Penguin Books Australia

Growing up in a strict Muslim community in south-east London, Alom Shaha learnt that religion was not to be questioned.  Reciting the Qur'an without understanding what it meant was simply a part of life; so, too, was obeying the imam, praying to god he wasn't sure existed, and enduring beatings when he failed to attend the local mosque.  Shaha was more drawn to science and its power to illuminate. ...

A witty and wide – ranging investigation of the central problem of our time: how to save ourselves from what we want.

Freedom is dangerous.  Half of all deaths in America, for instance, come from overeating, smoking, drinking too much, failing to exercise, and other deadly behaviours that we indulge in against our own better judgement.  Why are we on a campaign of slow-motion suicide?...

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THAT TAKES YOU ON A JOURNEY THROUGH YOUR MIND AND GIVES YOU THE ANSWERS TO THE BIG PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS

There are many books about philosophy, but Who Am I? And If So How Many? is different from the rest. Never before has anyone introduced readers so expertly and, at the same time, so light-heartedly and elegantly to the big philosophical questions.

Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate or we 'blink' and go with our gut.  But as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they're discovering this is not how the mind works.  Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason - and the precise...

'What if I told you that you can save a life, even many lives?  Do you have a bottle of water or a can of soda on the table beside you as you read this book?  If you are paying for something to drink when safe drinking water comes out of the tap, you have money to spend on things you don't really need.  Around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than you paid...

From a pioneer in the field of mental health comes a groundbreaking book on the healing power of 'mindsight', the capacity for insight and empathy that allows you to make positive changes in your brain — and in your life.
 

Provocative, wide-ranging and full of wisdom, Between the Monster and the Saint is a brilliant book about our place in the world. Being human isn't easy. We might think that consciousness and free will give us control over our lives but our minds are dangerous and unpredictable places. We are susceptible to forces we don't understand. We are capable of inflicting immense cruelty on one another - violence...

This book is an attempt to hold the policies of George W. Bush, and his actions as president, up to an ethical standard – including his own. But it goes beyond that. It is also a study...

Arguing that fear has been a crucial factor in shaping Australian public policy, this study charts its consequences on the Australian community. Examining the effects of being constantly warned about the risk of terrorism, this account discusses how xenophobia has shaped policies toward refugees, indigenous Australians, and Islamic fundamentalists.

In this elegant treatise, David Malouf returns to one of the most fundamental questions and gives it a modern twist: what makes for a happy life?

'It's impossible not to warm to Gordon Smith.  He is one of the country's most successful mediums.' The Daily Express

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay? Isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale?...

In recent years, economic growth has been regarded as a self-evident good, with political debate focused on the best means to achieve it. But there are now signs that this shared assumption is weakening. Anger at 'greedy' bankers and their 'obscene' bonuses has given way to a deeper dissatisfaction with an economic system geared overwhelmingly to the accumulation of wealth. Huge income disparities...

The Reason Why is a groundbreaking and provocative new book that explains the importance of planet Earth and its place in our Cosmos.

Does one planet really matter among the immensity of the Cosmos? John Gribbin is here to persuade us that it does. He argues that we owe our existence to the impact of a 'supercomet' with Venus 600 million years ago. But this is only part of the story, just one of the...

Ethics are more than a personal philosophy.

From the crimes of Bernie Madoff to the accusations of war crimes and torture to the massive greed-inspired fraud perpetrated by the financial institutions around the world, this new edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Understanding Ethics, Second Edition , helps clarify the history and evolution of ethics and their application to real life in the...

From the pioneering author who helped introduce the question of 2012 into the global spiritual community comes an epic exploration of the authentic origins and meaning of this portentous date.