Penguin Classics: Education & Reference

A classic work of social science from the twentieth century's most prophetic critic of capitalism Prospect One of the most powerful books in social sciences ever written. ... A must-read Thomas Piketty The twentieth century's most prophetic critic of capitalism Prospect Tracing the history of capitalism in England and beyond, Karl Polanyi's landmark 1944 classic brilliantly exposed the myth of...

Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon is a striking exploration into the complexities of racism and dehumanisation. Fanon, a psychiatrist and philosopher from Martinique, delves into the black psyche in a predominately white world, examining how internalised racism and colonialism have devastating effects on the identities and minds of black individuals. This seminal work emerges through a powerful narrative...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. "Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle." In this charming book from 1906, Okakura explores Zen, Taoism,...

The History of Sexuality: Volume 2 by Michel Foucault delves deeper into the complex interplay of desire, sex, and power in historical contexts. Originally released as The Use of Pleasure, this volume shifts focus from the repression hypothesis explored in the first volume, moving instead towards an examination of how sexual behaviours and desires have been shaped and perceived throughout...

The third volume in Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality series, now reissued in the prestigious Penguin Modern Classics, continues the philosopher's revolutionary exploration of how power, knowledge, and pleasure intersect within Western societies. Foucault delves into the Golden Age of Rome, contrasting it with classical Greek traditions, to uncover a significant transformation in the conception and regulation of sexual...

The final, previously unpublished volume of one of the twentieth century's seminal works. Foucault's The History of Sexuality changed the way we think about power, selfhood, and sexuality. In this fourth and final volume, he turns his attention to early Christianity, exploring how ancient ideas of pleasure were modified into the Christian notion of the 'flesh' - a transformation that...

In The Medium is the Massage, Marshall McLuhan vividly explores the profound impact that different forms of media have on human perception and society. This revolutionary work delves into the ways in which communication mediums – from print and radio to television and newer digital technologies – shape our sensory experiences. Through a combination of words and striking visuals, McLuhan...

The History of Sexuality: 1 is the first volume in Michel Foucault's groundbreaking three-part series that delves into the intricate relationship between sexuality and power. An influential intellectual and philosopher, Foucault examines how attitudes towards sex have evolved in Western society, challenging the widely held belief that the Victorian era was a time of sexual repression. Instead, he argues that...

From the peasant revolts to the Great European Witch Hunt—the crushing of occult traditions and women's reproductive freedom in the transition to capitalism. A cult classic since its publication in the early years of this century, Caliban and the Witch is Silvia Federici's history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late...

A foundational work of Black Radical critical theory, now to be widely available here for the first time. Any struggle must be fought on a people's own terms, argues Cedric Robinson's landmark account of Black radicalism. Marxism is a Western construction, and therefore inadequate to describe the significance of Black communities as agents of change against 'racial capitalism'. Tracing the...

Illness as Metaphor is an examination of the fantasies concocted around conditions such as cancer and tuberculosis in our cultural history. Susan Sontag argues that illness is not a metaphor and that the most truthful way of regarding illness—and the healthiest way of being ill—is to resist such thinking. Her examples of metaphors and images of illness are taken from...

One of the most influential books of the 20th century comes into Modern Classics. When Betty Friedan produced The Feminine Mystique in 1963, she could not have realised how the discovery and debate of her contemporaries' general malaise would shake up society. Victims of a false belief system, these women were following strict social convention by loyally conforming to the...

New to Penguin Modern Classics, one of the most important works ever written on the problem of social stigma. In this groundbreaking work, acclaimed sociologist Erving Goffman examines how society treats those who it considers abnormal. Forced to adjust their social identities from situation to situation, Goffman analyses the variety of strategies that stigmatised individuals deploy to deal with the...

The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith, one of America's foremost economists, follows the incredible economic rise and fall that led to the great crash of 1929. No account of the financial insanity of 1929 has been issued in a form at once so readable, so humorous, and so carefully authenticated as this classic book. J.K. Galbraith examines the...

The provocative historical work on social economy, demography and population control. An Essay on the Principle of Population and Other Writings is Malthus' seminal examination of human population and its dependency on food production and the environment, which was highly controversial upon its publication in 1798. He predicted what is now known as the Malthusian catastrophe, where humans would ignore...

