It is not an exaggeration to say that classical Greek civilization is the cornerstone of Western civilization today. The Greeks invented everything from logic and democracy to rhetoric, drama, and philosophy. Empire of the Early Greek World chronicles the remarkable legacy of the Greeks, as well as the diversity of their societies from the thriving democracy of Athens to the militarism of Sparta to the oligarchy of Thrace. It explores the conditions...

Published on the 50th anniversary of Marcel Duchamp's death, Duchamp's Last Day offers a radical reading of the artist's final hours. Just moments after Duchamp died, his closest friend, Man Ray, took a photograph of him. His face is wan; his eyes are closed; he appears calm. Taking this image as a point of departure, Donald Shambroom examines its context?the dinner with Man Ray and another friend, Robert Lebel, the night Duchamp died, the conversations...

"In the Land of the Cyclops is Karl Ove Knausgaard's first collection of essays to be published in English. He explores art, philosophy, literature, or something as simple as a trip to the beach with his kids, with piercing candor and intelligence. Paired with full-color images throughout, his essays render the shadowlands of Cindy Sherman's photography, illuminate the depth of Stephen Gill's eye, or tussle with the inner-workings of Ingmar Bergman's...

"Jean-Marie Schaeffer explores the writings of Kant, Schlegel, Novalis, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Heidegger to show that these diverse thinkers shared a common approach to art, which he calls the "speculative theory." According to this theory, art offers a special kind of intuitive, quasi-mystical knowledge, radically different from the rational knowledge acquired by science. This view encouraged theorists to consider artistic geniuses the...