“Stand out of our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy” by James Williams

"Former Google advertising strategist, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this 'attention economy', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams's thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine...>>

“American Possessions: Fighting Demons in the Contemporary United States” by Sean McCloud

"Stories of contemporary exorcisms are largely met with ridicule, or even hostility. Sean McCloud argues, however, that there are important themes to consider within these narratives of seemingly well-adjusted people who attend school, go shopping, watch movies, and also happen to fight demons. American Possessions examines Third Wave spiritual warfare, a late twentieth-, early twenty-first century movement of evangelicals focused on banishing demons from human bodies, material objects, land, regions, political parties, and nation states. While Third Wave beliefs may seem far removed from what many scholars view as mainstream religious practice, McCloud argues that the movement provides an ideal case study for identifying some of the most prominent tropes within the contemporary American religious...>>

“Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas” by David Macauley

"Bachelard called them “the hormones of the imagination.” Hegel observed that, “through the four elements we have the elevation of sensuous ideas into thought.” Earth, air, fire, and water are explored as both philosophical ideas and environmental issues associated with their classical and perennial conceptions. David Macauley embarks upon a wide-ranging discussion of their initial appearance in ancient Greek thought as mythic forces or scientific principles to their recent reemergence within contemporary continental philosophy as a means for understanding landscape and language, poetry and place, the body and the body politic. In so doing, he shows the importance of elemental thinking for comprehending and responding to ecological problems. In tracing changing views of the...>>

“Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth” by W.B. Yeats

"This collection brings together all of W. B. Yeats’s published prose writings on Irish folklore, legend and myth, with pieces on subjects including ghosts, kidnappers, fairies, ancient tribes, precious stones and Gaelic love songs. Through his researches on Irish folklore, Yeats attempted to create a movement in literature that was enriched by and rooted in a vital native tradition. In this volume Yeats’s essays, introductions and sketches are presented chronologically, giving a clear picture of how his analysis developed, increasing in its depth and complexity in his quest to create an Ireland of the imagination."...>>

“The Magical Life of Scott Cunningham” by Donald Michael Kraig

"For years, a young man joined covens to investigate and practice Wicca. He puzzled over two questions and wrote a book about his answers. That book encouraged people, for the first time ever, to learn and follow Wicca on their own, changing Wicca into the fastest growing faith on the planet. That book was Wicca, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. That man was Scott Cunningham. Who was he? What drove him as a writer and in his personal and spiritual life? Donald Michael Kraig, Scott’s roommate for six years, reveals the real Scott in this new look at everything Cunningham. Discover how Scott became fascinated by herbal magic and discovered Wicca. See how his approach...>>