A Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road (PAPERBACK)

Chris Alexander originally travelled to Khiva, a remote walled city in Uzbekistan on the route of the ancient Silk Road, to write a guidebook. But he stayed, mesmerized by a world of silk and forgotten 15th-century carpet designs – discovering indigo blue, madder red, pomegranate gold and the subtle shades of life in a desert oasis.  Alexander’s entrancing travelogue sees him str…

Bats Sing, Mice Giggle: The Surprising Science of Animals' Inner Lives (PAPERBACK)

Did you know that bats compose their own songs? That mice giggle when tickled? That porpoises go to sleep in only one half of their brains at a time? That lizards do push-ups to seduce a mate, that elephants ‘hear’ through their feet, or that rats laugh? Drawing upon the very latest scientific research, Karen Shanor and Jagmeet Kanwal show how animals build, create and entertain thems…

Do You Think You’re Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions (PAPERBACK)

Why can’t you light a candle in a spaceship? What books are bad for you? Is feminism dead? Every year interviewees for Oxford and Cambridge colleges are posed such curious conundrums, aimed at separating the merely bright from the truly clever. Providing dazzling responses to 60 of these infamously perplexing problems, Do You Think You’re Clever? explores the twisting paths your mind…

Economyths: Ten Ways That Economics Gets it Wrong (PAPERBACK ORIGINAL)

From the failure of wealth to make us happier to the catastrophic blindness to the credit crunch, Economyths reveals ten ways in which economics has failed us all. Forecasters predicted a prosperous year in 2008 for financial markets – in one influential survey the average prediction was for an eleven percent gain. But by the end of the year major economies were plunging into recession.…

Economyths: Ten Ways That Economics Gets it Wrong (PDF)

From the failure of wealth to make us happier to the catastrophic blindness to the credit crunch, Economyths reveals ten ways in which economics has failed us all. Forecasters predicted a prosperous year in 2008 for financial markets – in one influential survey the average prediction was for an eleven percent gain. But by the end of the year major economies were plunging into recession…

God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science (PAPERBACK)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2010 ROYAL SOCIETY PRIZE FOR SCIENCE BOOKS Charting an epic journey through six centuries of history, God’s Philosophers debunks many myths about the Middle Ages.  As James Hannam reveals, the period gave rise to staggering achievements in science and technology – spectacles and the mechanical clock were both invented in thirteenth-century Europe and ideas fr…

Hergé: The Genius of Tintin (HARDBACK)

A comprehensive and enjoyable new biography of the man who created Tintin.Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, is widely regarded as the greatest twentieth-century master of the European bande dessinée. His Tintin books have sold well over 200 million copies worldwide. Drawing from private archives, exclusive interviews and thousands of hours of research, Raphaël Taylor both tel…

Inflight Science: A Guide to the World from Your Airplane Window (PAPERBACK)

There are few times that science is so immediate as when you're in a plane. Acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg shows how you stay up there – but that’s only the beginning. Inflight Science explains the ever-changing view, whether it’s crop circles or clouds, mountains or river deltas, and describes easy-to-do experiments, from showing how a wing provides lift to calculating t…

Introducing Child Psychology - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to how children think and grow.Child Psychology is a branch of developmental psychology, which is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span.Child psychologists examine how children’s brains work even before they are born, through to the beginning of adulthood. They may explore question…

Introducing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to the massively popular therapy.Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, commonly known as CBT, has roots stretching back as far as the ancient Greeks.It is a talking cure – a branch of therapy widely regarded as effective in curing or at least alleviating the symptoms of a wide range of disorders from anorexia to post-traumatic stress disorder.INTRODUCING CBT – A…

Introducing Economics: A Graphic Guide (PAPERBACK)

Brand-new INTRODUCING guide to the subject that makes the world go roundEconomics was described by the English economist Lionel Robbins in 1935 as ‘the science of scarcity’ but these days economics is everywhere, and it’s never been more popular – as bestselling books such as Freakonomics attest.But what is economics really all about? What do the great economists think, and…

Introducing Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to the therapy designed to help people have better, fuller and richer lives – as well as work far more effectively.Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is an approach to psychotherapy and organisational change, which, though sometimes controversial, has built up a huge following among a wide range of people keen to live fuller, more successful and more rewarding l…

Introducing Psychology of Success - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to getting what you want in life.What is it about entrepreneurs, industry-leaders, medal-winning athletes or in-demand freelancers that makes them successful over a long period of time? What secrets about how their brains work could the rest of us benefit from knowing to improve our careers, wherever we may work?Occupational Psychologist Alison Price explores both ho…

Introducing Slavoj Zizek: A Graphic Guide (PAPERBACK)

A brand-new INTRODUCING title on the ‘world’s most dangerous philosopher’.Slavoj Zizek is one of those rare philosophers writing today whose fame exceeds academia and who is widely known publicly. Zizek’s work and writings revolve around several interrelated areas. His earlier work is very much involved in elucidating Lacanian psychoanalysis through examples from American c…

Introducing Sport Psychology - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to optimizing your mind for sport.Sport Psychology is the study of the psychological factors that affect participation and performance in sports. It deals with increasing performance by managing emotions and minimizing the psychological effects of injury and poor performance. Some of the most important skills taught are goal setting, relaxation, visualization, self-t…

Introducing Trait Emotional Intelligence - A Practical Guide (PAPERBACK)

An INTRODUCING PRACTICAL GUIDE to effectively understanding oneself and others.Emotional intelligence is the innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognize, remember, describe, identify, learn from, manage, understand and explain emotions. Increasingly, it is seen that people who have a higher level of emotional intelligence do better at work in all sorts of fields, and in relationships, fr…

Love, Sex, Death and Words: Surprising Tales From a Year in Literature (PAPERBACK)

Love, sex, death, boredom, ecstasy, existential angst, political upheaval – the history of literature offers a rich and varied exploration of the human condition across the centuries.In this absorbing companion to literature’s rich past, arranged by days of the year, acclaimed critics and friends John Sutherland and Stephen Fender turn up the most inspiring, enlightening, surprising an…

Socrates Vs. Jesus: The Struggle for the Meaning of Life (HARDBACK)

In this intellectual broadside, iconoclastic popular sociologist Steve Fuller reclaims Jesus as a philosophical thinker – and one who really puts his money where his mouth is…Socrates and Jesus are among Western culture’s most iconic figures. They are even offered as exemplars of what it means to be human. Both are notable for their forthright views on the extent of moral obliga…

The Soldier: A History of Courage, Sacrifice and Brotherhood (PAPERBACK)

From Wellington’s battles against the French in Spain to the horrors of deadly house-to-house fighting by US Marines in Fallujah, this unique history of the soldier provides a penetrating insight into the politics, emotions and psychology of war and its aftermath.  Drawing upon hundreds of narrative accounts of warfare written by soldiers (and sailors, airmen and marines) from many nat…

The World's Greatest Idea: The Fifty Greatest Ideas That Have Changed Humanity (PAPERBACK)

An exploration of mankind’s greatest-ever ideas, from the author of the bestselling Do You Think You’re Clever?Where would humanity be now without fire, vaccinations, farming … or wine? A great idea is one that has changed the path of human civilisation. But which is the greatest of them all? John Farndon, author of the bestselling Do You Think You’re Clever?, has set out …