Search results for ""Author Bill"
Pan Macmillan Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Have Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy
A Financial Times 'Best Thing I Read This Year' LONGLISTED FOR THE FT & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDGoogle. Amazon. Facebook. The modern world is defined by vast digital monopolies turning ever-larger profits. Those of us who consume the content that feeds them are farmed for the purposes of being sold ever more products and advertising. Those that create the content – the artists, writers and musicians – are finding they can no longer survive in this unforgiving economic landscape. But it didn’t have to be this way. In Move Fast and Break Things, Jonathan Taplin offers a succinct and powerful history of how online life began to be shaped around the values of the entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel and Larry Page who founded these all-powerful companies. Their unprecedented growth came at the heavy cost of tolerating piracy of books, music and film, while at the same time promoting opaque business practices and subordinating the privacy of individual users to create the surveillance marketing monoculture in which we now live.It is the story of a massive reallocation of revenue in which $50 billion a year has moved from the creators and owners of content to the monopoly platforms. With this reallocation of money comes a shift in power. Google, Facebook and Amazon now enjoy political power on par with Big Oil and Big Pharma, which in part explains how such a tremendous shift in revenues from creators to platforms could have been achieved and why it has gone unchallenged for so long.And if you think that’s got nothing to do with you, their next move is to come after your jobs. Move Fast and Break Things is a call to arms, to say that is enough is enough and to demand that we do everything in our power to create a different future.
£10.99
Johns Hopkins University Press A Time of Scandal: Charles R. Forbes, Warren G. Harding, and the Making of the Veterans Bureau
In the early 1920s, with the nation still recovering from World War I, President Warren G. Harding founded a huge new organization to treat disabled veterans: the US Veterans Bureau, now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs. He appointed his friend, decorated veteran Colonel Charles R. Forbes, as founding director. Forbes lasted in the position for only eighteen months before stepping down under a cloud of criticism and suspicion. In 1926-after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud the federal government by rigging government contracts-he was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary. Although he was known in his day as a drunken womanizer, and as a corrupt, betraying toady of a weak, blind-sided president, the question persists: was Forbes a criminal or a scapegoat? Historian Rosemary Stevens tells Forbes's story anew, drawing on previously untapped records to reveal his role in America's initial and ongoing commitment to veterans. She explores how Forbes's rise and fall in Washington illuminates President Harding's efforts to bring business efficiency to government. She also examines the Veterans Bureau scandal in the context of class, professionalism, ethics, and etiquette in a rapidly changing world. Most significantly, Stevens proposes a fascinating revisionist view of both Forbes and Harding-and raises questions about not only the validity but the source of their respective reputations. They did not defraud the government of billions of dollars, Stevens convincingly documents, and do not deserve the reputation they have carried for a hundred years. Packed with vibrant characters-conniving friends, FBI agents, and rival politicians split by sectional and ideological interests as well as gamblers, revelers, and wronged wives- A Time of Scandal will appeal to anyone interested in political gossip, presidential politics, the "Ohio Gang," and the 1920s.
£29.00
Taylor & Francis Inc Basic Cinematography: A Creative Guide to Visual Storytelling
The cinematographer must translate the ideas and emotions contained in a script into something that can be physically seen and felt onscreen, helping the director to fulfil the vision of the film. The shots may look good, but they will not serve the story until the composition, lenses, and lighting express, enhance, and reveal the underlying emotions and subtext of the story. By making physical the ideas and emotions of the story, the cinematographer supports blocking as a visual form of the story through these tools.Rather than delve into technical training, Basic Cinematography helps to train the eye and heart of cinematographers as visual storytellers, providing them with a strong foundation for their work, so that they’re ready with creative ideas and choices on set in order to make compelling images that support the story.The book includes tools, tables, and worksheets on how to enhance students and experienced filmmakers with strong visual storytelling possibilities, including such features as: Dramatic script analysis that will help unlock blocking, composition, and lighting ideas that reveal the visual story Ten tools of composition Psychological impact of lenses, shot sizes, and camera movement Six elements of lighting for visual storytelling What to look for beneath the "hood" of cameras, including using camera log, RAW, and LUTs Dramatic analysis chart and scene composition chart to help plan your shoots Case studies from such visually cinematic shows and documentaries as Netflix’s Godless, Jessica Jones, The Crown, and Chef’s Table, as well as examples from classroom exercises Features insights from the DP of Jessica Jones, Manuel Billeter, and the DP of Chef’s Table, Adam Bricker.
£37.99
John Wiley & Sons Inc Handbook of Anti-Money Laundering
Effectively implement comprehensive anti-money laundering regulations Handbook of Anti-Money Laundering details the most up-to-date regulations and provides practical guidance toward implementation. While most books focus on the regulations themselves, this useful guide goes further by explaining their meaning to bank operations, and how the rules apply to real-life scenarios. The international perspective provides a broader understanding of the anti-money laundering controls that are in place worldwide, with certain country-specific details discussed in-depth. Coverage includes the Wolfsberg Principles, Financial Action Task Force guidance, the U.S. Patriot Act, and the latest from both the EU and Bank for International Settlements. The IMF estimates that two to five per cent of the global GDP – $590 billion to $1.5 trillion – is laundered every year. Globally, banks and other financial institutions have been required to put in place specific arrangements to prevent and detect money laundering and the criminal activity that underlies it. This book provides the latest regulations and guidance toward application. Understand what money laundering regulations mean in practice Reference international and country-specific rules and regulations Get up to speed on the most current regulations and practices Implement the most effective anti-money laundering measures In response to the increased monitoring and regulation, money launderers have become more sophisticated at disguising the source of their funds. Financial institutions' employees must be ever more aware of what they're facing, and how to deal with it, making actionable guidance a critical companion to any regulatory information. For financial institutions seeking more thorough understanding and practical advice, the Handbook of Anti-Money Laundering is a comprehensive guide.
£80.00
HarperCollins Publishers Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
‘Just read it.’ Elon Musk The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX—and Elon Musk—from a shaky startup into the world's leading edge rocket company. SpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. Half a century after the space race SpaceX is pushing forward into the cosmos, laying the foundation for our exploration of other worlds. But before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling startup, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank. In Liftoff, Eric Berger takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company’s first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book, with his daring vision for the future of space.
£9.99
She Writes Press Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG
“The book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more.” —Karen Shimizu, Executive Editor, Food & WineWhen Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled—and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice to the daily grind of pumping out billable hours, Karst had never before thrown such a high-stakes dinner party. Could she really pull this off? Justice Is Served is Karst’s light-hearted, earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on—starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg’s transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night. But this memoir isn’t simply a tale of prepping for and cooking dinner for the famous RBG; it’s also about how this event, and all the planning and preparation that went into it, created a new sort of connection between Karst, her partner, and her parents, and also inspired Karst to make life changes that would reverberate far beyond one dinner party. A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, Justice Is Served is an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to discover—and follow—your deepest passion.
