Adam Usden

Adam Wagner

Adam Wasson

Adam Weymouth's work has been published widely, including in Granta, The Atlantic, The Observer and the BBC. His first book, Kings of the Yukon, won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, the Lonely Planet Adventure Travel Book of the Year and the Prix Paul-Emile Victor. He has been named by the National Writing Centre as one of ten writers shaping the UK's future.

Adam Weymouth

Adam Wisniewski-Snerg (1937-95) was born on the outskirts of Warsaw. His science fiction writing is largely focused around the consequences of totalitarianism. Although largely unread during his lifetime, after his suicide in 1995 his work began to receive major critical attention. He is now considered to be, along with Stanislaw Lem, one of Poland's greatest science fiction writers.

Adam Wisniewski-Snerg

Ade Edmondson

Adele Lang

Adele Nozedar is an author and photographer. Previously, she was in a cult indie band, then ran her own indie record label and became A&amp;R Director/General Manager of a major record company. 
 
Her wide-ranging passions are reflected in her books, which include The Hedgerow Handbook (2012), The Signs and Symbols Sourcebook (2011), The Secret Language of Birds (2006), and The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans (2013).

Adele Nozedar

Adele Puhn

Adeline Yen Mah

Adelle Waldman is a freelance writer and book critic. She worked as a reporter at the New Haven Register and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal's website. Her articles also have appeared in The New York Times Book Review,The New Republic,Slate,The Wall Street Journal, and other national publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Adelle Waldman

Aditi Kakade Beaufrand is an Indian illustrator based in France. She likes experimenting with bright, happy colours. She grew up reading fairytales, watching animated films and imagining adventure stories, and her style is an embodiment of her Indian heritage and western culture. She loves animals and taking long walks on the beach, but she is never too far away from a pencil and a paper to draw her perception of the world.

Aditi Kakade Beaufrand

Aditya Chakrabortty

Adiva Geffen is a bestselling writer and playwright. Her plays have appeared on major stages in Israel, she lectures and leads numerous writing workshops and she is a board member of the Israeli Writers’ Association. 
 
 Geffen started out as a special-education teacher, before serving as the spokesperson for the Habima National Theatre for more than a decade. She founded and subsequently led the Israeli Theatre Award for ten years, and now serves as head of The Gnazim Institute of the Hebrew Writers Association, the largest Hebrew literature archive in the world. 
 
 Born in Haifa, Israel and the mother of three sons, Geffen now lives in Tel Aviv with her partner Aharon Meidan.

Adiva Geffen

Adnan Sarwar, 35, is a former British soldier who served in the Iraq War.  He has since worked as a military consultant to film and is a writer based in London.  Read more at www.adnansarwar.com / @adnansarwar

Adnan Sarwar

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Loos (1877-1933) was a leading Austro-Hungarian architect, perhaps most famous for the revolutionary 'Loos House' opposite the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, which caused outrage when it was built in 1912, and the wonderful American Bar, also in Vienna. He wrote extensively on architecture and design, working in reaction to the elaborate mass of decoration celebrated by the Vienna Secession movement.

Adolf Loos

Adolfo García Ortega

Adomnan of Iona

Adonis

Adriaan Van Dis

Adrian Bean

Adrian Bliss is a creator, writer and performer from London, best known for his comedy sketches which, explore everything from history to natural science to religion. Adrian's work has earned him nearly 20 million followers across social media and has been featured in CNN, The Times and Vogue. Adrian was named one of the New Faces of Comedy at Just For Laughs, and his one-man play Inside Everyone sold out its debut run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival prior to opening.

Adrian Bliss

Adrian Desmond

Adrian Edmondson

Adrian Fort

Adrian Gilbert

Adrian Henri

Adrian House

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Paul Davies

An explanation of how recent discoveries of the new physics are revolutionizing our view of the world and, in particular, throwing light on many of the questions formerly posed by religion

God and the New Physics

Geza Vermes

The books of the New Testament are some of the most extraordinary documents ever created - brilliant, vivid works central to the lives of many millions of readers over the centuries. Yet, the picture they give of Jesus' world is a very partial one. Written thirty to eighty years after the events they describe and with very specific doctrinal aims they addressed a Greek-speaking audience when Christianity was at its most precarious. Geza Vermes, one of the world's foremost biblical scholars, is uniquely positioned to guide the reader through the many conundrums presented by the New Testament. Who's Who in the Age of Jesus is an ambitious and enjoyable attempt to sift through all the sources for the period to create biographies of the major (and some fascinating minor) figures from Jesus' era. The book allows readers to understand a Jewish, Roman and Hellenistic world crowded with explosive, mutually antagonistic groups - a world which would give rise both to a new Judaism and ultimately to Christianity. From detailed, convincing portraits of Jesus, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate, Herod and other key New Testament figures to the Jewish and Roman leaders like Hillel, Caiaphas, Augustus, Vespasian and Titus, hardly or not at all mentioned in the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles, Geza Vermes' illustrated Who's Who will throw much fresh light on the age of Jesus and provoke innumerable arguments and discussions.

Who's Who in the Age of Jesus

Robin Lane Fox

How did Christianity compare and compete with the cults of the pagan gods in the Roman Empire?  This scholarly work from award-winning historian, Robin Lane Fox, places Christians and pagans side by side in the context of civil life and contrasts their religious experiences, visions, cults and oracles.  Leading up to the time of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, the book aims to enlarge and confirm the value of contemporary evidence, some of which has only recently been discovered.

Pagans and Christians

In the Mediterranean World from the Second Century AD to the Conversion of Constantine

The Bible is moving, inspirational and endlessly fascinating - but is it true?  Starting with Genesis and the implicit background to the birth of Christ, Robin Lane Fox sets out to discover how far biblical descriptions of people, places and events are confirmed or contradicted by external written and archaeological evidence.  He turns a sharp historian's eye on when and where the individual books were composed, whether the texts as originally written exist, how the canon was assembled, and why the Gospels give varying accounts even of the trial and condemnation of Jesus.

The Unauthorized Version

Truth and Fiction in the Bible

Jaroslav Pelikan

The Bible is among the world's most influential and important books - and the most controversial. It affects not just religious beliefs but every aspect of our culture, including the very language we speak. But how did it become the book we know it to be? In this superbly written history, Jaroslav Pelikan charts its evolution from oral tales via Hebrew texts, Greek, and Latin translations, to its many different forms today, offering a new insight into the history of the last three thousand years. This is an enduring work of scholarship and a fascinating read.

Whose Bible Is It?

A History of the Scriptures through the Ages

James MacKillop

Myths and Legends of the Celts is a fascinating and wide-ranging introduction to the mythology of the peoples who inhabited the northwestern fringes of Europe - from Britain and the Isle of Man to Gaul and Brittany. 
 
Drawing on recent historical and archaeological research, as well as literary and oral sources, the guide looks at the gods and goddesses of Celtic myth; at the nature of Celtic religion, with its rituals of sun and moon worship; and at the druids who served society as judges, diviners and philosophers. It also examines the many Celtic deities who were linked with animals and such natural phenomena as rivers and caves, or who later became associated with local Christian saints. And it explores in detail the rich variety of Celtic myths: from early legends of King Arthur to the stories of the Welsh Mabinogi, and from tales of heroes including Cúchulainn, Fionn mac Cumhaill and the warrior queen Medb to tales of shadowy otherworlds - the homes of spirits and fairies. 
 
What emerges is a wonderfully diverse and fertile tradition of myth making that has captured the imagination of countless generations, introduced and explained here with compelling insight.

Myths and Legends of the Celts

John L. Allen

Opus Dei is one of the most talked about but least known religious organizations of our time. For years no one has been allowed access to its secrets. 
 
Until now ... 
 
Here, Vatican insider John Allen uncovers its true nature. Granted unlimited access to those within its ranks, gaining a wealth of interviews with the heads of Opus Dei around the world, Allen finally separates the myths from the facts: the actual use of whips and the cilice; the true extent of Opus Dei's funds; the identities of its influential members in politics, banking and high office; and how much power this shadowy group really has. 
 
