The resources listed below are by no means compulsory reading, but are suggestions of materials to keep up critical engagement with your subject in the interim before starting your degree. The recommendations come from a range of sources. 

Archaeology

Suggested key reading from Faculty website:

• Renfrew, C. 2009. Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind, Modern Library.
• Renfrew, C. and Bahn, P. 2012. Archaeology: Theory, Methods and Practice, 6th edition, Thames and Hudson, London.
• Scarre, C. (ed.). 2009. The Human Past: World Prehistory and Development of Human Society, 2nd edition, Thames and Hudson, London.

Other suggestions:

• Bell, M. and Walker, M.J.C. 2005. Late Quaternary Environmental Change: Physical and Human Perspectives, 2nd Edition. Longman.
• Broodbank, C. 2013. The Making of the Middle Sea
• Brothwell, D. and Pollard, A.M. 2004. Handbook of Archaeological Science. Wiley.
• David, B. and Thomas, J. (eds.) 2008. Handbook of Landscape Archaeology. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
• Diamond, J. 1998. Guns, Germs, and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years. New York: Norton.
• Drewett, P. 2011. Field Archaeology: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Routledge, London.
• French, C. 2015. A Handbook of Geoarchaeological Approaches for Investigating Landscapes and Settlement Sites. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
• Grant, J., Gorin, S. and Fleming, N. 2008. The Archaeology Coursebook: An Introduction to Themes, Sites, Methods and Skills. Routledge, London [+online materials].
• Harris, E.C. 1989. Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy, 2nd Edition. Academic Press: London and San Diego.
• Wheeler, R.E.M. 1954. Archaeology from the Earth. London: Pelican.
• Wolf, E. 1982. Europe and the People without History, Berkeley, University of California Press.

Human Evolution

• Boyd, R. & Silk, J. (2012) How Humans Evolved. (6th edit). W. W. Norton & Co.
• Campbell C.J. et al. (ed). (2010). Primates in Perspective. (2nd edit). Oxford University Press.
• Dawkins, R. (1989) The Selfish Gene. New edit. Oxford University Press.
• Stringer, C. & Andrews, P. (2011) The Complete World of Human Evolution. 2nd edition. Thames & Hudson
• Lewin,R. & Foley, RA (2003) Principles of Human Evolution. 2nd Edition. Blackwells.

Egyptology

• K. Bard, Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (Malden MA: Blackwell 2008)
• T. G. H. James, Pharaoh’s People: Scenes from Life in Imperial Egypt (London: Bodley Head 1984).
• M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature; a Book of Readings I-III (Berkeley. Los Angeles, London: University of California Press 1973, 1976, 1980).
• B. Manley, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt (London: Penguin 1996).
• S. Quirke, Ancient Egyptian Religion (London: British Museum Press 1992).
• G. Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt (London: British Museum Press 1997).
• Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2000).
• Shaw. Exploring Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003).

Mesopotamia

• H. Crawford. 2004 ed. Sumer and the Sumerians. (Cambridge University Press).
• B.R. Foster and K. Foster. 2011. Civilisations of Ancient Iraq. (Princeton University Press).
• R. Matthews. 2003. Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Theories and Approaches. (Routledge).
• J. Oates. 2005 ed. Babylon. (Thames & Hudson).
• N. Postgate. 1994. Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. (Routledge).
• M. van de Mieroop. 2007 ed. A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC. (Blackwell)

Akkadian Language

• You can listen to recordings of modern scholars reading Akkadian at www.speechisfire.com
• Dalley, S. (2000) Myths from Mesopotamia. OUP
• George, A.R. Babylonian and Assyrian. In J.N. Postgate, ed., Languages of Iraq Ancient and Modern. BISI.
• Finkel, I. L. and Taylor, J. (2015). Cuneiform. British Museum.
• Charpin, D. (2010). Reading and Writing in Babylon. Harvard University Press

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Suggested reading from Faculty website:

Arabic:

• D. Brown, A New Introduction to Islam, Second Edition, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell (2009).
• F. Robinson (ed.), The Islamic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1996).
• T. Sonn, Islam: A brief History, second edition, Chichester: Wiley (2010).
   

Language

• You are expected to learn the Arabic script before you start your course. This means being comfortable with recognising the letters both in isolation and in any position in a word, and to have a rough idea of their sound. You do not need to learn to write them yourself: we will teach you handwriting and pronunciation as part of the course. You can download a worksheet which covers what we expect students to know before they start the course here.
• J. Wrightwick and M. Gaafar, Mastering Arabic, third edition, Palgrave Macmillan (2007), or Mastering Arabic Script by the same authors.
   

