THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISMBy Max Weber
Read by John Telfer
6 hours 35 minutes
Though this work originated in a series of essays in the opening decade of the 20th century, it first appeared in English in 1930 and its title alone – a clear but powerful premise – made a strong international impact. Continue Reading →
THE POVERTY OF HISTORICISMBy Karl Popper
Read by Martyn Swain
5 hours 37 minutes
‘Probably the only book published this year which will outlive the century’
– Arthur Koestler
THE JEWISH WARBy Flavius Josephus
Read by Jonathan Booth
21 hours
The Jewish War is an extraordinary historical document in that it charts, in considerable detail, a calamitous period of four years during which the Jews pitted themselves against the might of the Roman empire in the hope of throwing off the Roman yoke. Continue Reading →
POOR FOLKBy Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Read by Jonathan Keeble and Julie Teal
5 hours 52 minutes
Poor Folk, Dostoyevsky’s first novel, is almost forgotten now, living as it does under the long shadow of Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov and much more. Yet when it was published in 1846, it brought him instant fame – which, even for the author who wrote it quickly in an effort to make a little money, was a surprise. Continue Reading →
THE CONFUSIONS OF YOUNG MASTER TÖRLESSBy Robert Musil
Read by Jamie Parker
6 hours 25 minutes
Robert Musil (1880-1942) is best known for his enduring masterpiece The Man Without Qualities, one of the great European works of the 20th century. But it was with The Confusions of Young Master Törless first published in 1906, a challenging but very different work, that he signalled his extraordinary talent. Continue Reading →
CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONSBy Karl Popper
Read by Martyn Swain
22 hours 14 minutes
Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper’s most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insights into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. Continue Reading →
ON THE NATURE OF THE PSYCHEBy C.G. Jung
Read by John Telfer
6 hours 30 minutes
Jung’s discovery of the ‘collective unconscious’, a psychic inheritance common to all humankind, transformed the understanding of the self and the way we interpret the world. In On the Nature of the Psyche Jung describes this remarkable theory in his own words, and presents a masterly overview of his theories of the unconscious, and its relation to the conscious mind. Continue Reading →
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONBy Leon Trotsky
Read by Jonathan Booth
53 hours 06 minutes
The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most cataclysmic events in world history, profoundly shaping politics, international relations, social patterns, economics and science in the century that followed. It created long-lasting aftershocks which travelled far beyond its geographical borders. How did it happen? Continue Reading →
THE MAN WITHOUT QUALITIESBy Robert Musil
Read by John Telfer
60 hours 30 minutes
In 1913, the Viennese aristocracy is gathering to celebrate the 17th jubilee of the accession of Emperor Franz Josef, even as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is collapsing and the rest of Vienna is showing signs of rebellion. At the centre of this social labyrinth is Ulrich: a veteran, a seducer and a scientist, yet also a man ‘without qualities’ and therefore a brilliant and detached observer of his changing world. Continue Reading →
ANSWER TO JOBBy C.G. Jung
Read by John Telfer
5 hours 9 minutes
Of all the books of the Bible, few have had more resonance for modern readers than the Book of Job. For a world that over the past century has witnessed horrors the like of which could not have been imagined by earlier generations, Job’s cries of despair and incomprehension are all too recognizable. Continue Reading →
THE REVERIES OF THE SOLITARY WALKERBy Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Read by Matthew Lloyd Davies
4 hours 39 minutes
The Reveries of the Solitary Walker was one of the last works written by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and was, in fact, not quite complete. It was published four years after his death and came quickly to be regarded as one of his most poetic works. Continue Reading →
THE COMMON READER VOLUME 2By Virginia Woolf
Read by Georgina Sutton
9 hours 28 minutes
Do not think, because this collection of essays is titled Volume 2, that there is anything lesser or additional to it. Here is Virginia Woolf at her most entertaining and informative, relishing the portraits and insights she presents as she surveys a varied collection of individuals in English society and English literature. Continue Reading →
THE PILLOW BOOK of SEI SHŌNAGONTranslated by Ivan Morris
Read by Georgina Sutton
11 hours 09 minutes
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthralls with its lively gossip, witty observations, and subtle impressions. Continue Reading →
AIONBy C.G Jung
Read by David Rintoul
10 hours 46 minutes
Aion is one of the major works of C.G. Jung’s later years. The title comes from the Greek word for aeon or age and refers to the age of Christianity, for, in Aion, Jung is concerned with the collective psychic development that the Christian era represents. How did it come about when it did? What psychic change did it represent? In exploring these questions, Jung (1875-1961) draws upon Christian symbolism and, in particular, the figure of Christ as a case study in the archetype of the Self. Continue Reading →
THE PRINCIPAL SPEECHES OF DEMOSTHENESBy Demosthenes
Read by David Rintoul
7 hours 45 minutes
Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) is regarded as one of the greatest orators of Classical times. This view has persisted through the centuries even though his rousing speeches warning of the dangers of Macedonian expansion – firstly guided by Philip II and then Alexander the Great – failed to stem the course of continued military success. Continue Reading →
WHAT IS PROPERTY?by PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON
Read by James Gillies
11 hours 12 minutes
‘Property is Theft’, a phrase which has passed into common parlance, was the rallying call of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s political treatise What Is Property?Proudhon (1809-1865) was both admired and excoriated. A political theorist of the first order, he was vilified in his native France by the Communists and the Monarchists alike, though admired by Karl Marx as well as many in the nation’s academia and judiciary who valued the clarity of his thought and analytical method. Continue Reading →
A BRIEF HISTORY OF 20TH CENTURY WESTERN PHILOSOPHYby Garrett Thomson
Read by James Gillies
11 hours 12 minutes
During the 20th century, our understanding of the world was transformed thanks to the likes of relativity, quantum physics, molecular biology, chaos theory and computer science. Likewise, our comprehension of ourselves developed dramatically courtesy of theories such as behaviourism, structuralism and cognitive science. Continue Reading →
WHAT IS METAPHYSICS, WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY AND OTHER WRITINGSBy Martin Heidegger
Read by Martyn Swain
4 hours 24 minutes
This recording contains four important and related works by Heidegger: ‘What is Philosophy’, ‘What is Metaphysics’, ‘On the Essence of Truth’ and ‘The Question of Being’. It starts with ‘What is Philosophy’ which originated as a lecture given in Normandy in 1955, and was first published a year later. Continue Reading →
THE NEUROTIC CHARACTERBy Alfred Adler
Read by Leighton Pugh
14 hours 13 minutes
As the 20th century drew to a close, the Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was perhaps the least known of the prominent figures of his time – in particular Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung – and yet he continues to be a figure of influence in the 21st century. His school of ‘individual psychology’ involved a holistic approach to the study of the individual, with a key focus on the way each person viewed the world, especially regarding their concerns of inferiority. Continue Reading →
SUMMA THEOLOGICA VOLUME 5 SUPPLEMENT TO PART III
By Thomas Aquinas
Read by Martyn Swain
39 hours 8 minutes
Thomas Aquinas (c1225-1274) died before he could complete his ambitious plan for Summa Theologica, described as ‘a systematic compendium’ of Roman Catholic theology. Drawing on a wide range of Christian sources – and, controversially, on Greek and Latin philosophers as well as Arabian commentators – he sought to explicate matters of doctrine through a specific scheme of Question, Article, Objection, Answer and Reply. Continue Reading →
