How do we live ethical lives alongside others? A fascinating, mind-expanding exploration of our moral universe We have always lived with ethically significant others, whether they are the pets we keep, the gods we believe in or the machines we are endowing with life. How should we treat them as our world changes? In Animals, Robots, Gods, acclaimed anthropologist Webb Keane provides a new vision of ethics, defined less by our minds, religion or society, and more by our interactions with those around us. Drawing on ground-breaking research by fieldworkers around the world, he explores the underpinnings of our moral universe. Along the way we investigate the ethical dilemmas of South Asian animal rights activists, Balinese cockfighters, Japanese robot fanciers -- even macho cowboys. We meet a hunter in the Yukon who explains his prey generously gives itself up to him; a cancer sufferer in Thailand who sees his tumour as a reincarnated ox; a computer that gets you to confess your anxieties as if you were on the psychiatrist's couch. With charm, wit and insight, Keane offers us a better understanding of our doubts and certainties, showing how centuries of conversations between us and non-humans inform our conceptions of morality, and will continue to guide us in the age of AI and beyond.

★猫声猫色 一本图文并茂的文体实验之书 ★爱猫人士的掌上探索指南 ★匠心独运的文化调查 别具一格的灵性探索 ★似猫薄荷一样不可抗拒 猫猫就该睥睨宇宙！ · ◎人和动物 自然和城市 男人和女人 ◎哲学 X 文化 X 犯罪 X 心理 ◎汪民安 X 何 平X 陈子善 诚挚推荐 ----------------------------------------- 【编辑推荐】 ※ 在孙冬的笔下，猫既是独立的生命个体，也是人类社会的隐喻。通过与猫的相处，她揭示了现代社会中的许多困惑：人类的焦虑、孤独、对秩序的渴望与对自由的追求。正如罗兰·巴特所言，阅读是一种探索，而在《如何成为一只猫》中，读者得以通过猫的视角，探索人类的情感与社会的复杂性。 ※ 绘者朱蕊，2021年开始绘画，有意思的是，爱画猫咪的朱蕊自己并没有养猫的经历，她画笔下精灵般的猫，按照她的说法是——“来自我的想象，只要我愿意，它们可以任何时间出现在家里的任何角落”。 ※ 装帧由屡获“中国最美的书”殊荣的知名设计师周伟伟精心打造，附赠精美白卡一张——《人类一思索》 。 ----------------------------------------- 【图书简介】 本书是一本文化散文集，随文配有五十余幅精美趣味猫咪油画，通过猫这个载体，融合了哲学、社会学和心理学的视角，为我们提供了一种新的看待世界的方式。猫的存在不仅是一个陪伴的角色，更是对人类生活方式和心理状态的反思。以猫为写作（绘画）对象，通过观察猫的行为和人猫之间的互动，生发出对于当代社会种种之现状，以及人和动物、自然和城市、男人和女人之间关系的反思。《如何成为一只猫》不仅仅是一部随笔集，更是一种通过猫的视角去重新理解世界的尝试。 通过这本书，我们可以试着反思人与动物的关系，并在不断变化的世界中，寻找一种更加和谐的生活态度。这正是《如何成为一只猫》想要传达的：从猫的独特性中，我们学习到如何接受自我、接纳他人，最终找到一种内外平衡的生活状态。 ----------------------------------------- 【名家推荐】 一本文体实验之书，一本既非学院之内也非学院之外的书，我相信，猫也喜欢以这种方式被谈论。丰富，自省，妙趣横生。（汪民安，清华大学教授） 涉猎诗歌、电影、哲学、绘画、文化批评的一本书，似猫薄荷一样不可抗拒。有前沿的学问，也有文化调查，更有私人叙事和灵性探索。（何平，南京师范大学教授） 这是一本图文并茂的写猫的书。爱猫人，如何成为一只猫？这个有趣的问题，在本书中会有令你惊喜的答案。 （陈子善，华东师范大学教授 ）

