A gorgeous deluxe edition of the world's most celebrated guide to life, love, relationships and pleasure

Little is known about Vatsyayana, who is reputed to have composed the Kama Sutra "while observing a celibate's life in full meditation." In Sanskrit the word "kama" means desire, especially for sensual pleasure, and its proper pursuit was considered an essential part of a young, urbane gentleman's well-rounded education.

Untold numbers of readers are curious about th...

Author Padraig O'Malley is the subject of the new acclaimed documentary The Peacemaker.

"Impressive . . . [O'Malley] has done a tremendous amount of research about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." -The New York Times Book Review

Disputes over settlements, the right of return, the rise of Hamas, recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, and other intractable issues have repeatedly derailed peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

Now, in a book that is sure to spark controversy, ren...

A short and accessible analysis of the mental processes at work in the struggle to get to sleep, combining pop culture and historical anecdotes in its mythbusting pursuit of the answers behind insomnia.

Cook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. In voyages that ranged from the Antarctic circle to the Arctic Sea, Cook charted Australia and the whole coast of New Zealand, and brought back descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific. This title tells the story of these voyages.

Why do so many swear words involve topics like sex, bodily functions or the divine? Why do some children's names thrive while others fall out of favour? Why do we threaten and bribe and seduce in such elaborate, often comical ways? This title looks at how the relationship between words and thoughts can help us understand who we are.

At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union unexpectedly found itself in control of a huge swathe of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to a completely new political and moral system: Communism.

What caused the Russian Revolution? Did it succeed or fail? Do we still live with its consequences? This book deals with these questions.