Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Joe Moran

Failure is the small print in life's terms and conditions. 
 
Covering everything from examination dreams to fourth-placed Olympians, If You Should Fail is about how modern life, in a world of self-advertised success, makes us feel like failures, frauds and imposters. Widely acclaimed observer of daily life Joe Moran is here not to tell you that everything will be all right in the end, but to reassure you that failure is an occupational hazard of being human. 
 
As Moran shows, even the supremely gifted Leonardo da Vinci could be seen as a failure. Most artists, writers, sports stars and business people face failure. We all will, and can learn how to live with it. To echo Virginia Woolf, beauty "is only got by the failure to get it . . . by facing what must be humiliation - the things one can't do." 
 
Combining philosophy, psychology, history and literature, Moran's ultimately upbeat reflections on being human, and his critique of how we live now, offers comfort, hope - and solace. For we need to see that not every failure can be made into a success - and that's OK.

If You Should Fail

Why Success Eludes Us and Why It Doesn’t Matter

A Book of Solace

James Norbury

In James Norbury’s fifth book, we are invited to take a closer look at the world around us and search for beauty in the here and now. As Big Panda and Tiny Dragon undertake their demanding expedition, they traverse dark forests, hazardous mountains and derelict ruins. But whilst the landscapes of life can seem overwhelming,  the pair slowly come to see pockets of light and beauty at every turn. As day-to-day life steadily consumes us, it is easy to to miss life's hidden treasures. Through beautiful illustrations and a simple tale inspired by Buddhist philosophy, Norbury draws our gaze back to the simple pleasures and helps us to find hope in the most unlikely places.

A Beautiful World

Simon Lee

Professor Simon Lee explores five acute moral dilemmas of the new millennium, each of which has caused un-ease among liberals and conservatives alike.  His variation on the old adage that hard cases make bad law is to say that hard cases make for un-easy ethics.  If you do not feel uneasy about your answer then you have not understood the questions posed by a series of dilemmas.  First, he unravels the moral thinking behind opposing views of the case of the Siamese twins, which attracted worldwide attention in the summer and autumn of 2000, showing how the Archbishop of Westminster argued on ethical principles while the judges responded by using hypothetical 'hard cases'.  Second, he explores sharply conflicting reactions to the release in the summer of 2001 of the 'child child killers' of the little boy James Bulger, asking how he find space for atonement.  Third, he traces the moral dilemmas within the stop-start Northern Irish peace process which has seen so many twists and turns in the past couple of years.  Fourth, he examines the ethics of business and government behaviour in the year of collapses from rural industry to Railtrack.  Finally, he offers one of the first considered ethical analyses of contrasting responses to the terror attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001.  Ranging across philosophy, law and theology, this analysis of hard cases and un-easy ethics culminates in a novel interpretation of politics' elusive Third Way.

Uneasy Ethics

Isaiah Berlin

'Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.' Immanuel Kant 
Isaiah Berlin was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century - an activist of the intellect who marshalled vast erudition and eloquence in defence of the endangered values of individual liberty and moral and political plurality. In The Crooked Timber of Humanity he exposes the links between the ideas of the past and the social and political cataclysms of our own time: between the Platonic belief in absolute truth and the lure of authoritarianism; between the eighteenth-century reactionary ideologue Joseph de Maistre and twentieth-century Fascism; between the romanticism of Schiller and Byron and the militant - and sometimes genocidal - nationalism that convulses the modern world. 
 
This new edition features a revised text, a new foreword in which award-winning novelist John Banville discusses Berlin's life and ideas, particularly his defence of pluralism, and a substantial new appendix that provides rich context, including letters and previously uncollected writings by Berlin, notably his virtuoso review of Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy.

The Crooked Timber Of Humanity

J Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) rose from humble beginnings to become a leading spiritual and philosophical thinker. His works continue to influence thousands of people around the world; Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra have all been indebted to him. 
 