'Definitive, persuasive and absorbing' Daily Telegraph 
 
'Focuses on some of the most controversial aspects of the organization, from its treatment of women to its recruitment and its money' Independent 
 
'He reports on all aspects of the Opus Dei cult (including structure and finance, and the practice of mortifying the flesh with a cilice) ... and, most usefully, includes details of the bishops and personnel around the world who are Opus Dei clergy' New Statesman 
 
'An admirable book ... the first stop for anyone interested in [Opus Dei]' Sunday Times

Opus Dei

The Truth About its Rituals, Secrets and Power

Malcolm Bull

Perhaps the single most revolutionary aspect of the Renaissance was the re-emergence of the gods and goddesses of antiquity. In the midst of Christian Europe, artists began to decorate luxury goods with scandalous stories from classical mythology, and rulers to identify themselves with the deities of ancient religion. The resulting fusion of erotic fantasy and political power changed the course of Western art and produced many of its most magical and subversive works. 
The first book ever to survey this extraordinary phenomenon in its entirety, The Mirror of the Gods takes the story from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Each chapter focuses on a particular god (Diana, Apollo, Hercules, Venus, Bacchus, Jupiter) and recounts the tales about that deity, not as they appear in classical literature but as they were re-created by artists such as Botticelli, Titian, Bernini and Rembrandt. And yet this is not a book simply about painting and sculpture. It is an attempt to re-imagine the entire designed world of the Renaissance, where the gods also appeared in carnival floats and in banquet displays, and entertained the public in the form of snow men and fireworks. This rich and original new portrait of the Renaissance will ensure that readers never see the period in quite the same way again.

The Mirror of the Gods

Classical Mythology in Renaissance Art

Catherine John

Donald Attwater

This best-selling dictionary brilliantly reveals the lives and works of a host of fascinating individuals, from Biblical saints to those most recently canonised.  It is a worthy companion to any study of Biblical or Church history, and includes details of feast days and special patronage to aid personal devotion.

The Penguin Dictionary of Saints

Søren Kierkegaard

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. 
 
The Father of Existentialism, Kierkegaard transformed philosophy with his conviction that we must all create our own nature; in this great work of religious anxiety, he argues that a true understanding of God can only be attained by making a personal 'leap of faith'.

Fear and Trembling

Confucius

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. 
Perhaps the most widely read thinker of all time, Confucius transformed Chinese philosophy with his belief that the greatest goal in life was pursuit of 'The Way': a search for virtue not as a means to rewards in this world or the next, but as the pinnacle of human existence.

The First Ten Books

A Maxwell-Hyslop

Pierre Grimal

Stephen Kershaw

This concise, abridged edition of Pierre Grimal's celebrated DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY brilliantly distils and captures the essence of Greek and Roman mythology. It is the ideal reference tool for anyone with an interest in the Classics or those seeking to explore the many allusions to its mythology that abound in later literature.

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology

On 19 April 2005 at 5.50pm, white smoke poured from the Vatican chimney. Joseph Ratzinger had become one of the most important figures on earth. How and why was Pope Benedict XVI elected? And what will his impact be on the Catholic faith and the world? 
 
Vatican correspondent John L. Allen draws on his unparalleled knowledge to give the full inside story of the Church's new leadership. In this in-depth account he examines the transition from John Paul II to Benedict XVI, the legacy of the previous Pope and the role of the current leader. He takes us right into the heart of the selection process, interviewing the cardinals who chose Benedict XVI to reveal their thoughts on the new Pope and the reasons why he was picked. And he looks at why this conclave was one of the briefest of modern times. 
 
Confronting many difficult questions, Allen asks what the choice of a renowned 'hard line' traditionalist will mean for 1.1 billion Catholics around the globe. What do the way Ratzinger rose to power, his history and theological views say about how the faith will now move forward? Why did the Vatican choose such a seemingly safe candidate? And what will the consequences be for Catholicism and the challenges it faces today?

The Rise of Benedict XVI

The Inside story of How the Pope Was Elected and What it Means for the World

John Cornwell

The Late John Paul II was portrayed by admirers as one of history's great popes. But in The Pope in Winter, leading Vatican expert John Cornwell seriously questions the workings of his papacy and points to fundamental flaws - exacerbated by age and infirmity - that have alarming consequences for both the Catholic Church's future and John Paul II's successor.

