The unlikely story of how Americans canonized Adam Smith as the patron saint of free marketsOriginally published in 1776, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was lauded by America's founders as a landmark work of Enlightenment thinking about national wealth, statecraft, and moral virtue.
A revelatory tale of how the human brain develops, from conception to birth and beyondBy the time a baby is born, its brain is equipped with billions of intricately crafted neurons wired together through trillions of interconnections to form a compact and breathtakingly efficient supercomputer.
The first comprehensive account of how and why architects learned to communicate through colorArchitectural drawings of the Italian Renaissance were largely devoid of color, but from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth, polychromy in architectural representation grew and flourished.
A unique look at Thomas Mann's intellectual and political transformation during the crucial years of his exile in the United StatesIn September 1938, Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning author of Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain, fled Nazi Germany for the United States.
A timely defense of liberalism that draws vital lessons from its greatest midcentury proponentsToday, liberalism faces threats from across the political spectrum.
How the philosophers and polemicists of eighteenth-century Britain used ridicule in the service of religious toleration, abolition, and political justiceThe relaxing of censorship in Britain at the turn of the eighteenth century led to an explosion of satires, caricatures, and comic hoaxes.
The neuroscience of why bad habits are so hard to break-and how evidence-based strategies can help us change our behavior more effectivelyWe all have habits we'd like to break, but for many of us it can be nearly impossible to do so.
A groundbreaking history of the political ideas that made modern IndiaViolent Fraternity is a major history of the political thought that laid the foundations of modern India.
The classic guide to one of America's architectural treasures-now with magnificent new color photos and a foreword by Princeton's dean of religious lifeLike the medieval English cathedrals that inspired it, the Princeton University Chapel is an architectural achievement designed to evoke wonder, awe, and reflection.
A landmark history that traces the creation, management, and sharing of information through six centuriesThanks to modern technological advances, we now enjoy seemingly unlimited access to information.
The first book to address the historical failures of philosophy-and what we can learn from themPhilosophers are generally unaware of the failures of philosophy, recognizing only the failures of particular theories, which are then remedied with other theories.
A groundbreaking biography of Milton's formative years that provides a new account of the poet's political radicalizationJohn Milton (1608-1674) has a unique claim on literary and intellectual history as the author of both Paradise Lost, the greatest narrative poem in English, and prose defences of the execution of Charles I that influenced the French and American revolutions.
A look at the painting traditions of northwestern India in the eighteenth century, and what they reveal about the political and artistic changes of the eraIn the long eighteenth century, artists from Udaipur, a city of lakes in northwestern India, specialized in depicting the vivid sensory ambience of its historic palaces, reservoirs, temples, bazaars, and durbars.
An evocative chronicle of the power of solitude in the natural worldI'm often asked, but have no idea why I chose Iceland, why I first started going, why I still go.
How transatlantic thinkers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries promoted the unification of Britain and the United StatesBetween the late nineteenth century and the First World War an ocean-spanning network of prominent individuals advocated the unification of Britain and the United States.
An urban history of modern Britain, and how the built environment shaped the nation's politicsFoundations is a history of twentieth-century Britain told through the rise, fall, and reinvention of six different types of urban space: the industrial estate, shopping precinct, council estate, private flats, shopping mall, and suburban office park.
Notable writers-including UK poet laureate Simon Armitage, Julian Barnes, Margaret MacMillan, and Jenny Uglow-celebrate our fascination with the houses of famous literary figures, artists, composers, and politicians of the pastWhat can a house tell us about the person who lives there?
A literary and cultural history of the intimate space of the eighteenth-century closet-and how it fired the imaginations of Pepys, Sterne, Swift, and so many other writers Long before it was a hidden storage space or a metaphor for queer and trans shame, the closet was one of the most charged settings in English architecture.
The racist legacy behind the Western idea of freedomThe era of the Enlightenment, which gave rise to our modern conceptions of freedom and democracy, was also the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
An in-depth history of the Stalinist skyscraperIn the early years of the Cold War, the skyline of Moscow was forever transformed by a citywide skyscraper building project.
How climate influenced the design strategies of modernist architectsModern Architecture and Climate explores how leading architects of the twentieth century incorporated climate-mediating strategies into their designs, and shows how regional approaches to climate adaptability were essential to the development of modern architecture.
An unprecedented survey of the origins and evolution of Chinese architecture, from the last millennia BCE to todayThroughout history, China has maintained one of the world's richest built civilizations.
The first modern English edition of diverse Enlightenment-era writings by Prussian monarch Frederick the GreatFrederick II of Prussia (1712-1786), best known as Frederick the Great, was a prolific writer of philosophical discourses, poems, epics, satires, and more, while maintaining extensive correspondence with prominent intellectuals, Voltaire among them.
The untold story of Michelangelo's final decades-and his transformation into one of the greatest architects of the Italian RenaissanceAs he entered his seventies, the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo despaired that his productive years were past.
How leading American artists reflected on the fate of humanity in the nuclear era through monumental sculptureIn the wake of the atomic bombings of Japan in 1945, artists in the United States began to question what it meant to create a work of art in a world where humanity could be rendered extinct by its own hand.
A novel interpretation of architecture, ugliness, and the social consequences of aesthetic judgmentWhen buildings are deemed ugly, what are the consequences?
An unprecedented history of Brooklyn, told through its places, buildings, and the people who made them, from the early seventeenth century to todayAmerica's most storied urban underdog, Brooklyn has become an internationally recognized brand in recent decades-celebrated and scorned as one of the hippest destinations in the world.
An enlightening account of the entwined histories of knowledge and nationhood in Latin America-and beyondThe rise of nation-states is a hallmark of the modern age, yet we are still untangling how the phenomenon unfolded across the globe.
'This book can catapult you into living fully the life that is yours to live while you have the chance' Jon Kabat-Zinn'A must-read for our distracted times' Dan Goleman'A must-have guide to experiencing every moment of our lives' Goldie Hawn'A treasure trove of insights and exercises to enrich our lives' Dan SiegelStop for a moment.
The ebook edition of Cathedral Cats that captures the fascinating life stories of cats who make their homes in and around the grandeur of Britain's cathedrals.
'Compelling' Christopher Hart, The Sunday Times'A fascinating book' Daily Mail_______________________________________________________________We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world -- but it's a lot older than you think.
Paris between the wars: our impression is one of gaiety, frivolity, fashion, of exuberant living - a city whose lights were put out by the terrifyingly rapid advance of the German panzers in 1940.
Featuring over 200 photographs, this stunning book by renowned television historian Dan Cruickshank tells the history of architecture through the stories of 100 iconic buildingsJourneying through time and place, from the ancient Egyptian pyramids to the soaring skyscrapers of Manhattan, renowned architectural historian Dan Cruickshank explores the most impressive and characterful creations in world architecture.
Understanding the modern city and the powerful forces within it is the life's work of Harvard urban economist Edward Glaeser, who at forty is hailed as one of the world's most exciting urban thinkers.
The heart-warming true story of the bond between a feisty octogenarian and the man in charge of building a shopping mall on top of her home - which inspired the opening scene of the Pixar movie Up!
WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTIONChosen as a Book of the Year by New Statesman, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Rough Trade and the BBCShortlisted for the Rathbones Folio PrizeLonglisted for the Jhalak Prize'Restlessly inventive, brutally graceful, startlingly beautiful .