TO THE FINLAND STATION is a work of history on a grand scale, at once sweeping, detailed, closely reasoned & passionately argued, that succeeds in painting an unforgettable picture--alive with conspirators, philosophers, utopians & nihilists--of the making of the modern world. 'The 1st thing that strikes us about To the Finland Station is the vastness of its scope...It is easily, equally at home in the philosopher's study, in the prisoner's cell, on the steppes, in the streets, melancholy in great country houses, choking in fetid industrial slums...It can remind us that our history is alive & open & rich with excitement & promise'--NY Times Book Review

    . . . In its general theoretical argument on the relations of culture to economy, but also in its specialized concentration, Noise has much that is of importance to critical theory today.” SubStance“For Attali, music is not simply a reflection of culture, but a harbinger of change, an anticipatory abstraction of the shape of things to come. The book’s title refers specifically to the reception of musics that sonically rival normative social orders. Noise is Attali’s metaphor for a broad, historical vanguardism, for the radical soundscapes of the western continuum that express structurally the course of social development.” EthnomusicologyJacques Attali is the author of numerous books, including Millennium: Winners and Losers in the Coming World Order and Labyrinth in Culture and Society.

    It will undoubtedly remain for a long time a classic in its field.”—Religious Studies Review“The Treasures of Darkness is the culmination of a lifetime’s work, an attempt to summarize and recreate the spiritual life of Ancient Mesopotamia. Jacobsen has succeeded brilliantly. . . . His vast experience shows through every page of this unique book, through the vivid, new translations resulting from years of careful research. Everyone interested in early Mesopotamia, whether specialist, student, or complete layman, should read this book. . . . It is, quite simply, authoritative, based on a vast experience of the ancient Mesopotamian mind, and very well written in the bargain.”—Brian M. Fagan, History“Professor Jacobsen is an authority on Sumerian life and society, but he is above all a philologist of rare sensibility. The Treasures of Darkness is almost entirely devoted to textual evidence, the more gritty sources of archaeological knowledge being seldom mentioned. He introduces many new translations which are much finer than previous versions. . . . Simply to read this poetry and the author’s sympathetic commentary is a pleasure and a revelation. Professor Jacobsen accepts the premise that all religion springs from man’s experience of a power not of this world, a mysterious ‘Wholly Other.’ This numinous power cannot be described in terms of worldly experience but only in allusive ‘metaphors’ that serve as a means of communication in religious teaching and thought. . . . As a literary work combining sensibility, imagination and scholarship, this book is near perfection.”—Jacquetta Hawkes, The London Sunday Times“A fascinating book. The general reader cannot fail to admire the translated passages of Sumerian poetry with which it abounds, especially those illustrating the Dumuzi-Inanna cycle of courtship, wedding and lament for the god’s untimely death. Many of these (though not all) are new even to the specialist and will repay close study.”—B.O.R. Gurney, Times Literary Supplement

    Julián Marías, a Spanish scholar who has come to have an international reputation as a philosopher and teacher. It was greeted with enthusiasm in Spain, where it has gone through twenty-two editions, and it has been adopted throughout the Spanish-speaking world as the standard classroom text. It has also been rated by many as the best elementary-level history of philosophy to emerge from Europe since the First World War.Translated ino English for the first time, under the supervision of Dr. Marías, the History of Philosophy presents a full, detailed, lucid history of Western thought from the pre-Socratics to middle 20th century. It provides very thorough surveys of basic figures, currents and trends, with background, biographical data (where possible), survey of literature, summary of ideas, critical evaluation, and historical significance in the chain of Western philosophy.Dr. Marías's book is superior to most other general histories in several important respects. Besides covering the major figures, especially those relatively unfamiliar to the English-speaking world, but still significant. It is also modern and up-to-date. Most of all, however, it is remarkable for its precision and clarity. Dr. Marías is most successful in presenting the most complex ideas in term that can be understood by practically any intelligent reader. As a result his book stands almost alone as a text for history of philosophy courses, as a refresher for students and teachers, and as an introduction for laymen.Unabridged translation of the 22nd (1966) edition, by Stanley Appelbaum and Clarence C. Strowbridge. Author's preface to English edition. Bibliography. Index. xx + 505pp. 53/8 x 81/2. Paperbound.