The Pope in Winter

The Dark Face of John Paul II's Papacy

In his new book distinguished Jesus scholar Geza Vermes explains the true story behind The Passion of Christ and the recent, highly controversial, film. Vital reading for anyone wanting to know the truth behind the hyperbole Vermes's book is an intelligent and fascinating breakdown of the evidence of the Trial of Jesus and an authentic version of Stations of the Cross. A general introduction dealing with the Jewish court system, the Romen legal procedure and parallel court cases aims to provide a context to The Passion and a greater understanding of Biblical society. Written by the greatest Jesus scholar of his generation this will be required reading for anyone wanting to know the truth.

The Passion

There can be no doubt that Jesus, 'a religious genius' as Geza Vermes describes him, lived and taught in Palestine some 2000 years ago. The influence he has had is incalculable. How though can we distinguish between the doctrines shaped to the needs of the burgeoning Christian church and the original views laid out by Jesus himself? How can we dig back through the additions, misinterpretations and confusions of later writers and two millennia of tradition to get back to the authentic gospel of Jesus? In his new book, Vermes subjects all the sayings of Jesus to brilliantly informed scrutiny. The result is a book of unique value and novelty--scraping aside the accretions of centuries to come as close as we can hope to be to the true Jesus.

The Authentic Gospel of Jesus

Jonathan Swift

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.

A Tale of a Tub

Saint Augustine

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. 
 
One of the greatest explorations of sin, epiphany and redemption ever written, the Confessions of Saint Augustine continue to shape our ideas with their passionate declaration of the life-changing power of faith.

Confessions of a Sinner

Diarmaid MacCulloch

The Reformation was the seismic event in European history over the past 1000 years, and one which tore the medieval world apart. Not just European religion, but thought, culture, society, state systems, personal relations - everything - was turned upside down. Just about everything which followed in European history can be traced back in some way to the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation which it provoked. The Reformation is where the modern world painfully and dramatically began, and MacCulloch's great history of it is recognised as the best modern account.

Reformation

Europe's House Divided 1490-1700

Thomas à Kempis

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. 
 
This edition contains selections from Thomas à Kempis' great work of Christian spirituality, The Imitation of Christ.

The Inner Life

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean desert between 1947 and 1956 transformed our understanding of the Hebrew Bible, early Judaism and the origins of Christianity. These extraordinary manuscripts appear to have been hidden in the caves at Quumran by members of the Essene community, a Jewish sect in existence before and during the time of Jesus. Some sixty years after the Scrolls' first discovery, this revised and much expanded edition of The Dead Sea Scrolls in English crowns a lifetime of research by the great Qumran scholar Geza Vermes. 
 
As well as superb translations of all non-biblical texts sufficiently well preserved to be rendered into English, there are also a number of previously unpublished texts, and a new preface. 
 
Since its first publication in 1962, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English has established itself as the standard English translation of the non-Biblical Qumran Scrolls and as giving an astonishing insight to the organization, customs, history and beliefs of the community responsible for them. This edition will contain new material, together with extensive new introductory material and notes.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English

Richard Fletcher

A short, brilliant account of the relations between Islam and Christianity from Muhammad to the Reformation. Fletcher argues that though there were trading and cultural interactions between Islam and Christianity during the period when Arabs controlled most of the Mediterranean world, neither side was remotely interested in the religion of the other. "Christian and Moslem lived side by side in a state of mutual religious aversion. Given these circumstances, if religious passions were to be stirred up, confrontation would probably be violent." He shows how religious misunderstanding and antagonism between "the peoples of the book" has been present since their earliest encounters.

The Cross and the Crescent

The Dramatic Story of the Earliest Encounters Between Christians and Muslims

Carlos Castaneda

Castaneda's first book in the Don Juan series. He meets Don Juan and is introduced to his magical world and philosophy by means of hallucinogenic plants and special exercises. The author's other books include "The Fire Within" and "The Quest for Ixtlan".

The Teachings of Don Juan

A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Eugen Herrigel

The path to achieving Zen (a balance between the body and the mind) is brilliantly explained by Professor Eugen Herrigel in this timeless account. 
 
