For younger readers, he offers a proper introduction to literature, promising to interest as much as instruct. This 'little history' takes on a very big subject: the glorious span of literature from Greek myth to graphic novels, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter. With masterful digressions into various themes - censorship, narrative tricks, self-publishing, taste, creativity, and madness - Sutherland demonstrates the full depth and intrigue of reading.

He has researched, taught, and written on virtually every area of literature, and his infectious passion for books and reading has defined his own life. Now he guides young readers and the grown-ups in their lives on an entertaining journey 'through the wardrobe' to a greater awareness of how literature from across the world can transport us and help us to make sense of what it means to be human.

For more experienced readers, he promises just the same. Yale University Press. He adds to these a less-expected, personal selection of authors and works, including literature usually considered well below 'serious attention' - from the rude jests of Anglo-Saxon runes to The Da Vinci Code. John sutherland is perfectly suited to the task.

Sutherland introduces great classics in his own irresistible way, shakespeare, Dickens, Woolf, Don Quixote, Moby Dick, The Waste Land, enlivening his offerings with humor as well as learning: Beowulf, 1984, the Romantics, and dozens of others.

A Little History of Philosophy Little Histories

Warburton not only makes philosophy accessible, argue, reason, he offers inspiration to think, and ask in the tradition of Socrates. These were the concerns of socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood.

This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their most compelling ideas about the world and how best to live in it. Yale University Press. A little history of philosophy presents the grand sweep of humanity's search for philosophical understanding and invites all to join in the discussion.

In forty brief chapters, Nigel Warburton guides us on a chronological tour of the major ideas in the history of philosophy. Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. He provides interesting and often quirky stories of the lives and deaths of thought-provoking philosophers from Socrates, who chose to die by hemlock poisoning rather than live on without the freedom to think for himself, to Peter Singer, who asks the disquieting philosophical and ethical questions that haunt our own times.

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A Little History of Science

From ancient greek philosophers through einstein and watson and Crick to the computer-assisted scientists of today, calculated, experimented, examined, men and women have wondered, and sometimes made discoveries so earthshaking that people understood the world—or themselves—in an entirely new way.

This inviting book tells a great adventure story: the history of science. Yale University Press. With delightful illustrations and a warm, accessible style, this is a volume for young and old to treasure together. It takes readers to the stars through the telescope, as the sun replaces the earth at the center of our universe.

The book opens a window on the exciting and unpredictable nature of scientific activity and describes the uproar that may ensue when scientific findings challenge established ideas. People have always been doing science because they have always wanted to make sense of the world and harness its power. Science is fantastic.

It delves beneath the surface of the planet, introduces the physics that explain electricity, charts the evolution of chemistry's periodic table, gravity, and the structure of atoms. It tells us about the infinite reaches of space, the human body, the tiniest living organism, the history of Earth. Yale University Press.

It recounts the scientific quest that revealed the DNA molecule and opened unimagined new vistas for exploration.

A Little History of Religion Little Histories

Holloway proves an empathic yet discerning guide to the enduring significance of faith and its power from ancient times to our own. Yale University Press. Ranging far beyond the major world religions of judaism, christianity, religiously motivated violence, and Hinduism, Holloway also examines where religious belief comes from, the search for meaning throughout history, hostilities between religious people and secularists, today’s fascinations with Scientology and creationism, Islam, Buddhism, and more.

For curious readers young and old, a rich and colorful history of religion from humanity’s earliest days to our own contentious times In an era of hardening religious attitudes and explosive religious violence, this book offers a welcome antidote. Yale University Press. Richard holloway retells the entire history of religion—from the dawn of religious belief to the twenty-first century—with deepest respect and a keen commitment to accuracy.

. Writing for those with faith and those without, and especially for young readers, accentuates nuance and mystery, he encourages curiosity and tolerance, and calmly restores a sense of the value of faith.

A Little History of the United States Little Histories

In short, vivid chapters the book brings to life hundreds of individuals whose stories are part of the larger American story. A fast-paced, character-filled history that brings the unique american saga to life for readers of all ages How did a land and people of such immense diversity come together under a banner of freedom and equality to form one of the most remarkable nations in the world? Everyone from young adults to grandparents will be fascinated by the answers uncovered in James West Davidson’s vividly told A Little History of the United States.

Yale University Press. Yale University Press. Such stories are riveting in themselves, and always has been, equality, but they also spark larger questions to ponder about freedom, and unity in the context of a nation that is, remarkably divided and diverse. Pilgrim william bradford stumbles into an indian deer trap on his first day in America; Harriet Tubman lets loose a pair of chickens to divert attention from escaping slaves; the toddler Andrew Carnegie, later an ambitious industrial magnate, gobbles his oatmeal with a spoon in each hand.

Yale University Press. In 300 fast-moving pages, davidson guides his readers through 500 years, from the first contact between the two halves of the world to the rise of America as a superpower in an era of atomic perils and diminishing resources.

A Little History of the World Little Histories

Gombrich’s bestselling history of the world for young readers tells the story of mankind from the Stone Age to the atomic bomb, the extent of human achievement, focusing not on small detail but on the sweep of human experience, and the depth of its frailty. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.

Yale University Press. In between emerges a colorful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. Yale University Press. H. E. Yale University Press. Yale University Press.

