Conceived originally as a serious presentation of thedevelopment of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, FrederickCopleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy hasjourneyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universalacclaim as the best history of philosophy in English.

Andy Warhol kept these diaries faithfully from November 1976right up to his final week, in February 1987. Written at the heightof his fame and success, Warhol records the fun of an AcademyAwards party, nights out at Studio 54, trips between London, Parisand New York, and surprisingly even the money he spent each day,down to the cent. With appearances from and references to everyonewho was anyone, from Jim Morrison, Martina Navratilova and CalvinKlein to Shirley Bassey, Estee Lauder and Muhammad Ali, thesediaries are the most glamorous, witty and revealing writings of thetwentieth century.

Written during the golden age of Chinese philosophy, andcomposed partly in prose and partly in verse, the Tao TeChing is surely the most terse and economical of the world’sgreat religious texts. In a series of short, profound chapters itelucidates the idea of the Tao, or the Way–an idea that in itsethical, practical, and spiritual dimensions has become essentialto the life of China’s enormously powerful civilization. In theprocess of this elucidation, Lao-tzu both clarifies and deepensthose central religious mysteries around which our life on earthrevolves.

In The Undiscovered Self Jung explains the essence of his teaching for a readership unfamiliar with his ideas. He highlights the importance of individual responsibility and freedom in the context of today's mass society, and argues that individuals must organize themselves as effectively as the organized mass if they are to resist joining it. To help them achieve this he sets out his influential programme for achieving self-understanding and self-realization. The Undiscovered Self is a book that will awaken many individuals to the new life of the self that Jung visualized.

After his father's early death Jean-Paul Sartre was brought upat his grandfather's home in a world even then eighty years out ofdate. In "Words", Sartre recalls growing up within the confines ofFrench provincialism in the period before the First World War, anillusion-ridden childhood made bearable by his lively imaginationand passion for reading and writing. A brilliant work ofself-analysis, "Words" provides an essential background to thephilosophy of one of the profoundest thinkers of the twentiethcentury.

The "Meditations" of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius are a readable exposition of the system of metaphysics known as stoicism. Stoics maintained that by putting aside great passions, unjust thoughts and indulgence, man could acquire virtue and live at one with nature.