How much do our perceptions of things depend on our cognitive ability, and how much on our linguistic resources? Where, and how, do these two questions meet? Umberto Eco undertakes a series of idiosyncratic and typically brilliant explorations, starting from the perceived data of common sense, from [...]

Three book editors, jaded by reading far too many crackpot manuscripts on the mystic and the occult, are inspired by an extraordinary conspiracy story told to them by a strange colonel to have some fun. They start feeding random bits of information into a powerful computer capable of inventing conne[...]

'Between a bottle of Epsom salts or one of twenty-year-old cognac, which would you choose? Would you rather spend your vacation with an eighty-year old leper or with Demi Moore? Do you prefer being sprinkled with ferocious red ants or sharing a sleeping compartment with Claudia Schiffer?' From the[...]

The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and[...]

After the Cold War, the 'Hot War' has made its comeback in Afghanistan and Iraq. Exhuming Kipling's 'Great Game', we have gone back to the clash between Islam and Christianity. The ghost of the Yellow Peril has been resurrected, the nineteenth-century anti-Darwin debate has been reopened, right-wing[...]

"The book is like the spoon: once invented, it cannot be bettered". (Umberto Eco). These days it is impossible to get away from discussions of whether the book will survive the digital revolution. Blogs, tweets and newspaper articles on the subject appear daily, many of them repetitive, most of them[...]

The latest international bestseller from the author of "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum."Nineteenth-century Europe--from Turin to Prague to Paris--abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestin[...]

It is the year 1327. Franciscans in an Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, but Brother William of Baskerville s investigation is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths. Translated by William Weaver.[...]

"A brilliantly conceived adventure into another time" ("San Francisco Chronicle") by critically acclaimed author Umberto Eco. The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is sudd[...]

How do we know that a cat is a cat? Why do we agree on calling the beast a cat? Interesting questions, but an even more intriguing question lies at the heart of all modern philosophy-how much of our perception of things depends on our cognitive ability and how much on linguistic resources? At this p[...]

The national bestseller--now in paperback with an exquisite cover with foil and French flaps. Umberto Eco, one of the greatest storytellers of all time, continues to enthrall readers with this exquisitely crafted novel that celebrates the romance, war, politics, philosophy, and science of the baroqu[...]

Parodies of literary and academic writers include a version of "Lolita" with an older woman, an inside account of heavenly bureaucracy, and the story of Columbus' landing as if done by television news[...]