The Soul

A History of the Human Mind

Paul Ham

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English

WILLIAM HEINEMANN
01 August 2024

History; Philosophy of mind; Philosophy of religion; History of ideas

The Soul is a history of the human mind, from the earliest expression of self-consciousness to its unshakeable belief in the great religions and political systems.

Almost everyone thinks they have one, but nobody knows what it is.

For thousands of years the soul was an 'organ', an entity, something that was part of all of us, that survived the death of the body and ventured to the underworld, or to heaven or hell.

The soul could be saved, condemned, tortured, bought.

And then, mysteriously, the 'soul' disappeared. The Enlightenment called it the 'mind'. And today, neuroscientists demonstrate that the mind is the creation of the brain.

The 'religious soul' lives on, in the minds of the faithful, while the secular 'soul' means whatever you want it to mean.

In The Soul- A History of the Human Mind critically acclaimed historian Paul Ham embarks on a journey that has never been attempted- to restore the idea of the soul to the human story and to show how belief in, and beliefs arising from, the soul/mind have animated and driven the history of humankind.

The Soul is much more than a mesmerizing narrative and uniquely accessible way of explaining our story. It transforms our understanding of how history works. It persuasively demonstrates that the beliefs of the soul/mind are the engines of human history.

By: Paul Ham
Imprint: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 241mm, Width: 164mm, Spine: 60mm
Weight: 1.098kg
ISBN: 9780143781349
ISBN 10: 0143781340
Pages: 800
Publication Date: 01 August 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Paul Ham is the author of Hiroshima Nagasaki (2011), Vietnam- The Australian War (2007) and Kokoda (2004). Vietnam won the New South Wales Premier's Prize for Australian History and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Prize for Non-Fiction (2008). Kokoda was shortlisted for the Walkley Award for Non-Fiction and the New South Wales Premier's Prize for Non-Fiction. Sandakan- The Untold Story of the Sandakan Death Marches, was published in 2012 and was been shortlisted for the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for History. His most recent book is 1914- The Year The World Ended. A former Sunday Times correspondent, with a Master's degree in Economic History from the London School of Economics, Paul now devotes most of his time to writing history. He lives in Paris and Sydney with his family.