Penguin Books Ltd

A new selection of foundational works from the influential philosopher who developed the theory of mimetic desire

Why do humans have such a remarkable capacity for conflict? From ancient foundational myths to the modern era, the visionary thinker Rene Girard identified the constant, competing desires at the heart of our existence - desires that we copy from others, igniting a contagious violence. This remarkable and accessible new selection of Girard's work shows him as a writer for our times, as he ranges over human imitation and rivalry, herd behaviour, scapegoating and how our violent longings play out in stories, from Shakespeare to religion.

'The explosion of social media, the resurgence of populism, and the increasing virulence of reciprocal violence all suggest that the contemporary world is becoming more and more recognizably "Girardian" in its behaviour' The New York Review of Books

Edited with an Introduction by Cynthia L. Haven

Mikhail Sholokhov (Author)
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (1905-1984) was born in Russia in the land of the Cossacks. During the Russian civil war he fought on the side of the revolutionaries, and in 1922 he moved to Moscow to become a journalist. In 1926, Sholokhov began writing And Quiet Flows the Don, and he published the first volume in 1928. Three more volumes followed with the last one published in 1940. In 1965 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people".

New York Times Bestseller

'Digital Minimalism is the Marie Kondo of mobile phones' Evening Standard

'An eloquent, powerful and enjoyably practical guide to cutting back on screen time' The Times

'An urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life' Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way

'What a timely and useful book' Naomi Alderman, author of The Power

Learn how to switch off and find calm

Do you find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media or the news while your anxiety rises? Are you feeling frazzled after a long day of long video calls?

In this timely book, professor Cal Newport shows us how to pair back digital distractions and live a more meaningful life with less technology.

By following a 'digital declutter' process, you'll learn to:

· Rethink your relationship with social media
· Prioritize 'high bandwidth' conversations over low quality text chains
· Rediscover the pleasures of the offline world

Take back control from your devices and find calm amongst the chaos with Digital Minimalism.

'We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us - what is more, we have burned the land behind us!'

Nietzsche's devastating demolition of religion would have seismic consequences for future generations. With God dead, he envisages a brilliant future for humanity: one in which individuals would at last be responsible for their destinies.

One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

I'm Annabel. I'm the girl who has it all. Model looks, intelligence, a great social life. I'm one of the lucky ones. Aren't I?

My 'best friend' Sophie is spreading rumours about me. My family is slowly falling apart. It's turning into a long, lonely summer, full of secrets and silence.

But I've met this guy who won't let me hide away. He's one of those intense types, obsessed with music and totally unafraid of confrontation. He's determined to make me listen. Will I ever find the courage to tell him what really happened the night Sophie and I stopped being friends?

Captivating, emotionally turbulent, unputdownable teenage fiction - the natural step up for older Cathy Cassidy fans.

Limonov is not a fictional character, but he could have been. He's lived a hundred lives. He was a hoodlum in Ukraine, an idol of the Soviet underground, punk-poet and valet to a billionaire in Manhattan, fashion writer in Paris, lost soldier in the Balkans, and now, in the chaos after the fall of communism a charismatic party leader of a gang of political desperados. Limonov sees himself as a hero, but he is also a bastard. Carrere suspends judgment. Carrère decided to write about Limonov because he thought "that his life, romantic and reckless, tells us something, not just about Limonov or Russia, but the story of all of us after the end of World War II."

Susan Sontag's On Photography is a seminal and groundbreaking work on the subject.

Susan Sontag's groundbreaking critique of photography asks forceful questions about the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form. Photographs are everywhere, and the 'insatiability of the photographing eye' has profoundly altered our relationship with the world. Photographs have the power to shock, idealize or seduce, they create a sense of nostalgia and act as a memorial, and they can be used as evidence against us or to identify us. In these six incisive essays, Sontag examines the ways in which we use these omnipresent images to manufacture a sense of reality and authority in our lives.

