This volume surveys the life and work of the Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay, who is best known for his extraordinary garden, Little Sparta, a unique 'poem of place' in which poetry, sculpture, and horticulture intersect. This book directs sustained attention to Finlay the verbal artist, revealing[...]

Strip Jack: MP Gregor Jack is caught in an Edinburgh brothel with a prostitute only too keen to show off her considerable assets. Then Jack's wife disappears. Someone wants to strip Jack naked and Rebus wants to know why. The Black Book: When a close colleague is brutally attacked, Rebus is drawn in[...]

Their classic "Four Strong Winds" is widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time. Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell count among their admirers. Their music, including hits like "You Were On My Mind" and "Someday Soon," has been recorded by ev[...]

Ian Norbury uses innovative techniques in sculpting his original and imaginative subjects. This examination of his art includes over 100 illustrations which show how he bases many works on European folklore and mythology[...]

Resurrection Men: Inspector John Rebus has messed up badly this time, so badly that he is sent to a kind of reform school for damaged cops. While there among the last-chancers known as "resurrection men," he joins a covert mission to gain evidence of a drug heist orchestrated by three of his classma[...]

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Ian Kelly's biography of one of the most beguiling and controversial individuals of any age. In this fascinating biography of the notorious libertine, Ian Kelly draws on documents by Casanova, his friends and his lovers (male and female) in order to bring fresh insights to[...]

A new partnership of biologists and mathematicians is picking apart the hidden complexity of animals and plants to throw fresh light on the behaviour of entire organisms, how they interact and how changes in biological diversity affect the planet's ecological balance. The author explores these and w[...]

The Collins Gem series is being relaunched in Spring 2004 and this new title features a new internal design and a strong new cover design. Packed full of tips for the aspiring watercolourist, its handy format makes it ideal for quick reference either in the studio or out in the field. Contents inclu[...]

This is a key work of ancient Chinese philosophy that is brought back to life in Ian Johnston's compelling and definitive translation, new to Penguin Classics. Very little is known about Master Mo, or the school he founded. However, the book containing his philosphical ideas has survived centuries o[...]

The transition from school mathematics to university mathematics is seldom straightforward. Students are faced with a disconnect between the algorithmic and informal attitude to mathematics at school, versus a new emphasis on proof, based on logic, and a more abstract development of general concepts[...]

Brownlie's Documents on Human Rights provides an extensive collection of key documents covering all elements of the subject, accompanied by authoritative commentary and bibliographic annotation. The result is a clear and accurate set of the most important human rights instruments adopted by the Unit[...]

Transcending ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries, early empires shaped thousands of years of world history. Yet despite the global prominence of empire, individual cases are often studied in isolation. This series seeks to change the terms of the debate by promoting cross-cultural, comparat[...]