This book is the result of the author&rsquo;s six year quest to learn archery in the hands of Japanese Zen masters. It is an honest account of one man&rsquo;s journey to complete abandonment of &lsquo;the self&rsquo; and the Western principles that we use to define ourselves. Professor Herrigel imparts knowledge from his experiences and guides the reader through physical and spiritual lessons in a clear and insightful way. 
 
Mastering archery is not the key to achieving Zen, and this is not a practical guide to archery. It is more a guide to Zen principles and learning and perfect for practitioners and non-practitioners alike.

Zen in the Art of Archery

Training the Mind and Body to Become One

The Purana is one of the two most important and popular Hindu texts, the other being the Ramayana.  It is part of the popular tradition, rather than a literary classic like the Upanishads or the Gita.  It tells the story of the god Krishna, the supreme godhead of the Hindus and worshipped by them for over two and a half millennia.  The most popular stories about him occur in this, the 10th book, which is the climax of the epic.  The stories relate to Krishna's childhood and adolescence in the forests of Vrindavan among the herdspeople, delightful tales which lie behind much of Hindu art, appearing in painting, temple sculpture, drama, dance and song.

Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God

Srimad Bhagavata Purana

At least 5000 years old, the I Ching is a book of oracles containing the whole of human experience. Used for divination, it is a method of exploring the unconscious; through the symbolism of its hexagrams we are guided towards the solution of difficult problems and life situations. It can also be read as a book of wisdom revealing the laws of life to which we must all attune ourselves if we are to live in peace and harmony.

I Ching or Book of Changes

Ancient Chinese wisdom to inspire and enlighten

Kyriacos Markides

In this vivid account, Kryiacos C Markides introduces to us the rich and intricate world of Daskalso, The Magus of Strovolos. In what appears at first to be an exercise in fantasy, we see Daskalos draw on seemingly unlimited mixture of esoteric teachings, psychology, reincarnation, demonology, cosmology and mysticism, from both eastern and western traditions. But Daskalos is first and foremost a healer, whose work is firmly rooted in a belied in 'Holyspirit' or absolute love, and whose aim is the expansion of reason and spiritual evolution.

The Magus of Strovolos

The Extraordinary World of a Spiritual Healer

Keith Thomas

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

Religion and the Decline of Magic

Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England

The Bhagavad Gita is an intensely spiritual work that forms the cornerstone of the Hindu faith, and is also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry. It describes how, at the beginning of a mighty battle between the Pandava and Kaurava armies, thegod Krishna gives spiritual enlightenment to the warrior Arjuna, who realizes that the true battle is for his own soul.

The Bhagavad Gita

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie

An enthralling account of day-to-day life in a medieval French village. Using records gathered by the Catholic Church in its pursuit of heretics, the book recreates the lives of a rich cast of village characters.

Montaillou

Cathars and Catholics in a French Village 1294-1324

Described by his creator as 'short, fat and primitive', Evert Bäckström is a rather unique homicide detective but he is undeniably the real deal with it comes to modern policing. 
 
This series is blackly comic, thrillingly compelling and utterly real.

Bäckström

CAMP GOLD

Caedmon Aisquith

Cairo Trilogy

Can You Solve the Murder?

Capital

Care Bears

Cartoon Kid

Cath Kidston

A crime-fiction series with a twist - private investigator Catherine Berlin, is a damaged soul struggling with a heroin addiction, but she still manages to do her best, even when her own neck is on the chopping block.

Catherine Berlin

Celeste Express

Central Intelligence

Chaos and Flame

Charles Hayden

Charles Paris Dramatisations

Charlie Bass

Charlie Changes Into a Chicken

Charlie and Lola

Cherry Blossoms After Winter

Chevalier

Chinese Cinderella

Life at Tanglewood isn't all sleepovers, picnics and beach parties. Cherry, Summer, Skye, Coco and Honey all face some tough life challenges in this delicious series from bestselling girls' favourite Cathy Cassidy. Every sister has a secret to share. Which one will be your favourite?

Chocolate Box Girls

Christmas

Chronicles of Vladimir Tod

Churchminister

Welcome inside the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics, and learn how one man - clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable - fought to reach the top.

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