Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook ...

An attempt to answer the question, how much do our perceptions of things depend on our cognitive ability and how much on our linguistic resources? Eco undertakes a series of idiosyncratic explorations, starting from the perceived data of common sense, to expound a clear critique of Kant.

What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High Priest of Art? Court Jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and the development of her writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors she and other writers have used to explain their activities.

As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat , the author uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us.

The American poet, Thomas Lynch, is also a funeral director in a small Michigan town, and this is his testimony. It comprises 12 essays - each a lesson taught to the living by the dead.

Shows the authors passion for knowledge and sense of fun. This work features revealing pieces that spans his lifetime of enthusiasm for discovering what makes the world tick - including tales of early student experiments; safe cracking and outwitting US censors during the Second World War; and his first lecture as a graduate student.

In this new collection of essays, Gould has once again applied biographical perspectives to the illumination of key scientific concepts and their history, ranging from the origins of palaeontology to modern eugenics and genetic engineering.

A Black writer records his response to the conditions of Black life and white racism.

From 1903 to 1908, German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote a series of responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. An accompanying chronicle of Rilke's life comments on his own experiences at the time.

Sounds a clarion warning to the world.

In this volume of essays Russell was concerned to combat the growth of dogmatism, whether of the Left or Right, which has hitherto characterised our tragic century.

The author offers a collection of essays and speeches discussing the future of Earth, neoconservatism, Alcoholics Anonymous, liturgical music, and other topics, and includes autobiographical commentary on the past ten years of his own life.

Presenting a collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, the author takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Gandhi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that 'Man's real home is the Road.

Recalls experiencing liberation from fascism in Italy as a boy, and examines the various historical forms of fascism, always with an eye toward ugly manifestations. The author reflects on a question underlying the reflections in this book - what does it mean to be moral or ethical when one doesn't believe in God?

More deliciously entertaining morsels from the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of THE MAN WHO ATE EVERYTHING

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move back to the USA. Before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, he took one last trip around the UK, and in this book, he turns an affectionate but laconic eye on his adopted country.

Unbearably moving, intensely passionate, deeply personal account of life as seen through the eyes of one of America's best-loved novelists

This short essay, written in the sweltering summer heat of 1949, describes the author's stroll around Manhattan, and remains the quintessential love letter to the city, by one of America's foremost literary figures.