The Routledge Classics series was launched in 2001 with titles by Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Mary Midgley amongst others, taking the cream of Routledge’s prestigious backlist and presenting it to a new generation of readers.
Since then, the Routledge Classics series has published over two hundred titles and sold over three million copies. It is proud to contain some of the most innovative, ground-breaking and important books of modern times; books that are, by popular consent, classics in their field.
“Routledge Classics is more than just a collection of texts…it embodies and circulates challenging ideas and keeps vital debates current and alive.” – Hilary Mantel
In 2021 we are delighted to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of the Routledge Classics series with a curated selection of fifteen stellar new titles. All include new forewords or introductions and eye-catching cover designs, a hallmark of the series.
Featured Titles
History of Western Philosophy
First published in 1946, History of Western Philosophy went on to become the best-selling philosophy book of the twentieth century. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy. Providing a sophisticated overview of the ideas that have perplexed people from time immemorial, it is 'long on wit, intelligence and curmudgeonly scepticism', as the New York Times noted, and it is this, coupled with the sheer brilliance of its scholarship, that has made Russell's History of Western Philosophy one of the most important philosophical works of all time.
Gender Trouble
One of the most talked-about scholarly works of the past fifty years, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble is as celebrated as it is controversial. Arguing that traditional feminism is wrong to look to a natural, 'essential' notion of the female, or indeed of sex or gender, Butler starts by questioning the category 'woman' and continues in this vein with examinations of 'the masculine' and 'the feminine'. Best known however, but also most often misinterpreted, is Butler's concept of gender as a reiterated social performance rather than the expression of a prior reality. Thrilling and provocative, few other academic works have roused passions to the same extent.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, first published in 1904, remains to this day a powerful and fascinating read. Weber's highly accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the Protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the West. Widely considered as the most informed work ever written on the social effects of advanced capitalism,
From the Gracchi to Nero
From the Gracchi to Nero is an outstanding history of the Roman world from 133 BC to 68 AD. Fifty years since publication it is widely hailed as the classic survey of the period, going through many revised and updated editions until H.H. Scullard’s death. It explores the decline and fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Pax Romana under the early Principate. In superbly clear style, Scullard brings vividly to life the Gracchi’s attempts at reform, the rise and fall of Marius and Sulla, Pompey and Caesar, society and culture in the late Roman Republic, the Augustan Principate, Tiberius and Gaius, Claudius and Nero, and economic and social life in the early Empire.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth century, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme brilliance. He famously summarized the book in the following words: 'What can be said at all can be said clearly; and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence.' David Pears and Brian McGuinness received the highest praise for their meticulous translation. The work is prefaced by Bertrand Russell's original introduction to the first English edition.
Playing and Reality
What are the origins of creativity and how can we develop it - whether within ourselves or in others? Not only does Playing and Reality address these questions, it also tackles many more that surround the fundamental issue of the individual self and its relationship with the outside world. In this landmark book of twentieth-century psychology, Winnicott shows the reader how, through the attentive nurturing of creativity from the earliest years, every individual has the opportunity to enjoy a rich and rewarding cultural life. Today, as the 'hothousing' and testing of children begins at an ever-younger age, Winnicott's classic text is a more urgent and topical read than ever before.
Top 30
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
May 12, 2006 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415389556
Paperback
272 Pages
History of Western Philosophy
February 02, 2004 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415325059
Paperback
792 Pages
The Road to Serfdom
May 17, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415253895
Paperback
272 Pages
The Order of Things
October 11, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415267373
Paperback
448 Pages
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
February 21, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415278447
Paperback
544 Pages
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
May 17, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415254069
Paperback
320 Pages
Playing and Reality
January 20, 2005 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415345460
Paperback
232 Pages
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment
September 11, 2008 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415964722
Paperback
384 Pages
The Location of Culture
September 01, 2004 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415336390
Paperback
440 Pages
The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture
May 17, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415253802
Paperback
224 Pages
Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo
September 12, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415289955
Paperback
272 Pages
The Conquest of Happiness
February 01, 2006 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415378475
Paperback
200 Pages
A Secure Base
September 01, 2005 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415355278
Paperback
224 Pages
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste
March 12, 2010 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415567886
Paperback
640 Pages
Understanding Media
May 18, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415253970
Paperback
400 Pages
The Open Society and Its Enemies
April 04, 2011 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415610216
Paperback
800 Pages
Writing and Difference
May 18, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415253833
Paperback
480 Pages
On Dialogue
September 01, 2004 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415336413
Paperback
144 Pages
The Undiscovered Self: Answers to Questions Raised by the Present World Crisis
April 04, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415278393
Paperback
96 Pages
One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society
July 11, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415289771
Paperback
336 Pages
There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack
July 11, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415289818
Paperback
416 Pages
Folk Devils and Moral Panics
April 04, 2011 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415610162
Paperback
328 Pages
The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Towards Mankind
October 12, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415271028
Paperback
320 Pages
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
March 12, 2010 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415567893
Paperback
456 Pages
The Century of Revolution: 1603–1714
October 12, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415267397
Paperback
368 Pages
Feudal Society
April 04, 2014 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415738682
Paperback
570 Pages
The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies
October 11, 2001 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415267496
Paperback
224 Pages
From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome 133 BC to AD 68
August 27, 2010 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415584883
Paperback
448 Pages
Economic Philosophy
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367540876
Paperback
156 Pages
Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature
July 11, 2002 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780415289870
Paperback
416 Pages
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Anthropology and Modern Life
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367679910
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Autistic States in Children
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367540869
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Chisungu: A Girl's Initiation Ceremony Among the Bemba of Zambia
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367540944
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Economic Philosophy
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England Under the Stuarts
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705343
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Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative
March 30, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705244
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The Ecological Self
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705183
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The Explanation of Behaviour
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705213
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The Franco-Prussian War
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ISBN: 9780367705305
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The Origin and Goal of History
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367679859
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The Philosophy of 'As If'
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ISBN: 9780367549947
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The Theory of Economic Development
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705268
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The World of Goods
March 29, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367679828
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The World We Have Lost
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705329
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Waiting for God
May 17, 2021 by Routledge
ISBN: 9780367705282
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220 Pages