Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best selling novel of the nineteenth century. The book is named for the central character and depicts the harsh reality of slavery. The book had such a significant impact that on meeting Stowe, Abraham Lincoln said; "So this is the little lady who made this big war". A product of it's time, the book is interesting also for it's illustration of stereotypes that even abolitionists could not recognise.

Utilitarianism - achieving the greatest good for the greatest number. Well-known Western philosopher John Stuart Mill proposes the concept of utilitarianism as a moral standard by which to judge actions.

In Utopia (1516) Thomas More concocts a place, an island, with what he considers to be desirable religious, social and political practices - a place very unlike where he actually lived. It is a place "like Plato's Republic, only better". Utopia is often discussed for its political ideas and is seen as the seed for communist political thought, it is a great piece of work that continues to generate political discussion. Thought provoking through the ages.

"Kessel proves himself again a master not just of science fiction, but also of the modern short story, crafting compelling characters and following them through plots that never fail to please - or to defy prediction." --Metro Magazine

"Kessel's blend of dark humor and reality-stretching scenarios is consistently mesmerizing." --Booklist

"One of the best collections of the year." --Locus

"These well-crafted stories, full of elegantly drawn characters, deliver a powerful emotional punch." --Publishers Weekly

"There has never been a time in history when more of our 'culture' was as 'owned' as it is now. And yet there has never been a time when the concentration of power to control the uses of culture has been as unquestioningly accepted as it is now." -- Free Culture

"It's never too late to try a little common sense, Lessig says. It's only one of the things that makes him such an unusual law professor -- and such an important voice in the ongoing copyright wars." -- John Schwartz for AMERICAN LAWYER

A novel about the future that's closer than we think.