【内容简介】 《中国菜市场》基于作者10年间对全国各地超过200个菜市场的田野调查，对我国城市菜市场进行了全景式的观察和深入分析，探讨了菜市场的历史、摊贩群体、菜市场背后的供应链、食物消费文化、城市公共管理等议题，挖掘中国特色的菜市场本身的韧性和活力。 本书表明，菜市场不仅仅是食物交易的场所，更连接着中国城市的历史与当下、地方与全球、个体与社区。在高速发展的现代化进程中，菜市场作为一种独特的社会空间，为国人提供了与食物、与土地、与彼此重新建立联系的契机，承载了城市生活的温度与烟火气。本书还进一步深入挖掘了中国菜市场在全球化、城市化背景下的持续转型与创新实践，从中国人的日常经验中寻找意义，从菜市场中窥探城市生活的未来。 【编辑推荐】 ▼菜市场里的人类学家 钟淑如 10年 50+城市 200+菜市场 从海南鱼市到新疆大巴扎，从历史发展到摊贩经营，从学术理论到亲身参与…… 在人间烟火中， 看见中国社会的可能与城市生活的未来。 ▼一切的答案，都在中国菜市场！ 菜市场是？ 一个鲜活滚烫的江湖 一处理解城市的入口 一所好逛、好问、好玩的学校 一种对抗工业化预制的可能 一张在地、时令、新鲜食物的流通网络 一个重建人与食物、人与自然、人与社区关系的起点 一种慢节奏、深体验、带着中国式人情味的生活方式 摊主都是谁？ 海鲜哪里来？ 地方风物藏着哪些秘密？ 为什么超市和网购始终无法取代它？ 在预制菜时代，我们如何找回生活的滋味？ ——一切的答案，都在中国菜市场！ ▼王笛 陈晓卿 马惠娣 张展鸿联袂推荐 菜市场是城市烟火的源头，是食物流动和人们生活命运交织最紧密之处，也是故事发生的地方。钟淑如以她训练有素的、在场的田野调查，详实地刻画了菜市场的生态和整套运作机制，又不乏带有温度的人文观察。 ——陈晓卿 【名人推荐】 本书之作者花了长达十年时间走访全国各地两百余个菜市场的田野考察纪录，展示了老百姓生活最真实的面貌。中国地大物博，食材之丰富不在话下，不同地域之间更突显其多元性和各地的包容。眼前琳琅满目的食材，作者不但想我们知道南北有别、东西有异的道理；更重要的是要从菜市场的历史出发，延伸至摊贩群体现象、如何对抗超市的兴起、了解性别分工的变化、城市发展和现代消费的转型等多个层面的问题，本书成功地使我们关注到菜市场作为一种独特文化空间所具有的社会韧性与草根阶层的无限活力。 ——张展鸿（香港中文大学人类学系教授） 钟淑如教授逾十年之功写就本书，以人类学之眼，照亮被现代性遮蔽的生活现场。不仅填补了学界关于“附近”研究的结构性空白，而且让菜市场这一活态遗产获得了应有的学术审视。此作绝非对市井生活的浅尝辄止，而是以人类学的视角与“在场”亲历，对人类古老的交易场所的关系空间与文化基因做出了洞察。菜市场氤氲着泥土芬芳与自然气韵，四时鲜活的原生态食材汇聚于此，维系人对自然的连接、对生活秩序、对生存确定性的保障。在这里，购买与品赏新鲜食材、分享烹饪的经验、感念劳动者的辛劳、聆听不同方言与乡音……笼统的生活形态在这里变得具体、细致、生动和充满了丰富多样性。尽管外边的世界千变万化，然而，进入菜市场，人们对食物的热忱、好奇、温情与归属感恒久不变。它的烟火气息萦绕日常、沟通天地人神共在、涵括万物之灵，映照出生活、文化、情调与一方水土养一方人的真谛。力荐这部深植人间烟火，立足本土日常的人类学扛鼎之作。 ——马惠娣（中国自然辩证法研究会休闲哲学专业委员会主持人） 本书系统地梳理了菜市场的历史演变，细致描绘了摊贩群体的生存状态，追踪了海鲜、蔬菜等食材从产地到摊位的供应链，还分析了菜市场如何在人情往来、本地化供应和消费者信任中构建其核心优势，从而在与现代商业体系的竞争中保持活力。同时，本书也直面菜市场当前面临的挑战，如超市、电商等现代零售渠道快速发展、城市更新、消费习惯变化等，并探讨了其未来的转型可能性。书中丰富的田野案例与理论探讨，对我们理解现代中国城市生活、饮食文化、社会变迁等都有重要的参考价值。 ——王笛（四川大学文科讲座教授） 菜市场不仅关联着四方食事，更是城市烟火的源头，是食物流动和人们生活命运交织最紧密之处，也是故事发生的地方。作者钟淑如详实地刻画了菜市场的生态和整套运作机制，又不乏带有温度的人文观察，这种训练有素的、在场的田野调查，一直是我们纪录片从业者需要学习的，这本书也不例外。 ——陈晓卿（《舌尖上的中国》导演）

