This book is about the power of education: the kind of education that simultaneously improves the quality of life both of individuals and the wider society. It explains why education must be viewed as a basic human right, as a value in and of itself, and reviews the evidence on how education builds the human resources that individuals and nations need to be productive, to continue to learn, to solve problems, to be creative, and to live together and with nature in peace and harmony.

During Virginia Woolf's lifetime Britain's position in the world changed, and so did the outlook of its people. The Boer War and the First World War forced politicians and citizens alike to ask how far the power of the state extended into the lives of individuals; the rise of fascism provided one menacing answer.

Many linguists and philosophers of language explain linguistic meaning in terms of truth conditions. This book focuses on the meanings of expressions that escape such truth-conditional treatment, in particular the concessives: but, even if, and although. Corinne Iten proposes semantic analyses of these expressions based on the cognitive framework of relevance theory. A thoroughly cognitive approach to linguistic meaning is presented in which linguistic forms are seen as mapping onto mental entities, rather than individuals and properties in the real world. Researchers and advanced students in pragmatics will find this account lucid, clear and accessible.

The denial of the European peoples' right to their own heritage, history and even their physical homelands has become part of the cultural fundament of the modern West. Mass immigration, selective and vilifying propaganda, and a constant barrage of perverse or, at best, pointless consumer culture all contribute to the transformation of Europe into a non-entity. Her native population consists mostly of atomistic individuals, lacking any semblance of purpose or direction, increasingly victimised by a political system with no interest in the people it governs.

Since ancient times, storytelling has been a valued art form that enables traditions, beliefs, and lessons to be transmitted from one generation to the next. Epics such as Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid and tales such as those contained in the collected The Thousand and One Nights offer modern-day readers a glimpse into various countries and cultures, as well as different eras. The individuals and works profiled in this absorbing volume have withstood the test of time, remaining culturally significant and influencing authors and readers alike for centuries.