"This brief guide argues that, in the future, books will be less precious than the time it takes to read them. It addresses how to tackle personal “must read” lists and pare them down to the books th
In fifty years of teaching the Great Books at St. John’s College, Eva Brann has come to know intimately the world’s philosophers, from ancient Greek to modern.How to Constitute a World gathers five es
“An intense and compelling account of an educated, sensitive archeologist wandering the back country during the civil war. Half a century on, still one of the best books on Greece as it was bef
“Susan Levenstein gives us a fascinating account of her life as an American doctor in the Eternal City, including an analysis of Italian healthcare that is both informed and terrifying. A must read fo
To introduce her book, Eva Brann calls up the image of Iron Filings as they “settle themselves along the lines of force that form a field of influence around a bar magnet that has itself been allowed
"One of the best memoirs of the Second World War."—The Independent“Delightful reading.”—The Economist “My brother officers. Are they human?” Thus reads the first journal entry of young John Verney, tw
Reflecting on his experiences in the years after World War II, John Verney, author of Going to the Wars, came to recognize that what made them memorable was the unbought grace of life, revealed most s
In the Republic, Socrates seeks to convince Plato’s brother Glaucon that the just life of philosophy is preferable to the unjust life of tyranny. Jacob Howland’s Glaucon’s Fate argues that he fails. T
Finance and Philosophy provides a concise and witty account of how bankers and financial regulators think, of the alleged causes of the cycles of booms and busts, of the implicit and often un-thought-
Every boy has it in his soul to make the big trip. Alone, into the wild. Wilder feels the call after reading about an obsidian deposit on a forgotten bluff in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. If he ca
As Zen takes root in the West, new forms continue to arise. For centuries Zen masters have tested their students with “koans” and “capping phrases.” A koan is a spiritual paradox that must be solved i
In ancient Crete, the legendary Daedalos works to perfect the gliders he is inventing, in which his courageous daughter loves to fly?but their countrymen believe the wings are black magic. In an excit
High school senior Lester is bright but directionless. He has no plans beyond graduation?that is, if he graduates. His father is gone, his mother distracted, and his best friend has applied to 37 coll
In A Parkinson’s Primer, John Vine starts where his education about Parkinson’s began, with his diagnosis at the age of sixty of Parkinson’s disease. With candor A Parkinson’s Primer describes the sym
Tony Gorry reflects on his post-war childhood, and the lives of his parents, in upstate New York. He mulls over the mysterious ways that the past and present blend together and become distinct in memo
Heidegger's Being and Time (1927) challenged earlier thinking about the basic structures of human being, our involvement in practical affairs, and our understanding of history, time, and being. Mark B
"A little masterpiece of originality and clarity."—George Steiner"A necessary book."?Roberto Saviano"A wonderful little book that will delight you."?François BusnelAn international bestseller in eight
Will Rogers Medallion Gold Medal Winner, 2015 (for Texas Grit)Returning to his grandfather's ranch, Wilder is given his own "green" colt?a horse as untried as Wilder. A Mexican vaquero helps Wilder bu
"A writer distinguished for her imaginative power and fresh, vivid writing."KirkusSixteen-year-old Mel expects a dull summeruntil she gets a part in Chekhov's Three Sisters. Friendships and
Philosopher Eva Brann describes the concept of doublethink/doubletalk as "a flanking approach toward comprehending a pervasively duplex world, a world that sometimes flashes fleeting signs of cov
"Gershom Scholem is a historian who has remade the world. . . . He is coming to be seen as one of the greatest shapers of contemporary thought, possibly the boldest mind-adventurer of our generation."
"A serene, lucid, and stylish essay in intellectual autobiography that at the same time commemorates a vanished world."?The Times Literary SupplementFrom Berlin to Jerusalem portrays the dual dramas o
Brooke Allen first traveled to Syria in 2009, expecting it to be much as American news media routinely depicted ituan ultra-conservative Muslim society, a rogue nation committed to an anti-American st
"[A] thoughtful and lucid tale of love, companionship, and heartbreaking illness." ?Lydia DavisIn 2004 Rachel Hadas's husband, George Edwards, a composer and professor of music at Columbia University,
Here is the account of the audacious World War II abduction of a German general from the island of Crete. British special forces officers W. Stanley Moss and Patrick Leigh Fermor, together with a sma
"With its humor and its fancy and its wistfulness, [Desert Islands] is such a fountain of youth as no Ponce de Leon ever discovered." —New York Times"One of those cabinets of curiosities," Mich
An attempt to capture in writing the living activity of thoughtful meditation, Eva Brann's first essay is a friendly critique of "tolerance" leading to a suggestion of finer ways of living together in
"John Stewart is a rare combination: an artist, an adventurer, a survivor of a prison camp, a great photographer, and a rambunctious, rollicking prose writer. He's has marvelous, unlikely experiences
December 21, 1963: Having served 20 years for a murder he didn't commit, "Moth" exits Central Sofia Prison anticipating his first night of freedom. Instead he steps into a new and alien world?the nigh
"Experiencing a change of aspect is characterized by our recognition that something has altered and nothing has altered." —from Fat WednesdayIn Fat Wednesday, John Verdi probes how the inexplicable co
His senses were hot, and so he yearned for spirituality, purity, and holiness---the invisible, which seemed to him spiritual, holy, and pure.Thus Thomas Mann introduces Moses in The Tables of the Law,
These wide-ranging conversations have an exceptionally open and intimate tone, giving us a personal glimpse of one of the most fascinating figures in contemporary world literature.Interviewer Fernando
In 1611, the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote The Six-Cornered Snowflake, which was the first scientific reference to snow crystals. Kepler wondered why snow crystals always exhibit a six-fold
“Where does happiness lie?” “What is the best life?” Aristotle ponders these abiding questions in his Nicomachean Ethics—a work which has profoundly influenced Western thinking on ethical matters. A b
The Metalogicon, completed in 1159, is recognized as a landmark in the fields of philosophy, psychology, and education. Undertaken to defend the thorough study of the trivium against attack at the han
“Oh, what a delightful book! This is the clearest explanation of relativity available—and the most fun. It’s great to have it available again. Whether or not you’re a scientist, you will relish this b
In Feeling Our Feelings, Eva Brann considers what the great philosophers on the passions and feelings have thought and written about them. She examines the relevant work of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoic
