Autocracy, totalitarianism and dictatorship Books

Book Synopsis**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**‘A sort of survival book, a sort of symptom-diagnosis manual in terms of losing your democracy and what tyranny and authoritarianism look like up close’ Rachel Maddow 'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer History does not repeat, but it does instruct. In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances. History can familiarise, and it can warn. Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny. Now is a good time to do so.Trade ReviewThe most coherent manifesto on confronting Trump… powerful. -- Sarah Ditum * New Statesman *Snyder’s beautifully weighted book is the perfect clear-eyed antidote to [Trump's] deliberate philistinism … Always measured in their observation, these 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten … You will read no more relevant field guide to that wisdom than this book. -- Tim Adams * Observer *On Tyranny is a slim book that fits alongside your pocket constitution and feels only slightly less vital... Clarifying and unnerving… a memorable work that is grounded in history yet imbued with the fierce urgency of what now. -- Carlos Lozada * Washington Post *Following paths trodden by Hannah Arendt, Czeslaw Milosz and Václav Havel, Snyder has written a manifesto for surviving the political rampages of our time with our rights and freedoms intact… Snyder’s book is addressed to the American reader, but its message is broader. Read in Budapest or Warsaw, it will have an especial resonance … Slim and accessible, On Tyranny is a book to read quickly, ponder slowly and pass on -- Annabelle Chapman * Prospect *Urgent, indignant, winningly ragged in execution, On Tyranny is in the best tradition of polemical pamphlets. Timely agitprop, it offers some relief from Trump anxiety disorder. -- Lewis Jones * Daily Telegraph *A chilling description of how authoritarian mindsets work -- Hillary ClintonSteeped in the history of interwar Germany, Snyder writes with bracing immediacy about how to prevent, or at least forestall, the repression of lives and minds. * Washington Post *We are rapidly ripening for fascism. This American writer leaves us with no illusions about ourselves -- Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for LiteratureOn Tyranny will help you keep going for the next four years, or however long it takes. -- Masha GessenHe is undoubtedly a scholar of great distinction and authority… If more people follow Snyder’s injunctions to read newspapers, avoid falling for contrived online “scandals”, make friends across national boundaries and remember professional ethics then the world will indeed be a better place. -- Michael Gove * The Times *In an erudite yet accessibly manner, with brevity and precision, Snyder draws on his prodigious knowledge of 20th century despotism to present 20 sobering lessons for dealing with the Trump phenomenon -- Muhammad Idrees Ahmad * National *On Tyranny is [a] response to the rise of Donald Trump, although it is not, strictly speaking, about Trump, who is never mentioned by name. It is, rather, a primer in how to think historically -- Ken Early * The Irish Times *A slim volume more like a guide than a tome of historical scholarship, though Snyder drew on 25 years of research and writing -- Stav Ziv * Newsweek Europe *

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Book Synopsis''Mind-blowing ... one extraordinary read'' EMILY MAITLIS''The greatest political figure of his generation'' OBSERVER''Part memoir, part diary, a political manifesto, a darkly funny adieu'' BEN MACINTYRE''Patriot will be seen as a historic text'' ECONOMISTPatriot is the exhilarating life story of one of the most fearless and inspiring figures of our time, who became a beacon to millions and the sole political threat to Vladimir Putin.This is Alexei Navalny's life in his own words: his Soviet childhood, political awakening, his marriage and beloved family, his total commitment to taking on a corrupt regime and his enduring love of Russia and its people. His 2020 poisoning by the Russian security services was a global news event. In 2024 he died in a brutal Siberian prison. He began writing Patriot whilst recovering from his poisoning; it ends with his prison diaries, seen here for the first time.We witness the growth of his nationwide support. We see his many arrests and harassment and, in stunning detail, the attempt on his life. We understand why he felt he had to return to Russia. In prison, he shows a spirit and a sense of humour that cannot be crushed.Patriot is as dramatic as its author's life passionate that good and freedom will prevail. It is Alexei Navalny's final letter to the world, a rousing call to continue his work, an unforgettably positive account of a life that will inspire every reader.''A brave and brilliant book'' GUARDIAN''A worthy testament to Navalny''s courage, defiance and humour'' FINANCIAL TIMES''This book is a gospel'' VANITY FAIR''Inspiring, emboldening - a voice that will not be forgotten'' NEW YORKER** A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A WATERSTONES, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND EVENING STANDARD BEST BOOK OF 2024 * ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA''S BEST BOOKS OF 2024 **(Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers, October 2024)

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Book SynopsisVáclav Havel’s remarkable and rousing essay on the tyranny of apathy, with a new introduction by Timothy Snyder Cowed by life under Communist Party rule, a greengrocer hangs a placard in their shop window: Workers of the world, unite! Is it a sign of the grocer’s unerring ideology? Or a symbol of the lies we perform to protect ourselves? Written in 1978, Václav Havel’s meditation on political dissent – the rituals of its suppression, and the sparks that re-ignite it – would prove the guiding manifesto for uniting Solidarity movements across the Soviet Union. A portrait of activism in the face of falsehood and intimidation, The Power of the Powerless remains a rousing call against the allure of apathy.'Havel’s diagnosis of political pathologies has a special resonance in the age of Trump' Pankaj MishraTrade ReviewHavel’s diagnosis of political pathologies has a special resonance in the age of Trump -- Pankaj MishraFew voices did more to undermine the foundations of the Berlin Wall and the entire edifice of Soviet-imposed totalitarianism than this shy bourgeois, this sly, reticent, playwright and essayist -- David Remnick * New Yorker *In gentle, ironic but scathing prose, Havel's The Power of the Powerless exposed the lies and cowardice that made possible the communist grip on power * The Economist *In his now iconic 1978 essay, which circulated in underground editions in Czechoslovakia and was smuggled to other Warsaw Pact countries and to the West, Havel foresaw that the opposition could eventually prevail against the totalitarian state * The New York Times *

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Book Synopsis'[The Gulag Archipelago] helped to bring down an empire. Its importance can hardly be exaggerated' Doris Lessing, Sunday Telegraph WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY JORDAN B. PETERSONA vast canvas of camps, prisons, transit centres and secret police, of informers and spies and interrogators but also of everyday heroism, The Gulag Archipelago is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's grand masterwork. Based on the testimony of some 200 survivors, and on the recollection of Solzhenitsyn's own eleven years in labour camps and exile, it chronicles the story of those at the heart of the Soviet Union who opposed Stalin, and for whom the key to survival lay not in hope but in despair.A thoroughly researched document and a feat of literary and imaginative power, this edition of The Gulag Archipelago was abridged into one volume at the author's wish and with his full co-operation. 'Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece...The Gulag Archipelago helped create the world we live in today' Anne Applebaum THE OFFICIALLY APPROVED ABRIDGEMENT OF THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO VOLUMES I, II & IIITrade ReviewTo live now and not to know this work is to be a kind of historical fool missing a crucial part of the consciousness of the age * Guardian *The ferocious testimony of a man of genius * London Magazine *What gives the book its value is the sound it gives out; the harsh roar give out by a wise and experienced animal as a warning that the herd is in danger * Sunday Telegraph *He is one of the towering figures of the age as a writer, as moralist, as hero... in The Gulag Archipelago he has acheived the impossible * Observer *It is impossible to name a book that had a greater effect on the political and moral consciousness of the late twentieth century * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisThe second installment in ''The People''s Trilogy'', the groundbreaking series from Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Frank DikötterFor anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading' Anne ApplebaumEssential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world''s most important revolutions' GuardianDikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order' Timothy SnyderIn 1949 Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City. Instead of liberating the country, the communists destroyed the old order and replaced it with a repressive system that would dominate every aspect of Chinese life.In an epic of revolution and violence which draws on newly opened party archives, interviews and memoirs, Frank Dikötter interweavesTrade ReviewA brilliant and powerful account of the formation of that society ... Nobody who reads about the cost of the establishment of the PRC in Dikotter’s humane and lucid prose will find much sympathy for the authoritarian case. This excellent book is horrific but essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world’s most important revolutions * Guardian *Frank Dikötter, now well into his stride as a meticulous chronicler of China’s greatest miseries ... The Tragedy of Liberation is a tightly-written narrative of the twelve most pivotal years in modern Chinese history ... The book is also a dispassionate study of the way nations can pervert optimism and descend into lunacy by steady increments ... The Tragedy of Liberation is more unsettling. For what it tells us about the foundations of the modern Communist Party, and the backstory to so many decisions and statements made in Beijing today, it is essential reading * The Times *Frank Dikötter’s powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikötter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Dikötter has a writer’s gift in the use of English ... Dikötter must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikötter so ably relates * Kwasi Kwarteng, Evening Standard *A mesmerizing account of the communist revolution in China, and the subsequent transformation of hundreds of millions of lives through violence, coercion and broken promises. The Chinese themselves suppress this history, but for anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading * Anne Applebaum *This follow up to Dikötter’s award-winning Mao’s Great Famine examines the early bloodstained years of Communist China * The Times, Critics’ Choices *One-party states take control of the past as they take control of societies. Usually they must end for serious historical discussion to begin. A great intellectual challenge of our century is to historicize the People’s Republic even as it continues to exist. Dikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order * Tim Snyder *A history of early Maoist China puts paid to any notion of a “golden age” ... In The Tragedy of Liberation ... Frank Dikotter convincingly demolishes this rosy assessment of the early People’s Republic ... The book is a remarkable work of archival research. Dikotter rarely, if ever, allows the story of central government to dominate by merely reporting a top-down directive. Instead, he tracks down the grassroots impact of Communist policies – on farmers, factory workers, industrialists, students, monks – by mining archives and libraries for reports, surveys, speeches and memoirs. In so doing, he uncovers astonishing stories of party-led inhumanity and also popular resistance ... Dikotter sustains a strong human dimension to the story by skilfully weaving individual voices through the length of the book * Financial Times *This groundbreaking book examines the bloodstained reality behind the word and reveals how it brought tragedy to millions. Frank Dikotter is already the author of a revelatory book about China’s great famine of 1958-62, and in this prequel – unsparing in its detail, relentless in its research, unforgiving in its judgments – he deals in the same way with the Chinese revolution from 1945 to 1957 ... This exhaustive trawl through Chinese archives charts the full cost of those early years of change ... Dikotter’s achievement in this book is remarkable. He has mastered a mass of original source material, and has done so by mining local archives in China, which have yielded up a host of treasures. (Significantly, scholars are now reporting the steady closure of official records, as local bureaucrats revert to old habits of secrecy and isolation. This may be the last work of its kind for a while.) ... Staggering amount of detail ... For many years, histories of China have treated the 1950s as if the decade was an interlude of reason. That belief does not survive contact with this book ... It is clear to this reviewer, at least, that mainstream academic scholarship must also be revised in the light of Dikotter’s work. In particular, volume 14 of the Cambridge History of China, which covers the period of this book, will have to be rewritten * Sunday Times *Path-breaking ... Some of what Dikotter describes has been known in general terms, but what he has done here – as when he was writing about the later famine – is take advantage of the opening of archives in which firsthand official reports and accounts of death in all its forms, together with the myriad other forms of Maoist horror, can now be read unedited. It will be increasingly difficult for Western China specialists to write with authority based only on previous Western publications or on Chinese public statements. We remain in Frank Dikotter’s debt * Literary Review *With a mixture of passion and ruthlessness, he marshals the facts, many of them recently unearthed in party archives. Out of these, Mr Dikotter constructs a devastating case for how extreme violence, not a moral mandate, was at the heart of how the party got to power, and of how it then governed ... He was ready to lead the country into the giant experiment of the Great Leap Forward. Mr Dikotter has already written about that in “Mao’s Great Famine”, which this book only betters. The final volume of his planned trilogy will be on the Cultural Revolution, bringing the curtain down on a truly disastrous period * Economist *Frank Dikotter’s powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikotter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Combined with this linguistic skill, Dikotter has a writer’s gift in the use of English. The narrative of The Tragedy of Liberation is always clear and simple ... Dikotter ... Must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikotter so ably relates * Scotsman *Unsparing reappraisal of China’s communist revolution * Sunday Times Must Reads *Frank Dikotter, Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, is establishing himself as the chronicler of what happened to the most populous nation on Earth during Mao’s 27-year reign ... Dikotter’s great achievement is to have melded together the big picture of Mao with the smaller one of what was happening to millions of victims of his policies. In doing so he’s produced a book that’s as authoritative as it is gripping * Mail on Sunday *Much of what Dikötter describes has been known in outline; but Chinese history will have to be revised in light of his detailed revelations * The Week *The historian of China Frank Dikötter has taken a sledgehammer to demolish perhaps the last remaining shibboleth of modern Chinese history ... What emerges from the archives with new clarity is just how ruinous Mao’s policies were * Spectator *A meticulous reappraisal of the formative years of Maoist rule ... This is the first study to make sense in detail of events central to the Mao era, of which only the broad outlines have been known before now. It deserves to become fundamental to a better understanding of the forces that have shaped China today * Sunday Telegraph *Startling ... Dikötter’s work has aimed to demolish almost every claim to truth or virtue the Chinese Communist party ever made. He combines a vivid eye for detail with a historian’s diligence in the archives. Powerful ... Dikötter is unsparing in his account of the effects of the communist rule * Observer *A compelling and devastating account of the Communist involvement in the Civil War and of the first eight years of Communist rule ... This is a gripping and fluidly written account of the first decade of the People’s Republic of China; one that contributes to bringing Chinese history into popular discussions of 20th century international revolutions, utopianism, violence and terror * The Times Higher Education Supplement *Brilliant * The Times *Catalogues in devastating detail the suffering endured from 1949 to 1957, during the installation of the world’s most murderous totalitarian regime … [his portrait of Mao is] both harsher and more convincing than ever * Oldie *By the end of Dikötter’s shocking book, you are in no doubt about the dreadful murderousness of the communist leadership, whose land reforms and modernisation plans exacted a terrible toll on China’s rural population. In this nightmarish world, not even leper colonies were safe * Sunday Times History Books of the Year *The great merit of Dikötter’s book is that it goes beyond the horrific statistics ... He clearly explains the mechanics of the revolutionary state, how mass violence was orchestrated, why people took part in the killing, and what the purposes of the terror were * New York Review of Books *Few other works on the Mao period contain such a quantity and range of archival materials ... Bringing such brutality to light is a valuable contribution * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisWritten in Paris in the early 1950s, this book created instant controversy in its analysis of modern society that had allowed itself to be hypnotized by socio-political doctrines, and to accept totalitarian terror on the strength of a hypothetical future.Table of ContentsThe pill of the Murti-Bing; looking to the West; Ketman; Alpha, the moralist; Beta, the disappointed lover; Gamma, the slave of history; Delta, the troubadour; man, his enemy; the lessons of the Baltics.