And yet he belonged to no religion, sect or country. Nor did he subscribe to any school of political or ideological thought. On the contrary, Krishnamurti maintained that these are the very factors that divide human beings and bring about conflict and war – an approach that makes his teachings particularly appealing in our own times. 
 
The Flight of the Eagle is regarded as one of Krishnamurti’s key works, grappling with themes such as freedom, change, peace, violence and – finally – the transcendental and the unknown.

The Flight of the Eagle

Julian Barnes

'I don't believe in God, but I miss Him.' Julian Barnes' new book is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his philosopher brother, a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French writer Jules Renard. Though he warns us that 'this is not my autobiography', the result is a tour of the mind of one of our most brilliant writers.

Nothing to be Frightened Of

Discover the beautiful bestselling book about a beautiful friendship . . . 
 
'James has a way to speak to your soul. This book is nothing short of comforting and heartwarming' VEX KING 
'While the drawings have the charm of Winnie-the-Pooh, the captions have the depth of ancient proverbs' GUARDIAN 
'A beautifully illustrated book which draws on tender moments. Exquisite' DR RANGAN CHATTERJEE 
________ 
 
A guiding light in the darker months, Big Panda and Tiny Dragon is the beautifully illustrated and mindful journey of two friends through the seasons, inspired by Buddhist philosophy 
 
'Which is more important,' asked Big Panda, 'the journey or the destination?' 
'The company,' said Tiny Dragon. 
 
Friends Big Panda and Tiny Dragon journey through the seasons of the year together, day and night, in rain and in sun. Travelling through nature, they find hope and inspiration in the world around them, realising that even in the darkest of days, Spring will always return. 
 
Feel the calming influence of Big Panda, who reminds us of the bigger picture while appreciating the simplicity of small moments. 
 
Explore your surroundings with the inquisitive eye of Tiny Dragon, our friend who is big in heart if not in stature. 
 
And on their journey through the ever-changing seasons, join these two friends as they learn how to live in the moment, be at peace with uncertainty, and find the strength to overcome life's obstacles, together. 
 
Inspired by Buddhist philosophy and spirituality, the story of these whimsical characters makes the perfect gift for anyone looking for a little hope and comfort. 
________ 
 
'The two friends often find themselves lost but discover beautiful sights they never would have found if they had gone the right way. While the drawings have the charm of Winnie-the-Pooh, the captions have the depth of ancient proverbs' GUARDIAN

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

The beautifully illustrated novel about friendship and hope

Didier Eribon

A few years ago, Didier Eribon’s mother began to lose her physical and cognitive autonomy. After several months of resistance, Eribon and his brothers were compelled to place her in a nursing home. A few short weeks later, his mother passed away. 
 
In The Life, Old Age, and Death of a Working-Class Woman, Eribon continues the historical, political and personal reflection he began with Returning to Reims, this time turning his attention to the end of life. Tracing his mother’s rapid decline, and drawing on works by Simone de Beauvoir, Norbert Elias, Annie Ernaux and Michel Foucault, among others, Eribon transmutes his rage, sadness and the shame over her death into a strikingly nuanced portrait of the woman who raised him. Here, Eribon asks: how does our society treat the elderly? What is the place of bodies that can no longer assemble, discuss freedom or protest? Can the completely dependent speak for themselves – and if not, who can speak for them? 
 
An honest, original and wide-ranging exploration of the relationship between ageing and class, politics and literature, this is a profound meditation on a fundamental human experience, too often overlooked.

The Life, Old Age, and Death of a Working-Class Woman

Edith Eger

THE AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 
 
Even in hell, hope can flower 
 
'I'll be forever changed by her story' - Oprah Winfrey 
 
'Extraordinary ... will stick with you long after you read it' - Bill Gates 
 
'One of those rare and eternal stories you don't want to end' - Desmond Tutu 
 
'A masterpiece of holocaust literature. Her memoir, like her life, is extraordinary, harrowing and inspiring in equal measure' - The Times Literary Supplement 
 
'I can't imagine a more important message for modern times. Eger's book is a triumph' - The New York Times 
 
In 1944, sixteen-year-old ballerina Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Separated from her parents on arrival, she endures unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. When the camp is finally liberated, she is pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive. 
 
