Richard Appignanesi Books

In The Merchant of Venice, the penniless but attractive Bassanio seeks, and finally wins, the hand of the fabulously wealthy Portia. But even as the play provokes laughter, it also provokes something disturbing, as Bassanio's courtship is actually financed by the magnificent villain Shylock the moneylender -- the focus of anti-Semitic sentiment, and one of the most controversial yet strangely sympathetic of Shakespeare's characters, whose actions and whose treatment in the play are still debated to this day.This simplified retelling of the Shakespearean comedy also includes activities related to the text.

The untold story of J.M.W. Turner's friend and greatest rival, pioneering watercolour artist Thomas Girtin

One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother's infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet's feigned madness, Ophelia's death and burial, the play within a play, the "closet scene" in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.

Blends the supernatural and the mundane, the illusory and the substantial. This work treats love as tragic, poignant, absurd and farcical.

This new edition is based on the quarto, the version closest to the original manuscript. The introduction illminates the plays' origins and practicalities of composition, its reception and influence. Detailed notes pay especial attention to language and staging, and the volume includes King Lear's first derivative, a contemporary ballad, and guides to appreciation of the play and its multiple offshoots.

Final play in Shakespeare's dramatization of the strife between the Houses of York and Lancaster. Richard is stunning archvillain who seduces, betrays and murders his way to the throne. Explanatory footnotes.

A cartoon book about Marx? Are you sure it's Karl, not Groucho? How can you summarize the work of Karl Marx in cartoons? It took Rius to do it. He's put it all in: the origins of Marxist philosophy, history, economics; of capital, labor, the class struggle, socialism. And there's a biography of "Charlie" Marx besides. Like the companion volumes in the series, Marx for Beginners is accurate, understandable, and very, very funny.

To the events surrounding the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC, Shakespeare introduces the dangerous themes of thwarted ambition and political reaction.

Text and cartoon illustrations introduce the life and teachings of Buddha and examine enlightenment and meditation.

Freud revolutionized the way we think of ourselves. His psychoanalytic terms such as Id, Ego, libido, neurosis and Oedipus Complex have become a familiar part of our everyday vocabulary. But do we know what they really mean?