£14.17
John Wiley & Sons Inc So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund: Lessons for Managers and Allocators
Helpful, Accessible Guidance for Budding Hedge Funds So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund provides critical lessons and thoughtful insights to those trying to decipher the industry, as well as those seeking to invest in the next generation of high performers. This book foregoes the sensational, headline-grabbing stories about the few billionaire hedge fund managers to reach the top of the field. Instead, it focuses on the much more common travails of start-ups and small investment firms. The successes and failures of a talented group of competitive managers—all highly educated and well trained—show what it takes for managers and allocators to succeed. These accounts include lessons on funding, team development, strategy, performance, and allocation. The hedge fund industry is concentrated in the largest funds, and the big funds are getting bigger. In time, some of these funds will not survive their founders and large sums will get reallocated to a broader selection of different managers. This practical guide outlines the allocation process for fledgling funds, and demonstrates how allocators can avoid pitfalls in their investments. So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund also shows how to: Develop a sound strategy and raise the money you need Gain a real-world perspective about how allocators think and act Structure your team and investment process for success Recognize the patterns of successful start-ups The industry is approaching a significant crossroads. Aggregate growth is slowing and competition is shifting away from industry-wide growth, at the expense of traditional asset classes, to market share capture within the industry. So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund provides guidance for the little funds—the potential future leaders of the industry.
£25.20
John Wiley & Sons Inc Planet Water: Investing in the World's Most Valuable Resource
Solving the world's water problems is proving to be one of the greatest investment opportunities of our time. Already, world water supplies are inadequate to meet demand, and the problem is going to get much worse in the years ahead. The World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and about 50 percent of the world's hospital beds are populated by people who have contracted water-borne diseases. If present consumption rates continue, in 25 years the world will be using 90 percent of all available freshwater. To address the problem, trillions of dollars will need to be invested in water infrastructure projects. And while the problems are most acute in developing and rapidly growing economies, there are huge water infrastructure needs in industrialized countries, as well. In the U.S. alone, it's estimated that more than $1 trillion will be needed for water and wastewater infrastructure projects. In Planet Water, water investment expert Steven Hoffmann explains the dynamics driving the water crisis and identifies investment opportunities in various sectors of the water industry. Hoffman provides investors with the knowledge and insights they need to make informed investments in water utilities, as well as companies providing water treatment services; infrastructure services; water monitoring and analytics; and desalination services. He also discusses mutual funds and ETFs that specialize in water stocks. Investing in the water industry is certainly no pie-in-the-sky idea. Over the past five years, many water stocks have exploded in value and water stocks as a whole have outperformed the S&P 500 by a substantial amount. In Planet Water, Hoffmann provides investors with everything they need to profit from this fast-growing industry in the years ahead.
£31.49
Little, Brown Book Group Guarded by Dragons: Encounters with Rare Books and Rare People
The Times Best Literary Non-fiction Books 2021 - 'a super yarn''Rick Gekoski's encyclopaedic knowledge of rare books is matched only by the enthusiasm and brio with which he writes about them' Ian RankinRick Gekoski has been traversing the rocky terrain of the rare book trade for over fifty years. The treasure he seeks is scarce, carefully buried and often jealously guarded, knowledge of its hiding place shared through word of mouth like the myths of old.In Guarded by Dragons, Gekoski invites readers into this enchanted world as he reflects on the gems he has unearthed throughout his career. He takes us back to where his love of collecting began - perusing D.H. Lawrence first editions in a slightly suspect Birmingham carpark. What follows are dizzying encounters with literary giants as Gekoski publishes William Golding, plays ping-pong with Salman Rushdie and lunches with Graham Greene. A brilliant stroke of luck sees Sylvia Plath's personal copy of The Great Gatsby fall into Gekoski's lap, only for him to discover the perils of upsetting a Poet Laureate when Ted Hughes demands its return.Hunting for literary treasure is not without its battles and Gekoski boldly breaks the cardinal rule never to engage in a lawsuit with someone much richer than yourself, while also guarding his bookshop from the most unlikely of thieves. The result is an unparalleled insight into an almost mythical world where priceless first editions of Ulysses can vanish, and billionaires will spend as much gold as it takes to own the manuscript of J.K. Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard.Engaging, funny and shrewd, Guarded by Dragons is a fascinating discussion on value and worth. At the same time, Gekoski artfully reveals how a manuscript can tell a thousand stories.
£18.99
Little, Brown Book Group Boys in the Trees: A Memoir
#1 New York Times Bestseller A People Magazine Top Ten Book of the Year 'A sensational memoir ...brilliantly well written. Carly Simon is incapable of writing a boring sentence ...you can forgive anything for the unparalleled brilliance of her writing' - Lynn Barber, Sunday Times 'Hugely affecting memoir ...heartfelt and remarkable' - Fiona Sturges, Independent Carly Simon is a household name. She was the staple of the '70s and '80s Billboard charts and was famously married to James Taylor with whom she has two children. She has had a career that has spanned four decades, resulting in thirteen top 40 hits, including the Number 1 song 'You're So Vain', numerous Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. She was the first artist in history to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her song 'Let the River Run' (from the film Working Girl). Boys in the Trees is a rhapsodic, beautifully composed memoir of a young woman's coming of age amongst the glamorous literati and intelligentsia of Manhattan (her father was Richard Simon, co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster), a reflection on a life begun amidst secrets and shame, and a powerful story of the strength to leave that all behind and forge a path of art, music and love in the Golden Age of folk and rock. At once an insider's look into a life in the spotlight, a lyric reflection on a particular time in our culture's history, and a beautiful memoir about the pains and joys of love and art, Boys in the Trees is the story Carly Simon has long been waiting to tell the world. Praise for the US edition: 'One of the best celebrity memoirs of the year' Hollywood Reporter 'Intelligent and captivating' People 'Compelling' Rolling Stone
£12.99
Oxford University Press Inc The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider's Guide to Changing the World
At turns surprising, funny, and gut-wrenching, this is the hopeful story of the ordinary yet extraordinary people who have figured out how to build lasting peace in their communities The word "peacebuilding" evokes a story we've all heard over and over: violence breaks out, foreign nations are scandalized, peacekeepers and million-dollar donors come rushing in, warring parties sign a peace agreement and, sadly, within months the situation is back to where it started--sometimes worse. But what strategies have worked to build lasting peace in conflict zones, particularly for ordinary citizens on the ground? And why should other ordinary citizens, thousands of miles away, care? In The Frontlines of Peace, Séverine Autesserre, award-winning researcher and peacebuilder, examines the well-intentioned but inherently flawed peace industry. With examples drawn from across the globe, she reveals that peace can grow in the most unlikely circumstances. Contrary to what most politicians preach, building peace doesn't require billions in aid or massive international interventions. Real, lasting peace requires giving power to local citizens. Now including teaching and book club discussion guides, The Frontlines of Peace tells the stories of the ordinary yet extraordinary individuals and organizations that are confronting violence in their communities effectively. One thing is clear: successful examples of peacebuilding around the world, in countries at war or at peace, have involved innovative grassroots initiatives led by local people, at times supported by foreigners, often employing methods shunned by the international elite. By narrating success stories of this kind, Autesserre shows the radical changes we must take in our approach if we hope to build lasting peace around us--whether we live in Congo, the United States, or elsewhere.
£17.40
Headline Publishing Group Trump: The Prison Diaries: MAKE PRISON GREAT AGAIN with the funniest satire of the year
In this explosive first-person account of swapping the White House for the Big House, Donald Trump aims to Make Prison Great Again.MARCH 31It's been two weeks since they put me in The Hole. Very unfair! No-one is treated as unfairly as Trump. Many people say that solitary confinement is a kind of torture. I'm not so sure. I'm getting to spend a lot of time with my favourite person in the world. I say to him: "Mr President, remember when you met Bo Derek at the PGA Tour Championship? She had the hots for you, believe me." And he'll reply: "I agree, Mr President. Also, I was a better golfer than anyone in the tournament.And that's without cheating, which I would never do, believe me."So I'm doing amazing. Incredibly well. Some would say I'm the best Hole Guy ever. Not like those losers who go nuts...Of course the verdict was VERY UNFAIR - they were meant to be a jury of his peers, but none of them were billionaires. Still, the trial got AMAZING ratings. Now locked up in Smallhand State Prison, our presidential protagonist goes full Samuel Pepys and attempts the first BESTSELLER to be written entirely on toilet paper.Life inside is tough for Trump: he experiences withdrawal symptoms from social media and is no longer able to watch Fox News all day. But he soon realises that incarceration isn't a punishment, it's an OPPORTUNITY, and attempts to conquer the clink as he once conquered AMERICA. Can Donald rise to become prison kingpin, smuggling McDonald's Filet-O-Fish and tutoring fellow inmates in the Art of the Deal?Interspersed with reports from Smallhand's resident psychologist, Trump: The Prison Diaries is a satirical riot - The Apprentice meets The Shawshank Redemption. So brace yourself, because orange is the new orange.
£12.99
IRH Press USA Inc. Love for the Future: Building One World of Freedom and Democracy Under God's Truth
Love for the Future: Building One World of Freedom and Democracy Under God's Truth is a compilation of select international lectures given by Ryuho Okawa during his (ongoing) global missionary tours. While conflicting values of justice exists, this book espouses that freedom and democracy are vital principles for global unification that will resolutely foster peace and shared prosperity, if adopted universally. The culminating reason - these principles are based on a belief in God's Love and that we all contain divine nature within. Chapter 1 of Part 1 introduces Okawa's lecture and Q&A session in Germany, held in October 2018. Okawa conveys that the time is now to liberate all remorseful memories of 20th-century totalitarianism mired by the acts of the German Reich, and to band together to stifle the present-day totalitarian-communist superpower from mercilessly violating human rights and advancing hegemonism throughout the world. This is a crucial step to arresting global aggression from escalating into World War III. To address the global problems that we currently face, Okawa identifies what God seeks humanity to accomplish in the 21st century from a historical, political, and ultimately a religious perspective. Chapter 2 is based on Okawa's 2011 Hong Kong address and Q&A session. In this lecture, Okawa encouraged the 1.4 billion people of China to strive for freedom-based prosperity and for the citizens of Hong Kong to champion this crucial movement. Okawa's insight became the foundation on which the people of Hong Kong organized their democratization movement the Umbrella Revolution, which occurred several years later. Chapter 3 is a transcription of Okawa's 2019 lecture and Q&A session held in Taiwan. In it, Okawa identifies the three signs of a totalitarian country and articulates the importance of spreading the principles of freedom, democracy, and faith from Taiwan to mainland China. This, he says, is the righteous future in the eyes of God that will help to bring happiness to the people of mainland China. Furthermore, Okawa encourages neighboring countries to overcome past grievances and seek prosperous development based on trust and adulation. Part 2 reveals the national and global strategies of four key world leaders: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, and Donald Trump. By accessing their hidden consciousnesses, through his unrivaled spiritual ability, Okawa divulges their true thoughts and intentions. What they candidly reveal underscores the importance of understanding and accepting the precepts expressed in Part 1, to safeguard peace from actions that are influenced by divisive political maneuverings. The new catalyst for humanity is to accept the universal spiritual Truths under which we all live: the inherent dignity of all people; God's Wisdom can resolve global conflict; God's Love extends to every person, beyond difference of race, nationality and religious ideology. Through these teachings, readers will sense from the depths of their souls, that the "Love of God," a universal force that watches over politics, philosophes and religions, is the coalescing power to lead humanity towards a prosperous and righteous tomorrow.
£13.99
Blood Moon Productions, Ltd Lana Turner: Hearts & Diamonds Take All
After Betty Grable, but before there was Marilyn, America's penchant for popcorn blondes focused on LANA, the "ultimate movie star." She had it all: Looks to die for, money to burn, the romantic adulation of the world, and lovers who included the world's most desirable men. In her 1937 film, They Won't Forget, a 16-year-old Lana, without wearing a brassiere, walked down the street with her boobs bouncing. Censors protested, but when it was shown, America cheered and nicknamed her The Sweater Girl." From there, Lana competed with Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth as the pre-eminent pinup girl (so many men, so little time") of World War II. Horny GIs referred to her as the Girl We'd Like to Find in Every Port." From the start, her private life was marked with scandal: She aborted Mickey Rooney's baby; seduced a young John F. Kennedy; and fell for Frank Sinatra, who later caught her in bed with another love goddess, Ava Gardner. In the early 1940s, after a nationwide campaign promoting the sale of War Bonds, Carole Lombard frantically boarded a small plane headed back to Hollywood, suffering a fiery death when it crashed within 13 minutes of takeoff. The risk she took during that thunderstorm was motivated, it was said, by her obsession with rescuing her husband, Clark Gable, from the amorous clutches of Lana Turner. Tyrone Powertall, dark, photogenic, and famouseventually evolved into the greatest love of her life until the Aviator, Howard Hughes, arguably the most psychotic billionaire in the history of Hollywood, flew in to seduce both of them. Lana (aka The Ziegfeld Girl") didn't hear The Postman Always Rings Twice because she was in bed with John Garfield. Later, in search of love, she spent a Weekend at the Waldorf before moving to Green Dolphin Street and later to the notorious Peyton Place, she found it during an experiment with an Imitation of Life. Gable took her to a Honky Tonk and vowed, Somewhere I'll Find You," before their Homecoming reunion. With Ray Milland, she found A Life of Her Own before dancing to The Merry Widow waltz with sexy Fernando Lamas. Many notoriously hot menmany of them her filmmaking co-starslay in her future: Richard Burton, Sean Connery, and Errol in like Flynn." Samson (Victor Mature) was said to be Lana's Biggest Thrill." Lana rescued Peter Lawford from Elizabeth Taylor; Ricky Ricardo from Lucy; and, when not singing amore with Dean Martin, Kirk Douglas learned that she was Bad and Beautiful both on and off the screen. "The bombshell" once said, I wanted one husband and seven babies, but I got the reverseseven husbands and an only child!" She married Tarzan (Lex Barker) after his designation as The Sexiest Man in the World," but the union ended when she caught him seducing her teenaged daughter. Opinions about Lana were as varied as her changing looks. She was amoral," said MGM's CEO, Louis B. Mayer. Robert Taylor commented: She was the type of woman a guy would risk five years in jail for rape." Gloria Swanson sniffed, She wasn't even an actress...only a trollop." And Ronald Reagan--a man who later became U.S. president--asked, In what cathouse did she learn those tricks?" And then there was that embarrassing murder: Did Lana fatally stab her gangster lover, Johnny Stompanato, known for his links to the Mob? Or was the heinous act committed by her daughter, a traumatized teenager who, after time in reform school, officially outed herself as a lesbian? How did these whirlwinds of scandal affect the gal who had it all? According to Lana, I'd like to think that in some small way, I've helped to preserve the glamour and beauty and mystery of the movie industry." Never before has there been, until now, a definitive, uncensored, and comprehensive biography of "the Ultimate Movie Star," LANA TURNER. Until now.
