Non-Secondhand Books

Penguin Classics relaunch Blaise Pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of Descartes, was a gifted mathematician and physicist, but it is his unfinished apologia for the Christian religion upon which his...

Tolstoy's controversial treatise on the purpose of Art During his decades of world fame as a novelist, Tolstoy also wrote prolifically in a series of essays and polemics on issues...

Penguin Classics relaunch A penetrating account of Greek tragedy, it demonstrates how the elements of plot, character and spectacle combine to produce 'pity and fear' - and why we derive...

Aristotle's probing look at the fundamental questions of philosophy The Metaphysics presents Aristotle's mature rejection of both the Platonic theory that what we perceive is just a pale reflection of...

The book which marks the start of Nietzsche's mature philosophical writings Written after Nietzsche had ended his friendship with Richard Wagner and had been forced to leave academic life through...

A satirical, witty text from the greatest humanist of the Renaissance Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466-1536) is one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance humanist movement, which abandoned medieval...

A selection of Montaigne's highly original essays on a variety of subjects - from coaches to cannibals To overcome a crisis of melancholy after the death of his father, Montaigne...

One of the key works of existentialist thought One of the most remarkable philosophical works of the nineteenth century, The Sickness Unto Death is also famed for the depth and...

Turgenev's collection of insights into Russia and the lives of those who live there Turgenev's first major prose work is a series of twenty-five Sketches- the observations and anecdotes of...

Xenophon's fascinating defence of Socratic thought After the execution of Socrates in 399 BC, a number of his followers wrote dialogues featuring him as the protagonist and, in so doing,...

Nietzsche's final testament of his beliefs In late 1888, only weeks before his final collapse into madness, Nietzsche (1844-1900) set out to compose his autobiography, and Ecce Homo remains one...

Two of Nietzsche's final and most devastating works 'Twilight of the Idols', an attack on all the prevalent ideas of his time, offers a lightning tour of his whole philosophy....

These short works, ranging from Tolstoy's earliest tales to the brilliant title story, are rich in the insights and passion that characterize all of his explorations in love, war, courage,...

A collection of some of Dostoyevsky's finest short stories With their penetrating psychological insight and their emphasis on human dignity, respect and forgiveness, Dostoyevsky's early short stories contain the seeds...

Penguin Classics relaunch. Visiting an idyllic German village, Werther, a sensitive young man, falls in love with sweet-natured Lotte. Though he realizes that Lotte is to marry Albert, he is...

The searingly honest, spiritual autobiography of Rossia's greatest novelist, written during a period of emotional crisis Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is...

Aristotle's profoundly influential examination of the concept of the soul For the Pre-Socratic philosophers the soul was the source of movement and sensation, while for Plato it was the seat...

A fictionalised account of the time Dostoyevsky spent in a Siberian prison camp for his part in a political conspiracy In January 1850 Dostoyevsky was sent to a remote Siberian...

Translated with an introduction by Alstair Hannay Writing under the pseudonym of Johannes de silentio, Kierkegaard uses the form of a dialectical lyric to present his conception of faith. Abraham...

Penguin Classics relaunch. In A Discourse on Inequality Rousseau sets out to demonstrate how the growth of civilization corrupts man's natural happiness and freedom by creating artificial inequalities of wealth,...

Penguin Classics relaunch Between 58 and 50BC Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and twice invaded Britain. This is the record of his...

Deeply sensitive and faithful to the original work, Guy Lee's verse translation is here paralleled by the original Latin text. Haunting and enigmatic, Virgil's Eclogues combined a Greek literary form...

A compelling narrative of the life of the greatest conqueror of all time- Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), who led the Macedonian army to victory in Egypt,...

Asser's revealing account of one of the great medieval kings Asser's Life of King Alfred, written in 893, is a revealing account of one of the greatest of medieval kings....

Only widely-available edition of Khayyam's lyrical poetry Revered in eleventh-century Persia as an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, Omar Khayyam is now known first and foremost for his Ruba'iyat. The short...

A fascinating account of the time of the Vikings and the feuds of the Orkney Isles Written around AD 1200 by an unnamed Icelandic author, the Orkneyinga Saga is an...

Rousseau's final work and meditation After a period of forced exile and solitary wandering brought about by his radical views on religion and politics, Jean-Jacques Rousseau returned to Paris in...

A collection of von Kleist's haunting, unsettling stories In The Marquise of O-, a virtuous widow finds herself unaccountably pregnant. And although the baffled Marquise has no idea when this...

Hugo's Gothic tale of Quasimodo In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame lives Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bellringer. Mocked and shunned for his appearance, he is pitied only by Esmerelda, a...

R. J. Hollingdale's selection structures Nietzsche's writings according to theme to give the fullest possible sense of the depth and scope of this extraordinary writer. The literary career of Friedrich...

Dreamlike Welsh tales from the thirteenth century Drawing on myth, folklore and history, the stories of the Mabinogion passed from generations of storytellers before they were written down in the...

Maupassant's story of a man whose ideals are corrupted by the world Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as...

One of the greatest of the Rougon-Macquart series, Zola's prostitute represents the destructiveness of a corrupt and decaying society Born to drunken parents in the slums of Paris, Nana lives...

Penguin Classics relaunch. Although written over four hundred years after Alexander's death, Arrian's account of the man and his achievements is the most reliable we have. Arrian's own experience as...

A collection of Schopenhauer's powerful and inventive philosophy One of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century, Schopenhauer (1788-1860) believed that human action is determined not by reason but by...

Rene Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the...

The sacred texts of the Hindu faith The Upanishads, the earliest of which were composed in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 bce by sages and poets, form part of the...

'Envy remained hidden in her heart, like a plague germ which may come to life and devastate a city' Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on the condescending...

An intriguing document giving insight into the founders of the Roman republic These nine biographies illuminate the careers, personalities and military campaigns of some of Rome's greatest statesmen, whose lives...

Pliny's letters provide a series of fascinating views on imperial Rome A prominent lawyer and administrator, Pliny (c. AD 61-113) was also a prolific letter-writer, who numbered among his correspondents...

Penguin Classics relaunch Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains his most famous and influential work. It describes how...

Penguin Classics relaunch The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Saint Augustine spent his early years torn between conflicting faiths and world views. His Confessions, written when...

Penguin Classics relaunch Aeschylus (525-456 BC) brought a new grandeur and epic sweep to the drama of classical Athens, raising it to the status of high art. In Prometheus Bound...

'The most moving lines literature has achieved' Jorge Luis Borges In Paradise, having plunged to the uttermost depths of Hell and climbed the Mount of Purgatory, Dante ascends to Heaven,...

A selection of Cicero's speeches and letters, which have had a profound effect on the Western liberal tradition of political thought Lawyer, philosopher, statesman and defender of Rome's Republic, Cicero...

Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome recount the major historical events from the years shortly before the death of Augustus up to the death of Nero in AD 68. With clarity...

'The most moving lines literature has achieved' Jorge Luis Borges Beginning with Dante's liberation from Hell, Purgatory relates his ascent, accompanied by Virgil, of the Mount of Purgatory - a...

Rousseau's autobiography, giving a unique insight into the mind and life of one of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment Widely regarded as the first modern autobiography, The Confessions is...