In John Cage, Rob Haskins outlines how the controversial artist contributed to twentieth-century music, literature and art. Haskins considers John Cage's life, art, ideas and work, evaluating the twin pillars of Cage's creative output and the ideas that lie behind it.

Robert Bird traces Fyodor Dostoevsky's path from a political revolutionary to one who fought his battles through the printed word. The author describes how Dostoevsky's difficult background contributed to his highly acclaimed novels such as Crime and Punishment (1867) and The Brothers Karamazov.

Baltic Facades presents a new history of the Baltic area, one that dispels the myth of a single, coherent regional identity. Aldis Purs describes the unique character of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, whilst also examining the anxiety that these peoples feel about how others perceive them.

War has always been close to the centre of British culture, but never more so than in the period since 1850. This text explores the way in which images of battle, both literary and visual, have been constructed in British fiction and popular culture since this time.

For a sparsely populated region on the edge of Europe, Scandinavia has attracted an unusual degree of interest during the twentieth century. This book advocates a government-funded welfare state, an egalitarian tax system and strict job regulation.

Shows that the roots and effects of insomnia are complex, and reveals how humans have employed art, science and witchcraft to understand and treat the affliction. This exploration of sleeplessness begins with the literature of ancient times, and finds its sufferers in prominent texts such as the Iliad , the Odyssey , and the Bible.

Majestic, noble, brave lions, with their tawny coats and luminous eyes, have inspired countless stories, traditions and beliefs. Whether we are seduced by their beauty or drawn to danger, we want to be near them. This book draws on the scientific research, folklore, travel literature, and lion tamers' memoirs to guide readers on a cultural safari.

An exploration of the murky world of fake science and pseudo-history: fields that generally rely on lost continents, ancient super-civilizations, conspiratorial cover-ups, preternaturally daring and undocumented discoveries, and even vast Satan-inspired plots to offer an alternative version of the past.

Robert Motherwell was by far the most intellectual and articulate of the Abstract Expressionists. This book examines Motherwell's way of thinking and writing in relation to his paintings.

A distinct symbol of the desert and the Middle East, the camel was once unkindly described as half snake, half folding bedstead. But in the eyes of many the camel is a creature of great beauty. This book explores why the camel has fascinated so many cultures, including those in places where camels are not indigenous.

Confrontations with naked human bodies can provoke powerful, and often contradictory, impressions and feelings. Mystics have embraced nudity to get closer to God or to some other remote power. This book traces our preoccupation with nudity in three distinct areas of human endeavour: religion, politics and popular culture.

The 'invisible masterpiece' is an unattainable ideal, a work into which a dream of absolute art is incorporated but can never be realized. This book shows the variety of ways in which the status and meaning of the masterpiece have been elevated and denigrated since the early nineteenth century.

In January 2006, a man tried to break Marcel Duchamp's Fountain sculpture with a small hammer. The sculpted foot of Michelangelo's David was damaged in 1991 by a purportedly mentally-ill artist. The author tackles this weighty issue in depth, exploring spectres of censorship, iconoclasm and vandalism that surround such acts.

The dream of a happy life has preoccupied thinkers since Plato, and in modern times it has become one of the signature tunes of our age - the rise of therapists, gurus, and the use of Prozac are familiar indicators of how ubiquitous the pursuit of happiness has become in Western culture. This book examines how this modern obsession has evolved.

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) is an iconic figure of the Beat generation. In this revealing study Phil Baker investigates this cult writer's life and work, and his self-portrayal as an explorer of inner space, reporting back from the frontiers of experience.