On Suicide [Paperback]

The landmark investigation into suicide and society?now in a new translation

Émile Durkheim, one of the fathers of modern sociology, was the first to suggest that suicide might be as much a response to society as an act of individual despair. When he looked at social, religious, or racial groups that had high incidences of suicide, he discovered that abnormally high or low levels of social integration increase the likelihood of suicide. More than a century after its initial publication, Durkheim?s groundbreaking work continues to fascinate and challenge those seeking to understand one of the least understandable of human acts.Robin Buss is a writer and translator who works for theIndependent on Sundayand as television critic for TheTimes Educational Supplement. He studied at the University of Paris, where he took a degree and a doctorate in French literature. He is part-author of the article 'French Literature' inEncyclopaedia Britannicaand has published critical studies of works by Vigny and Cocteau, and three books on European cinema,The French Through Their Films(1988),Italian Films(1989) andFrench Film Noir(1994). He has also translated a number of volumes for Penguin Classics.GB