🌟原来是这样啊！ 写给大众的汉语“冷知识”读本 干货满满又蕴含趣味的语言学探秘指南 🌠穿越古今中外，重新审视日常话语 在夜晚的静谧中， 走进一个博大深邃、鲜活跳动的汉语世界 -------------------- 【编辑推荐】 💡熟视无睹的奥秘： 每天都在说的话，背后竟暗藏玄机 从古音的演变到汉字的简化，从白话文的逆袭到网络流行语的兴起，我们每天都在使用汉语，却往往忽视了其中蕴藏的奥秘。语言不仅是交流的工具，更是历史的活化石与社会心理的投射。用语言学的思维去洞察周围的世界，我们能看到中外文化的激烈碰撞，看到历史的兴衰变迁，也能看到人性的幽微复杂。本书带你重新打量那些习以为常的表达，拒绝“理所当然”，在看似琐碎的日常话语中，发现支撑文明数千年的理性智慧与感性力量。 💡反直觉的“冷知识”： 颠覆常识的脑洞时刻，隐没在字词里的博物志 翻开书页，你将遇见这些奇妙的话题： ◆ 神话“祛魅”：凤凰真的会浴火重生吗？龙的英文为何要翻案为Loong？ ◆ 读音“考古”：“骑”字为什么取消了jì的读音？骰子竟然不读shǎi zi？ ◆ 词源“八卦”：“姪”为什么从女？“甥”为什么从男？ …… 全书主题丰富，内容广博，既有历史的厚重，又有生活的趣味。每一篇都是通往新世界的大门，让你直呼“原来如此”，轻松成为朋友圈里的“涨知识”达人。 💡灯下的语言夜话： 穿越迷雾，看见汉语宇宙的万千星辰 夜色深沉，本就是思考与交流的最佳时刻。古人随笔常以“夜话”为题，这种形式自带一种轻松的亲切感，仿佛围炉夜谈，全无“学院派”的严肃与拘谨。书中，作者化身“夜间向导”，以极具松弛感的笔触，将严谨高深的语言学知识拆解为一篇篇流畅精练的小短文，向读者娓娓道来。无论你是利用碎片时间信手翻阅，还是睡前灯下的沉浸式漫游，都能在解谜般的阅读快感中，自由穿梭于汉语宇宙，享受喧嚣退去后的静谧。 ------------------------- 【内容简介】 《夜晚的语言学家：发现汉语的100个秘密》透过日常语言现象，挖掘其背后深厚的历史文化、社会心理与语言学原理，帮助读者建立对汉语的系统性认知框架。内容兼具知识性与趣味性，深入浅出，意趣盎然，贯通古今，连接中外，带领读者进行一场充满惊喜的汉语与文化探秘之旅。

Should western beauty practices, ranging from lipstick to labiaplasty, be included within the United Nations understandings of harmful traditional/cultural practices? By examining the role of common beauty practices in damaging the health of women, creating sexual difference, and enforcing female deference, this book argues that they should. In the 1970s feminists criticized pervasive beauty regimes such as dieting and depilation, but some 'new' feminists argue that beauty practices are no longer oppressive now that women can 'choose' them. However, in the last two decades the brutality of western beauty practices seems to have become much more severe, requiring the breaking of skin, spilling of blood and rearrangement or amputation of body parts. Beauty and Misogyny seeks to make sense of why beauty practices are not only just as persistent, but in many ways more extreme. It examines the pervasive use of makeup, the misogyny of fashion and high-heeled shoes, and looks at the role of pornography in the creation of increasingly popular beauty practices such as breast implants, genital waxing and surgical alteration of the labia. It looks at the cosmetic surgery and body piercing/cutting industries as being forms of self-mutilation by proxy, in which the surgeons and piercers serve as proxies to harm women's bodies, and concludes by considering how a culture of resistance to these practices can be created. This essential work will appeal to students and teachers of feminist psychology, gender studies, cultural studies, and feminist sociology at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and to anyone with an interest in feminism, women and beauty, and women's health.

