Very short introductions

Oxford University Press have just published an interesting new series of pocket-sized introductions to a variety of important topics and intellectual ideas. The books provide an overview of the main cultural and philosophical ideas which have shaped the western world. Topics are covered by experts, but they giving the average reader a chance to see important themes and understand major areas of intellectual concern which they might otherwise miss. I'm reading the handy trilogy Eighteenth-century Britain, Nineteenth-century Britain, and Twentieth-century Britain - each of which offers an overview to poitical, social, and cultural history. When I've done, I'll report back on Art Theory, Russian Literature, and Literary Theory.