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Book Synopsis'[The Gulag Archipelago] helped to bring down an empire. Its importance can hardly be exaggerated' Doris Lessing, Sunday TelegraphWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY NATALIA SOLZHENITSYNA vast canvas of camps, prisons, transit centres and secret police, of informers and spies and interrogators but also of everyday heroism, The Gulag Archipelago is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's grand masterwork. Based on the testimony of some 200 survivors, and on the recollection of Solzhenitsyn's own eleven years in labour camps and exile, it chronicles the story of those at the heart of the Soviet Union who opposed Stalin, and for whom the key to survival lay not in hope but in despair.A thoroughly researched document and a feat of literary and imaginative power, this edition of The Gulag Archipelago was abridged into one volume at the author's wish and with his full co-operation.'Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece...The Gulag Archipelago helped create the world we live in today' Anne ApplebaumTHE OFFICIALLY APPROVED ABRIDGEMENT OF THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO VOLUMES I, II & III

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of international bestseller On Tyranny, this prescient analysis of Russia's ongoing interference in the West is now more relevant than ever. 'One of the best...brisk, conceptually convincing account of democracy's retreat in the early years of 21st century' Guardian The past is another country, the old saying goes. The same might be said of the future. But which country? For Europeans and Americans today, the answer is Russia. In this visionary work of contemporary history, Timothy Snyder shows how Russia works within the West to destroy the West; by supporting the far right in Europe, invading Ukraine in 2014, and waging a cyberwar during the 2016 presidential campaign and the EU referendum. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the creation of Donald Trump, an American failure deployed as a Russian weapon. But this threat presents an opportunity to better understand the pillars of our freedoms and face the choices that will determine the future: equality or oligarchy, individualism or totalitarianism, truth or lies. 'A brilliant and disturbing analysis, which should be read by anyone wishing to understand the political crisis currently engulfing the world' Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of SapiensTrade ReviewA brilliant and disturbing analysis, which should be read by anyone wishing to understand the political crisis currently engulfing the world -- YUVAL NOAH HARARI, author of SAPIENS and HOMO DEUSThis story of how Russia dismantled democracy, and the man who set its template for fake news, is chilling and persuasive ... unignorable... a disturbing and persuasive insight... Snyder's forensic examination of, for example the news cycle that followed the shooting down of flight MH17 makes essential reading ... Meticulously researched and footnoted. -- Tim Adams * Observer *One of the best…brisk, conceptually convincing account of democracy’s retreat in the early years of 21st century -- Luke Harding * Guardian *Snyder’s central thesis is a strong one… Vividly and insightfully told. -- Edward Lucas * The Times *A rollercoaster world calls for a news editor’s skills in processing facts and a philosopher’s ability to dissect ideologies. He has both. * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHYWINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016 The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale. It is an exquisite meditation on how history and politics can bear down on an individual life. And yet Hisham Matar''s memoir isn''t just about the burden of the past, but the consolation of love, literature and art. It is the story of what it is to be human.Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, the fall of Gaddafi meant he was finally able to return to his homeland. In this moving memoir, the author takes us on an illuminating journey, both physical and psychological; a journey to find his father and rediscover his country.''A beautifully-written memoir that skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya''s recent history with the author''s dogged quest to find his father'' Barack ObamaHisham Matar''s new novel My Friends is available now!Trade ReviewWhat a brilliant book. The Return reads as easily as a thriller, but is a story that will stick; a person is lost but gravity and resonance remain -- Hilary MantelIt is likely to become a classic. -- Colm TóibínA total work of art. It reminded me of Solzhenitsyn. It is of the same importance. I love it. -- James RebanksWise and agonizing and thrilling to read -- Zadie SmithBristles with arresting wisdom -- Jeremy PaxmanA treasure for the ages -- Peter CareyTremendously powerful -- Nadeem AslamA magnificent memoir of exile and loss -- Rawi HageOne of the essential books of our times -- Adam FouldsA profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile * Sunday Express *A truly remarkable book * Daily Telegraph *Stands comparison with the best literature of exile * Prospect *[An] extraordinary memoir -- Financial TimesMarvellously well-handled memoir * Evening Standard *A tale of mighty love, loyalty and courage * Spectator *A masterful memoir, a searing meditation on loss, exile, grief, guilt, belonging and, above all, family. * Book of the Week, Sunday Times *Beautifully written * Economist *Exquisite * Observer *An astonishing political thriller * Mail on Sunday *[A] profound work of witnessing and grief... leaves a deep emotional imprint * Newsday *A moving, unflinching memoir of a family torn apart by the savage realities of today's middle east -- Kazuo IshiguroI have always admired Matar's tender and compassionate but equally strong and compelling voice -- Elif ShafakMr. Matar is not a wonderful writer because his father disappeared or because his homeland is a mess: he is a brilliant narrative architect and prose stylist, his pared-down approach and measured pace a striking complement to the emotional tumult of his material . . . This book is an extraordinary gift for us all * Wall Street Journal *Breathtaking memoir... an elegy by a son who, through his eloquence, defies the men who wanted to erase his father and gifts him with a kind of immortality * Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2016 *The Return moved me to tears and taught me about love and home -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * Guardian Books of the Year *A desolating and powerful account of his son's search for his father, in life and death -- Hilary Mantel * New Statesman Books of the Year *Is it a sign, or a consequence, of this dreadful year that the best books displayed stern lucidity in the face of darkness and death? Hisham Matar's search for his "disappeared" father in The Return (note how badly British politicians come out of it) -- Julian Barnes * Guardian Books of the Year *A masterpiece . . . Its concision and reserve only heighten the power of a gripping and agonising story -- Alan Hollinghurst * Guardian Books of the Year *The Return is the self portrait of a haunting, a kind of political ghost story - made more unbearable by the beauty of its prose * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year *The intelligence and grace of Matar's writing is fuelled by a fierce and valid rage -- Rupert Thomson * Observer Books of the Year *For Matar, hope depends on individuals and families standing by cherished values -- Jonathan Benthall * Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year *A haunting and terrifying story, told with courage, anger, dignity and unswerving determination -- Blake Morrison * Guardian Books of the Year *Among the best of the year's writing... This book is his masterful ink-stained resistance * The Sunday Times *A beautifully-written memoir that skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya's recent history with the author's dogged quest to find his father' -- Barack Obama

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Book SynopsisDrive critical, engaged learning and advanced skills development. Enabling comprehensive, rounded understanding, the student-centred approach actively develops the sophisticated skills key to performance in Paper 2. Developed directly with the IB for the 2015 syllabus, this Course Book fully supports the new comparative approach to learning.Cover the new syllabus in the right level of depth, with rich, thorough subject contentDeveloped directly with the IB, with the most comprehensive support for the new syllabus with complete support for the comparative approachTruly engage learners with topical, relevant material that convincingly connects learning with the modern, global worldStreamline your planning, with a clear and thorough structure helping you logically progress through the syllabusBuild the advanced-level skills learners need for Paper 2, with the student-led approach driving active skills development and strengthening exam performanceIntegrate approaches to learning with ATLsTable of Contents1. Egypt - Nasser ; 1.1 The Emergence of Nasser's Egypt 1914-1952 ; 1.2 Nasser's consolidation of power 1952-1954 ; 1.3 Nasser's policies 1952-1970 ; 2. Cuba - Castro ; 2.1 Castro's rise to power ; 2.2 Consolidation and maintenance of power in Castro's Cuba ; 2.3 Aims and results of Castro's policies ; 3. China - Mao ; 3.1 Mao's rise to power 1949 ; 3.2 Mao's consolidation of power 1949-1955 ; 3.3 Mao's economic and social policies ; 4. Germany - Hitler ; 4.1 The emergence of the authoritarian state in Germany 1919-1934 ; 4.2 Hitler's consolidation of power 1934-1935 ; 4.3 The aims and results of Nazi policies

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Book SynopsisA vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying history of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen. 'A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters' Misha Glenny 'Will leave you astonished, exhausted and curious... An unapologetic page turner' Spectator 'Essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present' John Simpson 'An engaging introduction to the rich history [of Romania]' New Statesman Balanced precariously on the shifting fault line between East and West, Romania's past is one of the great untold stories of modern Europe. The country that gave us Vlad Dracula, and whose citizens consider themselves descendants of ancient Rome, has traditionally preferred the status of enigmatic outsider. But it has experienced some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century. After a relatively benign period led by a dutiful King and his vivacious British-born Queen, the country oscillated wildly. Its interwar rulers form a gallery of bizarre characters: the corrupt and mentally unbalanced King Carol; the fascist death cult led by Corneliu Codreanu; the vain General Ion Antonescu. After 1945 power was handed to Romania's tiny communist party, under which it experienced severe repression, purges and collectivisation. Then in 1965, Nicolae Ceau?escu came to power. And thus began the strangest dictatorship of all.Trade ReviewKenyon relates all this with verve [and] humour... He patiently untangles the complicated webs of loyalty and enmity, that crisscrossed the royal court, the military camarilla and the politburo alike' * Literary Review *A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters -- Misha GlennyPaul Kenyon sweeps away the myths of romance and horror that cling to this fascinating and mysterious country -- Allan LittleAbsolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present -- John SimpsonThis is a book that will leave you astonished, exhausted and curious... An unapologetic page turner' * Spectator *Witty and fluid, Kenyon's prose is readable without being superficial. His book is an engaging introduction to the rich history of a country that is often stereotyped and misunderstood * New Statesman *Paul Kenyon's book delves into this history, bringing to life a rogues' gallery of characters * BBC History Magazine *This is an extraordinary book... It is deeply researched and richly documented... Thanks to this book [Romania] is infinitely better understood' * The Critic *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary true story of a West African girlâs upbringing in North Korea.Trade Review'A fascinating glimpse into life in North Korea’ New Statesman‘Monica's is an evocative memoir of a remarkable childhood followed by a decades-long search around the globe for her identity and the truth about her father. But beyond that, it is a stunning treatise on politics, power and culture' Florence Olajide, bestselling author of Coconut'A fascinating account of a woman’s quest for autonomy, and her bravery and determination to find the truth. It’s an investigative story to understand her true father, a powerful but controversial figure, the real man behind his many personas. A woman who was raised between countries, in search of her true home' Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father‘A testament to the power of survival, and the strength it takes to interrogate the world you're born into, Black Girl from Pyongyang is a beautiful and startling coming of age story’ Ali Millar, author of The Last Days‘Monica Macias challenges readers in her remarkable memoir to interrogate the modalities of truth in our modern world, to closely examine and dismantle what we think we know and what the powers that be would have us believe. Hers is a weighty inheritance, one that she explores with grace, compassion, and enormous courage’ Ly Tran, author of House of Sticks‘With intimate knowledge through some of the world’s least-known places, Monica Macias leads us on an extraordinary journey. Her perspective as an African, Asian and European woman is absolutely singular as she searches for home, for her history and for her own identity. Her story is told with clear-eyed honesty and self-reflection, as she seeks to better understand herself, the circumstances of her birth and upbringing, and the world she travels around so bravely. You have never read a book like Black Girl From Pyongyang, and you won’t soon forget it’ Marcia de Sanctis, author of A Hard Place to Leave'Black Girl from Pyongyang tells a heart-warming story of conflicting emotions. A delight to read' Dr J. E. Hoare, Centre of Korean Studies, SOAS

