 | The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Buy used from: £3.48 If there is a better book, I have not read it, this study of modern love, betrayal and of the effect knowledge has on perception is unbelievable.
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 | Invitation to Philosophy (Invitation Series) by Martin Hollis
Buy new: £15.99 / Used from: £14.47 A startling challenge to my accepted ideas, and, as the title says, an invitation to start to think.
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 | The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Five Parts by Douglas Adams
Buy new: £12.28 / Used from: £4.99 Quite simply one of the funniest books ever written, and, coincidentally, one of the cleverest as well! Where else can you read God's final message to mankind?
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 | Tropic of Capricorn (Modern Classics) by Henry Miller
Buy used from: £0.01 A book that will shock and perhaps upset you, this is the amongst the best portrayals of the futility of the modern way of life and of the need to rebel I have ever read
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 | The Portrait of a Lady (Konemann Classics) by Henry James
Buy used from: £0.01 James is quite possibly the master of character writing, he gives characters depth breadth and peccadilloes whilst enveloping them in a story line which cannot fail to enthral
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 | Gargantua and Pantagruel (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature) by Francois Rabelais
Buy used from: £1.86 Rabelais, was to his day what D H Lawrence was to the twentieth century, he shocked, enticed and tried to make a serious point. Beneath the obscene is a philosophy that influenced many on this list
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 | Travels with My Aunt (Vintage Classics) by Graham Greene
Buy new: £4.99 / Used from: £0.48 A story of renaissance and of adventure, smuggling and liberation from the hum drum, its phenomenal.
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 | Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical (Ancient World) by Walter Burkert
Buy new: £16.21 / Used from: £9.75 For those who want to see beyond the squabbling, abusive, and somewhat repellant gods of myth this is a truly great book.
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 | The Colossus of Maroussi by H Miller
Buy new: £8.20 / Used from: £4.94 This is quite simply prose poetry, it has a rhythm beauty and strength that captivates. Read it.
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 | The Doors of Perception (Flamingo Modern Classics) by Aldous Huxley
Buy used from: £0.65 Take a tab of mescalin, switch on the tape recorder and answer questions from your friends. The ideas are odd, but the depictions of reality are intense and beautiful
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 | Shogun: A Novel of Japan by James Clavell
Buy new: £6.96 / Used from: £1.56 A depiction of feudal Japan on the brink of the modern era, a state of flux and danger, it is widely considered one of the best and most accurate to life books of fiction written about Japan.
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 | The Roman Revolution (Oxford Paperbacks) by Ronald Syme
Buy used from: £4.25 One of the most influential men in history, and a masterful study of him, what more needs to be said?
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 | A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Buy used from: £0.25 A book exploring the clash of Edwardian England and India, with the implicit belief that white and brown are equal, though they were not treated as such.
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 | The Prince (Penguin Classics) by Niccolo Machiavelli
Buy used from: £0.01 Should be read: if only to understand what Machiavellian means. What an obnoxious person, but it is realpolitic exposed. Applicable despite its age and honest beyond any modern autobiography.
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 | Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (Penguin Modern Classics) by George Orwell
Buy new: £4.94 / Used from: £1.27 'All animals are equal' need I say more oh ok: 'but some are more equal than others'
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