'Sontag offers enough food for thought to satisfy the most intellectual of appetites'The Times

'A brilliant analysis of the profound changes photographic images have made in our way of looking at the world, and at ourselves'Washington Post

'The most original and illuminating study of the subject'New Yorker

One of America's best-known and most admired writers, Susan Sontag was also a leading commentator on contemporary culture until her death in December 2004. Her books include four novels and numerous works of non-fiction, among them Regarding the Pain of Others, On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, At the Same Time, Against Interpretation and Other Essays and Reborn: Early Diaries 1947-1963, all of which are published by Penguin. A further eight books, including the collections of essays Under the Sign of Saturn and Where the Stress Falls, and the novels The Volcano Lover and The Benefactor, are available from Penguin Modern Classics.

DISCOVER THE SPELLBINDING DARK FANTASY TIKTOK SENSATION

'Do not walk to pick up this book. Run' JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT, bestselling author of FROM BLOOD AND ASH

'You will devour it! Badass females, slow burn romance, enemies to lovers . . . Do I even need to say more?' 5***** READER REVIEW

'Enemies to Lovers and full of Angst . . . Loved the book so much I can't put it into words' 5***** READER REVIEW
___________

Raised as a warrior, Princess Lara has always known her destiny: to destroy her enemy, King Aren.

The Bridge Kingdom where he resides uses its power to deprive Lara's homeland of vital resources.

So when she is sent to be King Aren's bride, she has her way in.

Now, all Lara needs to do is destroy the kingdom - and her new husband - from the inside.

But when hostility turns to passion, her loyalty will be tested to its limits . . .
___________

'This book is just everything!!! It's such an atmospheric read that completely immerses you. This book has me completely captivated, it honestly has stolen a piece of my heart' 5***** READER REVIEW

'Heart-pounding. I enjoyed every moment of this book' 5***** READER REVIEW

'I don't think I'll ever be over how amazing this book is . . .The world and characters were so immersive' 5***** READER REVIEW

PRAISE FOR THE BRIDGE KINGDOM SERIES

'Exquisite, phenomenal and sexy' Olivia Wildenstein, USA Today bestselling author of Feather

'An epic, action-packed tale of love, revenge, and betrayal' Jennifer Estep, New York Times bestselling author of Kill the Queen

'Heart-pounding romance and intense action wrapped in a spellbinding world. I was hooked from the first page!' Elise Kova, USA Today bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King

PRAISE FOR DANIELLE L. JENSEN

'Richly-woven, evocative and absolutely impossible to put down . . . I loved every word' Sarah J. Maas, bestselling author of A Court of Thorns and Roses

'Stellar world-building and multidimensional characters' Kirkus

'Stunning world-building, a vivid cast of secondary characters, and a steamy slow-burn romance' Bookist

THE CHILLING SERIAL KILLER THRILLER FROM THE CO-HOST OF CHART-TOPPING PODCAST MORBID

'AMAZING TWISTS. UNPUTDOWNABLE' SAMANTHA DOWNING

'CAPTIVATING. The reader might want to shut their eyes, but the joust between the killer and the pathologist makes that impossible' DAILY MAIL

Wren was never afraid of the dark. Until she learned that some monsters are real . . .
_________

In deep Louisiana, a serial killer with a taste for medical experimentation is completing his most ambitious project yet. The media call him 'The Butcher' - and, so far, he's proved impossible to catch.

With her encyclopaedic knowledge of humanity's darkest minds, and years of experience examining their victims, forensic pathologist Dr Wren Muller is the best there is. The longer the Butcher's killing spree continues, the more determined she is to bring him to justice.

And yet, he continues to elude her.

As body after body piles up on Wren's examination table, her obsession grows. Pressure to put an end to the slaughter mounts. And her enemy becomes more brazen.

How far is Wren willing to go to draw the Butcher into the light . . .?
_________

An addictive read with straight-from-the-morgue details only an autopsy technician could provide, The Butcher and the Wren promises to ensnare all who enter.

'Can a medical examiner outsmart a serial killer? The Butcher and the Wren will keep you waiting for an answer until the last bloody page. Prepare to be disturbed. A deliciously dark debut' REA FREY, bestselling author for Not Her Daughter and Secrets of Our House

In The Chase Clive Cussler introduces a historical hero- Isaac Bell.