新华社、上海电视台、《解放日报》、《文汇报》、《南方周末》……超20家主流媒体轮番报道的上海独立书店生存实录！ 马伯庸喊话：谜芸馆，活下去！ 拒绝被算法定义，探寻传统行业的出路与希望。 所有顽固的人，都能在这本书里看到自己！ 世界上有两件最不会赚钱的事：一件是写书，另一件是开书店。这两件事我都做了。——时晨（推理作家，“谜芸馆”书店店主） 内容简介： 所谓顽固，不过是把喜欢的事做久一点。 在数字阅读汹涌而来的时代，实体书店成了逆水行舟的勇士，艰难守护着纸质书的温度。 时晨，这位热爱推理的上海作家，“以书为舟”逆势而上，在创作之余毅然创办了一家侦探推理小说专营书店——谜芸馆。 从推理作家到书店老板，从第一次创业失败的“孤岛书店”到现在仍然挣扎求生的“谜芸馆”，当世界催促你投降，顽固是最优雅的反抗。 本书记录了一家独立书店对抗科技洪流的真实战役，翻开这本书，你终将理解——世界之所以还有光，是因为总有人顽固地举着火把。他们不是不懂变通，只是舍不得让心里的火苗熄灭——哪怕要用肉身去挡时代的穿堂风。 在这本书里，没有华丽的商业传奇，只有一个纯粹爱书人在困境中坚守的真实故事。这里有经营的艰难、理想的碰撞，更有对推理文化的执着。 时晨化身“被写作耽误的脱口秀演员”，以犀利吐槽记录书店日常：怪客、熟客、作家同行互掐……荒诞与温情交织的365天。 走进《所有顽固的人》，探寻实体书店的挣扎与希望，感受纸质书永不落幕的魅力。 媒体评价: 谜芸馆，活下去！！——马伯庸（著名历史小说作家，代表作《长安的荔枝》《太白金星有点烦》） 谜芸馆是我心目中最了不起的、最有激情和想象力的书店，希望能多来，希望它指引我实现梦想！——韩松（著名科幻作家，中国作家协会科幻文艺委员会副主任） 所谓的本格推理，是即使输了也会很开心的智力游戏。——绫辻行人（日本著名推理作家，“新本格”开创者） You make a living by what you get,you make a life by what you give.（你靠得到的东西谋生，你靠给予的东西生活。——温斯顿·丘吉尔）——岛田庄司（日本著名推理作家，代表作《占星术杀人魔法》） 日本推理小说也请拜托了。超喜欢中国推理小说！——斜线堂有纪（日本推理作家，代表作《乐园是侦探不在的地方》） 在推理小说的世界里，真相往往隐藏于层层迷雾中，揭开谜底的除了书中的侦探，还有用笔尖构筑悬疑世界的小说家。1987年出生的中国推理小说作家时晨，不仅著有15本推理小说，还创办了一家推理小说主题的实体书店“谜芸馆”。——新华社 一排排侦探小说书架，配上全球推理作家大咖照片墙、地板上的人形模拟“犯罪现场”，“氛围感”拉满……离开旧日孤岛，再赴迷雾之馆。开这样一间小众主题书店，如果发生，首先应该发生在上海。——《文汇报》 推开“谜芸馆”的玻璃门，你便会进入一个质朴的推理小说世界：水泥的地板，白粉笔描绘的人形，骷髅模具下是几张写有案情的牛皮纸，简单的书架上，各种推理故事等待读者光临。——《新民晚报》 谜芸馆店主时晨是一名推理小说家，店里有他本人的著作。作家亲自开书店，这在国内推理小说界是“独一份”。——《新闻晨报》