Literature

• R. Allen, An Introduction to Arabic Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2000).
  1. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, Oxford (1964).
      

Anthropology

• S. Caton, Yemen Chronicle: An Anthropology of War and Meditation, Hill and Wang (2005). 
   

History

• K. Bennison, The Great Caliphs: the Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Empire, London (2009).
• Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Cambridge (2003).
• William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, third edition, Boulder, Colorado (2004).
• Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Cambridge MA (1991).
• H. Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests, How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live in, De Capo Press (2007).
• M. R. Menocal, Ornament of the World, New York (2002).
• Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Boston, Bedford/St. Martins, Palgrave, Macmillan; 6th Rev Ed (13 April 2007).

Chinese

If you wish to make a start with learning the language before arriving in Cambridge, we advise you to read the following sections in the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary (ISBN:0-19-929853): Basic rules of writing Chinese characters; Learning and lifestyle kit; Dictionary know-how; The Chinese words and phrases you must know; Numbers; Phrasefinder; Dates for your diary; Quick reference guide to life and culture; Social survival guide

East Asian history

In the first year you will be following a course on East Asian history covering China, Japan and Korea. To prepare for this you should read the following before the start of your first term in Cambridge:

• Hansen, V., The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600 (Norton) or Ebrey, P., The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge UP)
• Hane, M., Premodern Japan (Westview Press) or Totman, G., Japan before Perry (Univ. of California Press)
• Hunter, J., The Emergence of Modern Japan (Longman) or Barnhart, M., Japan and the World Since 1868 (Edward Arnold)
   

Preparatory reading list

The full list of recommended reading relating to Chinese Studies is available below. You can pick and choose according to your own interests and inclinations. The more widely you read the more prepared you will be for the course, the year-abroad experience as well as your future engagements with China!

The Chinese Language

• Norman, Jerry. Chinese (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988)
• Yuan, B. and Church, S.K. Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
• DeFrancis, John. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984).
   

History

• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
• Elvin, Mark. The Pattern of the Chinese Past: A Social and Economic Interpretation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1973).
• Marks, Robert B. China: Its Environment and History (Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012)
• Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600 (New York: Norton, 2000).
• Gernet, Jacques. Daily Life in China: on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276 (London: Allen & Unwin, 1962). 
• Spence, Jonathan. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1983).
• Huang, Ray. 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981).
• Ko, Dorothy. Teachers of the Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth Century China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994).
• Spence, Jonathan. The Question of Hu (New York: Vintage Books, 1989).
• Kuhn, Philip. Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990).
• Harrison, Henrietta. The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man's Life in a North China Village, 1857-1942 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005).
• Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China (London: W W Norton and Co, 1991.)
• van de Ven, Hans. Breaking with the Past: The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).
• XU, Guoqi. Strangers on the Western Front: Chinese Workers in the Great War (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011).
• Schram, Stuart. Mao Tse-tung (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1970).
• Shapiro, Judith. Mao’s War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. Cambridge University Press 2001.
• Yue Daiyun and Carolyn Wakeman. To the Storm: The Odyssey of a Revolutionary Chinese Woman (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985).
• Kraus, Richard Curt. Brushes with Power: Modern Politics and the Chinese Art of Calligraphy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).
• Cook, Alexander C. Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014).
• Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
• Gao, Mobo. The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution (London: Pluto Press, 2008).
• Harrison, Henrietta. The Missionary's Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013).

Society, Culture and Religion

• Ebrey, Patricia B. (ed.) Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Second edition (New York: The Free Press, 1993).
• Loewe, Michael. Bing: From Farmer's Son to Magistrate in Han China (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2011).
• Yu, Anthony. State and Religion in China: Historical and Textual Perspectives (Chicago: Open Court, 2005).
• Lopez, Donald S. The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001.
• Kieschnick, John. The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003)
• François Jullien. In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics. Translated by Paula M. Varsano (New York: Zone Books, 2004).
• Spence, Jonathan. The Death of Woman Wang (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1980).
• Meskill, Johanna Menzel. A Chinese Pioneer Family: The Lins of Wu-feng, Taiwan 1729-1895 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
• Pruitt, Ida. A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967[1945]).
• Wolf, Margery. The House of Lim: A Study of a Chinese Farm Family (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968).
• Landsberger, Stefan. Chinese Propaganda Posters: From Revolution to Modernization (Amsterdam: The Pepin Press, 1995).
• Chan, Anita, Richard Madsen and Jonathan Unger. Chen Village: Revolution to Globalization. Revised Third Edition (Berkeley:University of California Press, 2009).
• Gilley, Bruce. Model Rebels: The Rise and Fall of China's Richest Village (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001).
• Jing, Jun (ed.). Feeding China's Little Emperors: Food, Children, and Social Change (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000).
• Coe, Andrew. Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
• Adrian, Bonnie. Framing the Bride: Globalizing Beauty and Romance in Taiwan's Bridal Industry (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).
• Scott, Janet Lee. For Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors: The Chinese Tradition of Paper Offerings (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007).
• Oxfeld, Ellen. Blood, Sweat, and Mahjong: Family and Enterprise in an Overseas Chinese Community (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993)
• Davis, Sara L. M. Song and Silence: Ethnic Revival on China's Southwest Borders (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005).
• Palmer, David A, Glenn Shive and Philip L. Wickeri, eds. Chinese Religious Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) 
• Chau, Adam Yuet. Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006).
• Moskowitz, Marc. Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013).
   

Literature

• Graham, A. C., Poems of the Late T'ang (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1977, reprinted).
• Hawkes, David, translator. The Story of the Stone: A Chinese Novel by Cao Xueqin (Harmondsworth, Middlesex : Penguin Books, 1973).
• Lu Xun. Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. Translated by William A. Lyell (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990).
• Lu Xun. The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun. Translated by Julia Lovell (London: Penguin Classics). 
• Han Shaogong. A Dictionary of Maqiao. Translated by Julia Lovell (Dial Press. Reprint edition, 2005).
• Yu Hua. To Live. Translated by Michael Berry (Anchor Books, 2003).
• Mo Yan. The Republic of Wine: A Novel. Translated by Howard Goldblatt (Arcade Publishing, 2012).
   

The Arts

• Cahill, James. Chinese Painting (Lausanne: Skira, 1960)
• Ledderose, Lothar. Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001)
• A Pure and Remote View: Visualizing Early Chinese Landscape Painting—a lecture series by Professor Emeritus James Cahill (UC Berkeley): 
• Clunas, Craig. Art in China (Oxford History of Art), Second Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). 
   

General

• Stafutti, Stefania and Federica Romagnoli. China: History and Treasures of an Ancient Civilization (White Star Publishers, 2010).
• Han, Lifeng; Wu, Emma Lejun; Cai, Hua, Insider China (Lexus Ltd., 2009)
• Needham, Joseph. The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1969).
• Sterkx, Roel. Chinese Thought: from Confucius to Cook Ding (Pelican Books, 2019).
   

Hebrew

General

• Sáenz-Badillos, A. A History of the Hebrew Language, trans. J. Elwolde, Cambridge University Press, 1993.
   

Biblical Hebrew Language

First-year teaching is based on:

• Lambdin, T.O. 1973. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. London: Darton Longman and Todd.

Students should have learnt the writing system by time of arrival. For acquisition of basic vocabulary and writing system,  students may find useful:

• Buth, R.J. 2003. Living Biblical Hebrew for Everyone. Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Biblical Language Center.
   

Modern Hebrew

First-year teaching is based on:

• Ringvald, V. et. al., Brandeis Modern Hebrew: Ivrit beHeqsher. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press.

For acquisition of basic vocabulary and writing system, the student may find useful:

• The Learnables: Hebrew
   

Other Suggested Reading

• Alter, R. Modern Hebrew Literature, Behrman House, 1975.
• Alter, R. The Art of Biblical Narrative, revised edition, Hachette, 2011.
• Blau, J. 2010. Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew (Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 2). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
• Carmi, T. The Penguin book of Hebrew Verse, Allen Lane, London, 1981.
• Harshav, B. Language in Time of Revolution, University of California Press, 1993.
• Eagleton, T. Literary Theory: An Introduction, Basil Blackwell, 1983
• Friedman, R.E., Who wrote the Bible? Jonathan Cape, 1988.
• Halkin, S. Modern Hebrew Literature, Schocken, 1970.
• Katz, J. Exclusiveness & Tolerance: Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times, Schocken, 1962.
• Shaked, G. Eight Great Hebrew Short Novels, New American Library, 1983.
• Students are encouraged to read as many translated modern Hebrew works as possible, especially works by: A. Appelfeld, D. Grossman, A. Oz and A. B. Yehoshua.

