Bücher der Reihe Penguin Modern Classics

'It's often said that books are compulsory reading, but this book really is compulsory. You cannot understand slavery, or British Empire, without it' Sathnam Sanghera Arguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain's economic progress, Eric Williams's landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism, and has influenced generations of historians ever since.Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision. Most significantly, he showed how slavery was only abolished when it ceased to become financially viable, exploding the myth of emancipation as a mark of Britain's moral progress.'Its thesis is a starting point for a new generation of scholarship' New Yorker

'One of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century' - New YorkerBeautiful Star is a 1962 tale of family, love, nuclear war and UFOs, and was the novel Mishima considered to be his masterpiece. Translated into English for the first time, this atmospheric black comedy tells the story of the Osugi family, who come to the sudden realization that each of them hails from a different planet: Father from Mars, mother from Jupiter, son from Mercury and daughter from Venus. This extra-terrestrial knowledge brings them closer together, and convinces them that they have a mission: to find others of their kind, and save humanity from the imminent threat of the atomic bomb...

One of the earliest warnings about climate change and one of environmentalism's lodestars'Nature, we believe, takes forever. It moves with infinite slowness,' begins the first book to bring climate change to public attention.Interweaving lyrical observations from his life in the Adirondack Mountains with insights from the emerging science, Bill McKibben sets out the central developments not only of the environmental crisis now facing us but also the terms of our response, from policy to the fundamental, philosophical shift in our relationship with the natural world which, he argues, could save us. A moving elegy to nature in its pristine, pre-human wildness, The End of Nature is both a milestone in environmental thought, indispensable to understanding how we arrived here.

'A groundbreaking work . . . Federici has become a crucial figure for . . . a new generation of feminists' Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars RoomA cult classic since its publication in the early years of this century, Caliban and the Witch is Silvia Federici's history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late Middle Ages through the European witch-hunts, the rise of scientific rationalism and the colonisation of the Americas, it gives a panoramic account of the often horrific violence with which the unruly human material of pre-capitalist societies was transformed into a set of predictable and controllable mechanisms. It Is a study of indigenous traditions crushed, of the enclosure of women's reproductive powers within the nuclear family, and of how our modern world was forged in blood.'Rewarding . . . allows us to better understand the intimate relationship between modern patriarchy, the rise of the nation state and the transition from feudalism to capitalism' Guardian

'A masterpiece ... complex and fascinating and memorable' Colm T ib n 'A beautiful writer and an unforgettable book' Salman Rushdie'Guyanese authors are a radiant constellation, and Roy Heath stands rightfully among them. His unique style stands out from others of his time, and ours' Lemn Sissay'For me life hasn't got dreams, success and all that damn nonsense. Life is full of shadows: some of them soft and others conceal a hammer.'Galton Flood is a lonely man, restless and ill at ease with his family. He leaves his home in Guyana's capital, Georgetown, for a remote township, and the first of a string of precarious jobs. Meeting Gemma, his landlord's daughter, appears to offer a first chance of meaningful connection - maybe even happiness. But there is a darkness inside Galton, and soon jealousy and paranoia lead him to fatally, violently unravel.With this haunting portrait of a mind undone, celebrated Guyanese writer Roy Heath evocatively recreates the country of his youth: its rivers, townships and tenement yards, and the tensions shimmering below the surface of a community.'Enthralling ... a nuanced portrait of the disintegrating individual psyche' Fred D'Aguiar

'Guerrilla warfare is a war of the masses, a war of the people'First published in 1961, following the successful Cuban Revolution, this is Che Guevara's handbook for guerrilla war.It covers strategy, tactics, terrain, organization of an army, logistics, field medical treatment, intelligence, propaganda and training, and focuses on seven 'golden rules' of guerrilla warfare. Widely studied both by insurrectionist movements and those who have tried to suppress them, this is the key text to understand how revolutions can be fought and won by ordinary people.

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL'The master of espionage writing at his brilliant best' Mail on SundayWith the Cold War drawing to a close in the East, Bernard Samson is still haunted by the events that have turned his life upside down over the last ten years. But when he takes a train from Moscow to Berlin, he stumbles across a clue that may lead him to the truth at last - even though, in finding the answers, he could lose everything. Bringing the 'Faith, Hope and Charity' trilogy, and Bernard Samson's story, to a stunning conclusion, this final volume brilliantly shows the human cost of the spying game.'The series represents a magnificent achievement in the field of espionage writing and Samson remains one of the great spies' Irish Times

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL'The plotting is masterly, the atmospheric descriptions superb ... absolute bliss' Sunday TelegraphSummer 1987, the final years of the Cold War. Bernard Samson has been sent to East Germany to make contact with a KGB defector, codename VERDI, who claims to have access to top intelligence secrets. But something goes wrong, and Bernard must struggle to stay in the game. Fighting to keep his job and rebuild his shattered marriage, kept in the dark by London Central, he has no one he can trust, and nothing to depend on but his own faith. This is the first part of the 'Faith, Hope and Charity' trilogy.'A string of brilliantly mounted set-pieces ... superbly laconic wisecracks' The Times

'The classic and gripping spy novel of Cold War Berlin' Guardian1963 Berlin is dark and dangerous. The anonymous hero of The IPCRESS File has been sent to help arrange the defection - in an elaborate mock coffin - of a leading Soviet scientist. But, as he soon discovers, this deception hides an even deadlier truth. One of the first novels written after the construction of the Berlin Wall, Funeral in Berlin revels in the murky, chilling atmosphere of a divided city. 'A ferociously cool fable' The New York Times

'Subtle, skillful, and clear. It's so clear, in fact, that you can see a very long way down, into the heart of a flawed but valiant human being, into the sickness of a nation, into the depths of political evil. It's the most impressive novel I've read for years, and one of the very few that feels truly necessary' - Philip PullmanIn the sweltering summer of 1938, with Lisbon in the grip of Portugal's dictatorship of Ant nio Salazar, a journalist is coming to terms with the rise of fascism around him and its insidious impact on his work. Consumed by the passing of his wife and the child he never had, Pereira lives a quiet and lonely existence. One day, the young and charismatic Monteiro Rossi enters his life, changing everything. A man who once shied away from criticizing Portugal's authoritarian regime finds himself unable to stay quiet any longer, resulting in his political awakening and a devastating act of rebellion. Tabucchi's celebrated masterpiece is an ode to courage and solidarity in the face of political oppression.'A stunningly good novel, and it goes on getting better in one's head after one has stopped reading it - it works as an experience - something that has happened to one, which is of course the proof of great writing' Diana Athill

'A funny, sad novella about how we got here from there, and how, in our youth, "e;our eyes saw things differently"e;' The TimesA private meeting, chance encounters and a mysterious tour of Lisbon haunt this moving homage to Tabucchi's adopted cityIn the city of Lisbon, Requiem's narrator has an appointment to meet someone on a quay by the Tagus at twelve. Misunderstanding twelve to mean noon as opposed to midnight, he is left to wait. As the day unfolds he has many unexpected encounters - with a young drug addict, a disorientated taxi driver, a cemetery keeper, the mysterious Isabel and the ghost of the late great poet Fernando Pessoa - each meeting travelling between the real and illusionary. Part travelogue, part autobiography, part fiction, Requiem becomes an homage to a country and its people, and a farewell to the past as the narrator lays claim to a literary forebear who, like himself, is an evasive and many-sided personality.'Tabucchi is a master of illusion and allusion, and this is a literary puzzle that teases, amuses and provokes' Sunday Telegraph

Illuminating reflections on painting and drawing from one of the most revered artists of the twentieth century'Thank God for yellow ochre, cadmium red medium, and permanent green light'How does a painter see the world? Philip Guston, one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, spoke about art with unparalleled candour and commitment. Touching on work from across his career as well as that of his fellow artists and Renaissance heroes, this selection of his writings, talks and interviews draws together some of his most incisive reflections on iconography and abstraction, metaphysics and mysticism, and, above all, the nature of painting and drawing.'Among the most important, powerful and influential American painters of the last 100 years ... he's an art world hero' Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine'Guston's paintings make us think hard' Aindrea Emelife, Guardian

The incredible memoir of Elaine Brown - the first woman leader of the Black Panthers'Here I was, a woman, proclaiming supreme power over the most militant organization in America'In 1974 Elaine Brown became the first woman leader of the Black Panther Party. This is her unforgettable memoir, charting her rise from an impoverished neighbourhood in Philadelphia, through her political awakening during a bohemian adolescence, and on to her time as a foot soldier for the Panthers and ascent into its male-dominated upper ranks. It is a seminal exploration of power, racism and one woman's revolutionary struggle.'Heart-wrenching, wild and moving ... a glowing achievement' Los Angeles Times'What Elaine Brown writes is so astonishing, at times it is even difficult to believe she survived it. And yet she did, bringing us that amazing light of the black woman's magical resilience' Alice Walker

A new collection of Albert Camus' most brilliant speeches and lectures'Freedom is dangerous, as hard to live as it is exalting...'This definitive new collection of Albert Camus' public speeches and lectures gives a compelling insight into one of the twentieth century's most enduring writers. From a pre-war speech on the politics of the Mediterranean - delivered when he was just twenty-two - to his impassioned Nobel Prize acceptance lectures and several pieces appearing in English for the first time, Speaking Out shows Camus' clarity and subtlety of thought, his 'stubborn humanism' and his unerring commitment to freedom and justice.Translated by Quintin Hoare

An unputdownable, perfectly plotted detective story from Seicho Matsumoto, Japan's master of mystery 'It was a puzzle with no solution. But he did not lose heart.' In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime... Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.

From Hannah Arendt, the author of The Origins of Totalitarianism, her influential essay examining the relationship between violence, power, war and politics'Violence can destroy power; it is utterly incapable of creating it'Why has violence played such a significant role in human history? Written in 1970, with the Holocaust and Hiroshima still fresh in recent memory, war in Vietnam raging and the streets of Europe and America exploding into student protest, Hannah Arendt's seminal work dissects violence in the twentieth century: its nature and causes, its relationship with politics and war, its role in the modern age. Arendt warns against the glamorization of violence by revolutionary causes, and argues that true, lasting power can never grow 'out of the barrel of a gun'.'Incisive, deeply probing, written with clarity and grace, it provides an ideal framework for understanding the turbulence of our times' The NationWith an introduction by Arendt expert, Lyndsey Stonebridge, Professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham.

In 1789 the West Indian colony of San Domingo supplied two-thirds of the overseas trade of France. The entire structure of what was arguably the most profitable colony in the world rested on the labour of half a million slaves. In 1791 the waves of unrest inspired by the French Revolution reached across the Atlantic dividing the loyalties of the white population of the island. The brutally treated slaves of Saint Domingo seized at this confusion and rose up in rebellion against masters. In thisclassic work, CLR James chronicles the only successful slave revolt in history and provides a critical portrait of their leader, Toussaint L'Ouverture, 'one of the most remarkable men of a period rich in remarkable men'.

A new selection of foundational works from the influential philosopher who developed the theory of mimetic desireRené Girard eludes easy categories, bridging the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, sociology, history, religion and theology. Influencing such writers as J. M. Coetzee and Milan Kundera, his insight into contagious violence looks ever more prophetic and relevant seven years after his death. In many ways he is the thinker for our modern world of social media and herd behaviour.In this newly selected collection of writings, Cynthia L. Haven has created an approachable anthology of his work, addressing Girard's thoughts on the nature of desire, human imitation and rivalry, the causes of conflict and violence, the deep structure of religion and cultural subjects like opera and theatre.Girard spoke to his times in language that was engaging, accessible and often controversial. A long-time friend and colleague, Haven shines a spotlight on his role as a public intellectual and profound theorist, inviting a new generation to his corpus.

'Sad, sonorous, occasionally hilarious, an extraordinary first novel' Washington Post'Striking . . . brings sexism and classism into equal focus' The Paris ReviewAdah is a single mother of five, living in a dank, crumbling housing estate for 'problem families', avoiding the rats and rubbish. It's not quite the new start in London she had planned. As she navigates the complicated welfare system that keeps her trapped in poverty, can she cling to her dream of a better life, and find somewhere that feels like home?Buchi Emecheta's scorching debut novel drew on her own experiences to paint a moving picture of hope, unexpected friendship, and survival.In the Ditch joins The Joys of Motherhood and Second-Class Citizen in Penguin Modern Classics, with a bespoke cover design from Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili.'Buchi Emecheta was the foremother of black British women's writing' Bernardine Evaristo

'A scorching portrayal of a woman's life . . . the female, feminist counterpart to Things Fall Apart' Bernardine Evaristo'God, when will you create a woman who will be fulfilled in herself, a full human being, not anybody's appendage? ... when will I be free?'There is no greater honour for a woman in an Ibo village than to have children - especially sons. Unable to conceive in her first marriage, Nnu Ego is sent away to a new husband in the city of Lagos, where she finally succeeds in becoming a mother. But things are changing, and a war that unfolds thousands of miles away threatens her family's fortunes and her entire way of life. In a world where motherhood is everything, what will be left for her at the end of it all?'Sparkling intelligence and a certain kind of honest, lived, intimate insight into working-class colonial Nigeria' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie