Politics and government Books

Book SynopsisDitching the stuffy hang-ups and benighted sexual traditionalism of the past is an unambiguously positive thing. The sexual revolution has liberated us to enjoy a heady mixture of erotic freedom and personal autonomy. Right? Wrong, argues Louise Perry in her provocative new book. Although it would be neither possible nor desirable to turn the clock back to a world of pre-60s sexual mores, she argues that the amoral libertinism and callous disenchantment of liberal feminism and our contemporary hypersexualised culture represent more loss than gain. The main winners from a world of rough sex, hook-up culture and ubiquitous porn – where anything goes and only consent matters – are a tiny minority of high-status men, not the women forced to accommodate the excesses of male lust. While dispensing sage advice to the generations paying the price for these excesses, she makes a passionate case for a new sexual culture built around dignity, virtue and restraint. This counter-cultural polemic from one of the most exciting young voices in contemporary feminism should be read by all men and women uneasy about the mindless orthodoxies of our ultra-liberal era.Trade Review"This clear-sighted, compassionate book challenges the reigning sexual orthodoxy of 'anything goes', showing the many uncounted costs it imposes on women. A must-read for conservatives and feminists alike."Mary Harrington, Contributing Editor, UnHerd "In this thoughtful, timely and witty book, Louise Perry exposes the travesty of 'sex positive' feminism as neither positive nor sexy and argues for new thinking which puts women's true interests, desires and happiness at its heart."Janice Turner, Times columnist and feature writer "books such as Perry's matter […] many of her arguments — that consent is an inadequate measure of what is and is not abuse, that the valuing of sexual freedom over mutual dependency benefits the most privileged at the expense of the least, that physical strength differences between men and women matter enormously — seem to me hugely important, yet completely absent from so much of the feminism I have known."The Critic "... tackles the costs of the sexual revolution head-on... a brave and unflinching book"Nina Power, author of What Do Men Want? "This is a marvellously essential book, brilliantly argued. Perry has written the most radical feminist challenge to a failed liberal feminism."Phyllis Chesler, writer, feminist and psychologist, author of Women and Madness "Brilliantly conceived and written, this highly original book is an urgent call for a sexual counter-revolution. A book as stimulating as the splash of icy water that wakes someone from a nightmare."Helen Joyce, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality "Those feminists who assume this book is not for them – give it a go. Brilliantly written, cleverly argued, packed with fascinating ideas and information: agree or disagree with the central premise, it is fresh and exciting."Julie Bindel, feminist and writer, author of ​Feminism for Women "... crisply readable polemic...."The Times "It's a combination of beliefs that will outrage almost everyone. Radical feminists, the old-guard 1960s firebrands, will agree with her on porn, but be aghast by the chapter on marriage; social conservatives will love the marriage chapter, but bristle at Perry’s approval of abortion; the new generation of liberal feminists, who have known nothing but sexual freedom, may well despise it all."The Sunday Times "clear-sighted"Suzanne Moore, The Sunday Telegraph "She's right - and courageous."Mary Kenny "urgent and daring and brave. It may turn out to be one of the most important feminist books of its time."Rachel Cooke, The Observer "... Louise Perry lobs a grenade into feminist discourse."Irish Examiner "This is a provocative book. More than once, its author says the unsayable. It makes you think, and it makes you want for a better world. It is urgent and daring and brave. It may turn out to be one of the most important feminist books of its time."Rachel Cooke, The Guardian "challenging and thought-provoking."Hugo Rifkind, The Times "... will ruffle liberal feathers all over the coop."London Magazine "Perry undeniably has a sharp eye both for the ways in which contemporary feminism risks eating itself... and for those guilty feminist moments where emotions awkwardly refuse to comply with the theoretical ideal. Any woman who has ever had what was meant to be a gloriously hedonistic no-strings fling, only to find herself anxiously checking her WhatsApps just to see if he's called, will recognise something here."Gaby Hinsliff, the New Statesman "This could be a movement in its nascent days."Prospect "[Perry's] book suggests a renewed bibliography that enables the reader to grasp the paradoxes at play within liberal feminism's theses."Lola Salem, The Critic "This 'crisply readable' polemic questions whether sexual freedom is really as liberating as it sounds"The Week "Riveting"The Spectator "Perry musters and masters the evidence. Her case is powerful, moving, and — as you may be able to tell from the tone of this piece — angering."Church Times "Arguing that young women need to protect themselves from a sexual culture that treats them as disposable, Perry urges them to draw from the accumulated wisdom of previous generations."Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times "[Perry] is writing on behalf of legions of women without PhDs or platforms, those who do not possess the ideological jargon to describe what they've endured and can only share their lived experiences."Jonathon van Maren for the European Conservative "Brave, excoriating, and magnificent."Andrew Wilson, The Gospel Coalition "Must-read"Rod Dreher, The American Conservative "The book is brave, bristling with insights, and beautifully written."National Review "significant.... Perry is to be commended for her courage."The Evangelical TimesTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsForeword by Kathleen StockChapter 1 Sex must be taken seriouslyChapter 2 Men and women are differentChapter 3 Not all desires are goodChapter 4 Loveless sex is not empowering Chapter 5 Consent is not enoughChapter 6 Violence is not loveChapter 7 People are not productsChapter 8 Marriage is goodConclusion Listen to Your MotherNotes

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Book SynopsisIn this radical and visionary new book, McKenzie Wark argues that the all-pervasive presence of data in our networked society has given rise to a new mode of production, one not ruled over by capitalists and their factories but by those who own and control the flow of information. Yet, if this is not capitalism anymore, could it be something worse? What if the world we're living in is more dystopian than the techno utopias of the Silicon Valley imagination? And, if this is the case, how do we find a way out? Capital Is Dead offers not only the theoretical tools to analyse this new world of information, but the ones to change it, too.Drawing on the writings of the Situationists and a range of contemporary theorists, Wark offers a vast panorama of the contemporary condition and the classes that control it.Trade ReviewOne book from which I drew much courage that I was not wrong to believe that something more fundamental was in play, and that capitalism itself was in question, is McKenzie Wark's 2019 exquisite Capital is Dead: Is This Something Worse? I cannot recommend it too strongly. Many of my ideas resonated loudly with hers. -- Yanis VaroufakisA provocative and compelling exploration of our digital world as it crashes towards ecological disaster. Counter-intuitive, insightful, and imaginative, Capital is Dead is a timely reminder that there are things worse than capitalism - and we may just be living through them. -- Nick SrnicekMcKenzie Wark's call for an experimental, vulgar form of revolutionary approach to digital commodification is a challenging read, full of provocative observation. -- Andy Hedgecock * Morning Star *Wark has long been a brilliant scholar of Marxism, Situationism and Poststructuralism, rewriting the canon of critical theory. -- Dave Beech * Art Monthly *Wark takes a flamethrower to these ideas through a reading of Marx that burns away the metaphors of phantasmagorical fetishes, such as the commodity form, the spectacle, and false consciousness, that have occupied much critical theory to date. -- Vince Carducci * Popmatters *Thoughtful and compelling. -- Garrett Pierman * Marx & Philosophy *

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Book SynopsisA landmark history of one hundred years of war waged against the Palestinians from the foremost US historian of the Middle East, told through pivotal events and family historyIn 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would not easily accept their own displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, ?in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone.? Thus Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi?s great-great-nephew, begins this sweeping history, the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective.Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members?mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists?The Hundred Years'' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel?s 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process. Original, authoritative, and important, The Hundred Years'' War on Palestine is not a chronicle of victimization, nor does it whitewash the mistakes of Palestinian leaders or deny the emergence of national movements on both sides. In reevaluating the forces arrayed against the Palestinians, it offers an illuminating new view of a conflict that continues to this day.

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Book SynopsisInvestigates a political dilemma, and evaluates answers that have been proposed in the utilitarian, Marxist, social contract, anti-Enlightenment, and democratic traditions.Trade Review"'In The Moral Foundations of Politics, Shapiro reaffirms his place as one of the very clearest and most resolute, and most solidly grounded, practitioners in the political theory field in this generation.' (Adolph Reed, Jr., New School for Social Research) 'Blending sophisticated political science (including insightful rational choice calculations) with clarity that makes the book's subject accessible to neophytes, Professor Shapiro distills centuries of political theory into a slender volume.' (Harvard Law Review) 'A deeply valuable book at many levels. Shapiro shows an almost unique ability to combine the broad sweep with the telling detail or precise insight - just what a book of this sort needs.' (Jennifer Hochschild, Harvard University)"

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Book SynopsisLarry J. Sabato is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and director of its Center for Politics. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books on American politics and elections. Kyle Kondik is the managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, the Center's nonpartisan newsletter on American campaigns and elections.J. Miles Coleman is associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, the University of Virginia Center for Politics' nonpartisan newsletter on American campaigns and elections.

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Book SynopsisThere is a quiet revolution that is radically reshaping the Muslim world: 50 million women have entered the workforce and are upending their countries'' economies and societies. Across the Muslim world, ever greater numbers of women are going to work. In the span of just over a decade, millions have joined the workforce, giving them more earning and purchasing power and greater autonomy. In Fifty Million Rising, award-winning economist Saadia Zahidi illuminates this discreet but momentous revolution through the stories of the remarkable women who are at the forefront of this shift -- a McDonald''s worker in Pakistan who has climbed the ranks to manager; the founder of an online modest fashion startup in Indonesia; a widow in Cairo who runs a catering business with her daughter, against her son''s wishes; and an executive in a Saudi corporation who is altering the culture of her workplace; among many others. These women are challenging familial and social conventions, as well as compelling businesses to cater to women as both workers and consumers. More importantly, they are gaining the economic power that will upend entrenched cultural norms, re-shape how women are viewed in the Muslim world and elsewhere, and change the mindset of the next generation. Inspiring and deeply reported, Fifty Million Rising is a uniquely insightful portrait of a seismic shift with global significance, as Muslim women worldwide claim a seat at the table.

