First published in 1923, The Prospects of Industrial Civilization is considered the most ambitious of Bertrand Russell's works on modern society. It offers a rare glimpse into often-ignored subtleties of his political thought and in it he argues that industrialism is a threat to human freedom, since it is fundamentally linked with nationalism. His proposal for one government for the whole world as the ultimate solution, along with his argument that the global village and prevailing political democracy should be its eventual results, is both provocative and thoroughly...

First published in 1954, Human Society in Ethics and Politics is Bertrand Russell's last full account of his ethical and political positions relating to both politics and religion. Ethics, he argues, are necessary to man because of the conflict between intelligence and impulse - if one were without the other, there would be no place for ethics. Man's impulses and desires are equally social and solitary. Politics and ethics are the means by which we as a society and as individuals become socially purposeful and moral codes inculcate our rules of action.

Also published under the title of Principals of Social Reconstruction, and written in response to the devastation of World War I, Why Men Fight lays out Bertrand Russell's ideas on war, pacifism, reason, impulse, and personal liberty. He argues that the individualistic approach of traditional liberalism has reached its limits and that when individuals live passionately, they will have no desire for war or killing. Conversely, excessive restraint or reason causes us to live unnaturally and with hostility toward those who are unlike ourselves. This formidable work greatly...

Written by one of the twentieth century's most significant thinkers, Freedom and Organization, is considered to be Bertrand Russell's major work on political history. It traces the main causes of political change during a period of one hundred years, which he argues were predominantly influenced by three major elements - economic technique, political theory and certain significant individuals. In the witty, approachable style that has made Bertrand Russell's works so revered, he explores in detail the major forces and events that shaped the nineteenth century.

Bertrand Russell is considered to be one of the most significant educational innovators of his time. In this influential and controversial work, Russell calls for an education that would liberate the child from unthinking obedience to parental and religious authority. He argues that if the basis of all education is knowledge wielded by love then society can be transformed. One of Bertrand Russell's most definitive works, the remarkable ideas and arguments in On Education are just as insightful and applicable today as they were on first publication in 1926.

Bertrand Russell is widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century and a brilliant writer and commentator on social and political affairs. What I Believe offers a lucid and concise insight into Russell's thinking on issues that preoccupied him throughout his life: atheism, religious morality and the impact of science on society. With the addition of two further essays, 'Why I Took to Philosophy' and 'How I Write', this is a superb example of Russell as his very best.

With a foreword by Alan Ryan.

Our Knowledge of the External World is a compilation of lectures Bertrand Russell delivered in the US in which he questions the very relevance and legitimacy of philosophy. In it he investigates the relationship between individual and scientific knowledge and questions the means in which we have come to understand our physical world. This is an explosive and controversial work that illustrates instances where the claims of philosophers have been excessive, and examines why their achievements have not been greater.

Also published under the title of Principals of Social Reconstruction, and written in response to the devastation of World War I, Why Men Fight lays out Bertrand Russell's ideas on war, pacifism, reason, impulse, and personal liberty. He argues that the individualistic approach of traditional liberalism has reached its limits and that when individuals live passionately, they will have no desire for war or killing. Conversely, excessive restraint or reason causes us to live unnaturally and with hostility toward those who are unlike ourselves. This formidable work greatly...

Many of the revolutionary effects of science and technology are obvious enough. Bertrand Russell saw in the 1950s that there are also many negative aspects of scientific innovation. Insightful and controversial in equal measure, Russell argues that science offers the world greater well-being than it has ever known, on the condition that prosperity is dispersed; power is diffused by means of a single, world government; birth rates do not become too high; and war is abolished. Russell acknowledges that is a tall order, but remains essentially optimistic. He imagines mankind in a 'race...