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE ''A gripping and masterful portrait of the brutal court of Mao, based on new research but also written with great narrative verve'' Simon Sebag Montefiore''Harrowing and brilliant'' Ben Macintyre''A critical contribution to Chinese history'' Wall Street JournalBetween 1958 and 1962, 45 million Chinese people were worked, starved or beaten to death. Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to catch up with and overtake the West in less than fifteen years. It led to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known. Dikotter''s extraordinary research within Chinese archives brings together for the first time what happened in the corridors of power with the everyday experiences of ordinary people, giving voice to the dead and disenfranchised. This groundbreaking account definitively recasts the history of the People''s RepuTrade Review'A masterpiece of historical investigation into one of the world's greatest crimes' * New Statesman *‘It is hard to exaggerate the achievement of this book in proving that Mao caused the famine ... only thanks to brilliant scholarship such as this will the heirs of the vanished millions finally learn what happened to their ancestors' * Sunday Times *‘The most authoritative and comprehensive study of the biggest and most lethal famine in history. A must-read' * Jung Chang *‘Gripping ... Prof Dikötter's painstaking analysis of the archives shows Mao's regime resulted in the greatest "man-made famine" the world has ever seen' * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisWhen Timothy Snyder's book Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin was published in 2010, it quickly established its author as one of the leading historians of his generation, a scholar who combined formidable linguistic skills he reads or speaks 11 languages with an elegant literary style, white-hot moral passion and a willingness to start arguments about some of the most fraught questions of the recent past.' New York TimesTimothy Snyder is Levin Professor of History at Yale University, and has written and edited a number of critically acclaimed and prize-winning books about twentieth-century European history: Bloodlands won the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award in the Humanities and the literature award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Black Earth was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.Snyder is a frequent contributor to the New York Review ofTrade ReviewA hugely important historian of this nightmarish era. Nobody has explained it this way before -- William Leith * Evening Standard *Table of Contents i: Preface: Europe INTRODUCTION: HITLER AND STALIN 1: THE SOVIET FAMINES 2: CLASS TERROR 3: NATIONAL TERROR 4: MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP EUROPE 5: THE ECONOMICS OF APOCALYPSE 6: FINAL SOLUTION 7: HOLOCAUST AND REVENGE 8: THE NAZI DEATH FACTORIES 9: RESISTANCE AND INCINERATION 10: ETHNIC CLEANSINGS 11: STALINIST ANTI-SEMITISM CONCLUSION: HUMANITY ii: Numbers and Terms iii: Abstract iv: Acknowledgments v: Bibliography vi: Notes vii: Index

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed by the Daily Mail as ''definitive and harrowing'', this is the final volume of The People's Trilogy'', begun by the Samuel Johnson prize-winning Mao''s Great Famine.''The seminal English language work on the subject' Sunday TimesA major contribution to scholarship on modern China, one that is unequalled, certainly in the English language both revealing and rewarding reading for specialists and non-specialists alike'' Literary ReviewAfter the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 and 1962, an ageing Mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. But the Chairman also used the Cultural Revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longTrade ReviewDefinitive and harrowing -- Book of the Week * Daily Mail *Dikötter never allows his intense account to degenerate into melodrama. Networks of power and information are carefully traced, revealing a movement that spiralled into general score-settling on such a scale that Mao and his allies had only intermittent control … A fascinating account of how people twisted or resisted the aims of Mao’s movement * Daily Telegraph *Definitive and harrowing -- Roger Lewis, Book of the Week * Daily Mail *Magnificent ... The author gives full acknowledgement to memoirs and scholarly works but it is his own archival research, allied to a piercing critique, that lifts the book to a higher level. He has mastered the details so well that with the most sparing use of description he weaves a vivid tapestry of China at the time … This brilliant book leaves no doubt that Mao almost ruined China and left a legacy of paranoia that still grips its modern dictatorship under the latest autocrat, Xi Jinping -- Michael Sheridan * Sunday Times *The murderous frenzy of the times, which tore apart friends and families, not to speak of the Communist party itself, is powerfully conveyed -- Book of the Week * The Times *Given the tortuous nature of the event, what contribution does Frank Dikötter’s new book make to our understanding of the Cultural Revolution? The answer is an immense one. He sheds important new light on what has long been a dark (in several respects) period in Chinese history ... The Cultural Revolution exposes, in measured prose and well-documented analysis, the impact of communist rule in a period of extraordinary stress, tension and violence, most of it unleashed by the Party itself. Together, these three books, which Dikötter calls the ‘People’s Trilogy’, constitute a major contribution to scholarship on modern China, one that is unequalled, certainly in the English language … There is something simply unanswerable about many of his judgments on the effects of almost seventy years of communism in China. Much of this has to do with his use of documents from official archives in China, to which access is difficult … his patience and endurance must be considerable and his Chinese-language skills formidable …. both revealing and rewarding reading – for specialists and non-specialists alike * Literary Review *Gripping, horrific … A significant event in our understanding of modern China * International New York Times *A fine, sharp study of [a] tumultuous, elusive era … Excellent follow-up to his groundbreaking previous work … Dikötter tells a harrowing tale of unbelievable suffering. A potent combination of precise history and moving examples * Kirkus *Outstanding * The Week *Searing * Irish Times *During ten years of insanity, between 1.5m and 2million people lost their lives. It is all chillingly documented in Frank Dikötter’s brilliant new book. -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Times *Magisterial * New Statesman *His “people’s trilogy” … has been hailed as the seminal English language work on the subject. The trilogy’s enduring value lies in its unstinting description of the horrors of life under Mao … Dikötter has done much to ensure that we see the full horror of what happened under Mao * Sunday Times *A significant event in our understanding of modern China * Scotland on Sunday *It includes colourful sketches of famous individuals, a fast-paced account of key political events, and some interesting discussions of how ordinary people experienced and contributed to specific Cultural Revolution episodes … Impressive chapters on the early 1970s that explore and celebrate grassroots developments * Financial Times *A detailed, sober, bleak reminder of the horror and chaos unleashed by Mao Zedong * Tablet *Superb * Tribune *What sets Dikötter apart from many other historians of this period is his obsession with detail and insistence on bringing the story back to the individual account … The level of research in Dikötter’s book is astonishing ... but the book wears this research lightly, with the human story coming through strongly * Irish Times *Dikötter’s well-researched and readable new book on the Cultural Revolution’s causes and consequences is a crucial reminder of the tragedies, miscalculations and human costs of Mao’s last experiment * Guardian *A tragic and salutary history * Catholic Herald *The concluding volume of Dikotter’s superb trilogy on Mao Tse-tung’s China is deeply disturbing * Sunday Times *‘An eye-opener and a page-turner’ * Daily Mail *A revelatory look at a seismic upheaval that has left an indelible imprint on the country * The Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis"[An] incredibly moving collection of oral histories . . . important enough to be added to the history curriculum" Telegraph"Essential reading" History Today"A moving evocation . . . An illuminating if harrowing insight into life in a totalitarian state." Clarissa de Waal, author of ALBANIA: PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY IN TRANSITION"Albania, enigmatic, mysterious Albania, was always the untold story of the Cold War, the 1989 revolutions and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mud Sweeter Than Honey goes a very long way indeed towards putting that right" New EuropeanAfter breaking ties with Yugoslavia, the USSR and then China, Enver Hoxha believed that Albania could become a self-sufficient bastion of communism. Every day, many of its citizens were thrown into prisons and forced labour camps for daring to think independently, for rebelling against the regime or trying to escape - the consequences of their actions were often tragic and irreversible. Mud Sweeter than Honey gives voice to those who lived in Albania at that time - from poets and teachers to shoe-makers and peasant farmers, and many others whose aspirations were brutally crushed in acts of unimaginable repression - creating a vivid, dynamic and often painful picture of this totalitarian state during the forty years of Hoxha's ruthless dictatorship.Very little emerged from Albania during communist times. With these personal accounts, Rejmer opens a window onto a terrifying period in the country's history. Mud Sweeter than Honey is not only a gripping work of reportage, but also a necessary and unique portrait of a nation.With an Introduction by Tony Barber*Winner of the Polityka Passport Prize**Winner of the Koscielski Award*Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones and Antonia Lloyd-JonesTrade Review"A moving evocation of the 'everyday terror' systematically perpetrated over 41 years of Albanian communism. The author brings together survivors' accounts of life under Albania's ruthless dictator, Enver Hoxha. Despite the inevitable bleakness, the author's skillful interviewing allows those recounting their experiences to engage us in their absorbing narratives. An illuminating if harrowing insight into life in a totalitarian state. -- Clarissa de Waal * author of ALBANIA: PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY IN TRANSITION *Beautifully researched, the book brings back to life sufferings and hopes of traumatized families and individuals that fell victim to the heartless cogwheels of a totalitarian regime. It will help a younger generation who has not lived under Communism to understand the past, and inspire them to work to build a better future -- Gjergj Erebara * Balkan Investigative Reporting Network *Like Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, whose oral histories have documented political oppression, Rejmer allows the voices of everyday Albanians to reveal the privations and fear under which they lived . . . A gripping book of starkly revealing testimony * Kirkus Review *In the style of Svetlana Alexievich, Margo Rejmer uses interviews to approach the suffering of a still little-known people . . . Rejmer's poignant book rescues memory before it fades -- MARTA REBÓN * El País *Albania, enigmatic, mysterious Albania, was always the untold story of the Cold War, the 1989 revolutions and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mud Sweeter Than Honey goes a very long way indeed towards putting that right. -- Charlie Connelly * New European *[Rejmer] lets the lived experience of Albanians speak for themselves, until the whole spectrum comes into view . . . a seamless translation -- Filip Noubel * Asymptote Journal *Tells, in their own words, the stories of Albanians during communism and especially those of prisoners of the regime. One word wrong or a friend who tries to flee and whole lives are ruined. Rejmer's is a fine collection. -- Tim Judah * Financial Times *[An] incredibly moving collection of oral histories . . . important enough, to be added to the history curriculum -- Tim Stanley * Telegraph *A pioneering, necessary book of such uncompromising clarity that even readers familiar with the broad outlines of Albania's recent past are likely to find its contents shocking. -- Roderick Bailey * Literary Review *Margo Rejmer, the Polish writer who assembled this extraordinary book, offers a 'polyphonic' account of victims of Albanian communism in the style of Svetlana Alexievich's Chernobyl Prayer -- Ian Thomson * Spectator *This outstanding record of recollections of those who lived through it makes for chilling reading . . . It is impossible to imagine a title that better captures the squalid and sinister horror of life in Albania under communism * Strong Words *Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand Communist Albania where, whether outside or inside prison, no one was every able to feel free -- Enriketa Papa-Pandelejmoni * History Today *

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Book SynopsisOne of the greatest, most radical public thinkers of our time' ARUNDHATI ROY In these incisive interviews, activist Chomsky addresses the urgent questions of this tumultuous time, speaking to the deterioration of democracy in the United States and rising tensions globally.He examines the crumbling of the social fabric and the fractures of the Biden era, including the halting steps toward a Green New Deal, the illegitimate authority of the Supreme Court, in particular its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing fallout from COVID-19. Chomsky also untangles the roots of the War in Ukraine, the diplomatic tensions among the United States, China, and Russia, and considers the need for climate action on an international scale.Illegitimate Authority exposes those who wield power in their own self-interest and plots framework for how we can stand together and fight against injustice.''The West''s most prominent critic of US imperialism . . . the closest thing in the English-speaking world to an intellectual superstar'' Guardian''Will there ever again be a public intellectual who commands the attention of so many across the planet?'' New Statesman