A revelatory, paradigm-shifting work from a renowned Columbia professor and “one of the great social and cultural psychologists” (Amy Cuddy) that demystifies our tribal instincts and shows us how to use them to create positive change. Tribalism is our most misunderstood buzzword. We’ve all heard pundits bemoan its rise, and it’s been blamed for everything from political polarization to workplace discrimination. But as acclaimed cultural psychologist and Columbia professor Michael Morris argues, our tribal instincts are humanity’s secret weapon. Ours is the only species that lives in groups glued together by their distinctive cultures that can grow to a scale far beyond clans and bands. Morris argues that our psychology is wired by evolution in three distinctive ways. First, the peer instinct to conform to what most people do. Second, the hero instinct to give to the group and emulate the most respected. And third, the ancestor instinct to follow the ways of prior generations. These tribal instincts enable us to share knowledge and goals and work as a team to transmit the accumulated pool of cultural knowledge onward to the next generation. Countries, churches, political parties, and companies are tribes, and tribal instincts explain our loyalties to them and the hidden ways that they affect our thoughts, actions, and identities. Rather than deriding tribal impulses for their irrationality, we can recognize them as powerful levers that elevate performance, heal rifts, and set off shockwaves of cultural change.Weaving together deep research, current and historical events, and stories from business and politics, Morris cuts across conventional wisdom to completely reframe how we think about our tribes. Bracing and hopeful, Tribal unlocks the deepest secrets of our psychology and gives us the tools to manage our misunderstood superpower.

《通灵宝玉与玫瑰花蕾——<红楼梦>中的导演课》是徐皓峰对《红楼梦》的独特解读。作为作家兼导演，他凭借深厚的文化研究功底和丰富的创作经验，从文学与电影的双重视角重新审视这部经典。书中，他不仅梳理出全新的人物关系与荣宁二府的另类样貌，还将曹雪芹与希区柯克等世界电影大师作比较研究，揭示《红楼梦》的艺术高度与创作原貌。通过细节捕捉与历史背景的深入分析，徐皓峰厘清了后世误读，展现了原著的多重魅力。 作者语言灵动，视角新颖，既尊重文学的想象力，又融入电影的叙事技巧，为读者提供了一次重返经典的全新体验。

In this rich and rewarding work, Yi-Fu Tuan vividly demonstrates that feeling and beauty are essential components of life and society. The aesthetic is not merely one aspect of culture but its central core - both its driving force and its ultimate goal. Beginning with the individual and his physical world, Tuan's exploration progresses from the simple to the complex. His initial evaluation of the building blocks of aesthetic experience (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) develops gradually into a wide-ranging examination of the most elaborate of human constructs, including art, architecture, literature, philosophy, music, and more.

Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?

Professor Patricia Wiltshire will take you on a journey through the fascinating edgeland where nature and crime are intertwined. She'll take you searching for bodies of loved ones - through woodlands, along hedgerows, field-edges, and through plantations - solving time since death, and disposal of remains, from ditches to living rooms. She will give you glimpses of her own history: her loves, her losses, and the narrow little valley in Wales where she first woke up to the wonders of the natural world. Pat will show you how her work with a microscope reveals tell-tale traces of the world around us, and how these have taken suspects of the darkest criminal activities to court. From flowers, fungi, tree trunks to car pedals, walking boots, carpets, and corpses' hair, Traces is a unique book on life, death, and one's indelible link with nature.

这是一部以大理苍山为主体的自然文学，亦是一部严谨而详实的博物学非虚构作品。 内容以苍山地理现象和自然事物作为叙述对象：森林、鸟类、云和光、岩石、深壑、河川、湖泊、池塘、山脊线、山巅、废墟、野花和灌木，把在荒野中的经历和感知，融汇到博物学、地理学和气象学知识中，叙述在自然中如何观看、如何倾听、如何触摸和感受，乃至于如何存在。 ———— 这座深沉高耸的山脉就在城市和村庄的边缘。在地质学上，苍山亦被视为一种交叉、边界式的存在。 从山麓的小路望向苍山山脊，山峰与天际相融的远处，每一支森列的山峰都托着风和冰雪的重荷伸向苍穹，像重重塔尖，与天空通灵。蓝色的湖水在视野中化作一个闪亮的平面。 在自然原生力塑造的无垠空间里，仿佛只有纯粹物理的世界与无限的时间是全然袒露的、真实的。

Bien des chemins mènent à la chambre : le sommeil, l'amour, la méditation, Dieu, le sexe, la lecture, la réclusion, voulue ou subie. De l'accouchement à l'agonie, elle est le théâtre de l'existence, là où le corps dévêtu, nu, las, désirant, s'abandonne. On y passe près de la moitié de sa vie, la plus charnelle, celle de l'insomnie, des pensées vagabondes, du rêve, fenêtre sur l'inconscient, sinon sur l'au-delà.