Japanese

Required reading

• Shirokauer, Lurie and Gay. A Brief History of Japanese Civilization. Wadsworth Publishing. 4th edition, 2012.
• Ebrey, P., The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge UP.
• Kyung Moon Hwang, A History of Korea. Palgrave Macmillan.
   

Further recommended readings

• Friday, Karl F. (ed.). Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850. Westview Press, 2012.
• Shirane, Haruo, Suzuki, Tomi and Lurie, David (eds.) The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
• Shirane, Haruo (ed.), Early modern Japanese literature : An anthology, 1600-1900 (Translations from the Asian classics). New York ; Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2002.
• Shirane, Haruo (ed.), Traditional Japanese literature : An anthology, beginnings to 1600  (Translations from the Asian classics). New York ; Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2007.
• Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese Society. London: Routledge (4th edition), 2012.
• Hood, Christopher. Japan. The Basics. London: Routledge, 2014 (http://www.hood-online.co.uk/Japan-the-basics/).
• Steger, Brigitte and Angelika Koch (eds.). Manga Girl Seeks Herbivore Boy. Studying Japanese Gender at Cambridge. Zurich: Lit, 2013.
• Steger, Brigitte and Angelika Koch (eds). Cool Japanese Men. Studying New Masculinities at Cambridge. Zurich: Lit, 2017.
• Sugimoto, Yoshio. An Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (4th edition), 2015

Persian

General

• R. Yann, Shi’ite Islam: polity, ideology and creed (Oxford, 1995)
• S. Farman-Farmaian, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Revolution (1993)
• Ansari, Modern Iran Since 1921 (Harlow, 2003)
• The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by P. Avery and J. Heath-Stubbs, Penguin Classics (London, 1979)
• Rumi, Spiritual Verses, translated by A. Williams, Penguin Classics (London, 2006)
   

Language

You are expected to learn the Persian script before you start your course. We recommend that you use:

• N. Farzad, Teach Yourself Modern Persian (London, 2004)
• S. Abrahams, Modern Persian, A Course Book (Abingdon, 2005)
• You will need a copy of the course book which is:
• W.M. Thackston, An Introduction to Persian (repr. 1993)
   

History

• Bausani, The Persians from the Earliest Days to the Twentieth Century (London, 1971)
• E. G. Browne, A Year among the Persians (Cambridge, 1927)
• R. Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet (London, 1987)
• N. Keddie, Roots of Revolution (New Haven, Conn, 1981)
   

Literature

• J. Arberry, Classical Persian Literature (London, 1958)
• Farid ud-Din Attar, The Conference of the Birds, translated by D. Davis Penguin Classics, (London, 1984)
• Firdowsi, The Legend of Syavush, translated by D. Davis Penguin classics, (London, 1992)
• H. Kamshad, Modern Persian Prose (Cambridge, 1966)
• S. Daneshvar, A Persian Requiem, translated by R. Zand (London, 1991)

Computer Science

Suggested reading from Faculty website:

• The new Turing omnibus, A Kee Dewdney, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, ISBN 978-0805071665. Remember to try the exercises at the end of each chapter.
• Computational Thinking by Jeannette Wing of Carnegie-Mellon University
• How to think like a mathematician, Kevin Houston, Cambridge University Press, 2009,ISBN 978-0-521-71978-0.
• Scientific American 
• New Scientist 
• https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/freshers

Engineering

Suggested reading from Faculty website:

• Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air by David J.C. MacKay. This book is available as a free download from www.withouthotair.com/download.html
• How Do Wings Work? by Holger Babinsky. Not a book but a paper published in the Institute of Physics journal Physics Education that is available as a free download from the Physics Education website
• Sustainable Materials – With Both Eyes Open by Julian Allwood and Jonathan Cullen. This book is available as a free download from http://withbotheyesopen.com/read.php
• Engineering in Society edited by Rob Lawlor. An e-book published by the Royal Academy of Engineering that is available as a free (pdf) download from the RAEng website
• Engineering: A Beginner's Guide by Natasha McCarthy
• The New Science of Strong Materials – or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor by J.E. Gordon
• Structures – or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon
• Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People by Steven Vogel
• The Gecko's Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book by Peter Forbes
• What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History by W.G. Vincenti
• Flying Buttresses, Entropy and O-Rings: The World of an Engineer by James L. Adams
• Bebop to the Boolean Boogie: An Unconventional Guide to Electronics by Clive Maxfield
• Invention by Design – How Engineers get from Thought to Thing by Henry Petroski
• To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski
• Remaking the World by Henry Petroski
• Small Things Considered: Why There is No Perfect Design by Henry Petroski
• Pushing the Limits: New Adventures in Engineering by Henry Petroski
• Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering by Henry Petroski
• Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design by Henry Petroski
• The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski
• Why Buildings Fall Down by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori
• Why Buildings Stand Up by Mario Salvadori
• The Science of Formula 1 Design by David Tremayne
• The Simple Science of Flight by Henk Tennekes
• Understanding Flight by David W. Anderson and Scott Eberhart    
• Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century by Philip Ball
• Why Things Break: Understanding the World by the Way It Comes Apart by Mark E. Eberhart
• Seven Wonders of the Industrial World by Deborah Cadbury
• The Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin by Francis Spufford
• The Existential Pleasures of Engineering by Samuel C. Florman
• Think Like An Engineer by Guru Madhavan
• How Things Work – The Physics of Everyday Life by Louis A. Bloomfield
• Advanced Design and Technology by Eddie Norman, Joyce Cubitt, Syd Urry and Mike Whittaker
• https://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/
• https://isaacphysics.org/
• https://nrich.maths.org/6466

Geography

Geography is a very broad subject, and we don’t issue a set reading list. What we hope is that you keep up a strong interest in the areas of geography which interest you - and hopefully some that you’re not so keen on.  You can draw ideas from blogs, podcasts, newspapers and current affairs journals, magazines like New Scientist, The Economist, Geographical Magazine and Geography Review, and even novels. The Department of Geography also has a long list of suggested books here. Some of our favourites from this list, and more broadly, include...

• Alley, R. (2014) The Two Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and our future
• Criado Perez, Caroline (2019) Invisible Women
• Hall, Sarah (2017) Global Finance, London Sage 
• Harari, Yuval Noah (2014) Sapiens: a brief history of humankind
• Massey, Doreen (2005) For Space
• Spiegelhalter, David and Blastland, Michael (2013) The Norm Chronicles

These are not “set texts” - we don’t expect you to have read any of them, though we hope you will choose to look at a few! As you are reading, however, try to think “critically” about what you’re reading. Where do the ideas seem to come from? Are they supported by any data? Who is the author, and what is their background? Have I read similar ideas elsewhere - or even opposed ideas? These are critical skills for your time at university, alongside your “knowledge” of the subject.

History of Art

Suggested Reading List from History of Art Faculty website:

Surveys

• S. F. Eisenman and others, Nineteenth-Century Art: A Critical History (several eds.)
• E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art (several eds.)
• H. Honour & J. Fleming, A World History of Art (several eds.)
• N. Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture (several eds.)
• J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830 (Pelican History of Art), (several eds.)
• D. Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, London 1986
   

Reference books
You may like to buy the following titles, which will be useful throughout the course:

• J.R. Hale (ed.), A Concise Encyclopaedia of the Italian Renaissance (several eds.)
• J. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, John Murray, 1974

• J. Fleming, H. Honour, N. Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture (several eds.)
   

Historical Approaches
During the course you will study the critical approaches of past authors, many of whom offer inspiring views of the subject.

• C. Baudelaire, The painter of Modern Life & other Essays, ed. J. Mayne (several eds.)
• B. Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (several eds.)
• J. Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy (several eds.)
• R. Fry, Cézanne: a Study of his Development, London 1927
• E. Mâle, The Gothic Image, London 1961
• G. Morelli, Italian Painters: Critical Studies of their Works, London 1892
• E. Panofsky, Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art, Stockholm 1960
• E. Panofsky, Studies in Iconology (several eds.)
• M. Podro, The Critical Historians of Art (several eds.)
• J. Reynolds, Discourses on Art, ed. R. Wark (several eds.)
• F. Saxl, Lectures, London 1957
• M. Schapiro, Word and Image, Leyden 1972
• G. Vasari, Lives of the Artists (several eds.)
• H. Wölfflin, Principles of Art History (several eds.)

