Penguin Books Australia

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual , by Michael Pollan, internationally bestselling author of In Defence of Food .

For thousands of years, humans have eaten well and stayed healthy without nutritional scientists or even knowing what an antioxidant is.

So which of the modern world's hundreds of rules do we actually need?

Eat Food,
Not too much,
Mainly plants.

'David A. Kessler, who led the battle against the tobacco industry, now joins the fight against obesity. His message is important: the problem is not only the behaviour of profit-driven food companies, but also the daily choices that each one of us makes' Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

Many of us find ourselves powerless in front of a bag of crisps, a packet of biscuits, the last slice...

Malcolm Gladwell is the master of playful yet profound insight. His ability to see underneath the surface of the seemingly mundane taps into a fundamental human impulse: curiosity. From criminology to ketchup, job interviews to dog training, Malcolm Gladwell takes everyday subjects and shows us surprising new ways of looking at them, and the world around us.
 

Why do people believe rumours – even when they are false, destructive or bizarre?

Why do some groups accept a rumour, while others dismiss it completely?

What can we do to protect ourselves against rumours?

'Perhaps the most amazing fact about Shirky's incisive manual for building a better world is this: it's just possible that everything he promises may be true' Observer

'Fizzes with great insights . . . It's a delight to read and will change how you think about the future' Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

In the past, we filled our free time with the tools at our disposal. Television became a kind of universal...

'A phalanx of motorcycles came roaring over the hill form the west . . . the noise was like a landslide, or a wing of bombers passing over.   Even knowing the Angles I could quite handle what I was seeing.   It was like Genghis Khan, Morgan's Raiders, the Wild One and the Rape of Nanking all at once.'

Today the word 'fascist' is usually an insult aimed at those on the right, from neocons to big business.   But what does it really mean?   What if the true heirs to fascism were actually those who thought of themselves as being terribly nice and progressive – the liberals? 

Jonah Goldberg's excoriating, opinion-dividing US bestseller explains why.   Here he destroys long-held...

'A fizzingly entertaining and enlighting book' Daily Mail

'Gladwell is not only a brilliant storyteller; he can see what those stories tell us, the lessons they contain' Guardian

Why do some people achieve so much more than others?
Can they lie so far out of the ordinary?

'Eat food.   Not too much.   Mostly plants'

Everyone is always trying to persuade us of something: politicians, advertising, the media, and most definitely our families. With all the wisdom of the ages, from Aristotle and Stalin to Yoda and Monty Python, Winning Arguments will show you how to win more than your fair share of arguments, as well as:

'Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable …the backlash against mindless consumerism has begun . . . for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us'
TIME OUT 

Design is everywhere. It seduces, pleases and inspires us. It makes us part with our money. It defines who we think we are. And understanding it offers us a whole new way of seeing the world.

An iPhone, an anglepoise...

'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others . . . in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes . . . An enjoyable book by a skilled author' 
Financial Times

What were the twelve labours of Herakles?
Why did Zeus turn himself into a shower of gold?
What was the name of the guard-dog of the Underworld?
Which two-faced Roman god gave his name to the month January?
What is the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx?

Fashion may be fabulous, but what price true luxury? With incredible access to the glamorous world of the luxury brand, Deluxe goes deep inside the workings of today's world of profit margins and market share to discover the fate of real luxury. From the importance of fashion owners, to red carpet stars and the seasonal 'must-have' handbags, Dana Thomas shows how far illustrious houses have moved...

Eric Scholsser's explosive bestseller, by turns funny and terrifying, tells the story of our love affair with fast food. He visits the lab that re-creates the smell of strawberries; examines the safety records of abattoirs; reveals why the fries taste...

The kingdoms of Connacht and Ulster are preparing to do battle with each other. Medb, the sly and envious Queen of Connacht, is on a mission to steal the fabled Brown Bull of Cooley from the men of Ulster. The Ulstermen, crippled by an ancient curse, face defeat from her armies, until a hero emerges in the shape of the warrior Cú Chulainn: a man of superhuman strength and supernatural powers...