07.06.10.

Six new Introducing books touch down at Introducing HQ

Introducing titles in the new compact format on Heidegger, Lacan, Evolution, Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Anthropology arrived in the office today. These are the first six books published in the second half of 2010, which sees 16 new titles republished in total.

The books are all published in the UK on 8th July and are:

Introducing Heidegger by Jeff Collins and Howard Selina. Know your Heidegger inside out? I doubt it. This infamously difficult philosopher may be tricky to get your head around but he is, with Wittgenstein, one of the two most important thinkers of the 20th century. But he's a complex character too - even in the most sympathetic analysis he acquiesced with the Nazi regime (and was a Nazi party member) for a time as rector of the University of Freiburg. This book is the essential guide to the brilliant conundrum that is Martin Heidegger…

Introducing Lacan by Darian Leader and Judy Groves. Jacques Lacan is now regarded as one of the major psychoanalytical theorists, although fierce arguments still rage over the complexity of his ideas. Darian Leader is one of the UK’s most respected writers on psychoanalysis and this book is one of the best ways to get inside the ideas of this often oblique thinker.

Introducing Evolution by Dylan Evans and Howard Selina. Did life first evolve on other planets? What's the advantage of having sex? Why do your parents look after you? And what good to a bird is half a wing? Introducing Evolution provides a step-by-step guide to 'Darwin's dangerous idea' and takes a fresh look at the often misunderstood concepts of natural selection and the selfish gene. Drawing on the latest findings from genetics, ecology and animal behaviour – as well as the work of bestselling science writers such as Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker – this book reveals how the evidence in favour of evolutionary theory is stronger than ever.

Introducing Cultural Studies by Ziauddin Sardar and Borin van Loon. Introducing Cultural Studies provides an incisive tour through the minefield of this complex subject, charting its origins in Britain and its migration to the USA, Canada, France, Australia and South Asia, examining the ideas of its leading exponents and providing a flavour of its use around the world. Covering the ground from Gramsci to Raymond Williams, postcolonial discourse to the politics of diaspora, feminism to queer theory, digital culture and the media to globalization, it serves as an insightful guide to the essential concepts of this fascinating area of study.

Introducing Media Studies by Ziauddin Sardar and Borin van Loon. The media is ubiquitous. Every day we watch hours of TV, listen to the radio, surf the web, read newspapers and magazines, go to the cinema or watch DVDs. The media in these forms and more exercise enormous influence and power over all of us. And here’s the why, how, and what!

Introducing Anthropology by Merryl Wyn Davies and Piero. Anthropology originated as the study of ‘primitive’ cultures – a now very loaded term. With the fall of Empire, anthropology became suspect and was torn by dissent from within. Did anthropology serve as a ‘handmaiden to colonialism’? Is it a ‘science’ created by racism to prove racism? Can it aid communication between cultures, or does it reinforce our differences? Introducing Anthropology is a fascinating account of an uncertain human science seeking to transcend its unsavoury history.