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Book SynopsisTang Shuxiu and her husband are on an 800-mile train journey from Beijing to Shifang, where they believe their only child has perished in a recent earthquake. Three days after the event, Tang is too dehydrated to cry. Liu Ting becomes a national hero when he brings his mother to college, a celebration of filial piety in a nation that now legally compels adult children to visit their elderly parents. Tian Qingeng and his parents are deeply in debt. They have bought an apartment they hope will improve his eligibility in a nation that has 30 million bachelors, or ‘bare branches’. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mei Fong has spent eight years documenting the effects of the one-child policy across all of Chinese society. In this critically acclaimed account, she weaves together personal stories, history and politics to produce an extraordinary, evocative investigation into how the policy has changed China and why the repercussions will be felt across the world for decades to come.Trade Review‘A deeply moving account of a policy of that looks set to haunt China (and the world) for decades: Fong highlights how, despite its relaxation to two children, the repercussions of the past thirty-five years will only be felt more acutely in the future.’ * Independent *‘Vivid and thoroughly researched...a moving and at times harrowing account of the significance of decisions taken by a small coterie of men with too much faith in science and ideology, and too little in humanity.’ * Observer *'An interesting and intriguing read'. * Press Association *'Welcome bits of new information'. * Literary Review *'A…moving history of the policy…fascinating…Fong, a Singaporean Chinese living in Beijing…adds a fine human touch'. * Telegraph *'Outside China, there are still vocal admirers of the one-child policy. Perhaps after reading this book and doing the sums they won’t be such strident supporters'. * The Herald *'Fong's moral outrage is as understandable as her empathy is affecting…One Child draws thoughtful attention to the ethical and moral risks of regulating human reproductive rights'. * Asian Review of Books *'Combines tough, broad economic analysis with individual stories'. * Economist *'Mei Fong has travelled widely across China, and has produced a vivid account of the multifarious ways whereby a hugely unpopular policy was implemented...One Child is a timely reminder of how the recent relaxation of the policy is unlikely to avert a self-inflicted demographic disaster'. * Sunday Times *'There really could be no one better than Fong, a western journalist with an insider's knowledge of China, to make this story come alive'. * Times *'Gripping, balanced and well-documented'. * Spectator *‘With its vivid character portrayals and incredible stories, One Child is an eye-opening book.’ -- Xinran Xue, author of The Good Women of China and Buy Me the Sky: The Remarkable Truth of China’s One-Child Generations‘Fong’s moving and highly personal account of the one-child policy will teach you more about the dysfunction and cruelty of modern-day China than any other.’ -- Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy‘One Child is a riveting read, written with the flair and compassion of a novel. But it is also a critically important book about the future of China, necessary reading both for policy experts and anyone interested in the future of one of the most important nations of the 21st century.’ -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business‘Eye-opening, powerful and utterly gripping, One Child had me hooked from page one. Mei Fong possesses a rare eye for the details that truly illuminate a story, the ones that most of us overlook. She writes beautifully and vividly, revealing sides of China I’d never imagined to exist.’ -- Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package‘A highly impressive account of one of the controversial aspects of today’s China combining policy analysis, extensive on-the-ground reporting and personal experience.’ -- Jonathan Fenby, author of The Penguin History of Modern China and Tiger Head, Snake Tails‘Reveals the dark underbelly of China’s one-child policy... its implementation led to heartache, human rights abuses and forced coercion of women across the country.’ -- Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking‘One Child is a timely and informative look into China’s infamous effort to control its enormous population. But Mei Fong has also given us a wry, bittersweet, and often very personal look at how courtship, marriage, birth, and death interact in the post-Mao Chinese family. A lovely antidote to decades of chillingly cold Party-speak from Beijing.’ -- Orville Schell, author of Wealth and Power‘[One Child] must change the way we talk about China’s rise... It not only clarifies facts and retires myths, but also confronts the deepest questions about the meaning of parenthood.’ -- Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition

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Book SynopsisBangladesh, a Muslim majority nation with a population of some 154 million people, receives little notice in the West, other than when political upheaval or natural disasters bring it to our attention. In "Understanding Bangladesh", an account of the political and economic experiences of the Bangladeshi state and its people, S. Mahmud Ali seeks to redress that imbalance. His book identifies the key players among Bangladesh's tiny military, political and business elite, explores the attempts to establish their authority in a crowded field, and considers the relative merits of their attempts at nation-building. Ali concludes by outlining both the remarkable achievements recorded by this land of unusual narratives, and the elemental challenges its burgeoning populace faces in the years ahead, among which is a resurgent and highly politicized form of militant Islamism.Trade Review'A compelling account of Bangladesh's history, politics and culture. Understanding Bangladesh is a significant contribution to the growing scholarship on this South Asian state. It will be a great resource for students of South Asian history and politics.' * Contemporary South Asia *'This richly detailed book traces the evolution of Bangladesh as an independent state since 1971. Drawing on a wealth of primary and secondary sources in English and Bengali, as well as insights based on the author's personal experience of some of the events discussed, it covers in chronological order key developments vital to any understanding of the country's politics, economic policies and external relations. At the same time, the book also addresses historical factors that have shaped groups and ideas in Bangladesh which notwithstanding their place at the margins of power, have come to define the country's political landscape. Nor does it ignore emerging environmental and demographic pressures, which the author suggests will represent new challenges that could alter Bangladesh's landscape yet again. Together they help deliver a narrative that is meticulously researched, soberly argued and set to emerge as one of the most authoritative and complete accounts of a still poorly understood country.' * Dr Farzana Shaikh, Chatham House, and author of Making Sense of Pakistan *'This latest book will further enhance the author's reputation, drawing as it does on personal experience and considerable depth of research and dealing with a country of rising importance ... a scholarly and detailed chronological account of Bangladesh's origins and complex development as a new independent country. ... I warmly recommend it to anyone seeking insight into this rapidly changing country.' * Asian Affairs *