1950: the rusting hulk of a steam locomotive is raised from the depths of a Montana lake. Inside are three bodies, bloody clue to a fortune lost for over forty years . . .

1906: For two years banks across the western United States have been living in terror of the 'Butcher Bandit'. This cold-blooded bank robber empties safes and murders all witnesses, vanishing without trace. In desperation, the US Government calls in Isaac Bell, the best detective in the country. From Arizona to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during the great quake, Bell uses all his guile and ingenuity to catch up with the murderous Bandit.

But when Bell has him almost cornered - the Bandit turns really nasty. And suddenly the stakes have changed. Bell isn't just battling to get his man. He's fighting for his very survival . . .

Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Arctic Drift and Crescent Dawn - sends hero Isaac Bell to solve a mysterious series of bank-robberies and murders in the first novel of historical thriller series The Isaac Bell Adventures. The Chase is followed by The Wrecker and The Spy.

Praise for Clive Cussler:

'Delivers what it promises' Financial Times

'The guy I read' Tom Clancy

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THE ALLIES HAD LOST THE WAR?
_______________________________

'Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find.'

America, fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. The winning Axis powers have divided their spoils: the Nazis control New York, while California is ruled by the Japanese.

But between these two states - locked in a cold war - lies a neutral buffer zone in which legendary author Hawthorne Abendsen is rumoured to live. Abendsen lives in fear of his life for he has written a book in which World War Two was won by the Allies . . .

Now a major Amazon TV series, this book for fans of Robert Harris' Fatherland, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and anyone who has ever wondered 'What if . . . '

'California's own William Blake. Visionary and prophet. Novelist of ideas' Daily Telegraph

This remarkable and wide-ranging book is an inventory of symbols and the symbolic imagination. The editors and their fifteen contributors are drawn from a variety of scholarly backgrounds—including anthropology, ethnology, psychotherapy and art history. This diversity of approach is responsible for the book's unique character, a reflection of the multiplicity of symbols and signs and the phenomenal range of possible interpretations they offer. This book draws together folklore, literary and artistic sources, and focuses on the symbolic dimension of every colour, number, sound, gesture, expression or character trait that has benefitted from symbolic interpretation. The conscious and unconscious minds are explored, desire and dreams are treated alongside the known and the chronicled. Extraordinary in its range and eclecticism, this dictionary was originally published in French as the Dictionnaire des Symboles, and it is regarded as the standard work on the subject.

The Race is the fourth turn of the century thriller by Clive Cussler.

1910, and America's first ever cross-country flying race has been sabotaged . . .

Newspaper magnate Preston Whiteway is offering a big prize for the first aviator to cross America in under fifty days. He wants Josephine Frost - the country's leading as well as most glamorous pilot - to win. Which is why he's hired Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Detective Agency.

Josephine saw her husband Harry Frost kill a man. Now he wants her dead. And with underworld contacts ready to help in every city en route, he'll do anything, go after anyone who gets in his way - including Whiteway and Bell.

Packed with brilliant twists and turns, The Race sees the intrepid Private Investigator locked in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a killer whose resources are matched only by his willingness to cause mayhem during the race of a lifetime . . .

Clive Cussler's The Race is the international bestselling author's follow up to The Spy and The Wrecker, the first two novels in the Isaac Bell series. The Race is a nerve-shredding historical thriller, set at the dawn of flight.

Praise for Clive Cussler:

'Frightening and full of suspense . . . unquestionably entertaining' Daily Express

'All-action, narrow escapes and the kind of unrelenting plot tension that has won Cussler hundreds of millions of fans worldwide' Observer

Clive Cussler is the author or co-author of a great number of international bestsellers, including the famous Dirk Pitt® adventures, such as Crescent Dawn; the NUMA® Files adventures, the Oregon Files, such as The Jungle; and the Isaac Bell historical thrillers, which began with The Chase. He lives in Arizona.www.clivecussler.co.uk

Justin Scott's twenty six novels include The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle; the Ben Abbot detective series; and five modern sea thrillers published under his pen name Paul Garrison. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, the filmmaker Amber Edwards.

