'From the very beginning there was not the slightest doubt that Olga da Polga was the sort of guinea-pig who would go places.' Michael Bond's guinea-pig has been charming readers for over 40 years. Catherine Rayner illustrates this stunning small format gift edition of Olga da Polga with glorious full colour watercolours and silkscreen images.

Along with his friends, a grumpy old albatross, a short-sighted mermaid, and a friendly island called Cliff, Oliver sets out to rescue his missing parents. On their perilous journey the friends meet evil islands, a boy called Stacey (not a girl's name), and more sea monkeys than you can wave some seaweed at.

The four essays in this volume examine the most central issues that face liberal democratic regimes. They tackle the protection of individual liberty, the basic principles of ethics, the benefits and the costs of representative institutions, and the central importance of gender equality in society.

On Obligations was written by Cicero after the murder of Julius Caesar to provide principles of behaviour for aspiring politicians. Though written for first-century Romans it has been adopted as a guide to political conduct in every major era in the West: by the early Christians, in the high Middle Ages, in the Renaissance, and in the age of the Enlightenment.