The horrors of the Holocaust didn't break Edith. In fact, they helped her learn to live again with a life-affirming strength and a truly remarkable resilience. 
 
The Choice is her unforgettable story. It shows that hope can flower in the most unlikely places.

The Choice

A true story of hope

Born in poverty in India, Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) became a leading spiritual and philosophical thinker whose ideas continue to influence us today. George Bernard Shaw declared that he was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen and Aldous Huxley was one of his close friends. Whether debating politics with Nehru, discussing theories with Rupert Sheldrake and Iris Murdoch, or challenging his students not to take his words at face value, Krishnamurti engaged fully with every aspect of life. He is regarded by many modern religious figures as a great teacher, an extraordinary individual with revolutionary insights; Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra are all indebted to his writings. 
 
Freedom from the Known is one of Krishnamurti's most accessible works. Here, he reveals how we can free ourselves radically and immediately from the tyranny of the expected. By changing ourselves, we can alter the structure of society and our relationships. The vital need for change and the recognition of its very possibility form an essential part of this important book's message.

Freedom from the Known

Søren Kierkegaard

Johannes is an aesthete, dedicated to creating the possibility of seduction through the careful manipulation of young women. He stealthily pursues the innocent Cordelia until she becomes increasingly drawn to him. But when she is ready to give herself completely, she realizes she may have got everything wrong. 
 
United by the theme of love, the writings in the Great Loves series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love&rsquo;s endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love&hellip;.

The Seducer's Diary

William James

The writings of William James represent one of America's most original contributions to the history of ideas.  Ranging from philosophy and psychology to religion and politics, James composed the most engaging formulation of American pragmatism.  'Pragmatism' grew out of a set of lectures and the full text is included here along with 'The Meaning of Truth', 'Psychology', 'The Will to Believe', and 'Talks to Teachers on Psychology'.

Pragmatism and Other Writings

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon have inspired readers across the world with their message of kindness, hope and resilience. Join the two friends as they continue their journey overcoming life's obstacles together. And although they often find themselves lost, the beautiful sights along the way show us that the wrong path can often lead to the right road. 
 
Writer and artist James Norbury began illustrating the adventures of Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, inspired by Buddhist philosophy, to share the ideas that helped him through difficult times, in the hope they could help others too.

The Journey

A Big Panda and Tiny Dragon Adventure

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka spent eight months at his sister's house in Zürau between September 1917 and April 1918, enduring the onset of tuberculosis. Illness paradoxically set him free to write, in a series of philosophical fragments, his settling of accounts with life, marriage, his family, guilt and man's condition. These aphorisms have appeared with minor revisions in various posthumous works since his death in 1924. By chance, Roberto Calasso rediscovered Kafka's two original notebooks in Oxford's Bodleian Library. 
 
The notebooks, freshly translated and laid out as Kafka intended, are a distillation of Kafka at his most powerful and enigmatic. This lost jewel provides the reader with a fresh perspective on the work of a genius.

The Zurau Aphorisms

William James's strong beliefs in a pragmatic theory of truth - that truth is only as relevant as its effect on us - lead to these absorbing essays on fact and belief. Within them is a fascinating theory of reality that suggests nothing is truly 'real' without examination through human empathy and experience. 
 
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.

On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings

Larissa MacFarquhar

There are those of us who help and those who live to help. In Strangers Drowning, celebrated journalist Larissa MacFarquhar digs deep into the psychological roots and existential dilemmas motivating those rare individuals practising lives of extreme ethical commitment. The donor who offers up her kidney to a complete stranger; the activist who abandons possessions to devote himself to the cause; the foster parent who adopts dozens of children: such do-gooders inspire us but also force us to question deep-seated notions about what it means to be human. How could these do-gooders value strangers as much as their own loved ones? What does it really take to live a life of extreme virtue? Might it mean making choices as heartbreaking as the one in the old philosophy problem: abandoning a single family member to drown so that two strangers might live?