£22.50
Three Rooms Press Maintenant 15: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art
"A smorgasbord for those who are sick and tired of it." —Seattle Book Review The 2021 edition of the premiere journal of contemporary dada writing and art considers humankind past and present with a collection of contemporary dada art and writing driven by the theme “HUMANITY: THE REBOOT.” More than 242 creators from 31 countries establish that social protest can be creatively achieved via risk-taking art. The premier journal gathering the work of internationally-renowned contemporary Dada artists and writers, MAINTENANT 15 offers compelling proof that Dada continue to serve as a catalyst to creators more than a century later. The annual MAINTENANT series, established in 2008, gathers work of contemporary Dada artists and writers from around the world. The new issue features cover art by renowned Cuban American artist Edel Rodriguez, whose provocative work has been featured on the covers of TIME, The New Yorker, Der Spiegel, and more. Past issues of MAINTENANT include work by artists Mark Kostabi, Walter Robinson, Raymond Pettibon, Nicole Eisenmann, Jean-Jacques Lebel, and Kazunori Murakami; writers include Gerard Malanga, Charles Plymell, Andrei Codrescu, and more, with a strong contingent of artist-writers from the world of punk rock. MAINTENANT 15 contributors include: Derek Adams • Alexey Adonin • Jamika Ajalon • Youssef Alaoui • Linda J. Albertano • Austin Alexis • Joel Allegretti • Santiago Amaya • Elizabeth Ashe • Gaëlle Audic • Liz Axelrod • Mahnaz Badihian • Amy Barone • Vittore Baroni • Amy Bassin • Regina Lafay Bellamy • John M. Bennett • C. Mehrl Bennett • Volodymyr Bilyk • József Bíró • Mark Blickley • Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier • Clemente Botelho • John Bowman • Jeff Boynton • Gedley Belchior Braga • Bob Branaman • philipkevinbrehse • Kathy Bruce • Imanol Buisan • Fork Burke • Irene Caesar • Billy Cancel • Peter Carlaftes • Virginia Carroll • Mona Jean Cedar • Robert Cenedella • Mutes César • Leanne Chabalko • Sarah M. Chen • Ross Cisneros • Lynette Clennell • Andrei Codrescu • Chuck Connelly • Roger Conover • Anthony Cox • Lars Crosby • Tchello d’Barros • Steve Dalachinsky • Zoë Darling • Allison Davis • Holly Day • Avelino de Araujo • Quỳnh Iris de Prelle • Laylah DeLautréamont • Bart Dewolf • Peter Dizozza • Sam Dodson • Bruce Louis Dodson • Carol Dorf • Robert Duncan • Jeff Farr • Amoye Favour • Rich Ferguson • Kathleen Florence • Gioivanni Fontana • Texas Fontanella • Robert C. Ford • Kofi Fosu Forson • Abigail A. Frankfurt • Barbara Friedman • Thomas Fucaloro • Joanna Fuhrman • Ignacio Galilea • Sandra Gea • Kat Georges • Christian Georgescu • Robert Gibbons • Gordon Gilbert • Mark Glista • Benjamin Goluboff • S. A. Griffin • Fausto Grossi • Meghan Grupposo • Egon Guenther • Genco Gulan • Elancharan Gunasekaran • John S. Hall • Janet Hamill • Bibbe Hansen • David Hargreaves • Nour Hassan • Heide Hatry • Aimee Herman • Karen Hildebrand • Jack Hirschman • Mark Hoefer • Lawrence Holzworth • Mane Hovhannisyan • Joël Hubaut • Heikki Huotari • Matthew Hupert • Ayushi Jain • Annaliese Jakimides • Marta Janik • Ruud Janssen • Mathias Jansson • Debra Jenks • Jerry Johnson • Boni Joi • Milana Juventa • Jerry Kamstra • Allan Kausch • Marina Kazakova • Donna Joy Kerness • Rose Knapp • Doug Knott • Ron Kolm • Mark Kostabi • Eleni Kourti • Paweł Kuczyński • Anatoly Kudryavitsky • Béné Kusendila • David Lawton • Serge Lecomte • Jane LeCroy • Patricia Leonard • Linda Lerner • Adam Li • Alexander Limarev • Laurinda Lind • Goran Lišnjić • Yvonne Litschel • Richard Loranger • Sarah Maino • Jaan Malin • Sophie Malleret • Bibiana Padilla Maltos • Giovanni Mangiante • Mary Manspeaker • Phil Marcade • Fred Marchant • Eliette Markhbein • Sara Cahill Marron • Malak Mattar • Bronwyn Mauldin • Ellyn Maybe • John Mazzei • Jesse McCloskey • Philip Meersman • R. S. Mengert • Lawrence Miles • Lois Kagan Mingus • Charles Mingus III • Richard Modiano • Mike M. Mollett • Thurston Moore • Tim Murphy • Alexander Nderitu • Gerald Nicosia • Anna O’Meara • Valery Oisteanu • Ruth Oisteanu • Marc Olmsted • Suzi Kaplan Olmsted • Jane Ormerod • Yuko Otomo • Csaba Pál • Lisa Panepinto • Gay Pasley • John S. Paul • Paulo • Giorgia Pavlidou • Ernst Perdriel • Puma Perl • Raymond Pettibon • Alex Andy Phuong • Charles Plymell • Leslie Prosterman • Lauren Purje • Renaat Ramon • Nicca Ray • C. R. Resetarits • Mado Reznik • Wes Rickert • Benjamin Robinson • Bruce Robinson • Aliah Rosenthal • Alison Ross • Bradley Rubenstein • Mashaal Sajid • Ralph Salisbury • Martina Salisbury • Aram Saroyan • Phil Scalia • Jack Seiei • Silvio Severino • Craig Shannon • Susan Shup • Bertholdus Sibum • Denise Silk-Martelli • Angela Sloan • Valerie Sofranko • Orchid Spangiafora • Dd. Spungin • Laurie Steelink • Samantha Steiner • J. J. Steinfeld • Christine Sloan Stoddard • Rich Stone • W. K. Stratton • Lucien Suel • Neal Skooter Taylor • Michael Thompson • Fred Tomaselli • Zev Torres • John J. Trause • Ann Firestone Ungar • Yrik-Max Valentonis • Luca Vallino • Anoek van Praag • Lynnea Villanova • Barbara Vos • Silvia Wagensberg • Tom Walker • George Wallace • Scott Wannberg • Mike Watt • Jennifer Weigel • Poul R. Weile • Ingrid Wendt • Syporca Whandal • A Whittenberg • Maw Shein Win • Yaryan • Gerald Yelle • Logan K. Young • Lorene Zarou-Zouzounis • Larry Zdeb • Leonard Zinovyev • Nina Zivancevic • Joanie HF Zosike
£17.99
WW Norton & Co He Calls Me By Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty
Caliph Washington didn’t pull the trigger but, as Officer James "Cowboy" Clark lay dying, he had no choice but to turn on his heel and run. The year was 1957; Cowboy Clark was white, Caliph Washington was black, and this was the Jim Crow South. As He Calls Me by Lightning painstakingly chronicles, Washington, then a seventeen-year-old simply returning home after a double date, was swiftly arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to death by an all-white jury. The young man endured the horrors of a hellish prison system for thirteen years, a term that included various stints on death row fearing the "lightning" of the electric chair. Twentieth-century legal history is tragically littered with thousands of stories of such judicial cruelty, but S. Jonathan Bass’s account is remarkable in that he has been able to meticulously re-create Washington’s saga, animating a life that was not supposed to matter. Given the familiar paradigm of an African American man being falsely accused of killing a white policeman, it would be all too easy to apply a reductionist view to the story. What makes He Calls Me by Lightning so unusual are a spate of unknown variables—most prominently the fact that Governor George Wallace, nationally infamous for his active advocacy of segregation, did, in fact, save this death row inmate’s life. As we discover, Wallace stayed Washington’s execution not once but more than a dozen times, reflecting a philosophy about the death penalty that has not been perpetuated by his successors. Other details make Washington’s story significant to legal history, not the least of which is that the defendant endured three separate trials and then was held in a county jail for five more years before being convicted of second-degree murder in 1970; this decision was overturned as well, although the charges were never dismissed. Bass’s account is also particularly noteworthy for his evocation of Washington’s native Bessemer, a gritty, industrial city lying only thirteen miles to the east of Birmingham, Alabama, whose singularly fascinating story is frequently overlooked by historians. By rescuing Washington’s unknown life trajectory—along with the stories of his intrepid lawyers, David Hood Jr. and Orzell Billingsley, and Christine Luna, an Italian-American teacher and activist who would become Washington’s bride upon his release—Bass brings to multidimensional life many different strands of the civil rights movement. Devastating and essential, He Calls Me by Lightning demands that we take into account the thousands of lives cast away by systemic racism, and powerfully demonstrates just how much we still do not know.
