`It will be the biggest fiasco of the year - but I don't care a damn! It will be something nobody has ever done before, and I shall have said what I had to say.' As Joris -Karl Huysmans announced in 1884, Against Nature was fated to be a novel like no other. Resisting the models of classic nineteenth-century fiction, it focuses on the attempts of its anti-hero, the hypersensitive neurotic and aesthete, Des Esseintes, to escape Paris and the vulgarity of modern life. Holed up in his private mu...

A masterpiece of early Modernism, The Good Soldier tells the story of the unfolding relationships between two couples in the words of an archetypal 'unreliable narrator'. Its portrayal of the destruction of a civilized elite is a work of unforgettable power and literary skill, here accompanied by Ford's important essay 'On Impressionism'.

Writing Science is a much-needed guide to succeeding in modern science. It equips science students, scientists, and professionals across a wide range of scientific and technical fields with the tools needed to communicate effectively.

With unparalleled empirical material, this is the most comprehensive introduction to comparative politics written by the leading experts in the field who bring together a diverse and informed international perspective on comparative politics. Six new authors join the team for the sixth edition, bringing fresh ideas and insights to the comparative analysis the book provides. The new edition has been brought fully up to date with coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ...

Combining theory, comparative politics, and international relations Introduction to Politics, provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject for first year undergraduate students. As the only introductory text to cover both comparative politics and international relations, it is the most authoritative and global introductory politics textbook on the market. Written by three experts in the field, this book takes a balanced approach to the subject, serving as a strong foundation for furth...

As the most authoritative and comprehensive overview of international relations in the Middle East, this highly respected textbook is designed to help students get to grips with this important and challenging subject area. A team of expert scholars combines a history of the region with analysis of key themes, actors, developments, and conflicts, to expose students to a wide range of perspectives and approaches and encourage them to think critically in order to draw their own conclusions. Thro...

The leading text in the field shows how researchers use scientific logic to study the underlying mechanisms and evolutionary bases of behavior, with emphasis on how evolutionary theory unifies the various sub disciplines within animal behavior. A comparative and integrative overview of how and why animals as diverse as insects and humans behave the way that they do, linking behaviors to the brain, genes, and hormones, as well as to the surrounding ecological and social environments.

Public administration ensures the development and delivery of the essential public services required for sustaining modern civilization. Covering areas from public safety and social welfare to transportation and education, the services provided through the public sector are inextricably part of our daily lives. However, mandatory budgetary cuts in recent years have caused public administrators to radically re-think how they govern in the modern age.

In this Very Short Introduction Stella Theo...

How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully 'objective'? What, really, can be defined as science? In the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, Samir Okasha explores the main themes and theories of contemporary philosophy of science, and investigates fascinating, challenging questions such as these. Starting at the very beginning, with a concise overview of the history of science, Okasha examines the nature of fundame...

On October 1, 2009, the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding. And what an eventful and tumultuous six decades it had been. During that time, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China was transformed from one of the world's poorest countries into the world's fastest growing major economy, and from a weak state barely able to govern or protect its own territory to a rising power that is challenging the United States for global i...