Strangers Drowning

Voyages to the Brink of Moral Extremity

Christian Watson

In this poignant, affirming, and beautifully illustrated journey, social media sensation Mr Skelly explores the ups and downs of existence and discovers the makings of a meaningful life. 
 
"How lucky am I, to have lost what I wanted, to find what I deserved" 
Join beloved Mr Skelly, a gentle skeleton wandering across lush landscapes and treacherous terrains, through times of joy, loss, grief and love, to find his family and – ultimately – a safe home. 
 
Along the way, he discovers life lessons which help us remember what to hold onto and what to let go of, to realise how lucky we all are, because this beautifully fragile present moment is truly all we have. 
Mr Skelly invites you to shift your lens, make peace with what you can’t control, appreciate what can’t be seen, and live your life to the utmost of your ability. 
 
How Lucky Am I is a simple reminder that, in the end, we're all made of the same bones. With gentle words and hand-painted imagery, this book hopes to shine a softer light on what's often overlooked - and maybe, in doing so, help us remember what truly matters.

How Lucky Am I

Charlie Mackesy

#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER · #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
‘One day you’ll look back and realise how hard it was, and just how well you did’ 
 
Charlie Mackesy’s four unlikely friends are wandering through the wilds again. They’re not sure what they are looking for. They do know that life can be difficult, but that they love each other, and cake is often the answer. 
 
When the dark clouds come, can the boy remember what he needs to get through the storm? 
 
The hugely anticipated new book from Charlie Mackesy, revisiting the much-loved world of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – the bestselling adult non-fiction book of all time, with over ten million readers around the world.

Always Remember

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm

Rosamund Stone Zander

Ben Zander

In this powerful and inspiring book, family systems therapist and executive coach Rosamund Stone Zander invites readers to shed the childhood stories that hold us back, and enter a realm of true maturity and fulfilment, where limitless growth becomes possible. 
 
As children, we develop stories about how the world works, most of which get improved upon and amended over time. But some do not, even as we mature in other ways. Opinionated, self-centered and fear-driven, these child stories are the source of the behavioural and emotional patterns that hold us back. When we learn to identify and rewrite these stories, limitless growth becomes possible. 
 
In her groundbreaking and inspiring new book, Rosamund Stone Zander shows us that life is a story we tell ourselves, and that we have the power to change that story. She illuminates how breaking old patterns and telling a new story can transform not just our own lives, but also our relationships with others whether in a marriage, a classroom, or a business. Finally, she demonstrates how, with this new understanding of ourselves and our place within an interconnected world, we can take powerful action in the collective interest, and gain a sense of deep connection to the universe. 
 
This galvanizing book expands our notions of how much we can grow and change, whether we can affect others or the world at large, and how much freedom and joy we can experience. Stimulating and profound, it is the perfect companion to her beloved first book, The Art of Possibility.

Pathways to Possibility

Transform your outlook on life with the bestselling author of The Art of Possibility

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

'Really made me think about how I think' - Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit West 
 
Tough times don't last. Tough people do. 
 
In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. Here Taleb stands uncer&shy;tainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resil&shy;ient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. 
 
Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls antifragile are things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. 
 
Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb's message is revolutionary: the antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it. 
 
'The hottest thinker in the world' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times

Antifragile

Things that Gain from Disorder

Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo presents these specially selected shows exploring the history of democracy and the modern political system 
 
In a parliamentary career spanning over 20 years, Michael Portillo served as a Conservative MP and held numerous Cabinet posts. Few people are better placed to comment on politics than him, and in these thought-provoking programmes, he gives us his take on the development of democracy and contemporary political theory. 
 
