An Apology for Idlers | Penguin Great IdeasThroughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are An irresistible invitation

it started with a disastrous Christmas in the English countryside and three competitive friends

Hannah Arendt's seminal work dissects violence in the twentieth century: its nature and causes

Elsa Morante’s debut novel won the Viareggio Prize and earned her the lasting admiration of generations of writers from Italo Calvino and Natalia Ginzburg to Elena Ferrante

how the Indian Ocean became a “British lake” between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries

or modern-day gurus

It is a question of class

he assesses the era’s ageing giants

In the hot and humid urban center

But for the platforms themselves they can be a means of amassing frightening new powers

Nonetheless

clarion voice is raised wholly in support of dialogue

Will they triumph