Paul Strathern


Paul Strathern is a Scots-Irish writer and academic.
Strathern was born in London, and studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966, he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.
Besides five novels, he has also written books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics. He is the author of two series of short introductory books: Philosophy in [90 Minutes series|Philosophers in 90 Minutes] and The Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World.
His book on the history of chemistry entitled Mendeleyev's Dream was short-listed for the Aventis Prize, and his works have been translated into over two dozen languages. He is the author of The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance, Napoleon in Egypt, and The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior: Leonardo, Machiavelli and Borgia – a fateful collusion and The Spirit of Venice: from Marco Polo to Casanova. His recent works include The Periodic Table, Quacks, Rogues and Charlatans and The Borgias ''Rise and Fall: A History of the World in Ten Empires. The Florentines: from Dante to Galileo.
His work on economic history Dr Strangelove's Game was chosen as a Google business book of the year. His book Ten Cities that Changed The World'' was chosen as a Waterstones History Book of the Year.
Strathern was a lecturer at Kingston University, where he taught philosophy and mathematics. He has one daughter.

List of books

Novels

  • Pass by the Sea: A Novel
  • A Season in Abyssinia: An Impersonation of Arthur Rimbaud
  • One Man's War
  • Vaslav: An Impersonation of Nijinsky
  • ''The Adventures of Spiro''

Popular history

  • Exploration by Land ; published in Irish as Bóthar an tSíoda: taiscéalaíocht thar tír
  • Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements. Selected as one of Bill Gates'
  • Dr Strangelove's Game: A Brief History of Economic Genius ; also published as A Brief History of Economic Genius
  • The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance ; also published as The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance ; published in Italian as I Medici: potere, denaro e ambizione and Russian
  • A Brief History of Medicine from Hippocrates to Gene Therapy
  • Napoleon in Egypt: The Greatest Glory
  • The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior: Leonardo, Machiavelli and Borgia. A Fateful Collusion
  • Death in Florence: the Medici, Savonarola and the Battle for the Soul of the Renaissance City
  • The Spirit of Venice: from Marco Polo to Casanova
  • The Periodic Table
  • Quacks, Rogues and Charlatans of the R C P: 50 Books from the College Collection The Borgias: Power and Fortune Rise and Fall: A History of the World in Ten Empires The Florentines: from Dante to Galileo Ten Cities That Changed The World The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare Dark Brilliance: The Age of Reason from Descartes to Peter the Great. A Waterstones History Book of the Year 2024.
Philosophers in 90 Minutes/Virgin Philosophers
  • Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Wittgenstein
  • Hume in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Hume ; published in French as Hume, je connais!
  • Kant in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Kant
  • Locke in 90 Minutes
  • Descartes in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Descartes
  • Plato in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Plato
  • Aristotle in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Aristotle
  • Nietzsche in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Nietzsche
  • St. Augustine in 90 Minutes
  • Sartre in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Sartre
  • Machiavelli in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Machiavelli
  • Confucius in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Confucius
  • Foucault in 90 Minutes ; reissued as The Essential Foucault
  • Marx in 90 Minutes Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series; Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2001); reissued as The Essential Marx
  • The Essential Derrida
  • The Essential Hegel
  • The Essential Rousseau
  • The Essential Socrates
  • The Essential Spinoza
Great Writers in 90 Minutes
  • Beckett in 90 minutes
  • Dostoievsky in 90 minutes
  • Garcia Marquez in 90 minutes
  • Kafka in 90 minutes
  • Nabokov in 90 minutes
  • James Joyce in 90 minutes
  • D. H. Lawrence in 90 minutes
  • Hemingway in 90 minutes
  • Virginia Woolf in 90 minutes
  • Borges in 90 minutes
  • Tolstoy in 90 minutes
The Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World
  • Pythagoras & His Theorem
  • Turing & the Computer
  • Hawking & Black Holes
  • Newton & Gravity
  • Crick, Watson & DNA
  • Einstein & Relativity
  • Galileo & the Solar System
  • Bohr & Quantum Theory
  • Oppenheimer & the Bomb
  • Curie & Radioactivity
  • Archimedes & the Fulcrum
  • ''Darwin & Evolution''

Travel

  • Greece and the Greek Islands: The Versatile Guide
  • Florida: Travel Planner & Guide
  • ''Australia : Travel Planner & Guide''