Very Short Introductions

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The Very Short Introductions series (or VSI series) is a book series published by the Oxford University Press publishing house. Each book in the series offers a concise yet cogent introduction to a particular subject. Written by acknowledged experts, most books are between 100-150 pages and contain suggestions for further reading. Authors often present personal viewpoints, but each introduction is intended to be balanced and complete.

As of September 2007, there are more than 170 titles in the series, including History, Theology, Literary Theory, Philosophy of Science, Postmodernism, Emotion, Animal Rights, Ethics, Shakespeare, Hume, Terrorism, The Spanish Civil War and Evolution. The publisher states that "the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all readers an accessible and abundant reference library."[citation needed]

The VSI series has been extremely successful, both commercially[1] and critically[citation needed], since its inception in 1998. Many of the books have been used as textbooks in introductory university courses.[citation needed]

Many of the books were comissioned explicitly for the series, but a number had previously been published by OUP.

[edit] List of books in the series

# Topic Author(s) Publication date # Topic Author(s) Publication date
001 Classics Mary Beard,
John Henderson		 24 February 2000 002 Music Nicholas Cook 24 February 2000
003 Buddhism Damien Keown 24 February 2000 004 Literary Theory Jonathan Culler 24 February 2000
005 Hinduism Kim Knott 24 February 2000 006 Psychology Gillian Butler,
Freda McManus		 24 February 2000
007 Islam Malise Ruthven 24 February 2000 008 Politics Kenneth Minogue 24 February 2000
009 Theology David F. Ford 24 February 2000 010 Archaeology Paul Bahn
(illustrator: Bill Tidy)		 24 February 2000
011 Judaism Norman Solomon 24 February 2000 012 Sociology Steve Bruce 24 February 2000
013 The Koran Michael Cook 24 February 2000 014 The Bible John Riches 24 February 2000
015 Social and Cultural Anthropology John Monaghan,
Peter Just		 24 February 2000 016 History John H. Arnold 24 February 2000
017 Roman Britain Peter Salway 10 August 2000 018 The Anglo-Saxon Age John Blair 10 August 2000
019 Medieval Britain John Gillingham,
Ralph A. Griffiths		 10 August 2000 020 The Tudors John Guy 10 August 2000
021 Stuart Britain John Morrill 10 August 2000 022 Eighteenth-Century Britain Paul Langford 10 August 2000
023 Nineteenth-Century Britain' Christopher Harvie,
H. C. G. Matthew		 10 August 2000 024 Twentieth-Century Britain Kenneth O. Morgan 10 August 2000
025 Heidegger Michael Inwood 12 October 2000 026 Ancient Philosophy Julia Annas 12 October 2000
027 Socrates C. C. W. Taylor 12 October 2000 028 Marx Peter Singer 12 October 2000
029 Logic Graham Priest 12 October 2000 030 Descartes Tom Sorell 12 October 2000
031 Machiavelli Quentin Skinner 12 October 2000 032 Aristotle Jonathan Barnes 12 October 2000
033 Hume A. J. Ayer 12 October 2000 034 Nietzsche Michael Tanner 19 October 2000
035 Darwin Jonathan Howard 22 February 2001 036 The European Union John Pinder 22 February 2001
037 Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh 22 February 2001 038 Augustine Henry Chadwick 22 February 2001
039 Intelligence Ian J. Deary 22 February 2001 040 Jung Anthony Stevens 22 February 2001
041 Buddha Michael Carrithers 22 February 2001 042 Paul E. P. Sanders 22 February 2001
043 Continental Philosophy Simon Critchley 22 February 2001 044 Galileo Stillman Drake 22 February 2001
045 Freud Anthony Storr 22 February 2001 046 Wittgenstein A. C. Grayling 22 February 2001
047 Indian Philosophy Sue Hamilton 22 February 2001 048 Rousseau Robert Wokler 23 August 2001
049 Hegel Peter Singer 23 August 2001 050 Kant Roger Scruton 23 August 2001
