Uncertainty about what is truly going on makes it simpler to hold to irrational views.' From the man who wrote more about his country than anybody, razor-sharp thoughts on patriotism, bigotry, and power. Penguin Modern is a collection of fifty new books that celebrate the legendary Penguin Modern Classics series' pioneering spirit, with each giving a concentrated dosage of the series' contemporary, worldwide flavour. From Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem, and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson, here are essays that are both radical and inspiring, poems that are both moving and disturbing, and stories that are both surreal and fantastic, taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of space.

This book reassesses the contribution to international thought of some of the most important thinkers of the inter-war period. It takes as its starting point E. H. Carr's famous critique which, more than any other work, established the reputation of the period as the `utopian' or `idealist' phase of international relations theorizing. This characterization of inter-war thought is scrutinized through ten detailed studies of such writers as Norman Angell, J. A. Hobson, J. M. Keynes, David Mitrany, and Alfred Zimmern. The studies demonstrate the diversity of perspectives within `idealism' and call into question the descriptive and analytical value of the entire notion. It is concluded that `idealism' is an overly general term, useful for scoring debating points rather than providing a helpful category for analysis.

The Great Deception shows how the most ambitious political project of our time has for more than 50 years been based on a colossal confidence trick - the systematic concealment from the people of Europe of what the aim of this project has always been since its inception in the late 1940s. Updated to include the recent developments in Europe, including the referendum and the upcoming votes in France and Holland. As it reveals for the first time the true story behind the long-term plan to build a politically united Europe, the authors show how all previous attempts to reconstruct the history of this project - whether written by Europhiles or Eurosceptics - have got it wrong, at almost every step along the way. With all the suspense of a detective story, drawing on thousands of books, papers, and official documents, many of which have only become publicly available in the past few years, the book traces how a handful of determined visionaries set out more than half a century ago to weld the countries of Europe into a single political state.

In his book, 'Building the Kingdom of God on Earth', Dr. Erdmann deals primarily with John Foster Dulles' participation in the ecumenical movement from 1919 to 1945. Dulles' role in shaping the religious, economic, and political policies of the Federal Council of Churches in its support of world order and peace, especially in his function as chairman of the Commission on a Just and Durable Peace, was crowned with success in the founding of the United Nations Organisation in 1945. His personal friends Philip Kerr (Lord Lothian) and Lionel Curtis, the principal leaders of the Round Table Group, come into the pictures at various times. By and large they pursued the same objectives as those of Dulles. The book shows the detailed influence of the Round Table Group and its affiliated organisations - such as the Royal Institute of International Affairs (London) and the Council for Foreign Relations (New York City) - on the ecumenical movement, using it successfully for their purpose of creating an international community of nations.