This new edition of Defoe's masterpiece includes a lively introduction by Tom Keymer, full notes and useful appendices, including a chronology of the action of the story and Defoe's most sustained commentary on it.

Robotics is a key technology in the modern world. Yet, despite these successes, robots have failed to live up to the predictions of the 1950s and 60s. In this Very Short Introduction, Alan Winfield considers how robotics can be both a success story and a disappointment, and how robots can be both ordinary and quite remarkable.

Rocks are crucial constituents of our lives, not only making the solid ground beneath our feet, but breaking up into the soil that feeds our crops, and providing the metal ores and other materials vital for civilization. This Very Short Introduction introduces the structure and diversity of rocks on Earth, in outer space, and on other planets.

For centuries Britain was an integral part of the Roman Empire. In this Very Short Introduction, Peter Salway weaves together the latest archaeological investigations and historical scholarship to chart life in Roman Britain from the first Roman invasion under Julius Caesar to the final collapse of the Roman Empire in the West around AD 500.

The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. This introduction covers the history of the empire at its height, looking at its people, religions and social structures. It explains how it deployed violence, 'romanisation', and tactical power to develop an astonishingly uniform culture from Rome to its furthest outreaches.

This book distils the mass of new knowledge from recent archaeological and documentary discoveries to provide a lively picture of current knowledge and opinion about the Roman era in the British Isles at this particularly exciting point in the evolution of the subject.

An international team of expert contributors provides both an introduction to and an interpretation of the key themes and developments in the history of Europe, from the earliest days of Rome through to AD 400.