051 Cosmology Peter Coles 23 August 2001 052 Drugs Leslie Iversen 23 August 2001
053 Russian literature Catriona Kelly 23 August 2001 054 The French Revolution William Doyle 23 August 2001
055 Philosophy Edward Craig 21 February 2002 056 Barthes Jonathan Culler 21 February 2002
057 Animal Rights David DeGrazia 21 February 2002 058 Kierkegaard Patrick Gardiner 21 February 2002
059 Russell A. C. Grayling 21 February 2002 060 Shakespeare Germaine Greer 21 February 2002
061 Clausewitz Michael Howard 21 February 2002 062 Schopenhauer Christopher Janaway 21 February 2002
063 The Russian Revolution S. A. Smith 21 February 2002 064 Hobbes Richard Tuck 30 May 2002
066 Mathematics Timothy Gowers 22 August 2002 065 World Music Philip V. Bohlman 30 May 2002
067 Philosophy of Science Samir Okasha 30 May 2002 068 Cryptography Fred Piper,
Sean Murphy		 30 May 2002
069 Quantum Theory John Polkinghorne 30 May 2002 070 Spinoza Roger Scruton 30 May 2002
071 Choice Theory Michael Allingham 22 August 2002 072 Architecture Andrew Ballantyne 22 August 2002
073 Poststructuralism Catherine Belsey 22 August 2002 074 Postmodernism Christopher Butler 10 October 2002
075 Democracy Bernard Crick 10 October 2002 076 Empire Stephen Howe 22 August 2002
077 Fascism Kevin Passmore 22 August 2002 078 Terrorism Charles Townshend 10 October 2002
079 Plato Julia Annas 13 February 2003 080 Ethics Simon Blackburn 8 May 2003
081 Emotion Dylan Evans 13 February 2003 082 Northern Ireland Marc Mulholland 23 January 2003
083 Art Theory Cynthia Freeland 13 February 2003 084 Locke John Dunn 8 May 2003
085 Modern Ireland Senia Paseta 27 March 2003 086 Globalization Manfred B. Steger 27 March 2003
087 Cold War Robert J. McMahon 27 March 2003 088 The History of Astronomy Michael Hoskin 8 May 2003
089 Schizophrenia Chris Frith,
Eve C. Johnstone		 22 May 2003 090 The Earth Martin Redfern 26 June 2003
091 Engels Terrel Carver 22 May 2003 092 British Politics Tony Wright 22 May 2003
093 Linguistics P.H. Matthews 24 April 2003 094 The Celts Barry Cunliffe 26 June 2003
095 Ideology Michael Freeden 26 June 2003 096 Prehistory Chris Gosden 26 June 2003
097 Political Philosophy David Miller 26 June 2003 098 Postcolonialism Robert J.C. Young 26 June 2003
099 Atheism Julian Baggini 26 June 2003 100 Evolution Brian Charlesworth, Deborah Charlesworth 26 June 2003
101 Molecules Phillip Ball 2 November 2003 102 Art History Dana Arnold 22 January 2004
103 Presocratic Philosophy Catherine Osborne 22 April 2004 104 The Elements Phillip Ball 8 April 2004
105 Dada and Surrealism David Hopkins 8 April 2004 106 Egyptian Myth Geraldine Pinch 22 April 2004
107 Christian Art Beth Williamson 24 June 2004 108 Capitalism James Fulcher 13 May 2004
109 Particle Physics F. E. Close 13 May 2004 110 Free Will Thomas Bank 24 June 2004
111 Myth Robert A. Segal 8 July 2004 112 Hieroglyphs Penelope Wilson 12 August 2004
113 Ancient Egypt Ian Shaw 22 July 2004 114 Medical Ethics Tony Hope 23 September 2004
115 Kafka Ritchie Robertson 28 October 2004 116 Anarchism Colin Ward 21 October 2004
117 Ancient Warfare Harry Sidebottom 25 November 2004 118 Global Warming Mark Maslin 25 November 2004
119 Christianity Linda Woodhead 25 November 2004 120 Modern Art David Cottington 24 February 2005
121 Consciousness Susan Blackmore 24 March 2005 122 Foucault Gary Gutting 24 March 2005
123 Spanish Civil War Helen Graham 24 March 2005 124 Marquis de Sade John Phillips 28 July 2005
125 Habermas Gordon Finlayson 26 May 2005 126 Socialism Michael Newman 28 July 2005
127 Dreaming J. Allan Hobson 21 April 2005 128 Dinosaurs David Norman 28 July 2005
129 Renaissance Art Geraldine A. Johnson 21 April 2005 130 Buddhist Ethics Damien Keown 23 June 2005
131 Tragedy Adrian Poole 11 August 2005 132 Sikhism Eleanor Nesbitt 22 September 2005