Special Topics
Finally, some suggestions for more specialised reading:

• M. Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, 2nd ed., Oxford 1988
• J. Gage, Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, London 1993
• E.H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion (several eds.)
• F. Haskell & N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New Haven & London 1981
• M. Kemp, The Science of Art: Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat (several eds.)
• G. Pollock, Vision and difference: femininity, feminism and the histories of art, London 1988
• J. Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture (several eds.)
• J. White, The Birth and Rebirth of Pictorial Space (several eds.)
• Kettle's Yard Learning Resources - Learning resources available from the University of Cambridge’s modern and contemporary art gallery, Kettle’s Yard. http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/learn/

Land Economy

Suggested reading list from Faculty website:

Paper 1: Economics I & II

• Pressman, S. Fifty major economists, Routledge, 2013
• Acemoglu, D., Laibson, D., List, J.  Microeconomics, Pearson, 2014
• Blanchard, M.O.J., Rogoff, M.K. and Rajan, R. Progress and confusion: the state of macroeconomic policy, MIT Press, 2016
   

Paper 2: The Public Sector: Institutional and Legal Frameworks

• Loughlin, M. British Constitution: A Very Short Introduction, OUP Oxford, 2nd edition, 2013
• Galligan, D. The Constitution in Crisis: The New Putney Debates, I.B.Tauris, 2017
   

Paper 3: Quantitative and Legal Methods for Land Economists

• Chiang, A.C. and Wainwright, K. Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics. McGraw Hill, 4th edition, 2005                                         
• Lind, D.A, Marchal, W.G. and Wathen, S.A.   Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics. McGraw Hill, 15th edition, 2011
• Spiegel, M. R.  Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Statistics. McGraw Hill, 4th edition, 2007
• Twining, W. and D. Miers, D.  How to do things with rules Chapter 1, Cambridge University Press, 5th edition, 2012
   

Paper 4: Land Economy, Development and Sustainability

• Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities
• Glaeser, E. Triumph of the City
• Hall, P. Cities of Tomorrow
• Le Grand, J., Propper, C. and Smith, S. The Economics of Social Problems, Palgrave Macmillan, 4th edition, 2008
• Discover Land Economy - The Department's blog, exploring applications, careers, research, and teaching within Land Economy. https://medium.com/discover-land-economy

Linguistics

Suggested reading from the Faculty website:

Sounds and Words

• Crystal, D. (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (Chapters 27-29, 40). Cambridge University Press.
• Pinker, S. (1995) The language instinct (Chapters 5 & 6). Penguin.
• Ashby, M. & Maidment, J. (2005) Introducing Phonetic Science. Cambridge University Press.
• Davenport, M. & Hannahs, S.J. (2005) Introducing Phonetics and Phonology. Hodder Education.
• International Phonetic Association (1999) Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press.
   

Structures and Meanings

• Aitchison, J. 2003 Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon Oxford: Blackwell. Third edition.
• Baker, M. 2001 Atoms of Language Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Larson, R. 2010 Grammar as Science Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Levinson, S.C 1983 Pragmatics Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
• Mey, J. L. 2001 Pragmatics: An introduction Oxford: Blackwell. Second edition.
• Pinker, S. 2007 The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature New York: Viking
• Tallerman, M. 1998/2005 Understanding syntax London: Arnold.
   

Language, Brain and Society

• Crystal, D. 2004. The stories of English. London: Allen Lane (Penguin Books).
• Harley, T. A. 2008 [1995]. The psychology of language: From data to theory. Hove: Psychology Press.
• Holmes, J. 2001 [1992]. An introduction to sociolinguistics. London: Longman.
• Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A., & Leap, W. L. 2000. Introducing sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Smith, N. & Tsimpli, I. M. 1995. The mind of a savant: Language learning and modularity. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Yang, Charles. 2006. The infinite gift: How children learn and unlearn the languages of the world. New York: Scribner.
   

History and Varieties of English

• Crystal, D. 2003 [2001]. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: CUP.
• Crystal, D. 2002. The English language. London: Penguin.
• Denison, D., and Hogg, Richard. 2006. A history of the English language. Cambridge: CUP.
• Graddol, D., Leith, D. & Swann, J.. 2002 [1996]. English: History, diversity and change. London: Routledge.
• Hughes, A., Trudgill, P. & Watt, D. 2005. English accents and dialects. London: Hodder Arnold.
• Kortmann, B. & Upton, C. 2008. Varieties of English: The British Isles. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Van Gelderen, Elly. 2006. A history of the English language. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Medicine

General information for offer holders for Medicine:

• https://www.biology.cam.ac.uk/undergrads/MedST/Current/Freshers/Prepwork
• https://www.biology.cam.ac.uk/undergrads/MedST/Current/Freshers/basic-science-concepts

Music

Suggested reading: 

• An Introduction to Music Studies, edited by Paul Harper-Scott and Jim Samson (Cambridge: CUP, 2009)
• Nicholas Cook, Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2000)
• The Cultural Study of Music: A Critical Introduction, edited by Martin Clayton, Trevor Herbert, and Richard Middleton (2nd edition, London: Routledge, 2012)
• Nicholas Cook, A Guide to Musical Analysis (Oxford: OUP,1994) will introduce you to some of the ways in which one can think about musical structure and form.
• Philip V. Bohlman, World Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2002)

Other resources:

• https://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/applicants/undergraduate/student-resources
• https://www.myheplus.com/post-16/subjects/music
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOiKZ8U3pCkvZOaOOEHSjNw
• https://musicatcambridge.wordpress.com/
• https://www.marinafrolova-walker.com/

Philosophy

Suggested reading from Faculty website:

Introductions to Philosophy

• Julia Annas, Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000)
• Simon Blackburn, Think (Oxford University Press, 2001)
• Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley, The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments (Liveright, 2016)
• Edward Craig, Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Mary Midgley, What is Philosophy for? (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018)
• Thomas Nagel, What Does it All Mean? (Oxford University Press, 1987)
• Gideon Rosen et al., The Norton Introduction to Philosophy. Second edition (W. W. Norton & Co., 2018)
• Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy. Second edition (Oxford University Press, 2001)
• Jennifer Mather Saul, Feminism: Issues & Arguments (Oxford University Press, 2003)
• David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton, Philosophy Bites (Oxford University Press, 2010)
• David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton, Philosophy Bites Back (Oxford University Press, 2014)
• David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton, Philosophy Bites Again (Oxford University Press, 2016)
• The Philosophy Bites series of podcasts (http://www.philosopybites.com)
• The History of Philosophy: without any gaps series of podcasts by Peter Adamson (https://historyofphilosophy.net//)
• The Philosophers’ Arms series of podcasts by Matthew Sweet (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lyb82)
   

Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Epistemology

• Helen Beebee, Free Will: an introduction (Palgrave Macmillian, 2013)
• Earl Conee and Theodore Sider, Riddles of Existence. New edition (Clarendon Press, 2014)
• Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind. Third edition (Routledge, 2015)
• Amy Kind, Persons and Personal Identity (Polity Press, 2015)
• Jennifer Nagel, Knowledge: a very short introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014)
   

Logic and Language

• Austin, J.L., How To Do Things With Words: the William James Lectures delivered at Harvard University in 1955, edited by J. O. Urmson and Marina Sbisà (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.
• Priest, Graham, Logic: A Very Short Introduction, Second Edition (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017)
• R M Sainsbury, Paradoxes. Third edition (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
   

Ethics and Political Philosophy

• Simon Blackburn, Being Good: a short introduction to ethics (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Julia Driver, Ethics: the fundamentals (Blackwell, 2006)
• Judith Jarvis Thompson, Goodness and Advice (Oxford University Press, 2001)
• Mary Midgley, Can’t We Make Moral Judgements? (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017)
• Phil Parvin and Clare Chambers, Teach Yourself Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction (Hodder & Stoughton, 2012)
• Jonathan Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy. Third edition (Oxford University Press, 2016)
   

Philosophy of Science

• Alan Chalmers, What Is This Thing Called Science, Fourth edition, (Maindenhead, Berks.: Open University Press, 2013)
• Tim Lewens, The Meaning of Science (Pelican, 2015)
   

Some Philosophy Classics

• Plato, Meno and Euthyphro
• Milinda-pañho (Questions of King Milinda)
• Ibn Tufayl, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan (Alive, Son of Awake, also known as The SelfTaught Philosopher)
• Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous
• Descartes, Meditations
• Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding and Dialogues on Natural
• Religion, ’Of the Standard of Taste’
• Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
• J S Mill, Utilitarianism and On Liberty
• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
   

Other resources:

• Philosophy Podcasts - Podcasts recorded by members of the Faculty of Philosophy. https://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/podcasts-link/podcasts-philosophy
• Cambridge Women Philosophers - A selection of women who studied, taught or were active in philosophy in Cambridge over the years.

Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion

Suggested reading from Faculty website:

Paper 1: Languages

Hebrew (Paper A1A)

• Lambdin, Thomas. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1973)

Greek (Paper A1B)

• Duff, J. Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd edn; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Sanskrit (Paper A1C)

• Coulson, M., Sanskrit: an introduction to the Classical Language (2nd edn; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1992)
   

Arabic (Paper A1D)

• Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. A., A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language (London: Lund Humphries, 1990)
   

General Books on the Bible and its Interpretation

• Grant, R. M. & Tracy, D. A., Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible (London: SCM, 1984)
• Hayes, J. H. & Holladay, C. R., Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook (3rd edn; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2010)
• Alter, R. & Kermode, F., The Literary Guide to the Bible (London: Collins, 1987)
• Soskice, J.M., The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels (London: Chatto & Windus, 2009).
   

Old Testament: David (Paper A2)

• McKenzie, S.L., King David: A Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)*
• Alter, R., The Art of Biblical Narrative (London: Basic Books, 2011)
• Dietrich, W., The Early Monarchy in Israel: The Tenth Century B.C.E. (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007)
• Rogerson, J. W. & Davies, P., The Old Testament World (2nd edn; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2006)
• Rogerson, J. W. (ed.), Beginning Old Testament Study (London: SPCK, 1983)
   

New Testament: Jesus and the Origins of the Gospels (Paper A3)

• Johnson, L. T., The Writings of the New Testament (London: SCM, 1999)
• Court, J. & K., The New Testament World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
• Tuckett, C., Reading the New Testament (London: SPCK, 1987)
• Barrett, C. K., The New Testament Background: Selected Documents (London: SPCK, 1956)
• Moule, C. F. D., The Birth of the New Testament (London: A & C Black, 3rd ed., 1981)
• E. P. Sanders,  The Historical Figure of Jesus (London: Allen Lane, 1993)
• M Bockmuehl (ed.),  The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)
   

History: Christianity and the Transformation of Culture (Paper A4)

• Brown, P., Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison,WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992)
• Markus, R., The End of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
• Salzman, M., The Making of A Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2003)
   

The Question of God (Paper A5)

• Davis, Stephen T. (ed.), Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2004).
• Fergusson, David. Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014).
• Ford, David F., Theology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
• Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004).
• Solle, Dorothee. Thinking about God: An Introduction to Theology (London: SCM, 1990)
   

Understanding Contemporary Religion (Paper A6)

• Aldridge, A., Religion in the Contemporary World (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000)
• Barker, E., The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984)
• Bruce, S., Religion in the Modern World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
• Davie, G., Religion in Britain since 1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)
• Davie, G., Europe: The Exceptional Case (London: DLT, 2002)
• Hamilton, M. B., The Sociology of Religion (2nd edn; London: Routledge, 2001)
   

World Religions (Paper A7)

• Neusner, J. & Sonn, T., Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam (London: Routledge, 1999)
• McCutcheon, R. T., The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader (London: Cassell, 1999)
• de Lange, N.R.M., An Introduction to Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
• Waines, D., An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)
• Lipner, J. J., Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (London: Routledge, 1994)
   

Philosophy and Ethics (Paper A8)

• Turner, D., The Darkness of God (Cambridge, 1998)
• Burrell, D., Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides and Aquinas (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986)
• Sokolowski, R., The God of Faith and Reason (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1995)
• Louth, A., The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: from Plato to Denys (Oxford: Clarendon, 1981)
• Priest, G., Beyond the Limits of Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995)
• Macintyre, A., After Virtue (3rd edn; South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007)
• Mahoney, J. D., The Making of Moral Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989)
   

General

• Dixon, T.M., How to Get a First (London: Routledge, 2004). This book gives advice on teaching and learning styles and how to manage time and lectures in the Arts & Humanities. It has a helpful section on making the transition from school to university
• Learning a Language - Read about what it’s like to learn a language from scratch in Divinity. https://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate/study/learninglanguage
• HE+ Website - For 6^th Form students who want to further their interest in Religious Studies https://www.myheplus.com/post-16/subjects/religious-studies

If you have any questions, please email OfferHolders@joh.cam.ac.uk. You can also contact us via Facebook either by messaging the page 'Undergraduate Admissions, St John's College' or joining the Offer Holders' Group. 

We look forward to hearing from you!