'What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the flower of the nation, but its root as well.' Inazo Nitobe's book, the most influential ever written on Bushido, or the samurai Way of the Warrior, argues that the philosophy of Bushido is the true key to understanding the soul of Japan. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some...

On Suicide (1897) by Emile Durkheim is a groundbreaking book in the field of sociology. Traditionally, suicide was thought to be a matter of purely individual despair, but Durkheim recognised that the phenomenon had a social dimension. He believed that if anything can explain how individuals relate to society, then it is suicide. Why does it happen? What goes wrong?...

A new translation of one of Plato's major dialogues, popular because of its subject matter: love. Phaedrus is widely recognised as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works. It takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus, and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoerotic love. This new translation is accompanied by an introduction, further reading, and...

This edition includes a list of suggestions for further reading, a glossary of important philosophical words and phrases, and notes. Exploring the question of what exactly makes good people good, Protagoras and Meno are two of the most enjoyable and accessible of all of Plato's dialogues. Widely regarded as his finest dramatic work, the Protagoras, set during the golden age...

We women are roused. Now that we are roused, we will never be quiet again. Bringing together the voices of women who fought for equal rights and representation—from aristocrats and actresses to mill workers and trade unionists—these speeches, pamphlets, letters and articles form an inspiring testament to the power of a movement. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed...

The volume that completes our new four-book collection of Euripides plays. Through their sheer range, daring innovation, flawed but eloquent characters, and intriguing plots, the plays of Euripides have shocked and stimulated audiences since the fifth century BC. Phoenician Women portrays the rival sons of King Oedipus and their mother's doomed attempts at reconciliation, while Orestes shows a son ravaged...

First time in Penguin Classics for this Japanese work dedicated to the art of drinking tea — and much more — introduced by Christopher Benfey. For a generation adjusting painfully to the demands of a modern industrial and commercial society, Asia came to represent an alternative vision of the good life: aesthetically austere, socially aristocratic, and imbued with spirituality. The...

The essential writings of the 20th century's most influential economist, collected in one volume. John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist, and one of the most influential thinkers, of the twentieth century. He overturned the orthodoxy that markets were optimally self-regulating, and instead argued for state intervention to ensure full employment and economic stability. The Essential Keynes is the...

A powerful new anthology of feminist voices throughout history and from around the world. The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing selects writing from across time and throughout the world, creating a treasure-trove of the most important feminist thought alongside surprising and delightful fiction, poetry, and diaries, celebrating the multiplicity of feminist voices that have emerged over the centuries. Beginning in...

June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement and a catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines...

The second part of Adam Smith's economic theory, stating the argument for free trade. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was the first comprehensive treatment of political economy. Originally delivered in the form of lectures at Glasgow, the book's publication in 1776 coincided with America's Declaration of Independence. These volumes include Smith's assessment of the mercantile system, his advocacy of...

With this landmark treatise on political economy, Adam Smith paved the way for modern capitalism, arguing that a truly free market was the engine of a fair and productive society. Books I-III of The Wealth of Nations examine the "division of labour" as the key to economic growth, by ensuring the interdependence of individuals within society. They also cover the...

Women so empowered are dangerous. Written with a 'black woman's anger' and the precision of a poet, these searing pieces by the groundbreaking writer Audre Lorde are a celebration of female strength and solidarity, and a cry to speak out against those who seek to silence anyone they see as 'other'. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the...

Pornography is a landmark, searing critique of pornography that condemns how culture consumes and manipulates images of women and eroticises male dominance. Pornography is the orchestrated destruction of women's bodies and souls ... it is war on women. Pornography, Andrea Dworkin argued in this landmark work, is about power—the power of owning, of money, of sex. It is not merely...

A new anniversary edition of Eric Schlosser's international bestselling exposé of how the fast food industry has shaped the world. The history of the twentieth century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The twenty-first will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power. This landmark work of reportage exposed how a...

The final, previously unpublished volume of one of the twentieth century's seminal works. Foucault's The History of Sexuality changed the way we think about power, selfhood, and sexuality. In this fourth and final volume, he turns his attention to early Christianity, exploring how ancient ideas of pleasure were modified into the Christian notion of the 'flesh'—a transformation that would define...