The Feminist Critique of Language provides a wide-ranging selection of writings on language, gender, and feminist thought. It serves both as a guide to the current debates and directions and as a digest of the history of twentieth-century feminist ideas about language. This edition includes extracts from Felly Nkweto Simmonds, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Luce Irigaray, Sara Mills, Margaret Doyle, Debbie Cameron, Susan Ehrlich, Ruth King, Kate Clark, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Deborah Tannen, Aki Uchida, Jennifer Coates and Kira Hall.

Drawing on the experience of celebrated women, from George Sand and Virginia Woolf to Dorothy Sayers and Adrienne Rich, Heilbrun examines the struggle these writers undertook when their drives made it impossible for them to follow the traditional "male" script for a woman's life. <br /><br />Refreshing and insightful, this is an homage to brave women past and present, and an invitation to all women to write their own scripts, whatever they may be.

Here, between the covers of one capacious book, is an illustrated summary of all the creatures that have ever lived, a vast compendium of earth's current and former inhabitants in all their dazzling and infinite diversity. Colin Tudge argues that we are entering a new phase of biology in which, for the first time, biologists are achieving profound insight into life's true diversity and developing the tools to keep track of it. heralds this new phase. The first part of the book describes why biologists now feel that there could have been as many as 4,000 billion species on Earth since life began. It then discusses the need for classification, beginning with the most basic principles--the strictly practical classification of fishmongers and foresters, who speak of "shellfish" and differentiate "hardwood" from "softwood"--and moves on to explore the intriguing deliberations of the modern "transformed cladists" and the novel contributions of molecular genetics. Part II describes the creatures themselves. It is divided into 24 sections, each describing a different group, illustrated by nearly 50 double-page spreads which present genealogical "trees" that summarize the evolutionary relationships between the creatures in each group. Some sections describe large, comprehensive groups such as the kingdoms of the Animals or the Plants. Others treat similar sub-groups in more detail, such as the Mammals, a class, or the Hominids, a family. In lively and accessible prose, all the significant groups of creatures--both alive and extinct--are described and their relationships clarified. For general readers and serious biologists alike, offers an unprecedented storehouse of knowledge of life on earth.

Cornucopia, on Dublin's Wicklow Street, has been serving up delicious vegetarian and vegan fare for more than 33 years. Their mission has always been to make great tasting, home produced, healthy food. At a time when plant-based eating is more popular than ever, Cornucopia is a pioneer in creating delicious meals packed with vegetables, legumes, fruits, herbs and spices. Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan or are trying to cut down on your meat intake, this book brings you punchy flavors and unique, satisfying dishes. With a wide range of ingredients and smart culinary tips and ideas, each recipe is a delight to cook in your own home. This is a cookbook for anyone who feels there is merit in reducing or limiting our consumption of animal-based foods, brought to you from Cornucopia’s long-standing head chef Tony Keogh, the staff of Cornucopia and Aoife Carrigy.

The first sleep book by a leading scientific expert—Professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab—reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better. Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remained elusive. An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity. Walker answers important questions about sleep: how do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during REM sleep? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep aids affect us and can they do long-term damage? Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children, and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book

An illuminating, erudite, lively search for the real Helen of Troy&#8211;a chronicle that combines historical inquiry and storytelling &#233;lan&#8211;from one of Britain’s most widely acclaimed and popular historians. As soon as men began to write, they made Helen of Troy their subject; for close to three thousand years she has been both the embodiment of absolute female beauty and a reminder of the terrible power that beauty can wield. Because of her double marriage to the Greek king Menelaus and the Trojan prince Paris, Helen was held responsible for an enduring enmity between East and West. For millennia she has been viewed as an exquisite agent of extermination. But who was she? Helen exists in many guises: a matriarch from the Age of Heroes who ruled over one of the most fertile areas of the Mycenaean world; Helen of Sparta, the focus of a cult that conflated Helen the heroine with a pre-Greek fertility goddess; the home-wrecker of the Iliad; the bitch-whore of Greek tragedy; the pin-up of Romantic artists. Focusing on the “real” Helen&#8211;a flesh-and-blood aristocrat from the Greek Bronze Age&#8211;Bettany Hughes reconstructs the context of life for this pre-historic princess. Through the eyes of a young Mycenaean woman, Hughes examines the physical, historical, and cultural traces that Helen has left on locations in Greece, North Africa, and Asia Minor. Vivid and compelling, this remarkable book brilliantly unpacks the facts and myths surrounding one of the most enigmatic and notorious figures of all time.