133 The History of Time Leofranc Holford-Strevens 11 August 2005 134 Nationalism Steven Grosby 8 September 2005
135 World Trade Organization Amrita Narlikar 8 September 2005 136 Design John Heskett 23 June 2005
137 Vikings Julian D. Richards 8 September 2005 138 Fossils Keith Thomson 13 October 2005
139 Journalism Ian Hargreaves 15 September 2005 140 Crusades Christopher Tyerman 13 October 2005
141 Humanism Margaret Walters 27 October 2005 142 Human Evolution Bernard Wood 3 November 2005
143 Dead Sea Scrolls Timothy Lim 24 November 2005 144 Brain Michael O'Shea 8 December 2005
145 Global Catastrophes Bill McGuire 26 January 2006 146 Contemporary Art Julian Stallabrass 23 March 2006
147 Philosophy of Law Raymond Wacks 18 May 2006 148 The Renaissance Jerry Brotton 21 April 2006
149 Anglicanism Mark Chapman 22 June 2006 150 The Roman Empire Christopher Kelly 24 August 2006
151 Photography Steven Edwards 24 August 2006 152 Psychiatry Tom Burns 21 September 2006
153 Existentialism Thomas Flynn 12 Oct 2006 154 First World War Michael Howard 25 Jan 2007
155 Fundamentalism Malise Ruthven 25 Jan 2007 156 Economics Partha Dasgupta 22 Feb 2007
157 International Migration Khalid Koser 22 Feb 2007 158 Newton Rob Iliffe 25 Jan 2007
159 Chaos Lenny Smith 22 Feb 2007 160 African History John Parker,
Richard Pathbone		 22 Mar 2007
161 Racism Ali Rattansi 22 March 2007 162 Kabbalah Joseph Dan 30 August 2007
163 Human Rights Andrew Clapham 28 June 2007 164 Relations Paul Wilkinson 26 July 2007
165 The American Presidency Charles O. Jones 11 October 2007 166 The Great Depression and New Deal Eric Rauchway May 2008
167 Classical Mythology Helen Morales 23 August 2007 169 American Political Parties and Elections L. Sandy Maisel 27 September 2007
170 Bestsellers John Sutherland 25 October 2007 171 Geopolitics Klaus Dodds 25 October 2007
172 Antisemitism Steven Beller 22 November 2007 173 Game Theory Ken Binmore 25 October 2007
174 HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside 24 January 2008 175 Documentary Film Patricia Aufderheide 24 January 2008
176 Modern China Rana Mitter 28 February 2008 177 The Quakers Pink Dandelion 28 February 2008
178 German Literature Nicholas Boyle 28 February 2008 179 Nuclear Weapons Joseph M. Siracusa 20 March 2008
180 Law Raymond Wacks 27 March 2008 181 The Old Testament Michael Coogan 22 May 2008
182 Galaxies John Gribbin 27 March 2008 183 Mormonism Richard Lyman Bushman May 2008
185 Geography John A. Matthews
David T. Herbert		 22 May 2008 186 The Meaning of Life Terry Eagleton April 2008
187 Sexuality Veronique Mottier April 2008 188 Nelson Mandela Elleke Boehmer July 2008
189 Science and Religion Thomas Dixon July 2008 190 Relativity Russell Stannard July 2008
191 The History of Medicine William Bynum July 2008

[edit] Boxed Sets

Six boxed sets, each with a different theme, were released in 2006. Five best selling books of the series from the theme are included, and each set comes with a copy of Very Short Introduction to Everything.

  • The Ballot Box
    • Politics (008)
    • Capitalism (108)
    • Democracy (075)
    • Socialism (126)
    • Fascism (077)
  • The Brain Box
    • Evolution (100)
    • Consciousness (121)
    • Intelligence (039)
    • Cosmology (051)
    • Quantum Theory (069)
  • The Thought Box
    • Hegel (049)
    • Marx (028)
    • Nietzsche (034)
    • Schopenhauer (062)
    • Kierkegaard (058)
  • The Basics Box
    • Philosophy (055)
    • Mathematics (066)
    • History (016)
    • Politics (008)
    • Psychology (006)
  • The Boom Box
    • Ancient Warfare (117)
    • Cold War (087)
    • Crusades (140)
    • French Revolution (054)
    • Spanish Civil War (123)
  • The Picture Box
    • Art History (102)
    • Renaissance Art (129)
    • Modern Art (120)
    • Architecture (072)
    • Design (136)

[edit] External links