This volume offers streamlined access to seminal passages from some of the most important texts in human history—texts that have inspired and informed enduring questions related to the pursuit of wisdom and worldview, religious faith, historical and moral reflection, and civic and political life. Selections are drawn from a variety of key traditions and historical contexts, including ancient Greece, China, India, and Rome; Judaism, early Christianity, and classical Islam; medieval Europe; the Renaissance and exploration period; the early modern period and Enlightenment; and early U.S. history. Here readers can acquaint themselves with towering perspectives, meditations, arguments, and documents in the academic disciplines of history, political science, and philosophy. invites readers to enter into conversations that are both timely and timeless.