Much more than a biography or a guide to his plays and sonnets, Introducing Shakespeare is tour through the world of Will and concludes that even after centuries, Shakespeare remains the battlefield on which our very comprehension of humanity is being fought out.

In 1859, Charles Darwin shocked the world with a radical theory — evolution by natural selection. One hundred and fifty years later, his theory still challenges some of our most precious beliefs. Introducing Evolution provides a step-by-step guide to 'Darwin's dangerous idea' and takes a fresh look at the often misunderstood concepts of natural selection and the selfish gene. Drawing on the latest findings from genetics, ecology and animal behaviour — as well as the work of best-selling science writers such as Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker — a string of brilliant examples, superbly illustrated by Howard Selina, reveals how the evidence in favour of evolutionary theory is stronger than ever. With wit and clarity, Dylan Evans addresses many puzzling issues: Did life first evolve on other planets? What's the advantage of having sex? Why do your parents look after you? And what good to a bird is half a wing? From the death of the dinosaurs to the development of digital organisms, Introducing Evolution brings Darwin up-to-date with the latest scientific discoveries. This is the ideal guide to the most important idea ever to appear in the history of science.

Why can't you light a candle in a spaceship? What books are bad for you? Is nature natural? Every year the Oxford and Cambridge's learned professors pose such curious conundrums to potential students to separate the wheat from the chaff, and the clever from both of them. Deftly exploring the twisting paths your mind can take when you're really made to think, Do You Think You're Clever? provides dazzling answers to over 60 of these infamously perplexing problems. John Farndon takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride from philosophy to physics, literature to logarithms considering why the pole vaulting world record will never exceed 6.5m, whether there are too many people in the world, how to reduce crime through architecture, and much more. How would stand up against Oxbridge's sharpist minds? Do You Think You're Clever is a sparkling tour amid the heights of intellectual abstract thought. Imbibe slowly and give your neural networks the workout they crave.

Capitalism now dominates the globe, both in economics and ideology, shapes every aspect of our world and influences everything from laws, wars and government to interpersonal relationships. Introducing Capitalism tells the story of its remarkable and often ruthless rise, evolving through strife and struggle as much as innovation and enterprise. Tracing capitalism from its beginning to the present day, Dan Cryan and Sharron Shatil, alongside Piero's brilliant graphics, look at its practical and theoretical impact. They cover the major economic, social and political developments that shaped the world we live in, such as the rise of banking, the founding of America and the Opium Wars.This book explores the leading views for and against, including thinkers like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Theodor Adorno and Milton Friedman, together with the connections between them and their historical context. Capitalism has influenced everything in the 21st-century world. For anyone who wants to gain a broad understanding of this fascinating subject, this book cuts across narrow academic lines to analyse an all-encompassing feature of modern life.

Was Marx himself a 'Marxist'? Was his visionary promise of socialism betrayed by Marxist dictatorship? Is Marxism inevitably totalitarian? What did Marx really say? Introducing Marxism provides a fundamental account of Karl Marx's original philosophy, its roots in 19th century European ideology, his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism that inspired vast 20th century revolutions. It assesses Marxism's Russian disciples, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin who forged a ruthless dogmatic Communism. The book examines the alternative Marxist approaches of Gramsci, the Frankfurt School of critical theory and the structuralist Marxism of Althusser in the 1960s. It marshals postmodern interpretations of Marxism and raises the spectre of 'post-Marxism' in Derrida's confrontation with Fukuyama's 'end of history' doctrine.

Carl Gustav Jung was the most enigmatic and controversial disciple of Sigmund Freud. Introducing Jung brilliantly explains the theories that led Jung to break away from Freud and describes his own near psychotic breakdown in mid-life, a 'night-sea voyage' from which he emerged with radical new insights into the nature of the unconscious mind. Step by step, the book demonstrates how it was entirely logical for him to explore the psychology of religion, alchemy, astrology, the I Ching and other phenomena rejected by science in his investigation of his patients' dreams, fantasies and psychic disturbances.