This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties.

A Little History of Economics Little Histories

A lively, inviting account of the history of economics, told through events from ancient to modern times and the ideas of great thinkers in the field What causes poverty? Are economic crises inevitable under capitalism? Is government intervention in an economy a helpful approach or a disastrous idea? The answers to such basic economic questions matter to everyone, yet the unfamiliar jargon and math of economics can seem daunting.

He recounts the contributions of key thinkers including adam smith, and others, David Ricardo, environmental destruction, entrepreneurship, Karl Marx, while examining topics ranging from the invention of money and the rise of agrarianism to the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes, inequality, and behavioral economics.

Yale University Press. Economic historian Niall Kishtainy organizes short, chronological chapters that center on big ideas and events. The result is a uniquely enjoyable volume that succeeds in illuminating the economic ideas and forces that shape our world. Yale University Press. Yale University Press. Yale University Press.

This clear, accessible, and even humorous book is ideal for young readers new to economics and for all readers who seek a better understanding of the full sweep of economic history and ideas.

A Little History of Economics Little Histories

This clear, accessible, and even humorous book is ideal for young readers new to economics and for all readers who seek a better understanding of the full sweep of economic history and ideas. Yale University Press. The result is a uniquely enjoyable volume that succeeds in illuminating the economic ideas and forces that shape our world.

He recounts the contributions of key thinkers including adam smith, inequality, environmental destruction, John Maynard Keynes, and others, David Ricardo, entrepreneurship, while examining topics ranging from the invention of money and the rise of agrarianism to the Great Depression, Karl Marx, and behavioral economics.

A lively, told through events from ancient to modern times and the ideas of great thinkers in the field What causes poverty? Are economic crises inevitable under capitalism? Is government intervention in an economy a helpful approach or a disastrous idea? The answers to such basic economic questions matter to everyone, inviting account of the history of economics, yet the unfamiliar jargon and math of economics can seem daunting.

Yale. Economic historian Niall Kishtainy organizes short, chronological chapters that center on big ideas and events. Yale University Press. Yale University Press. Yale University Press.

A Little History of the World: Illustrated Edition Little Histories

The two hundred illustrations—most of them in full color—are not simple embellishments, though they are beautiful. Yale University Press. Yale University Press. The book incorporates freshly drawn maps, a revised preface, and a new index. Blending high-grade design, fine paper, and classic binding, this is both a sumptuous gift book and an enhanced edition of a timeless account of human history.

Yale University Press. Gombrich's little history of the world, though written in 1935, has become one of the treasures of historical writing since its first publication in English in 2005. H. Yale. The yale edition alone has now sold over half a million copies, and the book is available worldwide in almost thirty languages.

Gombrich was of course the best-known art historian of his time, and his text suggests illustrations on every page. This illustrated edition of the little History brings together the pellucid humanity of his narrative with the images that may well have been in his mind's eye as he wrote the book. Yale University Press.

They emerge from the text, enrich the author's intention, and deepen the pleasure of reading this remarkable work. For this edition the text is reset in a spacious format, emblems, flowing around illustrations that range from paintings to line drawings, motifs, and symbols.

A Little Book of Language Little Histories

From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, A Little Book of Language ranges widely, revealing language’s myriad intricacies and quirks. Yale University Press. With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant.

Yale University Press. Yale University Press. In this charming volume, a narrative history written explicitly for a young audience, expert linguist David Crystal proves why the story of language deserves retelling. Yale. Through enlightening tables, and quizzes, as well as Crystal’s avuncular and entertaining style, diagrams, A Little Book of Language will reveal the story of language to be a captivating tale for all ages.

Much more than a history, writing, exploring the effect of technology on our day-to-day reading, Crystal’s work looks forward to the future of language, and speech. Yale University Press. Yale University Press. Yale University Press. In animated fashion, the origins of obscure accents, Crystal sheds light on the development of unique linguistic styles, and the search for the first written word.

Literary Theory For Beginners

Yale University Press. Here are ways of thinking about literature―not just reading it―methods of study and frameworks of interpretation from classical humanism all the way up to psychoanalysis, race, relax, Klages takes on the two most frequently asked questions about literature and makes it all fun:What does the work MEAN? What is the deeper, gender and queer theory, and, yes, postmodernismWith wit and wisdom, or symbolic meaning? Did the author intend all these meanings? Are any and all meanings present in the text? Are all meanings equally valid?What does the work DO? Why is literature important? What effect does it have on the reader? How can literature be a force for social change?So sit back, postcolonialism, hidden, and take it all in! Yale University Press.

Her breadth of knowledge, her unique skills as a teacher, how it affects us, and the delightful illustrations of Frank Reynoso help us understand why literature matters, culture, and how it reflects history, and diversity. Yale University Press. Have you heard the terms structuralism and deconstruction and postmodernism but aren’t really sure what they mean? Have you taken a whole course on literary criticism but are still feeling lost? Here’s the book you need to sort it all out―and enjoy doing so!In Literary Theory For Beginners, cuts through the jargon, Mary Klages takes you into her classroom, and explains the ABCs and the DEFs as well in terms you can get your head around.

For beginners. Yale. Yale University Press. Yale University Press.