It provides a clear account of Plato's puzzling theory of knowledge, and explains how this theory then directed his provocative views on politics, ethics and individual liberty.

    Has the 21st century resolved the question of postmodernism or are we more than ever ensnared in its perplexities? Postmodernism seemed to promise an end to the grim Cold War era of nuclear confrontation and oppressive ideologies. Fukuyama's notoriously proclaimed end of history, the triumph of liberal democracy over Communist tyranny, has proved an illusion. We awoke in the anxious grip of globalization, unpredictable terrorism and unforeseen war. Introducing Postmodernism traces the pedigrees of postmodernism in art, theory, science and history, providing an urgent guide to the present. Derrida, Baudrillard, Foucault and many other icons of postmodern complexity are brilliantly elucidated by Richard Appignanesi and enlivened by the Guardian's Biff cartoonist Chris Garratt.

    Sartre was the most famous and prolific writer in France, and one of line best known philosophers of his day.Philip Thody, a former Professor of French Literature explains the basic ideas that inspired Sartre's existential world view, paying particular attention to his concert of 'personal freedom'.

    His extraordinary insights into human psychology, morality, religion and power seem quite clairvoyant today: existentialism, psychoanalysis, semiotics and postmodernism are plainly anticipated in his writings - which are famously enigmatic and often contradictory."Introducing Nietzsche" is the perfect guide to this exhilarating and oft-misunderstood philosopher.

    However, a myth of Joyce's difficulty has taken root which discourages many readers from approaching his work. This is a great pity, because Joyce's writings are deeply human, enormously comic and make compelling reading.

    Forming his economic theories in the wake of the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes argued that a healthy economy depended on the total spending of consumers, business investors and, most importantly, governments too. Keynes formulated that governments should take control of the economy in the short term, rather than relying on the market, because, as he eloquently put it 'in the long run, we are all dead'. This graphic guide is the ideal introduction to one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, at a time when his theories may be crucial to our economic survival. Through a deft mixture of words and images, "Introducing Keynes" is a timely, accessible and enjoyable read.

    The main "schools" of thought and the sections within psychology are described, including Introspection, Biopsychology, Psychoanalysis, Behaviourism, Comparative (Animal) Psychology, Cognitive Approaches (including the Gestalt movement), Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Humanism. The key figures covered include: Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, Piaget, Bowlby, Maslow and Rogers, as well as many lesser-known but important psychologists.

    Aristotle's authority extended beyond his own lifetime to influence fundamentally Islamic philosophy and medieval scholasticism. For fifteen centuries, he remained the paradigm of knowledge itself. But can Aristotelian realism still be used to underpin our conception of the world today?

    His style and assaults on sociology, feminism and Marxism have exposed him to accusations of being the pimp of postmodernism.

    The book debates whether Heidegger was offering a deeply conservative mythology, or whether he was actually deconstructing philosophy as the West has known it.

    This book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the leading thinkers of the age, the men and women who believed that rational endeavour could reveal the secrets of the universe.

    This book traces the development of his life and work.

    Now genetics is exploding, and before long we will have the complete code, written in three thousand million letters of DNA, of what makes a human being.

    But aesthetics goes beyond the simple experience of art. It is also a philosophy, in which perceptions, feelings and emotions combine to form the whole nature of experience. Through clear text and fitting illustrations, Introducing Aesthetics provides a captivating insight into the important issues of modern politics, psychoanalysis and art.

    an astounding amount of material.'Times Educational Supplement Popular culture often portrays the Holocaust as ahorrific drama played out between Nazi executioners and ghetto Jewish victims -in short, a single aberration of history. Introducing the Holocaust is a powerful graphic guide that dissolves thisstereotype, explaining the causes and its relevance today. It places theHolocaust where it belongs - at the centre of modern European and worldhistory. Haim Bresheeth and Stuart Hood - along with LitzaJansz's outstanding illustrations - bring a unique and unforgettable perspectiveto how we think about this most dark of shadows on human history.