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Book Synopsis'Clear-eyed and illuminating.’ Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor 'A rich, superbly researched, balanced history of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.' General David Petraeus, former Commander U.S. Central Command and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency ‘Destined to be the best single volume on the Kingdom.’ Ambassador Chas Freeman, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of Defense 'Should be prescribed reading for a new generation of political leaders.' Sir Richard Dearlove, former Chief of H.M. Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Something extraordinary is happening in Saudi Arabia. A traditional, tribal society once known for its lack of tolerance is rapidly implementing significant economic and social reforms. An army of foreign consultants is rewriting the social contract, King Salman has cracked down hard on corruption, and his dynamic though inexperienced son, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is promoting a more tolerant Islam. But is all this a new vision for Saudi Arabia or merely a mirage likely to dissolve into Iranian-style revolution? David Rundell - one of America’s foremost experts on Saudi Arabia - explains how the country has been stable for so long, why it is less so today, and what is most likely to happen in the future. The book is based on the author's close contacts and intimate knowledge of the country where he spent 15 years living and working as a diplomat. Vision or Mirage demystifies one of the most powerful, but least understood, states in the Middle East and is essential reading for anyone interested in the power dynamics and politics of the Arab World.Trade ReviewA book of staggering breadth and depth. * The Wall Street Journal *Rundell covers the kingdom from top to bottom with vast wisdom, depth and understanding … It provides a superb overview of the kingdom’s political, economic and social landscape, but it goes well beyond that. Rundell explains, clearly and concisely, the special dynamics that drive the kingdom and render it so alien from our own society ... I wish that every United States diplomat, military officer and journalist would read this book before deploying there. I wish that every member of Congress would read it before voting on any measure related to Saudi Arabia. I wish every American pondering the frictions of our long relationship with the Saudis would read it simply to understand. * New York Times Book Review *At once modern and theocratic, reserved and assertive—Saudi Arabia’s paradoxes defy easy comprehension. For those seeking to understand the Kingdom and its role in the world, longtime observer David Rundell has distilled his experience into a clear-eyed and illuminating explanation. -- Henry A. Kissinger‘Excellent… analytically rigorous… exceptional…’ * Financial Times *[T]he author hits all the necessary benchmarks in his assessment of the Kingdom’s development. The book must also be regarded as a great accomplishment in the study of the Kingdom and its new leadership. * Middle East Journal *Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads is a book that will prove incredibly illuminating to the average Westerner, who probably only thinks of sexism, theocracy and oil when he thinks about Saudi Arabia. Rundell uses history, theology, politics, economics and sociology to explain the current complexities and challenges of the Arabian Peninsula’s most dominant nation. -- Russell A Whitestone, Eurasia ReviewVision or Mirage is destined to be the best single volume on the Kingdom. It will be a long time, if ever, before it is bettered. -- Chas Freeman, Former U.S Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Assistant Secretary of Defense, President of the Middle East Policy CouncilSaudi Arabia has always been difficult for outsiders to understand, but it will be much less so now thanks to David Rundell. With insightful analysis of the roles of the ruling family, the tribal structure, the merchant class and the religious leadership, he forges all the pieces into a coherent whole that will enlighten specialists and novices alike. -- Thomas W. Lippman, author of Saudi Arabia on the EdgeA rich, superbly researched, balanced history of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. David Rundell was one of the State Department’s pre-eminent authorities on Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, one on whom those of us working in the region depended heavily, and this history reflects his decades of experience in the region, his eye for nuance and detail, his deep understanding of the culture and relationships in the kingdom, and his exceptional ability to distill and present all of that brilliantly. -- General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the US Central Command and the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIAThis is a rare and important work on Saudi Arabia. Any diplomat, military official, policy maker or businessperson whose portfolio touches the kingdom will make far better decisions for having read it. I had the pleasure of working with Diplomat David Rundell during my service in the KSA. He provided sage advice and observations then, just as he will do for you in this splendid and useful book. -- Ambassador James Oberwetter, Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi ArabiaDavid Rundell is America’s most knowledgeable diplomat on Saudi Arabia. This book, Vision or Mirage, is a deeply learned and nuanced account of the kingdom’s history, politics and economics. Without illusions or an ideological axe to grind, Rundell offers acute observations about the strengths and weaknesses of the country, based on nearly two decades of having lived and served in Saudi Arabia. He brings the country’s remarkable story up to the present and explains the important transformations taking place under King Salman and his son crown prince Muhammad (MBS) and what is at stake in their success or failure. You will not find a better book on the kingdom. -- Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near East Studies, Princeton University; Co-Author Saudi Arabia in TransitionThe author of this book is "pro-Saudi", and at the same time he is entirely objective. He reconciles direct opposites not by fudging the differences, but by offering us his uniquely deep knowledge of a country and a state that remain poorly documented. This is a very valuable book. -- Edward Luttwak, , Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.CWhenever I landed in Jeddah or Riyadh and wanted to discover what was really going on, the ‘man-in-the-sand’ whose expertise I always sought out first was David Rundell, the Quiet American who had the ‘ inside scoop’ on the politics, the business and, above all, the people of the ever-challenging Kingdom — the ‘Rundell Rumble’. Dave was always just back from some oasis or tribe or border territory where secret things were happening, or heading for the desert to pow-wow with the king. So pow-wow now with Dave as his brilliant book generously discloses a lifetime of wisdom and insights that take the reader inside one of the world’s most enigmatic and crucially important of lands. Saudi Arabia? It’s all in here . . . Whenever I landed in Jeddah or Riyadh and wanted to discover what was really going on, the ‘man-in-the-sand’ whose expertise I always sought out first was David Rundell, the Quiet American who had the ‘ inside scoop’ on the politics, the business and, above all, the people of the ever-challenging Kingdom — the ‘Rundell Rumble’. Dave was always just back from some oasis or tribe or border territory where secret things were happening, or heading for the desert to pow-wow with the king. So pow-wow now with Dave as his brilliant book generously discloses a lifetime of wisdom and insights that take the reader inside one of the world’s most enigmatic and crucially important of lands. Saudi Arabia? It’s all in here . . . -- Robert Lacey, author of The Kingdom and Inside the Kingdom‘A thorough historical and contemporary guide to the enigma that is the House of Saud, to its Kingdom and to its latest political intrigues. A great single read on a complex subject, key to understanding the Arab World’s likely evolution. Should be prescribed reading for a new generation of political leaders.’ -- Sir Richard Dearlove, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of London; Former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6); Former Master of Pembroke College, CambridgeAmidst an array of parabolic pressures ranging from geopolitical forces to economic uncertainty and domestic instability, the House of Saud has long been one of the most powerful families in the Middle East. In spite of this, it faces a number of existential challenges as it moves into the 21st century. Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads offers a fascinating and timely exploration of how the Al Saud dynasty has retained power which is essential in understanding how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may evolve in the coming years. -- Simon Mabon Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University; author of Houses Built on Sand, The Origins of ISIS and Saudi Arabia and IranA readable and breezy account of recent developments in Saudi Arabia as well as the author’s interpretation of the transformational and polarizing trends during the last several years. It is a noteworthy contribution to the field. -- J. E. Peterson, historian and political analyst, author of Saudi Arabia Under Ibn Saud and Historical Dictionary of Saudi ArabiaDavid Rundell has more experience in Saudi Arabia than any living American diplomat. I relied upon his experience and insight during my time as ambassador to the Kingdom. Rundell’s eye for detail and meticulous research provide the reader with a compelling story of initial conquest and generations of stability followed by a tectonic rupture in the social contract among the ruler, the royal family, and the population. -- Robert W. Jordan, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Diplomat in Residence, John G. Tower Center at Southern Methodist UniversityThis is a scholarly and expertly crafted practitioner’s account borne of deep familiarity with Saudi Arabia. David Rundell’s remarkable book artfully weaves together the Saudi past and present--deftly analyzing both continuity and change while providing sorely needed context for understanding today’s unprecedented developments. -- Joshua Teitelbaum, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; Visiting Scholar, Center for International and Security Cooperation, Stanford University; Author of Saudi Arabia and the New Strategic LandscapeA very balanced account of what Saudi Arabia got right, which is often overlooked, and the accumulating challenges the country faces today. Carefully researched, it is neither all gloom and doom nor all-praising. -- John Sfakianakis, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge; Co-author of The Saudi Economy in the Twentieth CenturyA most impressive account of the cunning manner in which King Salman is attempting to secure his family’s place in the 21st century by establishing the fourth kingdom through his son Muhammad bin Salman. David Rundell's insights into historical precedents and personal knowledge of the personalities of the individuals involved is compelling and provides a far more credible narrative of Saudi developments since the death of the late Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz than other current analysis . -- Ambassador Mark G. Hambley, Former American Consul General in Jeddah and Ambassador to Qatar and LebanonTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: HISTORIC LEGITIMACY Chapter 1: The House of Saud Chapter 2: The Wars of Unification Chapter 3: The Ikhwan Revolt Part II: MANAGING SUCCESSION Chapter 4: Kings Saud and Faisal Chapter 5: Kings Khalid, Fahd, and Abdullah Chapter 6: King Salman and MBS Part III: BALANCING STAKEHOLDERS Chapter 7: The Tribes Chapter 8: The Clergy Chapter 9: The Merchants Chapter 10: The Technocrats Chapter 11: The Royal Family Part IV PROVIDING COMPETENT GOVERNMENT Chapter 12: Providing Internal Security Chapter 13: Promoting Rapid Economic Development Chapter 14: Foreign Policy: Keeping Powerful Friends Chapter 15: Foreign Policy: Deploying Oil and Islam Chapter 16:Promoting Gradual Social Change Part V ADAPTING TO CHANGE Chapter 17: Economic Challenges: Oil Prices, Diversification and Jobs Chapter 18: Security Challenges: Deploying Oil, Allies and Islam Chapter 19: Political Challenges: Pluralism, Corruption, and Participation Chapter 20: Evolving Arabia

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Book SynopsisUnrivalled in scope and brimming with human drama, A People's Tragedy is the most vivid, moving and comprehensive history of the Russian Revolution available today.'A modern masterpiece' Andrew MarrOpening with a panorama of Russian society, from the cloistered world of the Tsar to the brutal life of the peasants, A People's Tragedy follows workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world is consumed by revolution and then degenerates into violence and dictatorship. Drawing on vast original research, Figes conveys above all the shocking experience of the revolution for those who lived it, while providing the clearest and most cogent account of how and why it unfolded.Illustrated with over 100 photographs and now including a new introduction that reflects on the revolution's centennial legacy, A People's Tragedy is a masterful and definitive record of one of the most important events in modern history.'The most moving account of the Russian Revolution since Doctor Zhivago' IndependentTrade ReviewA modern masterpiece -- Andrew MarrCombines dramatic power, absorbing narrative and magisterial scholarship – a magnificent tour de force -- Christopher Andrew * Sunday Telegraph *The most moving account of the Russian Revolution since Doctor Zhivago -- Lucasta Miller * Independent *This book is not just a history; it is an item of history -- Neal Ascherson * Independent on Sunday *A People’s Tragedy will do more to help us understand the Russian Revolution than any other book I know -- Eric Hobsbawm * London Review of Books *Orlando Figes’s chronicle of the final days of Tsarism and the violent Bolshevism that arose from its ruins is an epic in size, scope and insight, and a classic in its genre… A People’s Tragedy succeeds most in capturing the sheer popular immensity of the upheavals in 1917-18, with all of Russia rising up first against the Tsar and then, with the onset of civil war, against itself. With its perfect balance of analysis and anecdote, A People’s Tragedy is surely among the most readable books on the Russian Revolution and the decades of tumult that made it possible – or inevitable -- Brad Davies * Independent *

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Book Synopsis'I beseech you to read this account' - Christopher HitchensA magnificent, harrowing testimony to the voiceless victims of North Korea.Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of a North Korean concentration camp to escape the 'hermit kingdom' and tell his story to the world. This memoir reveals the human suffering in his camp, with its forced labour, frequent public executions and near-starvation rations. Kang eventually escaped to South Korea via China to give testimony to the hardships and atrocities that constitute the lives of the thousands of people still detained in the gulags today. Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, this story of one young man's personal suffering finally gives eye-witness proof to this neglected chapter of modern history.Trade ReviewOne of the most terrifying memoirs I have ever read. As the first such account to emerge from North Korea, it is destined to become a classic. * Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking *I beseech you to read this account -- Christopher Hitchens

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Book SynopsisA Financial Times Book of the Year 'Jaw-dropping' Daily Express 'Grimly fascinating' Financial Times 'Humane, timely, accessible and well-researched' Irish Times The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people. The Libyan army officer who authored a new work of political philosophy, The Green Book, and lived in a tent with a harem of female soldiers, running his country like a mafia family business. And behind these almost incredible stories of fantastic violence and excess lie the dark secrets of Western greed and complicity, the insatiable taste for chocolate, oil, diamonds and gold that has encouraged dictators to rule with an iron hand, siphoning off their share of the action into mansions in Paris and banks in Zurich and keeping their people in dire poverty.Trade ReviewThe stories it tells of dictators such as Robert Mugabe and Muammer Gaddafi are grimly fascinating and leave the reader to ponder why so many of Africa's liberation heroes turned into villains * Financial Times, Books of the Year *A humane, timely, accessible and well-researched book that shines a light on urgent African issues [...] that, when we consider the state of our own societies, can no longer be dismissed as merely somewhere else's problem * Irish Times *Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail -- Michael BuerkIt is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down * Economist *Mr Kenyon narrates a jaw-dropping tale of greed, corruption and brutality * Daily Express *Well written and sensibly structured... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' * Sunday Times *Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating * Culture Trip *A heart-breaking and stomach-churning history but also an utterly absorbing one... Kenyon blends in gripping, authenticating first-hand testimonies from those who were behind the carnage and corruption... This book shines a vital light on how Africa was robbed "in broad daylight"' * UAE National *Highly readable... A chapter on the rise of Félix Houphouët-Boigny is especially vivid' * The Times *A familiar story, but still shocking * Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis''I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.''Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn''t even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park''s struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape through China''s underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and then her escape from China across the Gobi desert to Mongolia, with only the stars to guide her way, and from there to South Korea and at last to freedom; and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.''Clear-eyed and devastating'' ObserverTrade ReviewClear-eyed and devastating. * Observer *One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard - and one of the most inspiring . . . A book to make you newly thankful for the freedom you have never been forced to fight for. * The Bookseller *An eloquent, wrenchingly honest work that vividly represents the plight of many North Koreans. * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisA New Statesman, Financial Times and Economist Book of the Year ‘Brilliant’ NEW STATESMAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR ‘Enlightening and a good read’ SPECTATOR ‘Moving and perceptive’ NEW STATESMAN Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Ceausescu, Mengistu of Ethiopia and Duvalier of Haiti. No dictator can rule through fear and violence alone. Naked power can be grabbed and held temporarily, but it never suffices in the long term. A tyrant who can compel his own people to acclaim him will last longer. The paradox of the modern dictator is that he must create the illusion of popular support. Throughout the twentieth century, hundreds of millions of people were condemned to enthusiasm, obliged to hail their leaders even as they were herded down the road to serfdom. In Dictators, Frank Dikötter returns to eight of the most chillingly effective personality cults of the twentieth century. From carefully choreographed parades to the deliberate cultivation of a shroud of mystery through iron censorship, these dictators ceaselessly worked on their own image and encouraged the population at large to glorify them. At a time when democracy is in retreat, are we seeing a revival of the same techniques among some of today’s world leaders? This timely study, told with great narrative verve, examines how a cult takes hold, grows, and sustains itself. It places the cult of personality where it belongs, at the very heart of tyranny.Trade ReviewEssential reading … The standalone portraits of his eight dictators are riveting -- Justin Marozzi * Evening Standard, 'Book of the Week' *How to be a dictator? Ruthlessness matters a lot more than talent, but luck most of all. That is the upshot of Frank Dikötter’s elegant and readable study of the cult of personality in the 20th century … [Dikötter’s] penmanship and eye for anecdote brings [the dictators] to life * The Times *A brilliant study of twentieth-century dictatorship … The book’s psychological insight is devastating, the stories are eye-popping … Essential reading for any student of political manipulation, as a study of man’s inhumanity to man, it’s almost unbearably moving -- Sue Prideaux * New Statesman, Books of the Year *A disturbing emblem of our times -- Justin Marozzi * Evening Standard, 'Best Books to Take on Holiday' *A whistlestop tour of some of the most infamous leaders of the 20th century … What Dikötter does so well is to find the pathological and ideological connections among leaders who “teetered between hubris and paranoia” * Observer *Frank Dikötter provides a timely reminder of just how destructive toxic insecurity, and its corollary, pathological narcissism, can become … In terms of the dynamics of narcissistic authoritarianism, there is much in How to Be a Dictator that is of critical contemporary relevance … History only makes sense if we understand the psychological pathology that underlies it, and our own propensity for partaking in such pathology. We need a clear-eyed understanding of history as a recurring series of monumental follies, led by cretins who duped or forced millions of us into humiliating childish submission. Only then can we hope to avoid the repetition. Dikötter is in the vanguard of historians opening our eyes to this fundamental truth * Irish Times *Enlightening and a good read * Spectator *A heroic piece of research … Devastating in every sense of the word -- Praise for 'Mao's Great Famine' * Economist *Ground-breaking … Unsparing in its detail, relentless in its research, unforgiving in its judgements … Dikötter’s achievement in this book is remarkable -- Praise for 'The Tragedy of Liberation' * Sunday Times *Worryingly close to home … Dikötter has put together sharp portraits of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Kim Il-sung, Duvalier, Ceausescu and Mengistu * Times Higher Education *How to Be a Dictator is a timely book and enjoyable to read. It is strangely comforting to be reminded that many of the dictators in Dikötter’s book came to an ignominious end. But that is no excuse for underestimating the need to protect democracy today * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisCan foreign capital empower dictatorship? This groundbreaking book develops a unified theory that links three prominent forms of international capital to the endurance of dictatorships. International capital empowers governments to finance two key instruments of non-democratic politics: repression and patronage.The Perils of International Capitaluses theory, case studies, and cross-national statistical evidence to demonstrate causal effects between foreign capital and authoritarian politics. These finding are crucial to scholars and policymakers alike, as they call for a recalibration of the welfare effects associated with greater financial globalization. Ahmed reveals that, while foreign capital may improve economic development, it can tragically hinder democratic governance in the process.Trade Review'Faisal Z. Ahmed's study reveals how dictatorships seek foreign capital to sustain their grip on power. previous studies have focused on specific types of capital, such as foreign aid, Ahmed provides a clear, integrated treatment of three major sources: aid, direct investments, and remittances. His conclusion, that these capital flows serve dictatorships in strikingly different ways, is an important contribution to international political economy.' Charles Lipson, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Chicago'Ahmed provides a marvelous multi-method account of how political institutions mediate the international transfer of funds to governments, people, and firms. His theory emphasizes variation in incentives to governments depending on regime type, and his method engages rich statistical evidence, illustrative cases, and careful attention to endogeneity. The Perils of International Capital specifically focuses on autocracies and documents how capital flows in the form of foreign aid, remittances, and foreign direct investment bolster dictatorships. This is an accomplishment in itself. However, the major achievement of the book is in taking us a major step forward to a deeper and fuller comparative understanding of the effects of contemporary globalization.' Margaret Levi, Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, California'Scholars of globalization have long thought that openness to capital flows would prove destabilizing to the world's authoritarian regime. The Perils of International Capital shows that the opposite is true, providing a unified theoretical account explaining how foreign sources of financing - aid, remittances, and investment - in fact stabilize authoritarian regimes. Applying rigorous statistical tools to a global dataset, and sensitive to the challenges of causal inference, this book is an essential contribution to the international political economy of authoritarianism and democratization.' Thomas Pepinsky, Cornell University'A good book does not close the conversation, but opens it. Faisal Ahmed has written a really good book, opening a conversation about the influence of foreign capital on non-democratic governments.' Erik Jones, SurvivalTable of Contents1. The politics of international capital; 2. International capital and authoritarian survival: a descriptive overview; 3. Foreign rents and rule; 4. Aiding repression; 5. Remittances and autocratic power; 6. Foreign investments in militarism; 7. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisRobert Conquest's The Great Terror is the book that revealed the horrors of Stalin's regime to the West. This definitive fiftieth anniversary edition features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.One of the most important books ever written about the Soviet Union, The Great Terror revealed to the West for the first time the true extent and nature Stalin’s purges in the 1930s, in which around a million people were tortured and executed or sent to labour camps on political grounds. Its publication caused a widespread reassessment of Communism itself.This definitive fiftieth anniversary edition gathers together the wealth of material added by the author in the decades following its first publication and features a new foreword by leading historian Anne Applebaum, explaining the continued relevance of this momentous period of history and of this classic account.Trade ReviewMore than any other writer, Conquest has been responsible for bringing to the attention of the West the extent of the crimes committed against humanity in the name of Soviet Communism * Sunday Times *Stalin was not only the master criminal; he was the master concealer. It took a master detective, and a poet, like Mr Conquest, to unmask him completely * New York Times *Monumental * Washington Post *A very important book. No one has written about Stalin's terror so deeply -- Milovan Djilas

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Book SynopsisA portrait of Robert Mugabe, a man whose once brilliant career has ruined Zimbabwe and cast shame on the African continent. It charts Mugabe's gradual self-destruction, and uncovers some of the most respectable international players in the Zimbabwe tragedy.Trade Review'By tracking down the key figures in Mugabe's life, Heidi Holland has come closer than anyone else to discovering what makes the old dictator tick' - David Blair, Daily Telegraph 'The most intimate portrait yet produced of Zimbabwe's clever but brutal leader' - Adam Roberts, The Economist

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Book SynopsisSantiago, Chile. The city is covered in ash. Three children of ex-militants are facing a past they can neither remember nor forget. Felipe sees dead bodies on every corner of the city, counting them up in an obsessive quest to square these figures with the official death toll. He is searching for the perfect zero, a life with no remainder. Iquela and Paloma, too, are searching for a way to live on. When the body of Paloma's mother is lost in transit, the three take a hearse and a bottle of pisco up the cordillera for a road trip with a difference.Intense, intelligent, and extraordinarily sensitive to the shape and weight of words, this remarkable debut presents a new way to count the cost of a pain that stretches across generations.Trade Review`The Remainder controls a remarkable range of registers (it is, by turns, lyrical, elegiac, sensual, funny, tragic) ... The author of The Remainder, like her characters, is obsessed with words, those `cracks in language' that house our particular ways of understanding things; thanks, among other things, to the meticulous, obsessive attention to detail of her language, this novel is sure to endure.' Edmundo Paz Soldan, author and professor of Latin American literature at Cornell University`A triumphant debut.' Antonio Skarmeta, El Mercurio ---- `The Remainder redefines the political novel ... The voices in The Remainder are some of the most powerful to have come out of Latin America in the last year.' Barbara Perez, `Granta en Espanol, 5 years later',Instrucciones de Uso ---- `A Chilean road trip reveals new ways to think about historical memory.' Alba Lara, Iowa Literaria ---- `A fundamental book about what it means to mourn the past, about the remainders of a history that refuses to be forgotten. This is the debut we all wish we had written. A spirited, brave, urgent book, capable of weaving the political and the poetic.' Carlos Fonseca ---- `One of the best publications of 2015.' Patricia Espinosa, Las Ultimas Noticias ---- `[a] darkly comic road trip ... [Trabucco-Zeran's] spring-heeled prose moves lightly from lyrical to demotic, bawdy to elegiac.' The Spectator ---- 'intelligent and immersive ... elegaic' TLS ---- 'In a notable translation by Sophie Hughes, Zeran's lyricism and eye for detail shine on the page ... There is plenty to commend in the book's intentions, and in its elegiac ambitions.' The Irish Times ---- `[The Remainder] tells us ... everything about what it is like to grow up in the shadow of other people's unhappiness.' The Big Issue ---- `Striking ... rendered with impressive fluidity.' Katie Da Cunha Lewin,The White Review ---- `[a] darkly comic road trip ... [Trabucco-Zeran's] spring-heeled prose moves lightly from lyrical to demotic, bawdy to elegiac.' The Spectator ---- 'intelligent and immersive ... elegaic' TLS ----'In a notable translation by Sophie Hughes, Zeran's lyricism and eye for detail shine on the page ... There is plenty to commend in the book's intentions, and in its elegiac ambitions.' The Irish Times ---- `[The Remainder] tells us ... everything about what it is like to grow up in the shadow of other people's unhappiness.' The Big Issue ---- `Sharp and colourful, contrasting well with her characters' furious attempts to come to terms with the past ... The Remainder is well translated, stimulating and grapples skilfully with a complex subject.' Michael Eaude, Literary Review----`Thanatofiction at its best and a debut that leaves the reader wanting more.' Kirkus Reviews

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Book Synopsis'' Charles Dunst''s deeply researched, timely and powerful book offers a blueprint for how democracies should fight back.'' - Sir Kim Darroch''Remarkable. A thoughtful and perceptive book.'' - Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, MPThe world is currently experiencing the lowest levels of democracy we have seen in over thirty years. Autocracy is on the rise, and while the cost of autocracy seems evident, it nevertheless remains an attractive option to many.While leaders like Viktor Orbán disrupt democratic foundations from within, autocrats like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin do so from abroad, eroding democratic institutions and values and imperilling democracies that appear increasingly fragile. There are even those who, disillusioned with the current institutions in place, increasingly think authoritarianism can deliver them a better life than democracy has or could.They''re wrong. Autocracy is not the solution - better democracy is. But we havTrade Review'6 January 2021 was an alarm bell for democracies everywhere. In this age of disorder, no value is beyond challenge, no rule is unbreakable, and no system is indestructible, no matter how rich and powerful the country concerned. Charles Dunst's deeply researched, timely and powerful book offers a blueprint for how democracies should fight back.' -- Sir Kim Darroch, UK National Security Adviser (2012-2015) and UK Ambassador to the US (2016-2019)'Remarkable. A thoughtful and perceptive book.' -- Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt'This lively and thoughtful book provides a welcome and much-needed shot in the arm for supporters of democracy everywhere. No matter how much some may envy the power wielded by authoritarians, no matter the results they appear to achieve, Dunst reminds us that humanity will always flourish most when granted its deepest desire: freedom.' -- Josh Glancy, Special Correspondent for The Sunday Times'A smart, sweeping, and well-written book that makes the case for rebuilding democracy at home and defeating authoritarianism abroad. It is an important contribution and an urgent call-to-action for democracies everywhere.' -- Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, former US Deputy National Security Advisor and Alternate Representative to the United Nations'Defeating the Dictators is a rare book: a deeply-researched and engaging work that both details the challenges democracies face, and offers us clear and persuasive solutions. Dunst's writing is as sharp as his argument is necessary. Anyone who believes in democracy - in the United States or anywhere else - should read his book.' -- Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Chair of the US Senate Ethics Committee and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee'This is an important and timely book which needs to be widely read. Charles Dunst makes a compelling case that democracy and individual freedom are no longer seen in many countries as the surest route to success. Crucially, he also gives us a plan of action to restore the tarnished reputation of the democratic model and to show that, when combined with effective governance, this still offers a far better future for humanity than any alternative.' -- Peter Ricketts, Former UK National Security Advisor, Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, and UK Ambassador to France'America's Founders understood that our republic would require constant nurturing. Charles Dunst's excellent book tells us how we can defeat the dictators, strengthen democracies, and build a better future for generations to come. People everywhere who care about freedom should read this book and implement what the author recommends.' -- Lt General H R McMaster (ret.), NYT bestselling author and former US National Security Advisor'The central question of our global political age is the increasingly poor health of democracy worldwide. This is no less urgent than the struggle for freedom during the Cold War or the fight against fascism in the mid-twentieth century. Charles Dunst addresses this challenge head-on with lively on-the-ground reportage and an inspiring call to action. This is an essential book for our times.' -- Arthur Snell, author of How Britain Broke the World and presenter of the Doomsday Watch podcast, former UK High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago'At a time when democracy is under attack, Charles Dunst helps us understand the nature, scale and scope of the power grabs that are changing the world. Dunst also offers an insightful review of the options we have to restore, protect and strengthen democracy at home and abroad. A must read.' -- Moisés Naím, Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of The Revenge of Power'Timely, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, Defeating the Dictators reminds us that freedom and democracy cannot be taken for granted - they need to be nurtured and nourished every day of our lives.' -- Azar Nafisi, New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran'In Defeating the Dictators, Dunst convincingly shows that preserving and advancing liberalism abroad is possible only if democracies get their own houses in order. He marshals practical evidence from across the globe to offer a clear roadmap for fixing key challenges at home and abroad. In this turbulent era of rising strongmen, what could be more important?' -- Admiral James Stavridis (ret.), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and NYT bestselling author'No one knows the world like Dunst. He's lived the good and bad in other nations, and knows how to get our democracies back on track. His how-to manual on fighting autocracy and strengthening democracy is indispensable reading.' -- Congressman Jim Cooper (D-Tennessee)'A decade ago, democracies were confident that we could prevail against autocratic challengers simply by being democracies. But as Charles Dunst argues in his powerful new book, this confidence is a dangerous illusion. Democracies can stand up to autocracy only if we are ready to face our own vulnerabilities and the strength of our opponents. Defeating the Dictators is a great place to start - essential reading.' -- Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna'At a time in world history when too many countries veer towards autocracy, it is heartening to read that democracies still produce the happiest, most creative, and longest-living citizens. Not only must Americans and democrats everywhere make this case abroad, but we must be confident that our messy democracies will yield the best possible future for our own citizens. In Defeating the Dictators, Dunst gives us a clear and incisive roadmap for securing ever-expanding self-governance for humankind. It gave me hope for the future of democracy, and will do the same for you, too.' -- Congressman Don Beyer (D-Virginia), Chairman of the US Congress Joint Economic Committee and former US Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein'In Defeating the Dictators, Charles Dunst explains the threat posed by the rising popularity of authoritarians around the world. He makes the compelling case that our own national security - and the very concept of democracy - are at risk as they wield their successes at home to shape the international order in their favor.' -- Barbara McQuade, Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School and former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan'Defeating the Dictators is an extraordinary, compelling, and pragmatic analysis of the authoritarianism versus democracy debate that builds its case by drawing on a wide range of illustrations from around the globe and throughout history. In this well-written, swiftly-moving book, Charles Dunst clearly lays out the dangers of rising authoritarianism, and the steps that must be taken by democracies to rebuild trust, restore accountability, and deliver on their fundamental promise - all necessary if we are to prevail against the creation of a world-order based on brute power, one that would supplant the rule of law, values-based order built in the wake of the Second World War. A necessary and thought-provoking read for policymakers, journalists, and civil society leaders alike.' -- Ambassador John Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Chairman of the American Council on Germany'Like Benjamin Franklin's cultivation of thirteen virtues in his quest for moral perfection, Charles Dunst breaks down political perfection into eight key democratic virtues, with best practices drawn from around the world for each. Dunst's analysis functions as a much-needed self-help guide for democracy in an age of rising authoritarianism. We would be wise to put his prescriptions into practice.' -- Asha Rangappa, Senior Lecturer at the Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and former FBI Special Agent'A compelling and urgent case for why halting autocracy's spread first requires strengthening democracy where it already exists. A smart and timely read.' -- Yasmeen Serhan, Staff Writer at TIME'Everybody knows that democracy is in trouble, both in the United States and in liberal societies abroad. With Defeating the Dictators, Dunst has provided a clear-eyed, deeply researched, and accessible roadmap for fixing what ails us. His book could not be more timely, or more important. A must-read.' -- Senator Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota), former US Senate Majority Leader and co-chair of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign'Charles Dunst has presented a timely warning for democracies everywhere. Drawing on examples in Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere, he has highlighted advanced autocracies' ability to achieve stability by satisfying the desires of their populations - and democracies' troubling inability to do the same. I was the US Ambassador in one of the countries he examines, the United Arab Emirates, whose ruling family has navigated the challenges of succession without elections by generously providing for its citizenry. Dunst piercingly points out that democracies, on the other hand, are not adequately offering their own citizens a path to the good life. Our continued failure poses a grave threat for democracy.' -- Ambassador Edward Walker, former US Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, former US Assistant Secretary of State'In an era focused on the West's strategic competition with authoritarian states, much ink is spilled complaining about authoritarian misdeeds. But not enough attention is given to how to keep democracies vibrant, coherent and successful. Dunst leads us through some sharp and honest retrospection for today's democracies.' -- Ambassador Kurt Tong, Managing Partner at The Asia Group'Charles Dunst's Defeating the Dictators offers a brutally honest and incisive account of the contemporary challenge posed by autocracy to democracy today, the dangers of complacency, and how democracies can reverse the illiberal tide. The prescriptions in this book should serve as a wake-up call for all those who care about the shape of political affairs, individual rights, and global security in the 21st century.' -- Ambassador Derek Mitchell, President of the National Democratic Institute and former US Ambassador to Myanmar'In Defeating the Dictators, Dunst makes a compelling case that the best way to push back against rising authoritarianism is to strengthen democracy at home. But more than that, Dunst examines some of the specific ills afflicting modern-day democratic governance and pulls ideas from around the world to offer practical recommendations on what democracies can do to once again serve as beacons for those across the globe. This eloquent book offers sound analysis and advice not for foreign policy experts, but also for those who care about preserving democracy at home.' -- Ambassador Scot Marciel, Oksenberg-Rohlen Fellow at Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Resesarch Center, former US Ambassador to Indonesia, Myanmar, and ASEAN'A big thinker, Charles Dunst takes his reader on a sweeping intellectual journey, drawing on vivid examples from around the world to explain the current crisis of faith in democracy - and offer an aspirational roadmap to fix it. Defeating the Dictators is a hopeful, story-filled book that will help democracies beat autocracies at their own game: not by becoming more authoritarian, but by improving our own governance.' -- Ambassador Ted Osius, former US Ambassador to Vietnam, President & CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council'A timely and important book.' -- Frida Ghitis, contributing columnist to the Washington Post and former CNN correspondent'Defeating the Dictators provides the framing and motivation to move democracies back to the high ground, starting now. Renewing the conversation we all need to be having with ourselves and each other, this book is a call to action for all generations. Dunst is clear and compelling - this cannot wait.' -- Bill Purcell, former Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee and Director of the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School'Doom has a certain aesthetic allure, claims the novelist Martin Amis. There is plenty to be pessimistic about if you are wedded to the democratic ideal. While not making light of the challenges to the democratic model, Dunst also offers reasons to be optimistic that the model will survive. He has written a book that makes clear how much is at stake for the world's leading democracies and the opportunities they still have to shape the future.' -- Dr Christopher Coker, Director of LSE IDEAS, author of WHY WAR?'At a time when liberal politics is under threat from without and within, Charles Dunst's Defeating the Dictators is a refreshing antidote to despair. He not only tells us why defeating authoritarianism is so important but, more importantly, how to do it. Could not be more timely.' -- Dr Ashley J Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, former Senior Advisor to the US Ambassador to India and Special Assistant to President George W Bush'Charles Dunst has written a timely handbook for people who believe in the ideals of democracy. Not a moment too soon.' -- Gerald Butts, former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Vice Chairman at Eurasia Group'In a moment when authoritarianism, led by the Chinese model, is gaining appeal, this carefully-written book provides valuable perspective on a worrisome global trend. Dunst offers a much-needed survey on what ails democracies today and solutions on how to regain our place as the world's model. His sharp and engaging analysis is essential to understanding our crisis-riven age and how to navigate it.' -- Ana Palacio, former Foreign Minister of Spain and member of the European Parliament'Charles Dunst invites the reader for a long journey in space and in time: the book takes you to new places but also to cities and countries you think you know rather well - and it is fascinating to read the observations and comments of a younger traveler. A good read but the book makes you think hard about institutions, old and new, familiar and exotic, efficient and rigid, as well as about merits and meritocracy, democrats and democracy, about leaders in high jobs who may or may not be up to the standards of their office. There is no happy ending here, the journey never ends - but co-travelers may accept Charles's guarded optimism.' -- Péter Ákos Bod, former Governor of the Hungarian National Bank and Hungarian Minister of Industry and Trade'A thoughtful intervention in an era the U.S. president has described as one of democracy vs. autocracy.' * Newsweek *'Bursting with statistics and lots of common sense.' * Guardian *'Full of true claims, common sense, and a needed dose of optimism.' * Tyler Cowen *

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Book SynopsisHalf a century after their deaths, the dictatorships of Stalin and Hitler still cast a long and terrible shadow over the modern world. They were the most destructive and lethal regimes in history, murdering millions. They fought the largest and costliest war in all history. Yet millions of Germans and Russians enthusiastically supported them and the values they stood for. In this first major study of the two dictatorships side-by-side Richard Overy sets out to answer the question: How was dictatorship possible? How did they function? What was the bond that tied dictator and people so powerfully together? He paints a remarkable and vivid account of the different ways in which Stalin and Hitler rose to power, and abused and dominated their people. It is a chilling analysis of powerful ideals corrupted by the vanity of ambitious and unscrupulous men.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1970 and 1975 Jon Swain, the English journalist portrayed in David Puttnam''s film, The Killing Fields, lived in the lands of the Mekong river. This is his account of those years, and the way in which the tumultuous events affected his perceptions of life and death as Europe never could. He also describes the beauty of the Mekong landscape - the villages along its banks, surrounded by mangoes, bananas and coconuts, and the exquisite women, the odours of opium, and the region''s other face - that of violence and corruption.Trade ReviewA remarkable heart-breaking book -- Gavin YoungJon Swain's powerful and moving book goes further than anything else I have read towards explaining the appeal of Indo-China and its tragic conflicts... A brilliant and unsettling examination of the age-old bonds between death, beauty, violence and the imagination, which came together in Vietnam and nowhere else -- J. G. Ballard * Sunday Times *An absolutely riveting book... Haunting, compulsive and beautifully written, River of Time looks set to become a classic -- Alexander Frater * Observer *His book is a damning indictment and a triumphant witness. Brief, wrenching, it is surely the freshest and most sensitive account of those times -- Michael Binyon * The Times *A sombre, magnificent book * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisThe first book from a former intelligence community insiderTrade Review‘Excellent… Former CIA analyst Jung H. Pak cuts through the regime’s opacity and the fog of gossip.’ * Los Angeles Times *‘Jung H. Pak has managed to shed more light on the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, than virtually anyone… An important book, both for the professional expert and for those who simply want to gain insight into the “hermit kingdom” and its enigmatic leader.’ -- James Clapper, former US Director of National Intelligence‘The young dictator comes under close scrutiny in this intelligent account.’ * Sunday Times *‘[Becoming Kim Jong Un] could be the most definitive account of North Korea’s supreme leader.’ * Newsweek *‘[An] expert assessment… An insightful analysis of perhaps the world’s most dangerous dystopia.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘How did a lazy, basketball-loving kid become the world's shrewdest tyrant by the age of twenty-six? Jung H. Pak's brilliant analysis strips away Kim's cult, bluster, and caricature to reveal a mind that is quite chillingly rational, with a rat-like cunning for out-smarting his enemies, be they close family members or nuclear-armed states. Easily the most insightful portrait of the man behind the propaganda.’ -- D. B. John, author of Star of the North‘Jung Pak exudes the authority and glamour of the spook.’ * The Times *‘Jung H. Pak’s sober but absorbing portrait of North Korea’s leader should be the starting point for any scholar, journalist, or policymaker trying to make sense of the most dangerous regime on earth. Pak ties together biography, national security analysis, and policy prescription with the precision one would expect from a scholar and former intelligence officer.’ -- Michael J. Green, former Asia adviser to President George W. Bush, and director of Asian studies at Georgetown University‘Becoming Kim Jong Un is the most complete account to date of a dictator who has too often been caricatured by the public. Highly readable, thoughtful, and dispassionate, this book offers important insights into an enigmatic leader who will shape the destiny of not only the Korean Peninsula but of the Northeast Asian region and the world. It’s the next best thing to receiving a top-secret CIA briefing.’ -- Sue Mi Terry, former CIA analyst and former Korea director at the National Security Council‘Cogently and concisely treating a broad sweep of issues central to North Korea, Dr Pak makes an essential contribution to the collective understanding of one of the world’s most dangerous and complex problems. It is must-read for the expert and casual observer alike.’ -- Mark Lippert, former US ambassador to South Korea and Trustee, The Asia Foundation

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Book SynopsisThe rise of authoritarian movements presents an increasing illiberal trend in international affairs. A rapidly modernizing China is at the vanguard of this phenomenon. Does this signal the demise of Western democracy and the dawn of an authoritarian era in world politics? In this book, Chris Ogden argues that the world is on the verge of a capitulation to China’s preferred authoritarian order. As other world powers adopt such values, they are facilitating the normalization of this authoritarianism into a dominant global phenomenon. This shift, he says, will transform global institutions, human rights and political systems, and herald an authoritarian century.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Whose International Order? 1. Controlled Politics 2. China’s Worldview 3. Economic Ascent 4. Competing Institutions 5. Asian Behemoth 6. The Global Stage Conclusion: Realities and Eventualities

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Book SynopsisFor those living in the Soviet Union, Orwell's masterpieces, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, were not dystopias, but accurate depictions of reality. Here, the Orwell scholar and expert on Russian politics, Masha Karp – Russian Features Editor at the BBC World Service for over a decade – explores how Orwell's work was received in Russia, when it percolated into the country even under censorship. Suggesting a new approach to the controversial ‘Orwell’s list’ of 1949, Karp puts into context the articles and letters written by Orwell at the time. She sheds light on how the ideas of totalitarianism exposed in Orwell’s writing took root in Russia and, in doing so, helps us to understand the contemporary political reality. As Vladimir Putin's actions continue to shock the West, it is clear we are witnessing the next transformation of totalitarianism, as predicted and described by Orwell. Now, over 70 years after Orwell's death, his writing, at least as far as Russia is concerned, remains as timely and urgent as it has ever been.Trade Review‘Many people over the decades believed that Orwell must have lived or at least been to the Soviet Union, because of his deep understanding of totalitarianism. In her brilliant and informative book, Masha Karp suggests that not much has changed and that the Russia of today under President Putin proves the point that Orwell made following his experience during the Spanish Civil War and his comments in his controversial list of 1949 where he names people in England ‘sympathetic to communism’.' -- Richard Blair, George Orwell’s adopted son, Patron of The Orwell Society and member of The Orwell Foundation CouncilIn George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp explores the relationship between totalitarianism, as imagined by Orwell, and totalitarianism, as it really existed in Soviet Russia. As Russia slides backwards into a new form of authoritarian dictatorship, this book is a timely reminder of what came before. -- Anne Applebaum, Staff writer for The Atlantic and author of 'Gulag, A History'Karp's Russian view of Orwell is unorthodox and makes a novel case for the continuing relevance of this controversial writer in the age of Putin. -- Michael Scammell, Author of 'Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth Century Skeptic'In 2022, sales of George Orwell's "1984" went sky-high across Russia as people sought to discover more about the reality they were now living in - a reality in which "war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength". In truth, this reality was long in coming - from the moment a former officer of the Soviet "thought-police" came to power and re-instated the Stalin-era national anthem back in 2000. It was a straight road from then on. Masha Karp's new book offers a timely and important insight into how Europe's largest country has descended in the 21st century into a truly Orwellian reality - and a warning against failing to recognise such obvious signs of danger in the future. A must-read. * - Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian politician, historian, journalist; political prisoner since April 2022, arrested for his anti-war speech at the Arizona House of Representatives; winner of 2022 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize awarded by PACE *Those who dared to read 1984 in Eastern Europe and the USSR during the Cold War era always felt that it was a “miracle” that George Orwell so deeply and fully grasped the nature of a society that he had never stepped foot in: the totalitarian tyranny of Stalin’s Russia. Equally miraculous, his nightmarish vision continued to be eerily apposite to the USSR of later decades--just as it is to Russia today. In George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp works wonders in explaining his mirabilia of imaginative insight as she charts how Orwell’s hard-won experience of collectivism’s corruptions enabled him to conjure a terrifying world whose numerous catchphrases are bywords in the cultural lexicon. This outstanding, path-breaking book should be read by all those who care about the Soviet past, agonize about the Russian present, and worry about the world’s future. * John Rodden, Author of 'Becoming George Orwell: Life and Letters, Legend and Legacy' *[Karp] relishes the details of exactly how, when, and what Orwell would have learned about Soviet Russia, and how his attitudes towards Russia changed over time, especially in relation to his continued belief in the ideals of socialism... her book is most impressive on account of how judiciously she selects her material, erring on the side of factual accuracy and abundance. * Owen Boynton, Meduza *Valuable for those interested in literature, political philosophy, and Soviet history. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Note on Translation List of Abbreviations Part 1. ‘I Have Regarded This Regime With Plain Horror...’ 1. The First Vaccination. 2. ‘We’re All Socialists Nowadays…’ 3. Stalinism in Spain. 4. The Totalitarian Enemy. 5. The Russian Myth. Part 2. ‘Don’t Let It Happen. It Depends on You.’ 6. Opposing the Soviet Menace. 7. ‘As I Understand It.’ 8. ‘Over the Heads of their Rulers.’ 9. ‘Alone with the Forbidden Book.’ 10. ‘To Arrest the Course of History.’ Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFrom Richard Seymour, one of the UK’s leading public intellectuals, comes a characteristic blend of forensic insight and analysis, personal journey, and a vivid respect for the natural world. A planetary fever-dream. An environmental awakening that is also a sleep-walking, unsteadily weaving between history, earth science, psychoanalysis, evolution, biology, art and politics. A search for transcendence, beyond the illusory eternal present. These essays chronicle the kindling of ecological consciousness in a confessed ignoramus. They track the first enchantment of the author, his striving to comprehend the coming catastrophe, and his attempt to formulate a new global sensibility in which we value anew what unconditionally matters.Trade ReviewIn Conversation with Richard Seymour https://jacobin.com/2022/04/richard-seymour-disenchanted-earth-book-review-climate-crisis/ -- Nell Whittaker * Tank Magazine *Six New Books for Activists https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/ecosocialist-bookshelf-april-2022 -- Ecosocialist Bookshelf by Ian Angus * GreenLeft *Review - The Collapse of Our Natural World Won’t Be Like a Hollywood Disaster Movie ‘This is a persuasive call for a new, radical understanding.’ https://jacobin.com/2022/04/richard-seymour-disenchanted-earth-book-review-climate-crisis/ -- Sam Knights * Jacobin *An ecological awakening - A collection of essays by a leading Marxist thinker moves Russell Warfield 'Richard remains one of the sharpest thinkers and most stylish writers on the contemporary Marxist left...never less that interesting and insightful.' https://twitter.com/PressIndigoThe/status/1562400612498767872?s=20&t=HgMDLOmULR890sydOrjSNg -- Russell Warfield * Resurgaence and Ecologist magazine *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of a 2008 Lannan Notable Book Award, Lannan Foundation "[A] comprehensive diagnosis of our failings as a democratic polity by one of our most seasoned and respected political philosophers... Democracy Incorporated is a devastating critique of the contemporary government of the United States--including what has happened to it in recent years and what must be done if it is not to disappear into history along with its classic totalitarian predecessors."--Chalmers Johnson, Truthdig "[Democracy Incorporated provides] a rare, chilling analysis of intellectual critics of democracy. If democracy means more than occasional elections and protection of those rights that are compatible with economic and political elites' interests, Wolin's analysis of our democratic predicament is shocking, solid, and fundamentally correct."--C. P. Waligorski, Choice "Sheldon Wolin has produced an ambitious and broad-ranging book that examines the current state of democracy in America... Wolin argues that the unquestioned faith in the virtues of free market capitalism has dramatically narrowed the range of policy options that are on the table when debate turns to resolving the US's ills...[T]his is a trenchant and powerful volume."--Alex Waddan, International Affairs "Of the many books I've read or skimmed in the past seven years that attempted to get inside the social and political debacles of the present, none has had the chilling clarity and historical discernment of Sheldon S. Wolin's Democracy Incorporated. Building on his fifty years as a political theorist and proponent of radical democracy, Wolin here extends his concern with the extinguishing of the political and its replacement by fraudulent simulations of democratic process."--Jonathan Crary, Artforum "[W]e need to understand the deep roots of our present troubles ourselves and Wolin's book is an excellent beginning."--Toby Grace, Out in Jersey "Democracy Incorporated acts as an antidote to unconstrained corporate power and an elitist obsession and should be widely read by all those who cherish democracy and civil liberty."--Shih-Yu Chou, Political Studies Review "[Wolin] provides a rich narrative of the struggle of elites and the demos from ancient Greece through the writing of the U.S. Constitution and into the present, and the corporate-managed politics that has emerged will survive no matter which party holds Congress or the presidency."--Coleman Fannin, Journal of Church and State "Despite being written shortly before both the financial crisis and the Obama victory, the main lineaments of his analysis are still alarmingly cogent."--Tom Angier, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

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Book SynopsisPopulism suddenly is everywhere, and everywhere misunderstood. Nadia Urbinati argues that populism should be regarded as government based on an unmediated relationship between the leader and those defined as the “good” or “right” people. Mingling history, theory, and current affairs, Urbinati illuminates populism’s tense relation to democracy.Trade ReviewMe the People arguably ranks as the best available analysis of populism in any language. Nadia Urbinati persuasively interprets populism as an autoimmune disease of democracy; as a new form of disfigured representative government gripped by leaders who pose as the embodiment of a ‘true’ people—enthusiastic but loyal subjects who have little or no taste for free media, independent courts, and other ‘intermediary’ power-restraining institutions. Urbinati’s message is timely and disturbing. -- John Keane, author of The Life and Death of DemocracyThe study of populism has become all too fashionable, but this volume stands out for its great originality. Unlike so many scholars jumping on the populism bandwagon, Nadia Urbinati has a well-developed theory of democracy, which she deftly deploys to pinpoint the dangers of populism. She also draws on her profound knowledge in the history of political thought to advance her arguments. -- Jan-Werner Müller, author of What Is Populism?With her erudition and clear-eyed assessment of the decline of parties and partisanship, Nadia Urbinati delivers a bold theory of how populist democracy works today. As populism goes from political movement to holding power, the familiar elements—the leader who embodies the people, the hostility to pluralism, the repudiation of mediating institutions—come together in a new and unaccountable form of governing. Me the People prepares us for the challenge. -- Nancy Rosenblum, author of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on DemocracyIn an increasingly crowded field, Nadia Urbinati develops a novel and sophisticated theory of the phenomenology of populism. She engages with the populist critique of what went wrong with democracy and shows how populist solutions, instead of leading to radical democracy, will lead to its disfigurement. -- Carlos de la Torre, editor of The Promise and Perils of PopulismUrbinati has produced an exceptional scholarly work on a highly relevant socio-political phenomenon. Her line of argument is necessarily complex and deep. Her research is outstandingly extensive. -- Deepak Tripathi * New York Journal of Books *Urbinati’s book is the grand historical-theoretical narrative not only of populism but of democracy and democratic theory more broadly…Her account provides an overview of democratic formations and their different conceptualizations over time, with populism being one among them…Accepting a main position of hers that populism is an expression of legitimate complaints and demands for change within representative democracy, one only wishes that the people making these demands were more savory and less corrupt than they are. -- Hans J. Rindisbacher * The European Legacy *With considerable debate around the concept of populism, and its intersections with democracy and authoritarianism, this book provides an important contribution to advance understanding of how populism is transforming contemporary democracies. -- Sarah Cameron * European Political Science *

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Book SynopsisA Book of the Year for The Times and the Sunday Times ‘The writer is the engineer of the human soul,’ claimed Stalin. Although one wonders how many found nourishment in Turkmenbashi’s Book of the Soul (once required reading for driving tests in Turkmenistan), not to mention Stalin’s own poetry. Certainly, to be considered great, a dictator must write, and write a lot. Mao had his Little Red Book, Mussolini and Saddam Hussein their romance novels, Kim Jong-il his treatise on the art of film, Hitler his hate-filled tracts. What do these texts reveal about their authors, the worst people imaginable? And how did they shape twentieth-century history? To find out, Daniel Kalder read them all – the badly written and the astonishingly badly written – so that you don’t have to. This is the untold history of books so terrible they should have been crimes.Trade Review‘Daniel Kalder has slogged his way through the 20th century’s “Krakatoa-like eruption of despotic verbiage” so you don’t have to… Kalder’s dispatches from “the transnational empire of ultra-boredom” are not only very funny, they also form a quirky, pacey guide to recent world history.’ * Sunday Times, Books of the Year *‘Full of…wonders, and startling individual facts… An overwhelmingly powerful reminder of 20th-century misrule, and of just how delusional human beings can be – especially if they’re literate.’ * Telegraph *‘This wonderfully entertaining book is a cautionary tale about how societies are easily wooed by foolish demagogues spouting gibberish.’ * The Times, Books of the Year *‘I enjoyed this book a great deal…it’s actually a rather snappy read.’ * Will Self, Guardian *‘Hugely compelling…Like coming across a planet-sized car crash, with hundreds of millions snarled up in the wreckage: you can’t look away. Kalder has really dug deep into the minds of these infernal texts’ creators, and thus delivers some truly enlightening insights.’ * Irish Independent *‘Daniel Kalder…deserves a medal…Dictator Literature is a great book... An insightful book, but also a funny one.' * The Times *‘Very funny… After reading Dictator Literature you will never look at books with such a benevolent eye again.’ * Spectator *‘A engaging, brisk, and morbidly humorous haul of the lives and literary pretensions of the murderous wingnuts who defined a century.’ * Irish Times *‘Kalder's book is an informative, lively and often hilarious account of some of the worst authors who ever lived, doubling as a history of the terrible ideologies that marred the last century. Some execrable books have come out of communism and fascism, but Dictator Literature is certainly not one of them.’ * Catholic Herald *‘A fascinating study…partly an enjoyable romp but mostly a sombre sidelong-glance history of 20th-century totalitarianism.’ * Sunday Telegraph *‘Brisk, and full of antic fun.’ * New Statesman *‘Highly readable.’ * Herald *‘A mesmerizing study of books by despots great and small, from the familiar to the largely unknown.’ * Washington Post *‘Kalder is our cheeky and irreverent guide to the (generally aggressively tedious) prose by history’s despots.’ * Tatler *‘This is about the most discomforting book I’ve read in the past year. Never mind Trump and never mind Twitter: Kalder demonstrates that words themselves, and the escapist spells we weave with them, are our riskiest civic gift.’ -- Simon Ings, author of Stalin and the Scientists‘A compelling examination of why bad minds create bad writing, and therefore a valuable read for anyone interested in literature – or the world, in fact. Kalder’s dry humour makes Dictator Literature a fun tour de force through the mad history of the 20th century and the present.’ -- Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed

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Book SynopsisThe most secretive, repressive state in Africa is haemorrhaging its citizens. In some months as many Eritreans as Syrians arrive on European shores, yet the country is not convulsed by civil war. Young men and women risk all to escape. Many do not survive - their bones littering the Sahara; their bodies floating in the Mediterranean. Still they flee, to avoid permanent military service and a future without hope. As the United Nations reported: "Thousands of conscripts are subjected to forced labour that effectively abuses, exploits and enslaves them for years." Eritreans fought for their freedom from Ethiopia for thirty years, only to have their revered leader turn on his own people. Independent since 1993, the country has no constitution and no parliament. No budget has ever been published. Elections have never been held and opponents languish in jail. International organisations find it next to impossible to work in the country. Nor is it just a domestic issue. By supporting armed insurrection in neighbouring states it has destabilised the Horn of Africa. Eritrea is involved in the Yemeni civil war, while the regime backs rebel movements in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.This book tells the untold story of how this tiny nation became a world pariah.

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Book SynopsisEdited by eminent historian Ronald Grigor Suny, this unique collection of primary documents and important scholarly articles frames both the revolutionary changes and broad continuities in Soviet history. Organized chronologically and covering political, social, and cultural history from a variety of viewpoints, selections include official pronouncements and dissident manifestos, public speeches, private letters, and previously un-translated documents. An introductory essay provides the broad outlines of Soviet history, while chapter introductions summarize the main features and historical debates of each period.New to the Second Edition* Ten new essays and documents, including Jochen Hellbeck''s The Urge to Struggle On (2006) and Cars, Cars, and More Cars by Lewis H. Siegelbaum (2008)* A new chapter (10) on Russia and the former Soviet states in the twenty-first century, as well as additional readings on women and gender* More sections on foreign policy and the Cold WarTrade ReviewThe Structure of Soviet History is an excellent resource. * Danny Yee, Danny Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Back to the Future ; Acknowledgements ; Transliteration and Dating ; PART I: REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR ; 1. The Revolutions of 1917 ; 2. Civil War, Socialism, and Nationalism ; PART II: RETREAT AND REBUILDING ; 3. Politics, Society, and Culture in the 1920s ; PART III: STALINISM ; 4 The Stalin Revolution ; 5. Dangers and Opportunities: The comintern, World War, and Cold War ; PART IV: REFORM AND STAGNATION ; 6. From Autocracy to Oligarchy ; 7. Stagnation ; PART V: REFORM AND REVOLUTION ; 8. The Road to Revolution ; 9. The Second Russian Republic and the "Near Abroad" ; 10. Russia and the Former Soviet States in the Twenty-First Century ; 11. Summing Up

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Book SynopsisA close-up look at the cloistered country (USA Today), See You Again in Pyongyang is American writer Travis Jeppesen''s probing and artful (New York Times Book Review) chronicle of his travels in North Korea--an eye-opening portrait that goes behind the headlines about Trump and Kim, revealing North Koreans'' entrepreneurial spirit, and hidden love of foreign media, as well as their dreams and fears (Los Angeles Times). In See You Again in Pyongyang, Travis Jeppesen, the first American to complete a university program in North Korea, culls from his experiences living, traveling, and studying in the country to create a multifaceted portrait of the country and its idiosyncratic capital city in the Kim Jong Un Era. Anchored by the experience of his five trips to North Korea and his interactions with citizens from all walks of life, Jeppesen takes readers behind the propaganda, showing how the North Korean system actually works in daily life. He challenges the notion that Pyongyang is merely a showcase capital where everything is staged for the benefit of foreigners, as well as the idea that Pyongyangites are brainwashed robots. Jeppesen introduces readers to an array of fascinating North Koreans, from government ministers with a side hustle in black market Western products to young people enamored with American pop culture. With unique personal insight and a rigorous historical grounding, Jeppesen goes beyond the media cliches, showing North Koreans in their full complexity. See You Again in Pyongyang is an essential addition to the literature about one of the world''s most fascinating and mysterious places.

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Book SynopsisLife in Stalin''s Soviet Union is a collaborative work in which some of the leading scholars in the field shed light on various aspects of daily life for Soviet citizens. Split into three parts which focus on Food, Health and Leisure', the Lived Experience' and Religion and Ideology', the book is comprised of chapters covering a range of important subjects, including:* Food* Health and Housing* Sex and Gender* Education* Religion (Christianity, Islam and Judaism)* Sport and Leisure* FestivalsThere is detailed analysis of urban and rural life, as well as explorations of life in the gulag, life as a peasant, life in the military and what it was like to be disabled in Stalin's Russia. The book also engages with the wider Soviet Union wherever possible to ensure the most in-depth discussion of life, in all its minutiae, under Stalin.This is a vitally important book for any student of Stalin's Russia keen to know more about the human history of this complex period of dictatorship.Trade ReviewLife in Stalin’s Soviet Union is a welcome addition to the volumes currently available for teaching the history of Stalinism. While earlier collections tend to focus on the 1930s, many of the chapters in this work chart the full period of Stalinist rule, from the late 1920s to 1953. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *A popular interpretation of the Soviet Union in the West, particularly from the 1950s to the 1960s, emphasized the totalitarian nature of a communist regime that strictly controlled the daily lives of its citizens. Written for a general readership, Life in Stalin’s Soviet Union, edited by Kees Boterbloem, successfully challenges such a historiographical approach by highlighting the many strategies Soviet citizens used to circumvent, even defy, such a regimented and brutal government and, by the same token, recover some of their freedom. * Histoire sociale/Social History *Kees Boterbloem brings together a formidable cast of first-rate scholars for this study of daily life in Stalinist Russia. The result is an extremely impressive book that offers cutting-edge research with a remarkably wide scope. Its focus lies at the intersection of everyday life and the horrors of Stalinism, to which Soviet citizens were subjected for decades. This remarkable book helps us to see what it was to live in Stalinist Russia; I can think of no other text that does this as effectively. * Erik van Ree, Assistant Professor of Eastern European Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands *With contributions from some of the most original and insightful historians of the Soviet Union, this volume demonstrates how the cataclysmic changes unleashed by Stalin impacted the daily lives of ordinary Soviet citizens. It is a story of brutal transformations and heroic resilience. * Jeffrey Veidlinger, Professor of History and Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, USA. *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Contributors Introduction, Kees Boterbloem (University of South Florida, USA) 1. The End of the Russian Peasants under Stalin, Kees Boterbloem (University of South Florida, USA) 2. Food Consumption, Diet and Famines, Elena Osokina (University of South Carolina, USA) 3. The Cities: Urbanization and Modern Life, Heather Dehaan (Binghamton University, USA) 4. On the Margins: Social Dislocation and Criminality in the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the 1950s, David Shearer (University of Delaware, USA) 5. The Gulag under Stalin, Golfo Alexopoulos (University of South Florida, USA) 6. Private Ivan’s Life and Fate: Daily Life in Stalin’s Red Army during the "Great Patriotic War", Kenneth Slepyan (Transylvania University, USA) 7. The History of Disability during Stalinism, Frances Bernstein (Drew University, USA) 8. Gender and Sexuality, Amy Randall (Santa Clara University, USA) 9. The Educational Experience in Stalin’s Russia, 1931-1945, Larry E. Holmes (University of South Alabama, USA) 10. A Year of Celebrations in the Life of a Soviet Student, Karen Petrone (University of Kentucky, USA) 11. Soviet People’s Informal Interactions with Officials of the Stalin-Era Party-State, James Heinzen (Rowan University, USA) 12. The Religious Front: Militant Atheists and Militant Believers, Gregory Freeze (Brandeis University, USA) Index

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Book SynopsisDavid G. Lewis explores the transformation of Russian domestic politics and foreign policy under Vladimir Putin. Using contemporary case studies including Russia's legal system, the annexation of Crimea and Russian policy in Syria he critically examines Russia's new authoritarian political ideology.

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Book SynopsisThe word ‘fascism’ sometimes appears to have become a catch-all term of abuse, applicable to anyone on the political right, from Hitler to Donald Trump and from Putin to Thatcher. While some argue that it lacks any distinctive conceptual meaning at all, others have supplied highly elaborate definitions of its ‘essential’ features. It is therefore a concept that presents unique challenges for any student of political theory or history. In this accessible book, Roger Griffin, one of the world’s leading authorities on fascism, brings welcome clarity to this controversial ideology. He examines its origins and development as a political concept, from its historical beginnings in 1920s Italy up to the present day, and guides students through the confusing maze of debates surrounding the nature, definition and meaning of fascism. Elucidating with skill and precision its dynamic as a utopian ideology of national/racial rebirth, Griffin goes on to examine its post-Second World War mutations and its relevance to understanding contemporary right-wing political phenomena, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Golden Dawn. This concise and engaging volume will be of great interest to all students of political theory, the history of political thought, and modern history.Trade Review"For the reader who wants to understand what fascism is all about, this is the best brief introduction in any Western language, from the pen of the leading specialist."Stanley G. Payne, University of Wisconsin-Madison‘This book – distilling and updating Griffin’s ground-breaking insights into fascism – is the most comprehensive, lucid and inspiring guide for a new wave of research and a powerful statement of why studying fascism continues to matter enormously.’ Aristotle Kallis, Keele UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1. Introduction: Why fascism is a 'key concept' 2. Making sense of fascism: Marxist and early liberal approaches 3. A working definition: Fascism as a revolutionary form of nationalism 4. Interwar fascism: Permutations of revolutionary nationalism 5. Neo-fascism: Evolution, adaption, mutation 6. Conclusion: Fascism, post-fascism, and post-Fascism Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPresented at a time when fascism was a new and little understood phenomenon, Zetkin's work proposed a sweeping plan for the unity of all victims of capitalism in an ideological and political campaign against the fascist danger.

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Book SynopsisJoseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and authoritarian dictators in world history, who plunged Russia into a barbarous nightmare, leaving behind a damaged nation and a legacy of grief.This concise biography presents Lenin’s heir from his humble and troubled beginnings to the highest rank of all: General Secretary of the Communist Party. Stalin: A Pocket Biography is an accessible account of a complex tyrant, perfect for students or anyone taking a first look into modern Russian history.

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Book Synopsis

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