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Book SynopsisExplores and elaborates the relationship between the evaluation of programs and the study of their implementation. This title suggests that tendencies to assimilate the two should be resisted.Trade Review"Of universal application . . . this is an analysis of why the urban crisis has proved so intractable. . . . Nobody who reads this book will ever again be surprised by the gulf between promise and performance in a program to help revive or save or rebuild the country's cities." * New York Times *"There are innumerable ways to profit from this fully documented yet highly readable tale of earnest but relatively unsuccessful ways of spending the taxpayers' money." * National Review *"They make an unimpeachable case. for close attention to the modes of implementing policy, and . . . constitute the first solid survey of the administrative thickets through which future urban policies will have to make their way." * New Republic *"The potential good that can come out of this study cannot be exaggerated." * Virginia Quarterly Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Participants Preface to the Third Edition: Implementation and Evaluation as Learning Preface to the First Edition 1. Appearances 2. Formulating Policy 3. Trials of Implementation 4. Two Smaller Programs: Business Loans and the Health Center 5. The Complexity of Joint Action 6. Learning from Experience 7. Economic Theory and Program Implementation 8. Implementation as Evolution 9. What Should Evaluation Mean to Implementation? 10. Implementation as Mutual Adaptation 11. Implementation as Exploration Appendix: EDA Chronology Bibliography Subject Index Index of Authors Cited

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Book SynopsisChiura Obata (1885-1975) was one of the most significant Japanese American artists working on the West Coast in the last century. Born in Okayama, Japan, Obata emigrated to the United States in 1903 and embarked on a seven-decade career that saw the enactment of anti-immigration laws and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. But Obata emerged as a leading figure in the Northern California artistic communities, serving not only as an influential art professor at UC Berkeley for nearly twenty years, but also as a founding director of art schools in the internment camps. With a prodigious and expansive oeuvre, Obata's seemingly effortless mastery of, and productive engagement with, diverse techniques, styles, and traditions defy the dichotomous categorizations of American/European and Japanese/Asian art. His faith in the power of art, his devotion to preserving the myriad grandeur of what he called Great Nature, and his compelling personal story as an immigrant and an American are all as relevant to our contemporary moment as ever. This catalogue is the first book surveying Chiura Obata's rich and varied body of work that include over 100 beautiful images, many of which have never been published. It also showcases a selection of Obata's writings and a rare 1965 interview with the artist. The scholarly essays by ShiPu Wang and the other contributors illuminate the intense and productive cross-cultural negotiations that Obata's life and work exemplify, in the context of both American modernism and the early twentieth-century U.S. racio-ethnic relations-a still-understudied area in American art historical scholarship. Published in association with the Art, Design and Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara. Exhibition dates: Art, Design and Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara: January 13-April 29, 2018 Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City: May 25-September 2, 2018 Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan: January 18-March 10, 2019 Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento: June 23-September 29, 2019Trade Review“The exhibition catalog fairly glows with transcendent images, many of which are nominally landscapes that are less descriptive than visionary reactions to the natural world.” -- Charles Desmarais, * San Francisco Chronicle *"Obata’s work, a marvel of invention, nuance and emotional resilience, is the subject of a SmithsonianAmerican Art Museum exhibition . . . it’s worth looking up his work online or purchasing the catalogue for the exhibition, and reveling in the poetic economy of Obata’s painting, and his deft distillation of this country’s natural and urban wonders into masterful watercolors and pen and ink drawings." * Washington Post *"...a quietly revolutionary exhibition . . . . Chiura Obata’s massive body of work is rarely exhibited and, until now, has never had a major retrospective. . . . the opportunity to consider Obata as a major artist within the canon of American art, and more widely within the dominant canon of Western art and art history, and therefore deserving of a traditional retrospective, is what makes this exhibition revolutionary." * Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art *"The catalogue is the first book to survey Chiura Obata's rich and varied works from his seven-decade career, and includes more than 100 images, many of which have never been published before." * ArtDaily.org *"The exhibition mixes beautiful images with documentary history, iconic American landscapes with incredible American failure. It highlights immigrants’ important contributions while not shying away from the realities of the experience. And it contests the notion of the American canon of art even as it seeks to broaden it." * The Washington Diplomat *"Looking at this retrospective exhibit, it’s hard to believe it all came from the same artist. Obata’s skillset was vast, as were his subjects. Traditional Japanese ink paintings rest along innovative woodblock pieces and large paintings of Yosemite National Park. Obata also combined these techniques in ways that are equal parts inspiring and confounding. It’s made Obata a difficult artist to classify. It’s also what made him so good." * Deseret News *"An American Modern has a lot of firsts. It’s the first touring exhibition of Obata’s work that includes work from all decades of his working life. It’s also the first time his works have been presented as a collective retrospective in Japan, since they’ve only shown in fragments before and not always translated. But perhaps most importantly, one of the next stops for this exhibition will be the Smithsonian, which marks Obata as an American Modernist in the larger artistic canon, a place he has every right to be, recognition long overdue." * Slug Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a comprehensive account of the use of airpower in the first year of the Ukraine conflict.Airpower has been central to political, military, and public debates from the outset of the Russo-Ukrainian war. After having started with whether the US and NATO should attempt to establish a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine to protect the civilian population, the international discussion soon focused on the underperformance of Russian airpower. The fact that the initial contest for air superiority over Ukraine ended in an uneasy state of mutual denial came as a surprise to Western analysts, who suspected Kyiv would fall within a relatively short period of time. The surprise and relief that it did not only fueled urgent and ongoing discussions on how NATO nations could support the Ukrainian war effort. Regardless of nationality, age, level of education, or ethnicity, the near-daily footage of Russian missiles, bombs and drones hitting residential areas and bombarding infrastru

