'This is a blast of fresh air' Jonathan Clark, TLS'Thank goodness for Gottlieb' Daily Telegraph'A joy to read' EconomistThe author of the celebrated The Dream of Reason vividly explains the rise of modern thought from Descartes to RousseauIn a short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark on Western thought. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosoph...

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 civilization and helped make us who we are.

Inspired by the myth of a man condemned to ceaselessly push a ro...

From internationally bestselling author Simon Winchester, a vibrant history of the collection and dissemination of knowledge.

Why I am not a Christian is considered one of the most blasphemous philosophical documents ever written, and at a time when we have faith schools and wars over religious beliefs, its message today couldn't be more relevant.

Nearly forty years after its first publication in French, this collection of Sartre’s writings on colonialism remains a supremely powerful, and relevant, polemical work.

In this typically crusading work, universally acclaimed as a classic on first publication, Midgley asserts her corrective view that without poetry (or literature, or music, or history, or even theology) we cannot hope to understand our humanity.

The first of his famous BBC Reith lectures in which Russell examines Ancient Greek philosophy, the French Revolution and the modern welfare state with characteristic clarity and deep understanding. This is Russell at his intellectual best.