallinson...has done for the British Army what C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian did for the Royal Navy, and his novels are every bit as addictive...Splendid, irresistible stuff" -- ALLAN MASSIE, SPECTATOR"A fascinating, lively romp" - THE TIMES"With each successive novel, Mallinson grows in stature as an author; one looks forward eagerly to the next instalment of Hervey's life." -- LONDON EVENING STANDARD"Another great book from a brilliant author" -- ***** Reader review"Magnificent!" -- ***** Reader review"This is a must series to follow" -- ***** Reader review******************************************************************January 1829: George IV is on the throne, Wellington is England's prime-minister, and the population has been enjoying long-term peace. But this happy state of affairs means cuts in the army, and Hervey is told that his regiment, the Sixth, are to be reduced to a single squadron.With his long-term plans in disarray, he undertakes instead a six-month assignment as an observer with the Russian army. Soon Hervey, his friend Edward Fairbrother and his faithful groom, Private Johnson, are sailing north to St Petersburg, and from there to the Eastern Balkans, and the ferocious war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.Hervey is meant to be an impartial spectator, but soon the circumstances - and his own nature - propel him into a more active role. In the climactic Battle of Kulewtscha, Hervey and Fairbrother find themselves in the thick of the action.For Matthew Hervey, the stakes have never been higher - or more personal.
On Government
by CiceroThese pioneering writings on the mechanics, tactics, and strategies of government were devised by the Roman Republic's most enlightened thinker.
On Fishing At Sea: On Fishing At Sea
by Christopher Yates'Though most of my life seems to have been spent on the banks of lakes and rivers, I have always been drawn to the sea . . .'Through twenty-two casts, Britain's best-known freshwater fisherman quits land in favour of the sea. There, he discovers the many pleasures of the coast: wild shores, unpredictable waves, the violent collision of the elements, and, of course, fish that glisten and dart beneath a never-still surface. From childhood remembrances of saltwater escapades to more recent discoveries, Chris Yates brings the sea and its many wonders to scintillating life.
On The Edge
by Laura HamiltonA steamy tale of love, lust and lies on both sides of the law...Julie Gibson's landed a job as a crime reporter for a provincial newspaper. The seaside town she's working in has seen better days; crime and boredom are on the increase and people are going nowhere - fast.Julie finds plenty of action, however, hanging out with the macho cops at the local police station. She starts going out with a detective inspector but things get wild and dangerous when she falls for the rough charms of local biker, Jonny Drew. Caught between two men on the opposite sides of the law, she takes her fun where she finds it.
On The Edge
by Anthony GiddensCapitalism has become the universal social and economic order of our time. The capitalism of today, however, differs from that of previous eras; with intensifying globalisation, flexible organisations, and new forms of class divisions. Globalisation brings new possibilities, but also new risks, ranging from degradation of the environment to the concentrated control of the media. On the Edge comprises original essays by, among others, Polly Toynbee, Richard Senett and George Soros. They chart the contours of contemporary capitalism, analyse the role of the business firm, and consider whether the new capitalism is compatible with social cohesion and social justice. They discuss capitalism both as a form of culture and as an influence on daily life, and ask if capitalism has any viable rivals at the turn of the millennium.