Introducing Graphic Guides

Epigenetics is the most exciting field in biology today, developing our understanding of how and why we inherit certain traits, develop diseases and age, and evolve as a species.

Introducing Ethics traces the arguments of great moral philosophers including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Kant, and explores what more modern thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Rorty have brought to the debates.

Anguish, despair, absurdity, nothingness. Is that what Existentialism is really about? Tracing its history from Kierkegaard, Husserl and Nietzsche to the legacy of Nazism and the Cold War, this dazzling tour of Existentialism is told through brilliant illustrations from Oscar Zarate

Is biology destiny? Why is the personal political? Is pornography anti-feminist? Surveying the major developments that have affected women’s lives from the 17th century to the present day, this book is an invaluable reference for anyone seeking the story of how feminism reconfigured the world for women and men alike.

Chris Horrocks and Zoran Jevtic’s graphic guide explores Foucault’s debt to philosophers such as Nietzsche, Kant, Sartre and Heidegger, his cult status in 1970s America, his curious support of the Iranian Revolution, his spat with Jean Baudrillard and much more.

Introducing Hinduism offers a guide to the key philosophical, literary, mythological and cultural traditions of this extraordinarily diverse faith, giving equal consideration to texts and everyday practices. it untangles the complexities of Hinduism’s gods and goddesses, its caste system and its views on sex, everyday life and asceticism.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Illustrated guide to the controversial sociologist Jean Baudrillard, who died in 2007.

Bertrand Russell changed Western philosophy forever. He tackled many puzzles--how our minds work, how we experience the world, and what the true nature of meaning is.

René Descartes is famous as the philosopher who was prepared to doubt everything- even his own physical existence. Most people also know that he said 'I think, therefore I am', even if they are not always sure what he really meant by it.

In 1859, Charles Darwin shocked the world with a radical theory - evolution by natural selection. One hundred and fifty years later, his theory still challenges some of our most precious beliefs.

How did the mind evolve? How does the human mind differ from the minds of our ancestors, and from the minds of our nearest relatives, the apes? What are the universal features of the human mind, and why are they designed the way they are?

INTRODUCING guide to the hugely influential German thinker. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is one of the greatest thinkers of all time.

INTRODUCING JESUS - A GRAPHIC GUIDE confronts the enigmas. It sets Jesus in the perspective of his time - within Judaism and its expectations of a Messiah, in the atmosphere of Greek philosophy and the Roman deification of emperors.

This graphic guide is the ideal introduction to one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, at a time when his theories may be crucial to our economic survival. Through a deft mixture of words and images, "Introducing Keynes" is a timely, accessible and enjoyable read.

"From Plato to Virginia Woolf, Structuralism to Practical Criticism, Introducing Literary Criticism charts the history and development of literary criticism into a rich and complex discipline.

Introducing Mind and Brain explains what the sciences have to say about planning and action, language, memory, attention, emotions and vision. It traces the historical development of ideas about the brain and its function from antiquity to the age of neuro-imaging.
Clearly explained by Professor of Psychology Angus Gellatly and award-winning artist Oscar Zarate, they invite you to take a fresh look at the nature of mind, consciousness and personal identity."

"What really happens at the most fundamental levels of nature?
Introducing Particle Physics explores the very frontiers of our knowledge, even showing how particle physicists are now using theory and experiment to probe our very concept of what is real.

Introducing Rousseau presents a maverick thinker whose ideas revolutionized our understanding of childhood, education, government, language and much else. Dave Robinson's clear and concise account of Rousseau's ideas, engagingly dramatized by Oscar Zarate's illustrations, guides the reader through Rousseau's turbulent life of lost innocence, persecution and paranoia.

INTRODUCING guide to the father of existentialism and one of 20th century philosophy's most famous characters. Jean-Paul Sartre was once described as being, next to Charles de Gaulle, the most famous Frenchman of the 20th century. Between the ending of the Second World War in 1945 and his death in 1980, Sartre was certainly the most famous French writer, as well as one of the best-known living philosophers. .

Compact INTRODUCING guide on the debates surrounding psychoanalysis's most contested figure. Freud is universally recognised as a pivotal figure in modern culture.

Popular culture often portrays the Holocaust as a horrific drama played out between Nazi executioners and ghetto Jewish victims - in short, a single aberration of history. Introducing the Holocaust is a powerful graphic guide that dissolves this stereotype, explaining the causes and its relevance today.

Introducing Wagner: A Graphic Guide separates the composer's art from the ideas and the arrogant destructive personal behaviour of the man.

Walter Benjamin is often considered the key modern philosopher and critic of modern art. Tracing his influence on modern aesthetics and cultural history, Introducing Walter Benjamin highlights his commitment to political transformation of the arts as a means to bring about social change.

Introducing Islam recounts the history of Islam from the birth of Prophet Muhammad in the 6th century to its status as a global culture and political force today. Charting the achievements of Muslim civilization, it explains the nature and message of the Qur’an, outlines the basic features of Islamic law, and assesses the impact of colonialism on Muslim societies.

In this new edition, deftly illustrated by Michael McGuiness and Oliver Pugh, Maggie Hyde explores Jung’s continuing legacy. She brilliantly explains the theories that underpin Jung’s work, delves into the controversies that led him to break away from Freud and describes the near-psychotic breakdown, from which he emerged with radical new insights into the nature of the unconscious mind.

One of the first properly modern thinkers, Kant’s work is marked by a scepticism towards religion and transcendental ideas. In this succinct, witty guide Kant emerges as a diehard rationalist, yet also a Romantic who believed in the primacy of emotion and feeling.

A leading Lacanian analyst and author, Darian Leader guides the reader through Lacan’s early studies of paranoia to his subsequent analytical innovations – his addition of structural linguistics to Freudianism and his new ideas on the infant ‘mirror phase’, the construction of identity and the dynamics of the psyche.

Language both sets us apart from our fellow creatures and identifies us as uniquely human. R.L. Trask and Bill Mayblin’s book is a thrilling introduction to the most important concepts in the study of language, explaining too some of the most recent, dramatic and fascinating advances.

The next sentence is false. The last sentence is true. Where’s the logic in that? From ‘fuzzy’ logic to the liar paradox, this book features ideas from thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle, through to some of the 20th century’s brightest minds: Alan Turing, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell and many more.

Was Marx himself a ‘Marxist’? What is ‘dialectical materialism’ or the ‘superstructure’? Did Lenin and Stalin betray Marx and his ideas? Introducing Marxism provides a fundamental account of Marx’s original philosophy, its roots in 19th-century European thinkers like Hegel, and his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism.

What is mathematics, and why is it such a mystery to so many people? Introducing Mathematics traces the story of mathematics from the ancient world to modern times, describing the great discoveries and providing an accessible introduction to such topics as number systems, geometry and algebra, calculus, the theory of the infinite, statistical reasoning and chaos theory.

Introducing Media Studies explores the complex relationship between the media, ideology, knowledge and power. It provides a scintillating tour of media history and presents a coherent view of the media industry, media theory and methods in media research. It explains how ‘the audience’ is constructed and how it in turn interprets the content and meaning of media representation.

Introducing Media Studies explores the complex relationship between the media, ideology, knowledge and power. It provides a scintillating tour of media history and presents a coherent view of the media industry, media theory and methods in media research. It explains how ‘the audience’ is constructed and how it in turn interprets the content and meaning of media representation.

Is God dead? Is morality just a ‘useful mistake’? Can science explain anything? Introducing Nietzsche, brilliantly illustrated by Piero, explores this firebrand philosopher and shows in his work not only a fearless critique of vanity, religion, nationalism and even philosophy itself, but a startlingly accurate diagnosis of the ills of the 21st-century world.

Written by Dave Robinson and illustrated by Judy Groves, Introducing Philosophy is a comprehensive and enjoyable graphic guide to philosophical thinking. It examines and explains the key arguments and ideas of all the significant philosophers of the Western world from Heraclitus to Derrida.

Plato is the most widely studied, and probably the greatest, philosopher of all time. Introducing Plato explains all of Plato’s key ideas, especially the very odd ‘theory of Forms’, and concludes by revealing how Plato has stimulated the work of modern thinkers such as Karl Popper and Jacques Derrida.

What is society? Why should citizens obey the law? Is democracy the best form of government? Introducing Political Philosophy explains the central concepts of political thinking through history and presents the major political theorists from Plato to Foucault – and the contexts in which their ideas attracted disciples, controversy and sometimes revolution.

What connects Marilyn Monroe, Disney World, The Satanic Verses and cyberspace? Answer: postmodernism. Introducing Postmodernism tracks the idea back to its roots by taking a tour of some of the most extreme and exhilarating events, people and thought of the last 100 years.

Psychoanalysis is a key part of understanding our emotional lives, and its inventor Sigmund Freud is still an iconic figure. Yet little is generally known about different theories of psychoanalysis. Introducing Psychoanalysis redresses this balance. Ivan Ward and Oscar Zarate bring this notoriously opaque subject alive, outlining what psychoanalysts do and the theory behind it.

What is psychology? When did it begin? Where did it come from? How does psychology compare with psychiatry and psychotherapy? Is it scientific? Introducing Psychology answers all these intriguing questions and more, explaining what the subject has been in the past and what it is now.

What exactly is psychotherapy?Introducing Psychotherapy is an invaluable tool for anyone seeking help for themselves or someone else, and provides essential information on theory and practice for those considering training as a counsellor, therapist or any other welfare-based role.

Introducing Quantum Theory is a step-by-step tour, tackling the puzzle of the wave-particle duality, along with the two famous questions raised against Bohr’s ‘Copenhagen Interpretation’ – the ‘dead and alive cat’ and the EPR paradox, both of which remain unresolved even now.

Activist-academic Meg-John Barker and cartoonist Julia Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel.

What did Einstein mean by e=mc2? how is a black hole formed? What use is a fourth dimension? This Graphic Guide to relativity plots a thrilling, visually accessible course through Einstein’s astounding vision of gravity as the curvature of space-time, to the contributions of scientists from newton to hawking and then to the breathtakingly beautiful field equations.

Philosophy, art, literature, music and politics were all transformed in the turbulent period between the French Revolution of 1789 and the Communist Manifesto of 1848. This was the age of the ‘Romantic revolution’, when modern attitudes to political and artistic freedom were born.

Introducing Semiotics outlines the development of sign study from its precursors in the ancient world, via classical scholars like St Augustine and William of Ockham to Charles Sanders Peirce – whose writings laid the foundations of 21st-century semiotics – and beyond to semioticians such as Jakobson, Sebeok and Umberto Eco.

Nick Groom and Piero explore how Shakespeare became so famous and influential, and why he is still widely considered the greatest writer ever. They investigate how the Bard has been worshipped at different times and in different places, used and abused to cultural and political ends, and the roots of the intense controversies which have surrounded his work.

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek inspires dramatic headlines. But what does he really think? Charting his meteoric rise in popularity, Christopher Kul-Want and Piero explore Žižek’s timely analyses of today’s global crises concerning ecology, mounting poverty, war, civil unrest and revolution.

What is society? How does it work, and what does it mean to be a part of society? In the series’ inimitable comic-book style, Introducing Sociology traces the origins of sociology from industrialization, revolution and the Enlightenment through to globalization, neoliberalism and the fear of nationalism – introducing you to key thinkers, movements and concepts along the way.

From the medicine we take to the cars we drive, the clothes we wear and even the beer we drink, statistics have given shape to the world we inhabit. Introducing Statistics is an enjoyable, surprise-filled tour through a subject that is both fascinating, and crucial to understanding our world.

Stephen Hawking is the world-famous physicist with a cameo in The Simpsons on his CV, but outside his academic field his work is little understood. To the public he is a tragic figure – a brilliant scientist and author of the 9-million-copy-selling A Brief History of Time, and yet confined to a wheelchair and almost completely paralysed.

What is time? The 5th-century philosopher St Augustine famously said that he knew what time was, so long as no one asked him Introducing Time tackles this question and dares to go where Augustine would not. it traces the history of time from Augustine to the flowing time of Newton.

Ludwig Wittgenstein has captured the popular imagination as the modern socrates, the master of enigmatic logic, a fascinating and attractive icon of modernism. But what did he really think?