In the three-part series Democracy on Trial, Portillo investigates the difficult and dangerous global journey taken by this fragile ideal over 2,500 years, and the surprisingly tenuous grip it holds upon the world today. From Athens in the fifth century BC to the present day, he examines the effectiveness of a form of government we take for granted, and analyses its rise, fall and future. 
 
For Whom the Division Bell Tolled sees him looking at the history and peculiarities of the back-bencher, asking historians whether these traits have been present since the very first Parliaments in the 1300s. Across three episodes, he traces the origins of the back-bench revolt, recalls the good and noble works of back-benchers from the past, and wonders whether those on the back bench have always been more interested in keeping their jobs than changing the world. 
 
In The Right Stuff, Portillo considers the lasting influence of the author and philosopher Ayn Rand, questioning whether her work remains a blueprint for those on the political right. Talking to contemporaries and critics, he probes the origins and impact of Rand's writings, and assesses how her controversial ideas relate to the current political landscape. 
 
Capitalism on Trial finds him pondering years of bailouts, stagnating growth and market instability, and asking whether free-market capitalism is looking a little tarnished. Over two programmes, he talks to leading thinkers including Amartya Sen, Will Hutton and Gillian Tett as he weighs up the costs and benefits of the economic system that governs our lives. 
 
Finally, in Things We Forgot to Remember: The 1945 Labour Government, Portillo looks back at Clement Attlee's postwar government, querying how radical their agenda really was and how much our collective memory of it is due to myth-making by subsequent Labour administrations. 
 
Production credits 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Democracy on Trial 
Episode 1 11 May 2010 
Episode 2 18 May 2010 
Episode 3 25 May 2010 
Produced by Philip Sellars and Julia Johnson 
 
For Whom the Division Bell Tolled 
Episode 1 14 May 2008 
Episode 2 21 May 2008 
Episode 3 28 May 2008 
Produced by Philip Sellars 
 
The Right Stuff 11 November 2008 
Produced by Owen McFadden 
 
Capitalism on Trial 
Episode 1 27 September 2011 
Episode 2 4 October 2011 
With Amartya Sen, Will Hutton, Ha-Joon Chang, Gillian Tett, Nigel Lawson and Hernando De Soto 
Produced by Julia Johnson 
 
Things We Forgot to Remember: The 1945 Labour Government 6 May 2007 
With Denis Healey, Peter Carrington and Tony Benn 
Produced by Julia Adamson 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Michael Portillo: On Politics

A BBC Radio Collection

Jeanette Winterson

I can change the story because I am the story. 
 
With her execution looming, a woman is fighting for her life. Every night she tells a story. Every morning, she lives one more day. One Aladdin Two Lamps cracks open the legendary story of Shahrazad in One Thousand and One Nights to reveal new questions and answers we are still thinking about today. Who should we trust? Is love the most important thing in the world? Does it matter whether you are honest? What makes us happy? 
 
In her guise as Aladdin – the orphan who changes his world – Jeanette Winterson asks us to reread what we think we know and look again at how fiction works in our lives, giving us the courage to change our own narratives and alter endings we wish to subvert. As a young working-class woman, with no obvious future beyond factory work or marriage, Winterson realised through the power of books that she could read herself as fiction as well as fact. 
 
Weaving together fiction, magic and memoir, this remarkable book is a tribute to the age-old tradition of storytelling and a radical step into the future – an invitation to look more closely at our own stories, and to imagine the world anew.

One Aladdin Two Lamps

A journey in search of home. 
 
From the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author and artist, Charlie Mackesy, the companion book to the BAFTA and Academy Award&reg; winning animated short film, available on BBC iPlayer. 
 
#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
This beautiful book celebrates the work of over 100 animators across two years of production that brought Charlie's distinctive illustrations to life with full colour, hand-drawn traditional animation. The original globally adored story of the Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is captured here in stills from the animated short film and handwritten words by Charlie Mackesy. 
 
&quot;I made a film with some friends about a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse - their journey together and the boy's search for home. I hope this book gives you courage and makes you feel loved.&quot; Love Charlie x

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: The Animated Story

Naoko Abe

The remarkable true story of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, and the two men in war-torn Japan whose lives he changed forever. 
 
