In early 1994 Marina Warner delivered the prestigious Reith Lectures for the BBC. In a series of six lectures, she takes areas of contemporary concern and relates them to stories from mythology and fairy tale which continue to grip the modern imagination. She analyses the fury about single mothers and the anxiety about masculinity in the light of ideals about male heroism and control; the current despair about children and the loss of childhood innocence; the changing attitude of myths about wild men and beasts and the undertow of racism which is expressed in myths about savages and cannibals. The last lecture, on home, brings the themes together to examine ideas about who we are and where we belong, with reference to the British nation and its way of telling its own history. Using a range of examples from video games to Turner's paintings, from popular films to Keats, Marina Warner interweaves her critique of fantasy, dream and prejudice.

Marina Warner's 1994 Reith Lectures, in which she offered a definition of myth and its many contemporary faces, exploring the monster, children, mothers, strangers, and the idea of home.

A Powerful Look at Corporate Change and Why Mergers, Reorganizations, and Transformations Succeed or Fail “[One of the] best business books of 2001 . . . [a] useful and intelligent tool for coping with the inevitable metamorphoses of business (and life).” —Miami Herald “Provocative imagery . . . useful questions for managers to ask themselves.” —Harvard Business Review “The Change Monster not only talks intelligently about the social dynamics and emotions of people [in change efforts], it does so with wisdom, insight, and practicality.”—Daniel Leemon, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Charles Schwab Corporation “A practitioner’s primer on revitalization that puts you in the shoes of some who have failed and others who have succeeded. In doing so, Jeanie Daniel Duck graphically delivers her main message to management: Learn to master the emotions and obsessions of those who stand in the way of change, including your own, and once you do, you have your hands on a miraculous engine for change.” —Michael Useem, professor of management and director of the Center for Leadership and Change at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Leadership Moment and Leading Up “Duck is an acute and empathetic observer of the changes erupting in the workplace from the convulsive nature of corporate evolution. . . . Jeanie Duck’s terrific book is a . . . useful and intelligent tool for coping with the inevitable metamorphoses of business (and life). Sensitive but tough, Duck’s compassionate wisdom is street smart without a trace of glibness.” —Miami Herald

A leading scholar explores what it means to dehumanize others—and how and why we do it. “I wouldn’t have accepted that they were human beings. You would see an infant who’s just learning to smile, and it smiles at you, but you still kill it.” So a Hutu man explained to an incredulous researcher, when asked to recall how he felt slaughtering Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. Such statements are shocking, yet we recognize them; we hear their echoes in accounts of genocides, massacres, and pogroms throughout history. How do some people come to believe that their enemies are monsters, and therefore easy to kill? In Making Monsters David Livingstone Smith offers a poignant meditation on the philosophical and psychological roots of dehumanization. Drawing on harrowing accounts of lynchings, Smith establishes what dehumanization is and what it isn’t. When we dehumanize our enemy, we hold two incongruous beliefs at the same time: we believe our enemy is at once subhuman and fully human. To call someone a monster, then, is not merely a resort to metaphor—dehumanization really does happen in our minds. Turning to an abundance of historical examples, Smith explores the relationship between dehumanization and racism, the psychology of hierarchy, what it means to regard others as human beings, and why dehumanizing others transforms them into something so terrifying that they must be destroyed. Meticulous but highly readable, Making Monsters suggests that the process of dehumanization is deeply seated in our psychology. It is precisely because we are all human that we are vulnerable to the manipulations of those trading in the politics of demonization and violence.

Once upon a time, there were three little rascals who thought they were the BIGGEST, BADDEST monsters around. Then along came an even BIGGER monster who changed their minds. And all it took was two little words. In this playful tale from bestselling picture book author Patrick McDonnell, a very BIG monster shows three very BAD little monsters the power of boundless gratitude.

“A stunning book...a brand new take on the monster story.” —Eoin Colfer, international bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series From award-winning author Pádraig Kenny comes an action-packed middle grade fantasy about a family of monsters, perfect for fans of Jonathan Auxier and Victoria Schwab. Mirabelle is part of a very unusual family. Between Uncle Bertram transforming into a ferocious grizzly bear and Aunt Eliza’s body being made entirely of spiders, it’s safe to say they are an extraordinary lot. To the human residents of Rookhaven Village, the family is a threat. So long ago, a treaty was reached between them—in return for sundries and supplies, the monsters won’t eat the townspeople—and an invisible glamour was set around the perimeter of the Manor to keep strangers out. But the glamour serves a second purpose: to keep Mirabelle and her family hidden from those who would do them harm. When two orphans—siblings Jem and Tom—stumble upon a tear in the magical field and open a door that was meant to stay locked, Mirabelle and her family are put in grave danger. A very real monster has locked onto their scent, and he has a hunger for their kind. At turns chilling and thought-provoking, and stunningly illustrated by Edward Bettison, Pádraig Kenny’s The Monsters of Rookhaven explores difference and empathy through the eyes of characters you won’t soon forget.