£21.99
Nova Science Publishers Inc Weapons Systems: Sustainment, Costs and Nuclear Capability
DOD spends billions of dollars annually to sustain its weapon systems to support current and future operations. The Air Force and Navy are operating many of their fixed-wing aircraft well beyond their original designed service lives and therefore are confronted with sustainment challenges. Chapter 1 examines the trends in availability and O&S costs for selected Air Force and Navy fixed-wing aircraft since fiscal year 2011, including whether they met availability goals, and assesses the extent that the departments documented sustainment strategies, reviewed sustainment metrics, and implemented plans to improve aircraft availability. Software is integral to the operation and functionality of DOD equipment, platforms, and weapon systems, including tactical and combat vehicles, aircraft, ships, submarines, and strategic missiles. Chapter 2 examines the extent to which (1) DOD has policies and organizations in place to manage the sustainment of operational system software for weapon systems; and (2) DOD and the military departments track costs to sustain weapon system software. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are undertaking an extensive, multifaceted effort to sustain and modernize U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities, including the nuclear weapons stockpile; the research and production infrastructure; delivery systems; and the nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) system. Chapter 3 presents observations on the extent to which the FY 2018 joint report provides accurate and complete information about nuclear sustainment and modernization budget estimates and related budget estimating methodologies. The Department of Defense and NNSA have sought for nearly a decade to replace the capabilities of the aging W78 nuclear warhead used by the U.S. Air Force. Chapter 4 describes NNSA's steps in key early planning areas ... including program management, technology assessment, and coordination with facilities and capabilities ... to prepare to restart a program to replace the W78. Responsibility for U.S. nuclear weapons resides in both the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE). DOD develops, deploys, and operates the missiles and aircraft that deliver nuclear warheads. It also generates the military requirements for the warheads carried on those platforms. Chapter 5 focuses on the facilities managed by the DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Trump Administration's Nuclear Posture Review includes plans for the United States to deploy two new types of nuclear weapons "to enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of U.S. nuclear forces." Chapter 6 highlights that these weapons represent a response to Russia's deployment of a much larger stockpile of lower-yield nonstrategic nuclear weapons.
£183.59
New York University Press Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences, and the Intimate Work of Connection
Explains what happened to music—for both artists and fans—when music went online. Playing to the Crowd explores and explains how the rise of digital communication platforms has transformed artist-fan relationships into something closer to friendship or family. Through in-depth interviews with musicians such as Billy Bragg and Richie Hawtin, as well as members of the Cure, UB40, and Throwing Muses, Baym reveals how new media has facilitated these connections through the active, and often required, participation of the artists and their devoted, digital fan base. Before the rise of social sharing and user-generated content, fans were mostly seen as an undifferentiated and unidentifiable mass, often mediated through record labels and the press. However, in today’s networked era, musicians and fans have built more active relationships through social media, fan sites, and artist sites, giving fans a new sense of intimacy and offering artists unparalleled information about their audiences. However, this comes at a price. For audiences, meeting their heroes can kill the mystique. And for artists, maintaining active relationships with so many people can be both personally and financially draining, as well as extremely labor intensive. Drawing on her own rich history as an active and deeply connected music fan, Baym offers an entirely new approach to media culture, arguing that the work musicians put in to create and maintain these intimate relationships reflect the demands of the gig economy, one which requires resources and strategies that we must all come to recognize and appreciate.
£66.60
John Wiley & Sons Inc A Guide for Implementing a Patent Strategy: How Inventors, Engineers, Scientists, Entrepreneurs, and Independent Innovators Can Protect Their Intellectual Property
This book provides a strategic framework for cost efficient engineering of market moving patent portfolios by organizing patent engineering efforts around the problems that innovators solve for their customers and not the technologies developed to solve these problems. Patents are a vital asset in the modern business world. They allow patent holders to introduce new products in to a market while deterring other market players from simply copying innovative features without making comparable investments in research and development. In years past, a few patents may have provided adequate protection. That is no longer the case. In today's world, it is critical that innovative companies protect the features of their products that give them a competitive advantage with a family or portfolio of patents that are strategically generated to protect the market position of the patent holder. A patent portfolio that deters competitors from introducing competitive products in a timely manner can be worth billions of dollars. Anything less than this is an expensive and possibly fatal distraction. This book provides a strategic framework for cost efficient engineering of patent portfolios that protect your investments in research and development and that extend the market advantages that these investments provide. The book illustrates the use of the problem centric framework to enable the efficient creation of individual patents and patent portfolios that have significant value in and by themselves and allow a company to control its product market. It also introduces the concept of a patent engineer whose role it is to organize input from legal, business and technical communities and organize portfolios and patents using the problem centric framework.