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of the Year by The Economist ? Winner of the Peterson Literary Prize?Our Enemies Will Vanish achieves the highest level of war reporting: a tough, detailed account that nevertheless reads like a great novel. One is reminded of Michael Herr''s Dispatches . . . Frankly, it''s what we have all aspired to. I did not really understand Ukraine until I read Trofimov''s account.??Sebastian JungerA revelatory eyewitness account of Russia?s invasion of Ukraine and heroism of the Ukrainian people in their resistance by Yaroslav Trofimov, the Ukrainian chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimovhas spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war?s decisive moments?from the battle for Kyivto more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut?to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world?s great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people?people Trofimovknows very well.For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyivand his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens?doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers?risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world.This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itself.

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Book SynopsisA classic work of political theory and practise, this book makes available an account of the modern Machiavellians, a remarkable group who have been influential in Europe and practically unknown in the United States: Gaetano Mosca, Georges Sorel, Robert Michels and Vilfredo Pareto. In addition, there is a long section on Machiavelli himself. James Burnham contends that the writings of these men hold the key both to the truth about politics and to the preservation of political liberty.Trade Review'The stoic, detached, empirical, hard-boiled, penetrating, realist mind of James Burnham is something to behold, to admire, to emulate' - National Review

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Book SynopsisFrom the aggressive US rhetoric against China, to the escalating trade war with tit for tat responses, and China's 2025 initiative that threatens the US global leadership in advanced technologies, tensions between the US and China (the two dominant forces of today's world) have never been higher. This book provides a timely analysis of the US-China relationship. Each model is deeply rooted in their respective histories and cultures, with both models highly successful in achieving their main goals and highly resilient over time. It explores the core misconceptions on governance, economic, social and military issues, and the root causes of these misconceptions. If China and US could close the gap by each understanding those differences and their implications, the author argues, they could work together to overcome global issues to the benefit of all. This updated paperback edition includes a new introduction covering recent events in US-China relations.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East’s present and who might be hopeful for the region’s future." * Middle East Journal *"Seeking to counter contemporary perceptions of the Middle East as a region riven by sectarian strife, Makdisi examines the ‘culture of coexistence’ which he believes prevailed in the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world, despite its religious diversity." * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *"An outstanding study with insight about the agency of Arab intellectuals, thinkers and people at large who, despite twentieth-century local and global violence, persist in struggling for a better world. This is a must- read for all scholars and students of Middle East and cultural studies." * Arab Studies Quarterly *"A hugely important corrective to widespread stereotypes about relations between Muslims, Christians and Jews before Israel's creation." * Peter Beinart *"Beyond the excellent historical work in which Makdisi engages, his profound rewriting of narratives of sectarianism and coexistence will have a great impact on readers’ understanding of the modern Middle East. . . . Offers hope for an existence that does not distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim or Jew and non-Jew but aims to humanize those who have been seen as inferior." * Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations *"One of the salient contributions of the Age of Coexistence is how Makdisi writes a history that the existing scholarship has either taken for granted or failed to critically examine. . . . Indispensable reading for graduate students entering the field of Middle Eastern history." * Bustan: The Middle East Book Review *"This is clearly an essential book. . . . There are many lessons to learn from this study with regard to how regions and their peoples, their ethno-religious identities, and their politics are approached, investigated, and narrated." * Journal of Historical Geography *"What Makdisi has accomplished here is truly impressive. . . .It is my hope that as it spreads in classrooms and in public discourse, The Age of Coexistence will serve the final blow to Western-based stereotypes of a Middle East rife with senseless violence, authoritarianism, and strict religious rule." * International Journal of Middle East Studies *"Offers a fresh look at the making of the modern Arab world. Given the plethora of studies that focus on contemporary wars and sectarian violence, this well-researched study employs Arabic and Western resources that challenge the prevailing perceptions about the region and its people. . . . An outstanding study with insight about the agency of Arab intellectuals, thinkers and people at large who, despite twentieth-century local and global violence, persist in struggling for a better world. This is a must-read for all scholars and students of Middle East and cultural studies." * Arab Studies Quarterly *"A major achievement. . . . This is historical analysis whose reframing of the past genuinely helps to offer possibilities for imagining future forms of coexistence." * World History Connected *Table of ContentsList of Maps Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction: The Ecumenical Frame Part I 1. Religious Difference in an Imperial Age 2. The Crucible of Sectarian Violence 3. Coexistence in an Age of Genocide Part II 4. Colonial Pluralism 5. Sectarianism and Antisectarianism in the Post-Ottoman Arab World 6. Breaking the Ecumenical Frame: Arab and Jew in Palestine Epilogue Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThe causes and nature of the civil wars that gripped the British Isles in the mid-seventeenth century remain one of the most studied yet least understood historical conundrums. Religion, politics, economics and affairs local, national and international, all collided to fuel a conflict that has posed difficult questions both for contemporaries and later historians. Were the events of the 1640s and 50s the first stirrings of modern political consciousness, or, as John Morrill suggested, wars of religion? This collection revisits the debate with a series of essays which explore the implications of John Morrill's suggestion that the English Civil War should be regarded as a war of religion. This process of reflection constitutes the central theme, and the collection as a whole seeks to address the shortcomings of what have come to be the dominant interpretations of the civil wars, especially those that see them as secular phenomena, waged in order to destroy monarchy and religion at a stro

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Book SynopsisExplores the course and the nature of the conflict between the Druze and the Maronites arguably the two founding communities of modern Lebanon.

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Book SynopsisFrom beloved and bestselling author Roxane Gay, “a strikingly fresh cultural critic” (Washington Post) comes an exhilarating collection of her essays on culture, politics, and everything in between. Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society—state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women’s rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy—alongside more individually personalized matters: can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting? In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication’s “Work Friend” columnist, she reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights.Opinions is a collection of Roxane Gay’s best nonfiction pieces from the past ten years. Covering a wide range of topics—politics, feminism, the culture wars, civil rights, and much more—with an all-new introduction in which she reflects on the past decade in America, this sharp, thought-provoking anthology will delight Roxane Gay’s devotees and draw new readers to this inimitable talent.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTells Rajesh Sundaram's story of how he led a small team of Indian broadcast professionals and South African interns to launch the television news channel ANN7 under the power-grabbing and money-hungry mogul Atul Gupta and his cronies.

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Book SynopsisIn the past decade Pakistan has become a country of immense importance to its region, the United States, and the world. With almost 200 million people, a 500,000-man army, nuclear weapons, and a large diaspora in Britain and North America, Pakistan is central to the hopes of jihadis and the fears of their enemies. Yet the greatest short-term threat to Pakistan is not Islamist insurgency as such, but the actions of the United States, and the greatest longterm threat is ecological change. Anatol Lieven's book is a magisterial investigation of this highly complex and often poorly understood country. Engagingly written, combining history and profound analysis with reportage from Lieven's extensive travels as a journalist and academic, Pakistan: A Hard Country is both utterly compelling and deeply revealing.Trade Review"his book may be described as the most informed Gazetteer on contemporary Pakistan. Instead of the too often repeated narrative of Pakistan's history and ills, he offers a broader sweep into the condition of the provinces, the climate, the political parties and their personalities--and, in his best chapter, an important discussion of how today's Taliban represent a continuation of similar uprisings a century ago. Dallas Morning News, May 9, 2011 "Since the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last week, it's become increasingly clear that anyone hoping to follow international affairs should perhaps have begun watching that country some time ago. Fortunately, Pakistan: A Hard Country serves as an outstanding primer -- even reading just the introduction is supremely useful... Lieven crafts a lucid and thoroughly fascinating whole from a wealth of information... Lieven's writing is excellent, especially crucial in a book tackling a topic with which many readers are entirely unfamiliar. Moreover, he clearly loves the place and its people. Pakistan: A Hard Country is the work of one of those rare writers able to see his subject in all its complexity, without either turning away or becoming a partisan of one perspective or the other." IBN Live, May 19, 2011 "Yet for drama, colour and complexity, [Pakistan] is hard to beat; and Anatol Lieven captures the richness of the place wonderfully. His book has the virtues of both journalism and scholarship..." Foreign Policy's The AfPak Channel blog, April 11, 2011 "The release of Anatol Lieven's latest book, Pakistan: A Hard Country, could not be timelier. This insightful, comprehensive portrait of Pakistan is the perfect antidote to stereotypical descriptions of the country as the most dangerous place in the world... Pakistan: A Hard Country has the power to dampen the paranoia about Pakistan's security complex, put terrorism in perspective, and humanize Pakistanis." Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011 "Challenging the notion that Pakistan is fragile, Lieven presents in exquisite detail how things actually work, for better or for worse, in that 'hard country.'" Evening Standard, April 21, 2011 Foreign Policy's AfPak Channel, October 13, 2011 "Despite Pakistan's heterogeneity, one aspect of the country that demonstrates some homogeneity is the universal nature of the "clan-based" system of allegiance that is ingrained in most Pakistanis. This system has been recognized for some time, and was articulated recently, and most clearly, by the scholar Anatol Lieven in his book, Pakistan: A Hard Country." Commonweal, September 23, 2011 "Lieven offers historical perspective and a coherent, nuanced picture of the strategic concerns, politics, and occasional paranoia underlying Pakistani actions... The book covers a vast amount of ground and is packed with information, much of it fascinating and laden with significance for Washington policymakers." Independent (UK) "A finely researched and forensic compendium... A penetrating, textured study." Survival "All in all, Lieven presents a subtle and nuanced picture of Pakistan that draws on deep scholarship and direct personal experience. Though by far the longest and most complex of the books reviewed here, if busy policymakers have time to read just one volume, this should be it." SA Global Affairs Irish Times, June 4, 2011 "An insightful book that is part anthropological study, part reportage. Threaded throughout are the voices of ordinary Pakistanis farmers, politicians, spooks, landowners, businessmen, soldiers, judges, clerics and jihadis whose contributions in the form of direct quotes enliven and illuminate this complex yet affectionate portrait of their country. Published just before bin Laden s death, the book does not read as if it has been overtaken by events. Indeed, its textured, penetrating survey of the dynamics shaping contemporary Pakistan could hardly be more timely, given the relative dearth of literature on the subject. Lieven makes a compelling case for why we should pay more attention to what is one of the most important but least understood countries in the world." Small Wars Journal, June 5, 2011 "Anatol Lieven has written an excellent book...It is perhaps the one book to read on Pakistan in 2011, and offers a level of nuance required for those wanting to become true specialists on the complexity of Pakistan's political history." New York Times Book Review, June 26, 2011 "Ambitious...a sweeping and insightful narrative." Washington Times, July 7, 2011 Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2011 "[Lieven] brings an infectious enthusiasm to his task of summarizing the workings of the world's sixth most populous country. In this quest, he ranges effortlessly from a police station in Peshawar to a politician's mansion in the Punjab to the mean streets of Karachi. He dishes up pithy observations while delving deep into the nation's history, politics, culture and institutions... Mr. Lieven's eye for detail, command of subcontinental history and old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting make this in many ways an excellent primer on Pakistan." The Nation, July 18, 2011 "Lieven has written a sensible and thorough exploration of Pakistan's political sphere... Pakistan is a large subject, and an unforgivingly complicated one at that, yet Lieven manages to tackle some of its most obscure problems without losing his cool... Lieven has written a very measured book, no easy task when writing about such a hard country." TotalPolitics.com, summer reading guide, June 28, 2011 "counter-intuitive... [Lieven] argues that the question should be not why Islamist political movements are so strong in Pakistan today, but why they are so weak. Provocative." Kirkus, February 15, 2011 "Lieven breaks down his study by specific region; considers the structures of justice, religion, the military and politics in turn; and, finally, in a skillful, insightful synthesis, addresses the history of and issues concerning the Taliban, both Pakistani and Afghani. A well-reasoned, welcome resource for Western "experts" and lay readers alike." Edward Luce "Everybody nowadays seems to take a view on Pakistan. Very few know what they're talking about. Anatol Lieven is that rare observer - a scholar who writes like the best kind of foreign correspondent about a country that he takes and measures on its own terms. Pakistan, a Hard Country offers an intimate and compellingly relevant portrait of an increasingly pivotal nation to the future of the world, for better or for worse. It fills a large gap in our understanding." Huffington Post, April 3, 2011 "Over the last decade, Lieven has been one of the smartest and most fair-minded commentators on the global situation, and in this important, very timely book, he explains the regions, classes, history, and prospects of Pakistan with equal value for both the neophyte and the expert. Based on Lieven's first-hand knowledge of the country for the past 20 years." Economist, April 7, 2011 "If I had to review the book 'Pakistan: A Hard Country' in one line I would say it is brilliant. The book is well researched, informative, insightful, but most of all for a country that finds itself often in headline news for the wrong reasons, empathetic." The Age, May 20, 2011 "In his fine new book Pakistan. A Hard Country, Lieven argues that while the state is weak, Pakistani society is immensely strong." New Statesman, May 12, 2011 "does much to counter lazy assumptions about the country that proliferate elsewhere" The Spectator, May 13, 2011 "His analysis of networks and systems is precise; his accounts of his travels illuminating as well as entertaining." The Guardian, May 1, 2011 "Lieven's Pakistan: A Hard Country is one such blow for clarity and sobriety... Lieven overturns many prejudices, and gives general readers plenty of fresh concepts with which to think about a routinely misrepresented country." The Independent, May 5, 2011 "Lieven's feat lies in his remarkable, flesh-and-blood portrait of the nation, ranging across demographic swathes and including a chorus of voices from farmers to intelligence officers. The picture is one of a semi-anarchic nation mired in police savagery, institutional corruption, population bulges, water shortages and the risk of catastrophic environmental disaster following last year's floods." The New York Times Book Review, June 26, 2011 "Ambitious...a sweeping and insightful narrative." Newsline Magazine, June, 2011 "Pakistan: A Hard Country manages to be clear-headed and realistic, a welcome respite from the scare-mongering that taints so many western accounts of Pakistan." The Organiser (India), June 26, 2011 "This book is about the best that has been published in recent times about Pakistan." MoneyLife (India), June 18, 2011 "Pakistan-A Hard Country is one of the most detailed accounts of a country which often seems like it is held together by chewing gum (or willpower, if you like)--but what still makes it tick? Anatol Lieven knows, and it shows in this work." "Thanks to Mr. Lieven's sound scholarship and perceptive insights in 'Pakistan: A Hard Country,' readers will come away with a clearer understanding of why it is such a complex, conflicted country and why it will continue to be of vital interest to the United States long after the last American soldier has come home from Afghanistan." Policy Review, August/September 2011 "His experience as a reporter gives Lieven both the tone of an insider and a vast affection for the country, which he credits for giving him "some of the best moments" of his life. In an attempt to explain the world's sixth-most populous nation in under 600 pages, Lieven ranges widely, touching upon everything from the rise and fall of landed families in the Punjab to the sloth of the national police to the garish decor in wealthy homes. To this ambitious task the author brings both thoroughness and an impressive familiarity with his subject." DAWN.com, August 2, 2011 "a thought-provoking and widely influential new book" DAWN.com September 2, 2011 "Lieven's is the one I would most strongly recommend to anyone wishing to learn about Pakistan... The book is shot through with sharp insights and flashes of mordant wit that make it a pleasure to read." "The gulf between...the multiple realities most Pakistanis know - and how outsiders perceive their country is wide and deep. Lieven's book is an ambitious and much-needed attempt to bridge it. The most striking thing about the book is its informed and consistently sensible tone. This tone is not heard much in discussions about Pakistan, and it is refreshing. Lieven writes in an affable, conversational voice, but not a casual one. His observations are precise and judicious." Financial Times, April 22, 2011 "Pakistan, as Anatol Lieven explains in this thorough analysis of the internal sources of this resilience, will not disintegrate easily...He deftly tackles the misperception in the west that Islamist groups might easily sweep through Pakistan." The Nation, April 13, 2011 "This book could hardly be timelier. Lucid and well informed, he deals carefully with Pakistan's well-known problems. He raises hope, avoiding the hysteria and partial judgment that disfigure much contemporary writing on the subject. Above all, he emanates a deep affection bordering on love for the unfortunate, beleaguered, magical Pakistan." The New Republic, May 5, 2011

