Chirag Patel: 11 books

Philosophy is a strange mistress. My love affair with her began accidentally, when an interest in comparative theology led me towards Aquinas. I went on to do my BA in English, at a university where there was a heavy focus on critical theory and the use of philosophy to understand literature. From...

What is humanism? For a long time, I thought I knew. I was wrong, though. I thought it was a branch of philosophy that had been born in the renaissance, and become the foundation for the Enlightenment and everything that came after. Looking back, I see that that was horribly Eurocentric. Of course,...

This book was written because I got fed up saying the same thing to every student that came through my door when I was running a cross-discipline writing centre. It covers every major avoidable error that students make in their writing, such as referencing, structure, knowing what the question means,...

“”If ever a mortal heard the word of god, it would be in a garden at the close of day.” I first read that quote in Civ. Over the years, I’ve learned more and more about the natural world. In many ways, it was a natural outgrowth of both my philosophical approach and my inclination for...

A classic guide to tricks and tactics for winning arguments, with commentary on the use of and defence against each tactic. The best summary of this book is ‘being right doesn’t mean you’re gonna win, and this is why’. It’s the ultimate guide to spotting the many different kinds of...

A study of a wide range of different educational problems and possible solutions, including: How do we learn? Why do people struggle in various stages of education? Why don’t people develop through their education? What is the relationship of sensitive mothering to development? What are the...

A collection of comic articles, collecting humorous travelogues as a Brit wanders the wilds of Africa and Asia. Includes... - A rock diary following a gigging band in London in the mid 2000s, who might be any aspirant post student band you've ever known - Travels around Asia on the modern Grand Tour,...

One thing that no-one tells you about being a writer is just how much business stuff you have to learn. In retrospect, it makes sense. Modern corporations provide the equivalent of patronage, allowing artists of all stripes to practice their craft with stuff that’s both limited and challenging....

Navigating the murky waters of healthy eating and building the perfect diet is one of life's biggest challenges. Every day people eat foods that at first glance seem perfectly healthy. They buy food based on price or convenience, or in some cases food addictions, and very little thought is given...

Still Light is an episodic tale that spans centuries, beginning in 2020 and ending in 2507. Each story is set five years apart, with the idea of steadily and carefully tracing the evolution of technological, social, and political structures that arise as humanity develops. This volume covers the first...

Truly radical "Machiavellianism", in the popular sense of that word, is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthashastra of Kautilya (written long before the birth of Christ, ostensibly in the time of Chandragupta): compared to it, Machiavelli's The Prince is harmless. — Max...