Catalog All books
James B. Collins
The Republican Monarchy State and Society in France Under Louis XIV
A new approach to France under Louis XIV and to Ancien Régime society
Alain Peyrefitte, Raymond Boudon, Pierre Chaunu
Values and Modernity Expanding on Alain Peyrefitte
With The Society of Confidence, and Of the Economic Miracle, Alain Peyrefitte has illustrated that growth is not primarily founded on the material wealth of a nation, capital, or even on work. Development is intrinsically linked to mentalities and values, which are the essential elements of economic, political and social modernity. Using this thesis as a starting point, the Institute of France organised a conference which brought together economic and technological historians, sociologists, criminologists, and experts from across the world, amongst which were R.Boudon, S.Eisenstadt, D.Landes, and S.Lipset. The wide spectrum of debate runs from the history of religious mentalities (P. Chaunu, J.Delumeau), to penal philosophy (D. Szabo). The comparative outlook of this book allows the reader an insight into the hidden depths of confidence, from Switzerland (J.-F. Bergier), to Japan (Terushi Hara), right through to the Third World (P. Moussa).
Fareed Zakaria
The Future of Freedom
Is it really so that more democracy leads automatically to more freedom ? Why, in the four corners of the world, are we now seeing an increased capacity for religion to mobilise the people ? Why, in Europe as in the United States, do we have minorities and oligarchies reigning in the name of the people ? Why has there been an increase in the number of regimes which are born from the polling booth, yet which exalt fanaticism, repression and war ? A dazzling world tour of the geo-political horizon, and also a lesson in modern and contemporary history, which we lead us to reexamine our own prejudices. Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and was formerly the managing director of the review Foreign Affairs.
Colette Chiland, Jean-Philippe Raynaud
The Brain, the Psyche and Development
A fascinating work on the mental development and treatment of children, by eminent specialists in psychiatry and the neurosciences
Serban Ionescu, Boris Cyrulnik
Resilience: From Cells to Societies The 2nd World Congress on Resilience
How to create resilience, at every level, step by step. A book that places the concept of resilience on a continuum going from cellular to societal level.
Michel Cassé
The Void and Eternity
A synthesis of current cosmological theories, by one of the greatest astrophysicists of our time
Roger Vigouroux
The Making of Beauty
Where does the gift of artistic genius come from? Why Mozart, why Doestoevsky and Van Gogh? What happens in the brain of a man who devotes his life to writing, painting or music? What is it that pushes us towards the pleasure of listening to a symphony, to the emotion of contemplating a painting, to the joy of reading a poem? Roger Vigouroux is a neurologist.
Marc Crépon
The Writer’s Vocation
From earliest childhood we all know how violent, unfair, even inflexible, language can be — particularly when we have to confront our parents’ or schoolteachers’ anger.
Louis Ploton, Boris Cyrulnik
Resilience and Ageing
By learning to accept renouncement we can aspire to a more contented old age: an approach to ageing that overturns many received ideas
José Moraïs
Read, write and be free From Literacy to Democracy
The essential, driving role of literacy in the transformation of existing pseudo-democracies into real democracies
Irène Théry
Filiation, Origins, Parenthood How Lawmakers Are Dealing with Recent Notions of Inter-generational Responsibility
One of the most sensitive social issues of the day, analysed by an acclaimed specialist on family and social transformations
Claude Aron
Bisexuality and the Order of Nature
Our sex defines our identity before we are even named - "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" is the traditional welcome we receive in this world. Similarly, throughout our entire life, our gender defines our diverse social roles. Yet, this book shows how nature presents us with only one model, that of bisexuality. Endocrinian manipulations have shown that it is possible to change from one sexuality to another in a reversible manner. This book is key reading in the debate about the genetic character, or not, of homosexuality. Claude Aron, a specialist in in the physiology of reproduction, is also an honorary professor of the Louis-Pasteur University in Strasbourg.