Paul Strathern

Darwin y la evolución constituye un brillante repaso a la vida y obra de Darwin y ofrece una explicación clara y accesible del significado y la importancia de la teoría de la evolución y de lo que im

“Crick, Watson y el ADN” resume con brillantez la vida y obra de los descubridores del código genético, y presenta una instantánea brillante de las circunstancias que rodearon a esta magna aportación

En"Maquiavelo en 90 minutos", Paul Strathern presenta un recuento conciso y experto de la vida e ideas de Maquiavelo, cuya obra, más allá del tópico, refleja una de las más profundas y perturbadoras verdades sobre la condicion humana.El nombre de Maquiavelo produce todavia escalofrios; sigue siendo sinonimo del mal a casi 500 años de su muerte. Y sin embargo, Maquiavelo no era un hombre malvado. Intento que su filosofia del Estado fuera cientifica, esto es, que no hubiera en ella espacio para el sentimiento o la compasion ni, en ultima instancia, para la moral. Los consejos de Maquiavelo a un principe sobre como conservar el poder y gobernar con la mayor ventaja posible para si mismo son muy racionales y penetrantes en lo psicologico. Mas que simplemente una filosofia politica de su tiempo, refleja una de las mas profundas y perturbadoras verdades sobre la condicion humana.En Maquiavelo en 90 minutos, Paul Strathern presenta un recuento conciso y experto de la vida e ideas de Maquiavelo, y explica su influencia en la lucha del hombre por comprender su existencia en el mundo. El libro incluye una seleccion de escritos de Maquiavelo, una breve lista de lecturas sugeridas para aquellos que deseen profundizar en su pensamiento y cronologias que situan a Maquiavelo en su epoca y en una sinopsis mas amplia de la filosofia.

“Hawking y los agujeros negros” presenta una instantánea brillante de la vida y la obra de este conocido científico en su contexto histórico y cultural, y explica, de un modo claro y accesible, el si

“Newton y la gravedad” presenta una instantánea brillante de la vida y la obra de este científico dentro de su contexto histórico, y explica, de un modo claro y accesible, el significado y la trascen

Marseilles, 1891: as Arthur Rimbaud lies dying in hospital, his mind wanders fitfully - taking him back to Commune-era Paris, and the scandalous life he led with Verlaine. But, above all, he is transported to Harar, Abyssinia, where he ventured in 1880 to seek his fortune, having chucking in the disreputable game of writing poetry...Paul Stratherns second novel, published in 1972, won a Somerset Maugham Award both for its superb evocation of the colour, squalor and hurlyburly of Harar and for its inspired impersonation of Rimbaud - restless, ragged self-overcomer, would-be explorer-imperialist, and genius poet repulsed by his past literary life. In a new preface to this edition Strathern discusses the mercurial personality of Rimbaud, his novels bold shifts between first and third person, and his own travels in East Africa that informed the book.

A wickedly entertaining readThe TimesA Daily Mail Book of the Week The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history, by the author of The Medici.The Borgias have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. But the story of this remarkable family is far more than a tale of sensational depravities, it also marks a decisive turning point in European history. The rise and fall of the Borgias held centre stage during the golden age of the Italian Renaissance and they were the leading players at the very moment when our modern world was creating itself. Within this context the Renaissance itself takes on a very different aspect. Was the corruption part of this creation, or vice versa? Would one have been possible without the other? From the familys Spanish roots and the papacy of Rodrigo Borgia, to the lives of his infamous offspring, Lucrezia and Cesare - the hero who dazzled Machiavelli, but also the man who befriended Leonardo da Vinci - Paul Strathern relates this influential family to their time, together with the world which enabled them to flourish, and tells the story of this great dynasty as never before.

Enlightening and fascinating John Banville, Wall Street JournalThrough the lives of major figures from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, including Copernicus, Gutenberg, Luther, Catherine de Medici, Rabelais, van Eyck and Shakespeare, Paul Strathern tells the fascinating story of the northern European Renaissance, which rivalled its Italian counterpart.There is no denying that many of the first developments of the Renaissance took place in Italy. However, a revolution of similar magnitude was also occurring across northern Europe, which would forever alter European culture in its own unique fashion. Initially centred on the city of Bruges, its influence was soon felt in France, the German states, England and even in Italy itself.By vividly bringing to life the key players of the northern Renaissance, Paul Strathern explores some of the most significant advances of the whole era, revealing how they not only introduced new ways of thinking in art, literature, science, philosophy, mathematics and medicine, but also allowed for the evolution of an entirely different concept of life. In this compelling and original history, Strathern shows how the Other Renaissance would play a role at least as significant as the Italian Renaissance in shattering the constraints of medieval life and bringing our modern world into being.

Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Confucius in just one hour. Here is a concise, expert account of Confuciouss life and philosophical ideas entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from Confuciouss work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place Confucious in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Kierkegaard in just one hour. Although Kierkegaard was not a philosopher in the academic sense, he produced what many people expect of philosophy. He didnt write about the world, he wrote about life how we live and how we choose to live, particularly focussing on the individual and the notion of his (or her) existence. Kierkegaard was one of the founders of existentialism, regarding the existing being as a purely subjective entity that lay beyond the reach of reason, logic, philosophical systems, theology and even the pretences of psychology, yet simultaneously remaining the source of all these subjects. Here is a concise, expert account of Kierkegaards life and philosophical ideas entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from Kierkegaards work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place Kierkegaard in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of J.S. Mill in just one hour. John Stuart Mill is remembered today as the leading exponent of Utilitarianism, arguing that our aim in life must be the attainment of pleasure and the minimizing of pain for the majority of people. The principle that lies at the heart of Utilitarianism is the greatest benefit of the greatest number an idea that perhaps seems self-evident today but one that was seen as radical within Mills own time. This central idea has become the unspoken founding principle of our modern way of life in the free Western democracies. Here is a concise, expert account of J.S. Mills life and philosophical ideas entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from J.S. Mills work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place J.S. Mill in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

A sweeping history of the Age of Reason, which shows how, although it was a time of progress in many areas, it was also an era of brutality and intolerance, by the author of The Borgias and The Florentines.During the 1600s, between the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment, Europe lived through an era known as the Age of Reason. This was a revolutionary period which saw great advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory and economics.However, all this was accomplished against a background of extreme political turbulence and irrational behaviour on a continental scale in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. Indeed, the Age of Reason itself was born at the same time as the Thirty Years War, which would devastate central Europe to an extent that would not be seen again until the twentieth century.The period also saw the development of European empires across world and a lucrative new transatlantic commerce began, which brought transformative riches to western European society. However, there was a dark underside to this brilliant wealth: it was dependent upon mass slavery. By exploring all the key events and bringing to life some of the most influential characters of the era, including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV and Charles I, Paul Strathern tells the story of this paradoxical age, while also counting the human cost of imposing the progress and modernity upon which the Western world was built.

Curie y la radiactividad presenta una brillante instantánea de la vida y la obra de Marie Curie y ofrece una explicación clara y accesible del significado e importancia del descubrimiento de la radio

D. H. Lawrence en 90 minutos presenta una instantánea brillante de la vida y la obra de este escritor dentro de su contexto histórico, y explica, de un modo claro y accesible, el significado, la tras

Between the birth of Dante in 1265 and the death of Galileo in 1642 something happened which completely revolutionized Western civilization. Painting, sculpture and architecture would all visibly change in a striking fashion. Likewise, the thought and self-conception of humanity would take on a completely different aspect. Sciences would be born - or emerge in an entirely new guise.In this sweeping 400-year history, Paul Strathern reveals how, and why, these new ideas which formed the Renaissance began, and flourished, in the city of Florence. Just as central and northern Germany gave birth to the Reformation, Britain was a driver of the Industrial Revolution and Silicon Valley shaped the digital age, so too, Strathern argues, did Florence play a similarly unique and transformative role in the Renaissance.While vividly bringing to life the city and a vast cast of characters - including Dante, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo - Strathern shows how these great Florentines forever altered Europe and the Western world.

Joyce en 90 minutos presenta una instantánea brillante de la vida y la obra de este escritor dentro de su contexto histórico, y explica, de un modo claro y accesible, el significado, la trascendencia y el modo en que su obra ha transformado nuestras vidas desde entonces.

Las ideas plasmadas en las novelas y ensayos de Virginia Woolf inspiran a una nueva generación de lectores feministas que aspiran a sumergirse en la problemática cuestión del género y de la compatibi