Лучшие книги Уильяма Годвина

Самый первый детектив в истории литературы - "Вещи как они есть, или Приключения Калеба Уильямса"- был написан в 1794 году. В этом произведении умело использованы завоевания «готического» романа — обязательный мотив тайны и преступления, картина постепенного падения гордящегося своей добродетелью человека под влиянием жестокого случая и собственного эгоизма. Действие романа «Калеб Уильямс» происходит в Англии. Калеб — бедняк, сын фермера, находящийся в услужении у аристократа Фокленда. Он догадывается о том, что его хозяин совершил преступление, убил помещика Тиррела, с которым враждовал, и хочет найти этому доказательства и добиться от преступника признания.

Вильям Годвин (1756—1836), выдающийся английский философ, писатель и общественный деятель, творивший в период смены Просвещения романтизмом, в своих сочинениях отразил все наиболее значимые идеи, ценности, проблемы этой эпохи.
«Сен-Леон. Повесть шестнадцатого века» (1799) — самое сложное его художественное произведение, сочетающее в себе жанровые черты готического, исторического, социально-психологического и детективного романа.
Главный герой повествования — граф Реджинальд Сен-Леон, богатый и знатный, однажды теряет все свое состояние за карточным столом. По совету кроткой и заботливой жены он бежит в Швейцарию, где находит пристанище в полуразрушенной хижине на берегу Боденского озера. Однажды он принимает у себя обремененного годами старика, который вскоре умирает, открыв перед тем графу тайну «камня мудрости» и эликсира жизни. Эта тайна возвращает Сен-Леону богатство, а секрет вечной молодости становится для него в конце концов источником горя и душевных мучений. Приобретая облик юноши, главный герой оказывается соперником в любви собственного сына, посещает дочерей, не узнающих его. В Мадриде за занятие чернокнижием он попадает в руки инквизиции, в темнице которой томится долгих двенадцать лет.
Чудовищное богатство и сверхъестественная сила, приобретенные Сен-Леоном, создают ему против собственной воли многочисленных врагов и толкают на тяжкие преступления, все более и более отчуждая от людей.

В книге представлены социальные идеи Годвина, основные принципы философских рассуждений, отношение к политическим событиям, законам развития человеческого общества в целом.

William Godwin's memoir of his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft, marks a transition in Godwin's philosophical development from extreme rationalism to the recognition of the moral importance of feeling and sympathy which was to energize his later writings. Memoirs also belongs to a tradition of biographical writing that sought to transform the consciousness of readers by using individual history as an agent of historical change. Written during the weeks following Wollstonecraft's early death, Memoirs provides an interpretation of the relations between Wollstonecraft's writings and her personal history, a candid account of her various relationships, and a vindication of her egalitarian intimacy with Godwin. This modern, scholarly edition, geared for student use, includes a wide range of primary sources, together with excerpts from Godwin's other writings and from biographical models.

LIVES THAT NEVER GROW OLDThis unique series – edited by Richard Holmes – recovers the great classical tradition of English biography. Every book is a biographical masterpiece – still thrilling to read and vividly alive.The philosopher William Godwin fell in love with and married the radical feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, only to attend her deathbed (giving birth to their child, the late Mary Shelley). Heartbroken, Godwin immediately shut himself up in his study and wrote this intensely moving biography.True to his philosophical belief in absolute sincerity, Godwin coolly describes Wollstonecraft’s previous love affairs, her time in revolutionary Paris, her illegitimate child, and her two suicide attempts. The book almost wrecked both their reputations, but can now be seen as a masterpiece of indiscretion and human honesty.

Many large construction projects, such as those in the Middle East or Asia Pacific, are international in scope with a range of contractors and subcontractors signing contracts for delivery of specified work or services. The contractual situation in these instances may be complex and potentially includes a range of standard and bespoke contractual arrangements. In addition, the parties to these contracts may be based in different parts of the world, and are often working to different legal systems and understandings. This can lead to confusion in the understanding, interpretation and execution of a given contract. International Construction Contracts provides concise and practical guidance to those involved in the negotiation and management of international construction and engineering contracts. It sets out in clear, straightforward language the main features of construction contracts and international dispute resolution procedures. It ensures the reader is aware of the issues that might arise on the contractual side of their project so that they may better protect their party's interests. Many of the features and points discussed are illustrated by reference to the popular FIDIC contracts and the book includes a commentary on the two most widely used FIDIC design-build forms, the Yellow and Silver Books. Also included in the book is a fully worked example of a typical ICC arbitration from start to finish, with «pleadings», a detailed case narrative and commentary on events, and an example arbitration award. The ICC and SIAC arbitration rules are also provided. Written for construction professionals, the book will be of great interest to engineers, architects, project managers, quantity surveyors, contract managers and contract administrators working on international projects.

'To a rational being there can be but one rule of conduct, justice, and one mode of ascertaining that rule, the exercise of his understanding.'

Godwin's Political Justice is the founding text of philosophical anarchism. Written in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, it exemplifies the political optimism felt by many writers and intellectuals. Godwin drew on enlightenment ideas and his background in religious dissent for the principles of justice, utility, and the sanctity of individual judgement that drove his powerful critique of all forms of secular and religious authority. He predicts the triumph of justice and equality over injustice, and of mind over matter, and the eventual vanquishing of human frailty and mortality. He also foresees the gradual elimination of practices governing property, punishment, law, and marriage and the displacement of politics by an expanded personal morality resulting from reasoned argument and candid discussion. Political Justice raises deep philosophical questions about the nature of our duty to others that remain central to modern debates on ethics and politics.

This edition reprints the first-edition text of 1793, and examines Godwin's evolving philosophy in the context of his life and work.

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Between 1824 and 1828, the aged William Godwin, who thirty years before had written the speculative but highly successful Enquiry concerning political justice, published a four volume study of the English Republic, the History of the commonwealth of England. Godwin's publisher, Henry Colburn, paid an advance of five hundred pounds for what was originally conceived of as a work in two volumes, and he no doubt did so because he expected that the book would appeal to a public that showed a great deal of interest in the civil war period. One reason for this interest was that historical studies of the seventeenth century, and commentaries upon them in the reviews, played a significant role in contemporary political argument.