When cathedrals were bright with paint... colonnettes, gables, pinnacles and statues were rich in colour. Red, blue and yellow helped the viewer to identify the holy figures and to decipher the great book of stone. The largest medieval drawing in existence, measuring more than four metres in height, provides exceptional evidence for this. Dating from c.1360-65, it represents the central part of the façade of Strasbourg Cathedral. Even now the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages overwhelm by their imagination, technical daring and sheer scale. How could such structures be built when cities had only a few thousand inhabitants, and only the most primitive machinery was available? Who initiated them? Who designed them? Who paid for them? All around the world but especially in Italy and in Gaul, each Christian community was driven by a spirit of rivalry to have a more glorious church than the others. Gothic and Romanesque building sites are shown in detail in manuscript illumination. As the Medieval town grew, buildings turned from wood to stone and grew ever higher. Patrons sought master masons, intellectuals became administrators, artists and architects established their independence and rights. Discover tracings on stone such as in the sacristy of the Roslin Chapel in Scotland where construction began in 1450, remarkable drawings from workshops, organised guilds, the octagon of Ely Cathedral 1322 and how metal became an essential material. Fully documented and splendidly illustrated throughout in colour, 176pp, paperback.

The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle had a huge influence on the development of Western philosophy. Born in northern Greece in 384BCE, his father was the physician to the King of Macedonia, and although much of his early life remains a mystery, we know that he went to Athens when he was 17 to study in Plato's Academy where he spent more than two decades under his tutelage. He left the peaceful environment of Assos after a request from King Philip II of Macedon to tutor his son Alexander, later better known as Alexander the Great. When this task came to an end, Aristotle returned to Athens and created his own institution of learning, the Lyceum, where he encouraged his students not only in philosophy but in astronomy, biology, mathematics, medicine, music and rhetoric, and it was there he gave regular lectures and wrote many treatises including Nicomachean Ethics and this book. Public speaking was a critical skill in Ancient Greece whether for politicians or ordinary citizens putting forward their case in courts of law. Aristotle set out to create a guide to help students argue persuasively and at the same time it is a comprehensive study of human emotions and character with rhetoric one of the three branches of philosophy along with logic and dialectic. Brilliantly explained and carefully reasoned, Aristotle created essential guidelines for argument and a prose style that would influence writers for more than two millennia. 252pp in new full price paperback.

Sub-titled 'Classic Advice on How to Live Well' the book was written by the 17th century Spanish Jesuit scholar Baltasar Gracián and is considered a classic text for those seeking a philosophy for life. The 300 maxims with accompanying commentary provide a world view that encourages ethical behaviour when seeking worldly success. It covers luck, never exaggerating, know how to withdraw, know your strongest point, thinking things over, keeping the imagination under control, know how to take a hint, vary the mode of action, cultivate those who can teach you, fortune and fame, character and intellect and more. This Jospeh Jacobs translation has used the text of the first Madrid edition of 1653, the earliest in the British Museum with the Schopenhauer version by the translator's side. 'I have endeavoured to reproduce Gracián's laconism and cultismo in my version, and even tried to retain as many paronomasias and jingles of similar sound.' And wherever possible he has replaced Spanish proverbs with English ones. He advises to dip into up to 50 maxims a day for everyday insight. 128pp, new full price paperback.

Aristotle towers over Western philosophy and science and as they have come down to us, his works comprise a veritable encyclopaedia of philosophy and invented the field of formal logic, the physical and natural sciences, ethics and politics. He created a basis for a great deal of today's scientific knowledge, such as the classification of organisms and objects. Although he has been studied continuously for more than 2000 years, his individual works were dispersed, lost, recovered, and very gradually reunited. The physical transmission of the Aristotelian corpus was a long, complicated, uncoordinated process. From the Roman Empire, through the mediation of Arab and Jewish scholars, to the western Middle Ages and scholasticism and up to the cusp of modernity in the late 15th century, Aristotle's works were copied and recopied by scribes in Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin before finally becoming available again in their original Greek. The volume focuses on one crucial, extended moment when, thanks to the invention of printing, Aristotle's works became widely available in Latin, Greek, and even in vernacular languages in the late 15th and 16th centuries. At that moment, Aristotle's authority comes under increasing scrutiny as the new science and philosophy of early modern Europe chart different courses for the future. The extraordinary books and manuscripts in this volume, selected from the collection of the Martin J. Gross Foundation, demonstrate just how intellectuals have received and wrestled with Aristotle. Through commentaries, treatises, lecture courses in schools, and above all in the written marginalia of books, the volume reveals the extent of the age's engagement with Aristotle. Many of these books and manuscripts have never before been studied and many colour images show them in their magnificence. Colour plates, 20.96 x 28.58cm, 128 pages.

Thousands left their homelands in the Middle Ages to fight wars abroad. But how did the Crusades actually happen? From recruitment propaganda to raising money, ships to siege engines, medicine to the power of prayer, this vivid, surprising history shows holy war - and medieval society - in a lively and compelling account of how the crusades really worked, and a revolutionary attempt to rethink how we understand the Middle Ages. The story of the wars and conquests move quickly from describing the Pope's calls to arms to the battlefield. Tyerman focuses on the all-encompassing and hugely costly business of actually preparing a crusade. The efforts of many thousands of men and women, who left their lands and families in Western Europe, and marched off to a highly uncertain future in the Holy Land and elsewhere have never been sufficiently understood. Fascinating on diplomacy, communications, propaganda, the use of mass media, medical care, equipment, voyages, money, weapons, credit, wills, ransoms, animals, and the power of prayer. Superbly detailed with names, dates, battles etc. Colour plates and other illus and maps. 400 page paperback.

A lavish heavyweight Dorling Kindersley visually impactful publication about the earliest signs of feminine worship in the Indian subcontinent and early goddesses seen in the Indus Valley civilisation. Archaeological excavations have yielded hundreds of enigmatic female figurines which have been widely interpreted as having religious relevance. They have elaborate headdresses, prominent eyes and thick lips. The breasts are separately moulded and attached to the body, and the navel is deep. They show complex arrangements of hair and flowers and rarely nude; clothing includes short skirts, belts and necklaces and bangles often in semi-precious stones. The volume offers a different perspective from votive offerings and cult figures from Mohenjo-Daro 2700-2100 BCE which is about 90" in height and the black residue suggests that these sculptures may have been used to burn oil or some sort of incense and of religious significance. She is benevolent and nurturing, fierce and terrible, a warrior and a lover. She creates and gives life, is death personified, and the one who grants eternal salvation. She is the ultimate form of reality, the cosmos. The Goddess inspires deep devotion and has been worshipped and revered across homes in India. Shakti delves deep into her fascinating mythology and rituals and unravel the philosophy and adaptation within many belief systems. From the origins of the Goddess in the ancient civilisation of Harappa to her evolution and changed character in contemporary times, the narrative brings together the diverse threads from different cultures, regions and traditions. Stunningly beautiful colour photography throughout, many full page including the famous image by the Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma's rendition of Kali with his blue skin trampling on Shiva to invoke fear. 392pp, 24.2 x 28.4cm.
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Sub-titled 'On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine', from Haile Selassie, acclaimed as the Living God in Jamaica, to Prince Philip, who became the unlikely centre of a new religion on a South Pacific island, men made divine - only men - have appeared on almost every continent. More than curiosities, these deifications, always emerging at times of civil war, imperial conquest, or revolution, have much to teach us. From nationalist uprisings in India to Nigerian spirit-possession cults, Anna Della Subin explores how deification has been a means of defiance for colonised peoples. Conversely, we see how Christopher Columbus, Cortés, and other white explorers amplified stories of their godhead to justify their dominion over native peoples, setting into motion the currents of racism. A revelatory history spanning five centuries which sheds light on the thorny questions of how our modern concept of religion was invented, why religion and politics are perpetually entangled in our supposedly secular age, and how the power to call someone divine has been used and abused, the tales told here are often colourful and bizarre, and often melancholy, and all told with tremendous intellectual ingenuity. 462pp.

Grayling is Professor of Philosophy and Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University London. He believes that philosophy should take an active and useful role in society and in his book proposes a pragmatic and inspiring solution to the three biggest challenges that face the world today - climate change, technology and justice. In his timely book he asks: can human beings agree on a set of values that will allow us to confront the numerous threats facing the planet, or will we simply continue with our disagreements and antipathies as we collectively approach our possible extinction? As every day brings new stories about extreme weather conditions, spyware, lethal autonomous weapons systems, and the health imbalance between the northern and southern hemispheres, Grayling's question - Is global agreement on global challenges possible? - becomes ever more urgent. As we confront the danger of a warming world, AI and technology, justice and rights, relativism, he proves that it is hopelessly utopian to work for an end of division, and instead for all humanity to find common ground. An incredibly thoughtful read for all interested in philosophy and cultural affairs. 232pp.

Sub-titled 'Symbolic Numbers and The Sacred Union In Christianity', this is a welcome reprint of the 2003 classic book on creation and spirituality. Author Margaret Starbird decodes the symbolic numbers embedded in the original Greek phrases of the New Testament, revealing the powerful presence of the feminine divine. The New Testament contains wide use of gematria, a literary device that allows the sums of certain phrases to produce sacred numbers. Exploring the hidden meanings behind these numbers, Starbird reveals that the union between Jesus and his bride Mary Magdalene formed a sacred partnership that was the cornerstone of the earliest Christian community. She demonstrates how the crucial teaching of the sacred marriage that unites masculine and feminine principals, the Heiros Gamos, is the partnership model for life of our planet and the ultimate blueprint for civilisation. Her research challenges the concept that Christ was celibate, and establishes Mary Magdalene as the human incarnation of the sacred bride. She also reveals the true meaning of the '666' prophesied in the Book of Revelation. Chapters include The Blueprint of the Cosmic Temple, Architects of the Christian Faith, the Apocalypse Agenda and The Holy Name of Mary among them. With useful glossary. 170pp in large paperback.

With a biographical introduction by David Bradshaw and a foreword by J. G. Ballard, the Sunday Times described this as a masterpiece, 'Concise, evocative, wise and, above all, humane.' In 1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gram of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes, everything from the flowers in a vase to the creases in his trousers was transformed, Huxley describes his experience with breathtaking immediacy in this novel. In its sequel Heaven and Hell, he goes on to explore the history and nature of mysticism. Still bristling with a sense of excitement and discovery, these illuminating and influential writings remain the most fascinating account of the visionary experience ever written. In that afternoon in Los Angeles, Huxley experienced the suspension of time and space and the melting away of the ego. He talks about artists and their heightened ability to perceive things, about the experiences of schizophrenics and moments of despair but also of unadulterated joy. He talks about the profundity of religious experience and Eastern and Western philosophical views of the world. 'The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge...' and that was before the Internet! 123pp, paperback.