£103.95
University of Pennsylvania Press Nightclub City: Politics and Amusement in Manhattan
In the Roaring Twenties, New York City nightclubs and speakeasies became hot spots where traditions were flouted and modernity was forged. With powerful patrons in Tammany Hall and a growing customer base, nightclubs flourished in spite of the efforts of civic-minded reformers and federal Prohibition enforcement. This encounter between clubs and government-generated scandals, reform crusades, and regulations helped to redefine the image and reality of urban life in the United States. Ultimately, it took the Great Depression to cool Manhattan's Jazz Age nightclubs, forcing them to adapt and relocate, but not before they left their mark on the future of American leisure. Nightclub City explores the cultural significance of New York City's nightlife between the wars, from Texas Guinan's notorious 300 Club to Billy Rose's nostalgic Diamond Horseshoe. Whether in Harlem, Midtown, or Greenwich Village, raucous nightclub activity tested early twentieth-century social boundaries. Anglo-Saxon novelty seekers, Eastern European impresarios, and African American performers crossed ethnic lines while provocative comediennes and scantily clad chorus dancers challenged and reshaped notions of femininity. These havens of liberated sexuality, as well as prostitution and illicit liquor consumption, allowed their denizens to explore their fantasies and fears of change. The reactions of cultural critics, federal investigators, and reformers such as Fiorello La Guardia exemplify the tension between leisure and order. Peretti's research delves into the symbiotic relationships among urban politicians, social reformers, and the business of vice. Illustrated with archival photographs of the clubs and the characters who frequented them, Nightclub City is a dark and dazzling study of New York's bygone nightlife.
£27.99
Princeton University Press The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism
The shocking untold story of how the FBI partnered with white evangelicals to champion a vision of America as a white Christian nationOn a Sunday morning in 1966, a group of white evangelicals dedicated a stained glass window to J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director was not an evangelical, but his Christian admirers anointed him as their political champion, believing he would lead America back to God. The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover reveals how Hoover and his FBI teamed up with leading white evangelicals and Catholics to bring about a white Christian America by any means necessary.Lerone Martin draws on thousands of newly declassified FBI documents and memos to describe how, under Hoover’s leadership, FBI agents attended spiritual retreats and worship services, creating an FBI religious culture that fashioned G-men into soldiers and ministers of Christian America. Martin shows how prominent figures such as Billy Graham, Fulton Sheen, and countless other ministers from across the country partnered with the FBI and laundered bureau intel in their sermons while the faithful crowned Hoover the adjudicator of true evangelical faith and allegiance. These partnerships not only solidified the political norms of modern white evangelicalism, they also contributed to the political rise of white Christian nationalism, establishing religion and race as the bedrock of the modern national security state, and setting the terms for today’s domestic terrorism debates.Taking readers from the pulpits and pews of small-town America to the Oval Office, and from the grassroots to denominational boardrooms, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover completely transforms how we understand the FBI, white evangelicalism, and our nation’s entangled history of religion and politics.
£22.50
Indiana University Press Metropolitan Railways: Rapid Transit in America
Early in the 19th century, growing American cities began to experience transportation problems. One solution was the horse-drawn streetcar, developed in 1832, but it soon proved inadequate. The first elevated train was transporting passengers above the streets of Manhattan by 1871; the first subway opened 25 years later in Boston; and similar systems soon followed in Philadelphia and Chicago. Rapid transit was confined to these few cities until after World War II, when a new generation of systems began to appear. In the 1970s, light rail became an economical alternative to conventional rapid transit. By century's end, some three dozen cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico operated metropolitan rapid transit or light rail systems that transported five billion urban passengers annually, and still more were under construction or planned. These diverse systems include elevated lines ranging from Chicago's "L" to the fully automatic Skytrain metro of Vancouver, B.C.; subways from New York City's thundering tunnels—the world's largest underground system—to the thoroughly modern metro of Guadalajara; and light rail from lovingly restored New Orleans streetcars to the sleek, articulated vehicles of Silicon Valley.Metropolitan Railways is a large-scale, extensively illustrated volume that deals with the growth and development of urban rail transit systems in North America. It traces the history of rail transit technology from such impractical early schemes as a proposed steam-powered "arcade railway" under New York's Broadway through today's sophisticated systems. Rapid transit enthusiasts as well as residents of cities that are potential candidates for rapid transit or light rail systems will find this book indispensable.
£28.99
Columbia University Press What Slaveholders Think: How Contemporary Perpetrators Rationalize What They Do
Drawing on fifteen years of work in the antislavery movement, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick examines the systematic oppression of men, women, and children in rural India and asks: How do contemporary slaveholders rationalize the subjugation of other human beings, and how do they respond when their power is threatened? More than a billion dollars have been spent on antislavery efforts, yet the practice persists. Why? Unpacking what slaveholders think about emancipation is critical for scholars and policy makers who want to understand the broader context, especially as seen by the powerful. Insight into those moments when the powerful either double down or back off provides a sobering counterbalance to scholarship on popular struggle. Through frank and unprecedented conversations with slaveholders, Choi-Fitzpatrick reveals the condescending and paternalistic thought processes that blind them. While they understand they are exploiting workers' vulnerabilities, slaveholders also feel they are doing workers a favor, often taking pride in this relationship. And when the victims share this perspective, their emancipation is harder to secure, driving some in the antislavery movement to ask why slaves fear freedom. The answer, Choi-Fitzpatrick convincingly argues, lies in the power relationship. Whether slaveholders recoil at their past behavior or plot a return to power, Choi-Fitzpatrick zeroes in on the relational dynamics of their self-assessment, unpacking what happens next. Incorporating the experiences of such pivotal actors into antislavery research is an immensely important step toward crafting effective antislavery policies and intervention. It also contributes to scholarship on social change, social movements, and the realization of human rights.
£27.00
Duke University Press The Will to Improve: Governmentality, Development, and the Practice of Politics
The Will to Improve is a remarkable account of development in action. Focusing on attempts to improve landscapes and livelihoods in Indonesia, Tania Murray Li carefully exposes the practices that enable experts to diagnose problems and devise interventions, and the agency of people whose conduct is targeted for reform. Deftly integrating theory, ethnography, and history, she illuminates the work of colonial officials and missionaries; specialists in agriculture, hygiene, and credit; and political activists with their own schemes for guiding villagers toward better ways of life. She examines donor-funded initiatives that seek to integrate conservation with development through the participation of communities, and a one-billion-dollar program designed by the World Bank to optimize the social capital of villagers, inculcate new habits of competition and choice, and remake society from the bottom up.Demonstrating that the “will to improve” has a long and troubled history, Li identifies enduring continuities from the colonial period to the present. She explores the tools experts have used to set the conditions for reform—tools that combine the reshaping of desires with applications of force. Attending in detail to the highlands of Sulawesi, she shows how a series of interventions entangled with one another and tracks their results, ranging from wealth to famine, from compliance to political mobilization, and from new solidarities to oppositional identities and violent attack. The Will to Improve is an engaging read—conceptually innovative, empirically rich, and alive with the actions and reflections of the targets of improvement, people with their own critical analyses of the problems that beset them.
