Summer Reads

New editions of the Commentary on Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations from Wiley-Blackwell. Wittgenstein: Understanding and Meaning,Volume 1 of An Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical InvestigationsPart I: EssaysG. P. Baker...

The first book by the author of the classic philosophical text Beyond Good and Evil. The youthful faults of this work were exposed by the author himself in the brilliant Attempt at a Self-Criticism, which he added to the new edition of 1886. But the...

One of the most important nineteenth-century schools of thought, Utilitarianism propounds the view that the value or rightness of an action rests in how well it promotes the welfare of those affected by it, aiming for 'the greatest happiness of the...

Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written...

‘The plot is the source and the soul of tragedy’In his near-contemporary account of Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to produce pity and fear in the audience, and asks why we...

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 reputation now rests. The Penseés is a collection of philosohical...

In this classic account of madness, Michel Foucault shows once and for all why he is one of the most distinguished European philosophers since the end of World War II. Madness and Civilization, Foucault's first book and his finest accomplishment, will...

John Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition—justice as fairness—and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth...

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE · A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK · REVIEWED ON THE FRONT COVERFrom GMA BOOK CLUB PICK and WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana, an electrifying new novel about a woman who has lost everything...

"A loving testament to the work and reward of the best friendships, the kind where your arms can’t distinguish burden from embrace.” — People   New York Times Bestselling author Ann Patchett’s first work of nonfiction chronicling her decades-long...

A Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for book lovers, The Wishing Game is a comforting, nostalgic novel that readers will want to dive right into. Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children’s author quit writing under mysterious circumstances...

"Reminding us that history is made up of infinite individual choices, Shadows of Berlin is a masterful story of survival and redemption." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star   A captivating novel of a Berlin...

'[T]his promising, poignant debut concludes with that vital ingredient: a well-crafted twist' -- THE OBSERVER   Can Henrietta find out what happened to Annie’s sister—before it’s too late? Haunted by the past, Henrietta throws herself into a new job...

Graffiti is a dying art in this thriller from the bestselling DI Nick Dixon crime series.   A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a...

Their neighbours welcomed them with open arms. Now they’ve vanished without a trace.   Anna and Peter desperately need to escape London for a fresh start. And they’ve found just the place: a perfect house on a perfect street in a perfect new development...

All’s fair in love and revenge in this taut thriller from bestselling author Lisa Gray.   Ex–crime reporter Leonard Blaylock spends his days on an unusual hobby, developing strangers’ forgotten and discarded rolls of film. He loves the small mysteries...

From the bestselling author of If Only I Could Tell You comes the story of two women determined to uncover the truth. But how can you trust the present if you can't remember the past?   “Left me gasping. Brilliant.” —Alex Michaelides “Has one of the best...

Featuring an all-new cover, New York Times bestseller Bill Bryson's irrevent and hilarious journey through the beloved island nation he called home for two decades. From Downing Street to Loch Ness, this is a delightful look at the United Kingdom...

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. This time in Australia.His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned...

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat"terrorism"in the Taliban’s backyardAnyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg...