Books by Vintage Books

A clever, thought-provoking look at the biological roots of economics -- Kealey"s insightful work illuminates in the tradition of Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond.In this highly original work, the author makes a groundbreaking and exciting connection between the evolutionary and economic history of humanity. He explains how the roots of barter, trade and the contract are embedded i... ...Read More »

In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where all matter is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy. Greene uses everything from an amusement pa... ...Read More »

Martin Buckley travels from north-east India to Sri Lanka to recreate one of the great journeys in world literature ? the Ramayana.Myth, travelogue and holy writ, the Ramayana ? the journey of Rama ? is India"s best-loved book, an inspiration to schoolchildren, monks and movie-makers. It"s one of the world"s great epic tales, yet it is largely unread in the Western world. The story of a man search... ...Read More »

Philomena, fat and lazy when she is requisitioned from an English field at the start of the First World War, sails for Egypt with the territorial regiment, the Dorset Yeomanry. She serves faithfully, charging the dervishes in the Western Desert and enduring the privations of Allenby"s great campaign in Palestine. She recovers from wounds to swelter through a summer in the Jordan Valley. She takes ... ...Read More »

This is the incredible account of Thubron?s 15,000-mile journey, by train, river and truck, among the people most damaged by the breakup of the Soviet Union. It is the story of a people moving through the ruins of Communism into more private, diverse and often stranger worlds. ...Read More »

The story of John Self and his insatiable appetite for money, alcohol, drugs, porn and more. Ceaselessly inventive and thrillingly savage, it is a tale of life lived without restraint; of money and the disasters it can precipitate.,Absolutely one of the funniest, smartest, meanest books I know. John Self, the Rabelaisian narrator of the novel, is an advertising man and director of TV commercials... ...Read More »

An amazing short novel about an Afghan student who seeks freedom from politics and religious fundamentalism. Rahimi"s work provides a rare insight into Afghanistan.In his extraordinary novella Earth and Ashes (published world-wide and now a feature film), Atiq Rahimi distilled all the suffering of the Afghan people into the heart-breaking story of a grandfather seeking revenge for his daughter"s d... ...Read More »

From Citizen Kane to Macbeth, Simon Callow"s brilliant biography of Orson Welles explores the breakdown of his Hollywood career.When Citizen Kane, his first film, opened in 1941, Welles was universally acclaimed as the most audacious filmmaker alive. But instead of marking the beginning of a triumphant career in Hollywood, the film proved to be an exception in Welles"s life and work. He found it i... ...Read More »