£23.99
Princeton University Press Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful
Most of us know there is a payoff to looking good, and in the quest for beauty we spend countless hours and billions of dollars on personal grooming, cosmetics, and plastic surgery. But how much better off are the better looking? Based on the evidence, quite a lot. The first book to seriously measure the advantages of beauty, Beauty Pays demonstrates how society favors the beautiful and how better-looking people experience startling but undeniable benefits in all aspects of life. Noted economist Daniel Hamermesh shows that the attractive are more likely to be employed, work more productively and profitably, receive more substantial pay, obtain loan approvals, negotiate loans with better terms, and have more handsome and highly educated spouses. Hamermesh explains why this happens and what it means for the beautiful--and the not-so-beautiful--among us. Exploring whether a universal standard of beauty exists, Hamermesh illustrates how attractive workers make more money, how these amounts differ by gender, and how looks are valued differently based on profession. He considers whether extra pay for good-looking people represents discrimination, and, if so, who is discriminating. Hamermesh investigates the commodification of beauty in dating and how this influences the search for intelligent or high-earning mates, and even examines whether government programs should aid the ugly. He also discusses whether the economic benefits of beauty will persist into the foreseeable future and what the "looks-challenged" can do to overcome their disadvantage. Reflecting on a sensitive issue that touches everyone, Beauty Pays proves that beauty's rewards are anything but superficial.
£17.99
Little, Brown Book Group Extreme You: Step up. Stand out. Kick ass. Repeat.
'Sarah doesn't just sit at the table - she stands on it. She's full of inspiring advice about how to bounce back from failures, speak your truth, embrace your quirks, and have a lot more fun along the way.' Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and Founder of Leanin.org As a child, Sarah Robb O'Hagan felt destined to become a champion, but her early efforts at sport, music and theatre failed to reveal a natural superstar. Unwilling to settle for average, she learned through a series of dramatic successes and epic failures to follow her own path to success.Sarah climbed the corporate ladder at Virgin Atlantic, Nike, Gatorade and Equinox - also becoming a wife, mother and endurance athlete - and though in her twenties she was fired twice, in her thirties she led the turnaround of a $5 billion sports drink business. Her approach has stemmed from personal experience and inspiration from the band of highly accomplished 'Extremers' that she has met along the way: entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, TV personalities, an Olympic champion downhill skier, a former secretary of state, and even a world-famous tattoo artist. These Extremers helped her recognise that success doesn't come from conforming, hiding weaknesses or reaching some pre-planned destination. The bolder choice is to embrace Extreme You: to bring all that is distinctive and relevant about yourself to everything you do, and to bring out the Extreme in the people and the culture around you.Inspiring, practical and funny, Extreme You is Sarah's training programme for developing the drive, originality and fierce attitude to become the best version of you.
£10.99
Baen Books Frontier
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE STRONG OF HEART Marshall Hunter only wanted to fly: the faster, the higher, the better. But the Space Force has other plans that will take its newest officer beyond anything he imagined. Assigned to the cislunar cruiser U.S.S. Borman as a search-and-rescue officer, Ensign Hunter is resigned to a life of rescuing wayward spacefarers and derelict satellites. The novelty of Earth orbit soon wears off after a series of arduous spacewalks, confirming his suspicion that the new space economy has attracted too many people with more money than sense. His fortunes appear to change when a billionaire couple goes missing on their way to survey a near-Earth asteroid. Out of contact and on a course that will eventually send them crashing into Mars, the nuclear-powered Borman is dispatched on an audacious, high-speed interplanetary run to find the couple’s wayward spacecraft and bring them home. As they approach the asteroid, the Borman itself becomes hopelessly disabled, its only chance of rescue coming from a surprising source. With the Borman suddenly out of commission and far beyond reach, cislunar space begins falling into chaos as critical satellites fail and valuable lunar mineral shipments begin disappearing in transit. Nothing is as it seems, and the crew suspects none of it is by coincidence. Facing an impossible choice between salvation and sacrifice, Marshall Hunter will have to find a way to save both his crewmates and their civilian charges. About Frozen Orbit: “. . . hard science fiction and an entertaining and gripping plot. . . . Chiles nails the atmosphere of a NASA-run human spaceflight mission in the 21st century, the jargon of the mission controllers and astronauts, and the bureaucratic infighting characterizing today’s NASA. . . . The scenario and background . . . are the scaffolding on which a gripping tale is formed. Readers experience the wonder the astronauts feel on a remarkable voyage, groan as the Earth goes crazy as the expedition progresses, and thrill to a powerful conclusion . . . science fiction at its best.”—The Galveston County Daily News About Farside by Patrick Chiles: “The situations are realistic, the characters interesting, the perils harrowing, and the stakes could not be higher."— John Walker, Ricochet.com “. . . a fast-paced and exciting story that bounces between the borders of technological thriller and science fiction. . . . an impressive effort."—The Galveston County Daily News
£13.05
Peepal Tree Press Ltd Don't Stop the Carnival
Black British Music and the people who made it, from Tudor times to the mid '60s.This is a story of empire, colonialism and then the new energies released by the movements for freedom and independence of the post second-world-war years; of the movements of peoples across borders; of the flow of music around the triangle that takes in Africa, the Caribbean, the USA and Great Britain; of temporary but highly influential visitors like Paul Robeson; and of the settlement of ex-colonial peoples who brought their music to Britain, and changed its forms and concerns in the new context. It is the story of institutions like the military that provided spaces for black musicians, but it is also the story of individuals like John Blanke, the black trumpeter in the court of Henry VIII, Ignatius Sancho the composer and friend of Laurence Sterne in the 18th century, early nineteenth century street performers such as Joseph Johnson and Billy Waters, child prodigies such as George Bridgewater and composers such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in the later 19th whose music is still played today. Above all, it is the story of those individuals who changed the face of British music in the post-war period, who collectively fertilized British jazz, popular music and street theatre in ways that continue to evolve in the present. This is the story of the Windrush generation who brought calypso and steelband to Britain’s streets, Caribbean jazz musicians such as Joe Harriot and Shake Keane, or escapees from apartheid South Africa, such as Chris McGregor and Dudu Pukwana who brought modernity and the sounds of Soweto to British jazz, and a later generation who gave ska and reggae distinctive British accents. Based on extensive research and many first-hand interviews, one of the great virtues of Kevin Le Gendre’s book is lack of London-centricity, its recognition that much important development took place in cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Bristol. As a noted reviewer of black music for the BBC, the Independent, Echoes and other journals, Le Gendre brings together both a sense of historical purpose and the ability to actually describe music in vivid and meaningful ways.