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Book SynopsisExamining the reasoning and deterrence consequences of regional power nuclear strategies, this book demonstrates that these strategies matter greatly to international stability and it provides new insights into conflict dynamics across important areas of the world such as the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2015 Best Book, International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association "Narang adds importantly to the scholarly understanding of nuclear posture in a way that can inform policy. He studies an important topic, shatters false assumptions, provides insightful and useful new conceptual categories, offers apparently powerful theoretical explanations of important behaviors, provides a valuable set of case studies, and opens doors for additional scholarly research... The many avenues for additional research it suggests and worrisome possibilities it surfaces testify to the analytic strength and policy ambition of this important book."--Douglas B. Shaw, Arms Control Today "Narang explores an understudied aspect of nuclear strategy and doctrine. Rejecting conventional scholarly thinking that nuclear weapons have an inherent ability to deter conflict, Narang examines the nuclear postures of Pakistan, India, China, Israel, South Africa, and France."--Choice "Finally, we have a book on proliferation that is rooted in the discipline of Political Science with persuasive explanatory powers and great analytical value."--Michael Krepon, Arms Control Wonk "This book fills a gaping hole in the existing literature."--Jacques Hymans, Political Science Quarterly "Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era impressively advances scholarship on nuclear proliferation and its consequences."--Dinshaw Mistry, Perspectives on Politics "With its combination of theoretical ambition, empirical rigor, and lucid writing, Narang's book deserves a place on the strategist's bookshelf alongside Brodie, Schelling, Jervis, Betts, and other classics."--Todd S. Sechser, Journal of Strategic StudiesTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 The Sources of Regional Power Nuclear Postures: Posture Optimization Theory 13 Chapter 3 Pakistan 55 Chapter 4 India 94 Chapter 5 China 121 Chapter 6 France 153 Chapter 7 Israel 179 Chapter 8 South Africa 207 Chapter 9 Deterring Unequally I: A Large-n Analysis 222 Chapter 10 Deterring Unequally II: Regional Power Nuclear Postures and Crisis Behavior 253 Chapter 11 Conclusion 299 Bibliography 313 Index 333

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