On the 14th of August 1941, a Polish priest named Maximilian Maria Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz. 
 
Kolbe's life had been remarkable. Fiercely intelligent and driven, he founded a movement of Catholicism and spent several years in Nagasaki, ministering to the 'hidden Christians' who had emerged after centuries of oppression. A Polish nationalist as well as a priest, he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and ran Poland's largest publishing operation, drawing the wrath of the Nazis. His death was no less remarkable: he volunteered to die, saving the life of a fellow prisoner. 
 
It was an act that profoundly transformed the lives of two Japanese men. Tomei Ozaki was just seventeen when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, destroying his home and his family. Masatoshi Asari worked on a farm in Hokkaido during the war and was haunted by the inhumane treatment of prisoners in a nearby camp. Forged in the crucible of an unforgiving war, both men drew inspiration from Kolbe's sacrifice, dedicating their lives to humanity and justice. Ozaki followed in his footsteps and became a friar. Asari created cherry trees as peace offerings. 
 
In The Martyr and the Red Kimono, award-winning author Naoko Abe weaves together a deeply moving and inspirational true story of resistance, sacrifice, guilt and atonement.

The Martyr and the Red Kimono

A Fearless Priest’s Sacrifice and A New Generation of Hope in Japan

James Redfield

In this step-by-step guide James Redfield begins his exploration of the emerging interest in spirituality around the globe. Beginning with a survey of the most common synchronistic experiences, he shows how those interested in broadening their spiritual perception can actually experience for themselves the shifts in consciousness that are changing the human world. 
 
Described as the most direct explanation of the new world vision presented in the phenomenally successful Celestine fiction series, this fascinating and illuminating book reveals the author's inside view of how we are discovering the transcendent in our everyday existence and interpreting our individual synchronicity to find our destined purpose in life. Based on James Redfield's own experiences and those reported to him from every corner of the world since the writing of The Celestine Prophecy and The Tenth Insight, this book describes the first-hand growth techniques Celestine fans everywhere are looking for - perfectly setting the stage for the next remarkable book in the Celestine series, The Eleventh Insight.

Celestine Vision

George Orwell

<a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/collections/book-bundles-modern-classics/?&amp;utm_source=Penguin.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=Linked_text&amp;utm_campaign=Penguin_Modern_Classics_Series_26_06">Choose 3 timeless classics for only £21 over on the Penguin Shop</a>

The Lion and the Unicorn was written in London during the worst period of the Blitz. It is vintage Orwell, a dynamic outline of his belief in socialism, patriotism and an English revolution. His fullest political statement, it has been described as 'one of the most moving and incisive portraits of the English character' and is as relevant now as it ever has been.

The Lion and the Unicorn

Socialism and the English Genius

Giles Fraser

It was one of the most startling moments in the history of the City of London. In 2011, the Occupy movement set up camp around St Paul's Cathedral. Giles Fraser, who was Canon Chancellor, gave them his support. It ended in disaster. 
 
This remarkable book is the story of the personal crisis that followed, and its surprising consequences. Finding himself caught between the protesters, the church and the City of London, Fraser resigned. As his life fell apart and he battled with ideas of suicide, he found himself by chance one day in Liverpool, outside the Victorian synagogue once presided over by a distant ancestor. Suddenly Fraser realized that there was a great deal he did not know about himself, about his relatives and about his Jewish roots. 
 
Fraser calls this book 'a ghost story' and it is indeed filled with many ghosts. His search into his family's Jewish past makes this both a fascinating personal story and a wonderful piece of writing about theology. Chosen examines the deepest, most ancient elements in our culture, and the most modern and intimate. It is throughout alive with the charm and intellectual vigour which have made Fraser such an admired and controversial preacher and broadcaster.

Chosen

Lost and Found between Christianity and Judaism

Iris Murdoch

'...Without surprise 
I see him now in evil company. 
A wicked face – but oh those eyes could charm – 
Heart, sudden heart, don’t beat me to my knees.' 
 