The Spy is the third of Clive Cussler's brilliant historical thrillers.

1908, and American engineering geniuses are being killed off one by one . . .

When a brilliant battleship gun engineer commits suicide, his disbelieving family turn to legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency. Quickly on the case, Isaac Bell establishes that the clues point not to suicide, but murder.

So when further deaths connected to a top-secret project follow, Bell realizes that this is sabotage. With the world plunging towards war, it's clearly a spy at large. But which of the many foreign agents he has encountered is responsible? Or is there a more sinister explanation?

In a blistering story featuring dreadnaught battleships and railroards, criminal gangs and beautiful women, The Spy is a breathtaking thriller that just happens to have at stake the fate of the world.

Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Arctic Drift and Crescent Dawn - and co-author Justin Scott place hero Isaac Bell at the centre of a mysterious espionage conspiracy in the third novel of historical thriller series The Isaac Bell Adventures, The Spy.

Praise for Clive Cussler:

'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail

'The guy I read' Tom Clancy

The Thief is Clive Cussler's fifth historical thriller featuring detective Isaac Bell.

A bold kidnapping aboard an ocean liner sends detective Isaac Bell across America in a deadly game of cat and mouse . . .

Leaving England aboard the liner Mauretania, Isaac Bell, chief investigator at the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency, stumbles on and thwarts a kidnapping. The two victims, who have fled Europe carrying a secret invention, fear that a foreign power wishes to steal it before they can bring it to America.

Bell and the Van Dorn Agency offer to protect them.

And it isn't long before Bell is fighting skullduggery in the middle of the Atlantic. In New York City, as well as across the country as he and the inventors head for California, the deadly chase is on. On their trail is the murderous agent known only as the 'Acrobat', instructed to steal this world-changing invention - and kill anyone in his way . . .

Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Crescent Dawn and Atlantis Found - has legendary super-sleuth Isaac Bell protect a top-secret invention with the power to shape the course of history. The Thief is the fifth novel in the Isaac Bell series, following The Race.

Praise for Clive Cussler:

'The Adventure King' Daily Express

'The guy I read' Tom Clancy

Bestselling author Clive Cussler has kept readers on the edges of their seats for four decades with his thrilling action novels. As well as The Isaac Bell Adventures there are also the NUMA and Oregon Files series, the Dirk Pitt stories (which started it all) and the Fargo series. Other titles in Cussler's first historical series - The Isaac Bell Adventures - include The Chase, The Spy, The Race and The Thief which are all available from Penguin.

Justin Scott is the author of twenty-seven novels, including The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle.

Private detective Isaac Bell returns in Clive Cussler's The Wrecker.

1907: train wrecks, fires, and explosions sabotage the Southern Pacific Railroad's new express line . . .

The desperate railroad hires the fabled Van Dorn Detective Agency, who send their best man, Isaac Bell. He quickly discovers that a saboteur calling himself the Wrecker is attacking the Southern Pacific with accomplices recruited from down-and-outs - who are killed afterward. The Wrecker strikes wherever he pleases, causing untold damage and loss of human life. Who is he? What does he want? Is he an anarchist? A revolutionary? A criminal mastermind?

Whoever he is, whatever his motives, the Wrecker knows how to create havoc. And Bell is convinced he is building up to a grand act unlike anything he has committed before.

If the Wrecker isn't stopped in time, more than a railroad is at risk - the future of the entire country is on the line . . .

Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Black Wind and Trojan Odyssey - and co-author Justin Scott pit legendary detective Isaac Bell against a mysterious murderer and railroad saboteur in the second novel of historical thriller series The Isaac Bell Adventures, The Wrecker.

Praise for Clive Cussler:

'The guy I read' Tom Clancy

'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail

Bestselling author Clive Cussler has kept readers on the edges of their seats for four decades with his thrilling action novels. As well as The Isaac Bell Adventures there are also the NUMA and OregonFiles series, the Dirk Pitt stories (which started it all) and the Fargo series. Other titles in Cussler's first historical series - The Isaac Bell Adventures - include The Chase, The Spy, The Race and The Thiefwhich are all available from Penguin.