Stephen Hawking is the world-famous physicist with a cameo in The Simpsons on his CV, but outside his academic field his work is little understood. To the public he is a tragic figure — a brilliant scientist and author of the 9 million-copy-selling A Brief History of Time, and yet confined to a wheelchair and almost completely paralysed. Hawking's major contribution to science has been to integrate the two great theories of 20th-century physics — Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. J.P. McEvoy and Oscar Zarate's brilliant graphic guide explores Hawking's life, the evolution of his work from his days as a student, and his breathtaking discoveries about where these fundamental laws break down or overlap, such as on the edge of a Black Hole or at the origin of the Universe itself.

Introducing Buddha describes the life and teachings of the Buddha, but it also shows that enlightenment is a matter of experiencing the truth individually and by inspiration which is passed from teacher to student. Superbly illustrated by Borin Van Loon, the book illuminates this process through a rich legacy of stories and explains the practices of meditation, Taoism and Zen. It goes on to describe the role of Buddhism in modern Asia and its growing influence on Western thought.

What is the place of individual choice and consequence in a post-Holocaust world of continuing genocidal ethnic cleansing? Is identity now a last-ditch cultural defence of ethnic nationalisms and competing fundamentalisms? In a climate of instant information, free markets and possible ecological disaster, how do we define rights, self-interest and civic duties? What are the acceptable limits of scientific investigation and genetic engineering, the rights and wrongs of animal rights, euthanasia and civil disobedience? Introducing Ethics confronts these dilemmas, tracing the arguments of the great moral thinkers, including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Kant, and brings us up to date with postmodern critics.

Logic is the backbone of Western civilization, holding together its systems of philosophy, science and law. Yet despite logic's widely acknowledged importance, it remains an unbroken seal for many, due to its heavy use of jargon and mathematical symbolism.This book follows the historical development of logic, explains the symbols and methods involved and explores the philosophical issues surrounding the topic in an easy-to-follow and friendly manner. It will take you through the influence of logic on scientific method and the various sciences from physics to psychology, and will show you why computers and digital technology are just another case of logic in action.

What connects Marliyn Monroe, Disneyworld, The Satanic Verses and cyber space? Answer: Postmodernism. But what exactly is postmodernism? This graphic guide explains clearly the maddeningly enigmatic concept that has been used to define the world's cultural condition over the last three decades. Introducing Postmodernism tracks the idea back to its roots by taking a tour of some of the most extreme and exhilarating events, people and thought of the last 100 years: in art — constructivism, conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol; in politics and history — McCarthy's witch-hunts, feminism, Francis Fukuyama and the Holocaust; in philosophy — the work of Derrida, Baudrillard, Foucault and Heidegger. The book also explores postmodernism's take on today, and the anxious grip of globalisation, unpredictable terrorism and unforeseen war that greeted the dawn of the 21st century. Regularly controversial, rarely straightforward and seldom easy, postmodernism is nonetheless a thrilling intellectual adventure. Introducing Postmodernism is the ideal guide.

What is psychology? When did it begin? Where did it come from? How does psychology compare with related subjects such as psychiatry and psychotherapy? To what extent is it scientific? Introducing Psychology answers all these questions and more, explaining what the subject has been in the past and what it is now. The main schools of thought and the sections within psychology are described, including Introspection, Biopsychology, Psychoanalysis, Behaviourism, Comparative (Animal) Psychology, Cognitive Approaches (including the Gestalt movement), Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Humanism. The key figures covered include: Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, Piaget, Bowlby, Maslow and Rogers, as well as many lesser-known but important psychologists.

Emotional intelligence is the innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognize, remember, describe, learn from, manage, understand, and explain emotions. Introducing Emotional Intelligence teaches the reader how to become more aware of his or her own emotions, and shows how being more aware of others emotions can improve personal and professional relationships.