Book Series in Literature
Routledge Critical Thinkers
New & Published Titles:

Giorgio Agamben
Giorgio Agamben is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary continental philosophy and critical theory. His work covers a broad array of…
read moreApril 2010 | Paperback: 978-0-415-45169-7 (Routledge)

Jean-Paul Sartre
A critical figure in twentieth-century century literature and philosophy, Jean-Paul Sartre changed the course of critical thought, and claimed a new, important role for the…
read more2009 | Paperback: 978-0-415-43565-9 (Routledge)

F.R. Leavis
‘informative, succint, circumspect; an exacting introduction to Leavis as an incisive master critic. Ideal for today’s students and general readers’ – Chris Terry, Times Higher…
read more2009 | Paperback: 978-0-415-36417-1 (Routledge)

Sigmund Freud
2nd Edition
The work of Sigmund Freud has penetrated almost every area of literary theory and cultural studies, as well as contemporary culture. Pamela Thurschwell explains and…
read more2009 | Paperback: 978-0-415-47369-9 (Routledge)

Jean Baudrillard
2nd Edition
Jean Baudrillard is one of the most controversial theorists of our time, famous for his claim that the Gulf War never happened and for his…
read more2008 | Paperback: 978-0-415-47448-1 (Routledge)

Edward Said
2nd Edition
Edward Said is perhaps best known as the author of the landmark study Orientalism, a book which changed the face of critical theory and shaped…
read more2008 | Paperback: 978-0-415-47689-8 (Routledge)

Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt's work offers a powerful critical engagement with the cultural and philosophical crises of mid-twentieth-century Europe. Her idea of the banality of evil, made…
read more2008 | Paperback: 978-0-415-42586-5 (Routledge)

Emmanuel Levinas
Best known for his theories of ethics and responsibility, Emmanuel Levinas was one of the most profound and influential thinkers of the last century.…
read more2008 | Paperback: 978-0-415-40275-0 (Routledge)

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was one of the most significant literary theorists of the last forty years and a key figure in contemporary queer theory. In…
read more2008 | Paperback: 978-0-415-35845-3 (Routledge)

Theodor Adorno
The range of Adorno's achievement, and the depth of his insights, is breathtaking and daunting. His work on literary, artistic, and musical forms, his devastating…
read more2007 | Paperback: 978-0-415-41819-5 (Routledge)
Series Details:
Designed for students of language, literature, music and cultural studies, these compact, intelligent guides introduce key figures in contemporary critical thought. They provide a springboard for further study and informed engagement with each theorist's original texts.
Concise and reader-friendly, each guide explains:
- the importance of the thinker
- what motivated their work
- their key ideas
- who and what influenced them
- who and what they have influenced
- what to read next and why.
Features include: end of chapter summaries, explanations of key terms, boxed summaries of historical events, extensively annotated guides to further reading, full index.
Forthcoming Titles:
Walter Benjamin
By Barbara Engh
To be published May 1st 2011
Martin Heidegger
By Timothy Clark
To be published April 30th 2011
Theorists of the City: Walter Benjamin, Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau
By Jenny Bavidge
To be published January 15th 2011