Long hidden in an attic, vivid and revelatory poems shine a new light on the life and loves of Iris Murdoch. 
 
*As seen in the Guardian* 
**With an introduction by Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Hall, and an essay from the editors.* 
 
In the dusty attic of Iris Murdoch’s Oxford home lay a battered, black chest. In 2016, when the chest was finally opened, Murdoch’s life in poems was revealed. 
 
Renowned for her fiercely intelligent novels and groundbreaking philosophy, Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. Yet she is also known for her equally radical life – intense friendships, relationships with both men and women, and an open marriage – about which much has, often controversially, been written. Now, her tightly wrought and vivid poems reveal a new, deeply personal account in Murdoch’s own voice. They range over the preoccupations closest to her heart, from the state of Ireland to memories of a first love lost in the Second World War. 
 
Murdoch kept her poems private or addressed them to specific individuals. This did not affect the attention she paid to her craft. Always ‘obsessed’ with poetry, her technical skill is clear even in the musicality of the early pieces, maturing in the extraordinary, impassioned cycle ‘Conversations with a Prince’ and in the liberation of free verse. 
 
Above all, these are masterful poems about love; there is no writer who reveals its secrets quite like Iris Murdoch. These are essential poems for those who, like her, think deeply about romance and friendship, jealousy and commitment, and about all the shades of love in our lives. 
 
Praise for Iris Murdoch: 
 
'I’ve always been a big Iris Murdoch fan ... [She] lived her life with an incredibly open heart' Sarah Waters 
 
'More than almost any other writer, she understands the currents beneath the surface' Charlotte Mendelson 
 
'She is particularly good on what might be seen as our uglier feelings ... Murdoch writes so well about what it is to experience those twinges of envy and the cognate emotions, vanity and desire' TLS

Poems from an Attic

Selected Poems, 1936-95

Clare Mac Cumhaill

Rachael Wiseman

WINNER OF THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN 
AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK 
A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD 
 
 
Elizabeth Anscombe: defiantly brilliant, chain-smoking, trouser-wearing Catholic and (eventual) mother of seven. 
 
Philippa Foot: pathalogically discreet, quietly rebellious granddaughter of a US president. 
 
Mary Midgley: witty scholar and careful observer of humans and animals alike. 
 
Iris Murdoch: aspiring novelist and Francophile with the power to seduce (almost) anyone. 
 
 
Written with expertise and flair, Metaphysical Animals is a vivid portrait of the endeavours and achievements of these four remarkable women. As undergraduates at Oxford during the Second World War, they shared ideas (as well as shoes, sofas and lovers). From the disorder and despair of war, they went on to breathe new life into philosophy, creating a radically fresh way of thinking about freedom, reality and human goodness that is there for us today. 
 
 
'Evocative and sparkling' New York Times 
 
'A triumph' Mail on Sunday

Metaphysical Animals

How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

biblio.categories.code

biblio.publicationStatus

biblio.brand

biblio.workEditions.format

biblio.ageRange

biblio.series.seriesName

biblio.imprint.description

biblio.type

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

Search Results

The Fall of the West

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight (Book 21)

The Mortons

Little Black Classics Box Set

Watch a trailer for The Spook's Blood

A photograph of Ben Barnes in character for Shadow and Bone Netflix series.

Interviews

Shadow and Bone’s Ben Barnes on tear-jerking books and what he’s reading

An image showing a selection of adventure stories for 9-12 year olds on a bright yellow background with orange doodles that include a hashtag, flag, danger sign and speech bubble

Children's reading lists

16 books for 9 to 12-year-olds that love adventures

An image of a selection of books for 9-12s on a blue background with a large splodge and striped print

24 must-read books for 9-12-year-olds

A picture of several different children's books on a pink to blue ombre background; each book has a bright yellow shadow

Showing results for: ‘joseph delaney’

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter