Series: Pelican Books

In The Art of Statistics, David Spiegelhalter, a renowned statistician and former president of the Royal Statistical Society, demystifies the complex world of statistical science. As data becomes the new currency and with the rise of data science as a key discipline, the ability to understand and analyse statistical information is more crucial than ever. Spiegelhalter's writing offers an engaging...

Artificial Intelligence by Melanie Mitchell offers an insightful and engaging journey into the heart of one of the most fascinating and rapidly advancing fields of our time. Bridging the gap between complex scientific concepts and everyday understanding, Mitchell's book delves into the inner workings of AI, presenting cutting-edge research and real-world applications in a manner that is both accessible and...

In Economics: The User's Guide, bestselling author Ha-Joon Chang demystifies the often intimidating field of economics and makes it accessible to everyone. By cutting through the jargon and complexity, Chang ensures that the powerful concepts and ideas that shape our world are easily understood. This isn’t just a textbook for students or professionals; it's a guide for any curious mind...

Essential reading for anyone who wants a fresh take on our cultural values that goes beyond economics, psychology, and politics. What is anthropology? What can it tell us about the world around us? And why do we need it? For well over one hundred years, social and cultural anthropologists have traversed the world from Melanesia to suburban England, Taipei to...

An authoritative and original history of global feminism from an award-winning historian. How has feminism developed? What have feminists achieved? What can we learn from the global history of feminism? Feminism is the ongoing story of a profound historical transformation. Despite being repeatedly written off as a political movement that has achieved its aim of female liberation, it has been...

The essential guide to understanding the real economics behind a universal basic income Shouldn't everyone receive a stake in society's wealth? Could we create a fairer world by granting a guaranteed income to all? What would this mean for our health, wealth and happiness? A basic income is a regular cash transfer from the state, received by all individual citizens....

A magisterial study of one of the most controversial political movements that shows how anarchism works. Often associated with chaos or disorder, anarchy defies definition and routinely gets a bad press. And yet, from Occupy to Pussy Riot, Noam Chomsky to David Graeber, this philosophical and political movement is as relevant as ever. Contrary to popular perception, different strands of...

A groundbreaking history of architecture told through the relationship between buildings and energy. Reducing energy use is the single biggest challenge facing architecture today. From the humblest prehistoric hut to the imposing monuments of Rome or Egypt to super-connected modern airports, buildings in every era and place have been shaped by the energy available for their construction and running. This...

Why has Aristotle had such an astounding influence on the world? What are his key ideas? What can he still teach us today? There is in Athens a rather plain ruin; a simple courtyard lined with fragments of wall. Yet, this little patch of land has a claim to be the most significant place in human history. It is the...

An acclaimed psycholinguist reveals how language shapes our brain - and moulds the way we look at the world. Why should we learn more than one language? Can it change the way we think? Does it have the power to transform how we see the world? You may think you speak only one language. In fact, your mind is interpreting...

A new introduction to one of the most influential philosophical movements in contemporary intellectual life. What is reality, really? Are humans more special or important than the non-human objects we perceive? How does this change the way we understand the world? We humans tend to believe that things are only real in as much as we perceive them, an idea...

A crucial new guide to one of the most important phenomena of our time—the rise of populism in the West. A crucial new guide to one of the most urgent political phenomena of our time—the rise of national populism. Across the West, there is a rising tide of people who feel excluded, alienated from mainstream politics, and increasingly hostile towards...

A study of what leads humans to war, from one of our great military historians. There can be few more important but also more contentious issues than attempting to understand the human propensity for conflict. Our history is inextricably tangled in wave after wave of inter-human fighting from as far back as we have records. How can we make sense...

A fascinating analysis of the evolution of religion from the internationally renowned evolutionary psychologist. When did humans develop spiritual thought? What is religion's evolutionary purpose? And in our increasingly secular world, why has it endured? Every society in the history of humanity has lived with religion. In How Religion Evolved, evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar tracks its origins back to...

A transporting and illuminating voyage around the globe, through classic and modern literary works that are in conversation with one another and with the world around them. Inspired by Jules Verne's hero Phileas Fogg, David Damrosch, chair of Harvard's department of Comparative Literature and founder of Harvard's Institute for World Literature, set out to counter a pandemic's restrictions on travel...

An engrossing history of Chinese philosophy and culture from an eminent Cambridge professor. How did the ancient Chinese think about the world? What does environmental consciousness stand for in the Chinese tradition? Where does China's obsession with education come from? We are often told that the twenty-first century is bound to become China's century. Never before has Chinese culture been...

A history that somehow manages to be at once succinct and sweeping: essential reading for anyone interested in this most fascinating of countries - Tom Holland In this enormously enjoyable introduction to a remarkable country, Christopher Harding traces Japan's rich history over several millennia. Beginning with its earliest coastal communities, through to the spread of Buddhism, the rise of the...

A revelatory new look at Shakespeare, from 'one of the stars of her generation of Shakespeare scholars' Eric Rasmussen The Sunday Times Bestseller 'An outstanding book ... lively, curious and passionate' Literary Review Why should you read a book about Shakespeare and his plays? Because he is a timeless genius whose work encapsulates the human condition? Or is it something...

An expose of the plunder of the world's oceans, and the devastating economic and environmental impact this is having across the globe. The sea provides more than half the oxygen we breathe, food for billions of people and livelihoods for hundreds of millions. But giant corporations are plundering the world's oceans, aided by global finance and complicit states, following the...

A three-thousand year history of the world that examines the causes of war and the search for peace. In three thousand years of history, China has spent at least eleven centuries at war. The Roman Empire was in conflict during at least 50 per cent of its lifetime. Since 1776, the United States has spent over one hundred years at...

A vital and concise data-driven analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. How many people have died because of COVID-19? Which countries have been hit hardest by the virus? What are the benefits and harms of different vaccines? How does COVID-19 compare to the Spanish flu? How have the lockdown measures affected the economy, mental health, and crime? This...

A fascinating guide to solving one of the world's most pressing subjects. Don't care about ecology? Being Ecological is for you. Morton sets out to show us that whether we know it or not, we already have the capacity and the will to change the way we understand the place of humans in the world, and our very understanding of...

In this myth-busting guide to AI past and present, one of the world's leading researchers shows why our fears for the future are misplaced. The ultimate dream of AI is to build machines that are conscious and self-aware. While this remains a remote possibility, rapid progress in AI is transforming our world. Yet the public debate is still largely centred...

This vital history shatters many myths about the Nazi genocide . . . . surprising . . . provocative . . . fizzes with ideas. Even if you think you know the subject, you'll probably find something here to make you think Sunday Times Erudite...remarkable The Observer Outstanding The Telegraph An authoritative, revelatory new history of the Holocaust, from one...

The definitive guide to Traditionalism—the world's least-known major philosophy, but one that is essential for understanding our past, present, and future. Traditionalism is founded on ancient teachings that, its followers argue, have been handed down from time immemorial, forming a basis of the sacred order that must be defended from modernity and the disorder it brings. It has been used...

A Pelican introduction to the century of Russia's revolutionary experience What caused the Russian Revolution? Did it succeed or fail? Why are we still all living with its consequences? In his remarkable new book, Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991, Orlando Figes describes and takes apart the story of Russia's century of revolution in the shortest space possible. Starting with the horrific famines...

A searing indictment of our broken education system today, and how we revive it Does the education system make better people? Why are so many - teachers and students alike - stressed and dissatisfied? Do we need to revive real education? Ideally, education is about the pursuit of truth, beauty and morality. But in the last few decades, a perilous...

A balanced and thought-provoking guide to all the big questions about AI and ethics Can computers understand morality? Can they respect privacy? What can we do to make AI safe and fair? The artificial intelligence revolution has begun. Today, there are self-driving cars on our streets, autonomous weapons in our armies, robot surgeons in our hospitals - and AI's presence...

An authoritative and accessible guide to the world's most influential force - the contemporary media. Our lives are more mediated than ever before. Adults in economically advanced countries spend, on average, over eight hours per day interacting with the media. The news and entertainment industries are being transformed by the shift to digital platforms. But how much is really changing...

The essential introduction to Islam by a leading expert. Hardly a day goes by without mention of Islam. And yet, for most people, and in much of the world, Islam remains a little-known religion. Whether the issue is violence, terrorism, women's rights or slavery, Muslims are today expected to provide answers and to justify what Islam is - or is...

A sweeping, original history of the Cold War, from an acclaimed historian of the USSR - finalist for the Orwell Prize. Why did the Cold War erupt so soon after the Second World War? How did it escalate so rapidly, spanning five continents over six decades? And what led to the spectacular collapse of the Soviet Union? In this comprehensive...

‘Probably the UK’s greatest living statistician’ Telegraph From the UK’s ‘statistical national treasure’, a clever and data-driven guide to how we can live with risk and uncertainty We live in a world where uncertainty is inevitable. How should we deal with what we don’t know? And what role do chance, luck, and coincidence play in our lives? David Spiegelhalter has...

A deeply enlightening master class in how to be persuasive from an inspiring philosopher who teaches one of the most popular open online courses. Our personal and political worlds are rife with arguments and disagreements, some of them petty and vitriolic. The inability to compromise and understand the other side is widespread today. What can we do to change this?...

An acclaimed psycholinguist reveals how language shapes our brain and moulds the way we look at the world. Why should we learn more than one language? Can it change the way we think? Does it have the power to transform how we see the world? You may think you speak only one language. In fact, your mind is interpreting multiple...

Renowned thinker John D. Caputo has spent his career recasting theology and philosophy for a new world. In Hermeneutics, he explores the cross-disciplinary world of modern hermeneutics, blazing a new trail in the most modern of fields. Is anything ever not an interpretation? Does interpretation go all the way down? Is there such a thing as a pure fact that...

An extraordinary overview of Marx's intellectual influence from a leading historian of socialism What does Marxism really mean? How did one man's ideas have such an influence on the world? Why should we read him today? Karl Marx remains the most influential and controversial political thinker in history. The movements associated with his name have lent hope to many victims...

A balanced and thought-provoking guide to all the big questions about AI and ethics. Can computers understand morality? Can they respect privacy? What can we do to make AI safe and fair? The artificial intelligence revolution has begun. Today, there are self-driving cars on our streets, autonomous weapons in our armies, robot surgeons in our hospitals – and AI's presence...

From the UK's 'statistical national treasure', a clever and data-driven guide to how we can live with risk and uncertainty. We live in a world where uncertainty is inevitable. How should we deal with what we don't know? And what role do chance, luck, and coincidence play in our lives? David Spiegelhalter has spent his career dissecting data in order...

Why has Aristotle had such an astounding influence on the world? What are his key ideas? What can he still teach us today? There is in Athens a rather plain ruin; a simple courtyard lined with fragments of wall. Yet, this little patch of land has a claim to be the most significant place in human history. It is the...

A study of what leads humans to war, from one of our great military historians. There can be few more important but also more contentious issues than attempting to understand the human propensity for conflict. Our history is inextricably tangled in wave after wave of inter-human fighting from as far back as we have records. How can we make sense...

A vital and incisive solution to many of the problems society faces today—we must reclaim the commons. We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events, and our national art galleries are...

Jo Dunkley combines her expertise as an astrophysicist with her talents as a teacher in this lively, exceptionally clear introduction to the structure and history of the universe and its enduring mysteries. In recent years, extraordinary advances in our understanding of the wider universe have led us to uncover even greater mysteries—what, for example, are the mysterious 'dark' parts of...

A remarkable exploration of the science, history and politics of one of the most important ideas of our time from two world-renowned experts. Meteorites, methane, mega-volcanoes, and now human beings; the old forces of nature that transformed Earth many millions of years ago are joined by another—us. Our actions have driven Earth into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. For...

From a leading expert, a history and analysis of Traditionalism, one of the least-known and most influential philosophies, that is having a profound impact on politics today. Western politics has changed. The Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 were not random events, nor was the one-third share of the vote won by Marine Le Pen in...