£17.99
New York University Press The Poverty Industry: The Exploitation of America's Most Vulnerable Citizens
The shocking truth about how state governments and their private industry partners are profiting from the social programs meant to support disadvantaged Americans Government aid doesn’t always go where it’s supposed to. Foster care agencies team up with companies to take disability and survivor benefits from abused and neglected children. States and their revenue consultants use illusory schemes to siphon Medicaid funds intended for children and the poor into general state coffers. Child support payments for foster children and families on public assistance are converted into government revenue. And the poverty industry keeps expanding, leaving us with nursing homes and juvenile detention centers that sedate residents to reduce costs and maximize profit, local governments buying nursing homes to take the facilities’ federal aid while the elderly languish with poor care, and counties hiring companies to mine the poor for additional funds in modern day debtor’s prisons. In The Poverty Industry, Daniel L. Hatcher shows us how state governments and their private industry partners are profiting from the social safety net, turning America’s most vulnerable populations into sources of revenue. The poverty industry is stealing billions in federal aid and other funds from impoverished families, abused and neglected children, and the disabled and elderly poor. As policy experts across the political spectrum debate how to best structure government assistance programs, a massive siphoning of the safety net is occurring behind the scenes. In the face of these abuses of power, Hatcher offers a road map for reforms to realign the practices of human service agencies with their intended purpose and to prevent the misuse of public taxpayer dollars. With more Americans than ever before seeking unemployment benefits, it is essential to remedy the nefarious practices that will impede them from receiving the full government support they are due. The Poverty Industry shows us the path to rectify this systemic inequality to ensure that government aid truly gets to those in need.
£66.60
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Crumbling Genome: The Impact of Deleterious Mutations on Humans
A thought-provoking exploration of deleterious mutations in the human genome and their effects on human health and wellbeing Despite all of the elaborate mechanisms that a cell employs to handle its DNA with the utmost care, a newborn human carries about 100 new mutations, originated in their parents, about 10 of which are deleterious. A mutation replacing just one of the more than three billion nucleotides in the human genome may lead to synthesis of a dysfunctional protein, and this can be inconsistent with life or cause a tragic disease. Several percent of even young people suffer from diseases that are caused, exclusively or primarily, by pre]existing and new mutations in their genomes, including both a wide variety of genetically simple Mendelian diseases and diverse complex diseases such as birth anomalies, diabetes, and schizophrenia. Milder, but still substantial, negative effects of mutations are even more pervasive. As of now, we possess no means of reducing the rate at which mutations appear spontaneously. However, the recent flood of genomic data made possible by next-generation methods of DNA sequencing, enabled scientists to explore the impacts of deleterious mutations on humans with previously unattainable precision and begin to develop approaches to managing them. Written by a leading researcher in the field of evolutionary genetics, Crumbling Genome reviews the current state of knowledge about deleterious mutations and their effects on humans for those in the biological sciences and medicine, as well as for readers with only a general scientific literacy and an interest in human genetics. Provides an extensive introduction to the fundamentals of evolutionary genetics with an emphasis on mutation and selection Discusses the effects of pre-existing and new mutations on human genotypes and phenotypes Provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge in the field and considers crucial unsolved problems Explores key ethical, scientific, and social issues likely to become relevant in the near future as the modification of human germline genotypes becomes technically feasible Crumbling Genome is must-reading for students and professionals in human genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, evolutionary biology, and biological anthropology. It is certain to have great appeal among all those with an interest in the links between genetics and evolution and how they are likely to influence the future of human health, medicine, and society.
£86.95
Orion Publishing Co Light of the World
James Lee Burke's legendary detective Dave Robicheaux returns to try to save his daughter from a sadistic killer.When Detective Dave Robicheaux's daughter, Alafair, declares her intention to interview a convicted serial killer called Asa Surette, he does all he can to dissuade her. Dave has always encouraged her ambitions as a writer, but as a father he doesn't want her to be exposed to a man so nakedly evil. And his fears seem well founded when Alafair is visibly shocked by the encounter. Two years later, the horror Surette evoked is all but forgotten, as Dave and his family are vacationing amidst the natural beauty of Montana. But evil, it seems, has followed them into this wild paradise. Someone is stalking Alafair, and Dave begins to suspect that it's Surette - even though he officially died when the prison truck he was being transported in collided with an oil tanker. Is Alafair now the target of one of the most depraved serial killers ever to have been caught, or has she unwittingly crossed paths with a murderous psychopath closer to home?Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:'James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.' Michael Connelly'A gorgeous prose stylist.' Stephen King'Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.' Daily MailFans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux Series1. The Neon Rain 2. Heaven's Prisoners 3. Black Cherry Blues 4. A Morning for Flamingos 5. A Stained White Radiance 6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead 7. Dixie City Jam 8. Burning Angel 9. Cadillac Jukebox 10. Sunset Limited 11. Purple Cane Road 12. Jolie Blon's Bounce 13. Last Car to Elysian Fields 14. Crusader's Cross 15. Pegasus Descending 16. The Tin Roof Blowdown 17. Swan Peak 18. The Glass Rainbow 19. Creole Belle 20. Light of the World 21. Robicheaux Hackberry Holland Series1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield 2. Rain Gods 3. Feast Day of Fools 4. House of the Rising SunBilly Bob Holland Series1. Cimarron Rose 2. Heartwood 3. Bitterroot 4. In The Moon of Red Ponies * Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *
£9.99
Simon & Schuster Ltd Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask)
‘I have huge respect for Kate. A forensic journalist and menopause warrior.’ Davina McCallAn eye-opening, no-holds-barred guide to the perimenopause and menopause written by campaigner, journalist and documentary-maker Kate Muir. Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (and were too afraid to ask) is the thinking woman’s guide to the menopause, bringing you answers to all those questions that have been hidden behind a veneer of misplaced shame, bad science and centuries of patriarchy. · What’s the perimenopause and when will it strike? (It’s sooner than you think)· What’s happening to my body – and my mind?· Why can’t I stop thinking about sex in perimenopause?· How do I get my sex drive back after menopause? · How do I look after my body and brain when my hormones disappear?Muir draws on interviews with the leading medical experts in the field, interlaced with her own tumultuous journey through the menopause and the personal stories of women from all walks of life, sharing their varied experiences and hard-earned wisdom.Muir also questions why the current medical establishment is getting the menopause so wrong, as she debunks the myths that surround hormone replacement therapy and exposes the sloppy science and hysterical headlines that have had a negative impact on women’s health for the last twenty years.It’s essential that we understand the biology of our own bodies during this critical period that will define the latter half of our lives. With the help of a panel of doctors, scientists and health experts, Muir unpacks the science behind hormones and ageing, and takes a close look at the different options available for treating both body and mind during the profound changes that take us into midlife and beyond.What she discovers is that both symptoms and treatment are far more extensive and diverse than we might expect. The menopause is the whole package, and the treatment needs to be too, with impacts as wide ranging as preventing Alzheimer’s, boosting sex drive and protecting mental health. This ground-breaking guide is a social, cultural and scientific exploration into a criminally overlooked and under-discussed phenomenon that will affect one billion of us by 2025. And it is a manifesto for change, calling for equality in healthcare and an entirely new approach to women’s health.
£9.99
Quarto Publishing PLC Sustainable Beauty: Practical advice and projects for an eco-conscious beauty routine: Volume 3
Sustainable Beauty is an inspirational and practical guide to living a more eco-conscious lifestyle and maintaining a low-waste beauty routine.Vegan, cruelty-free, ‘clean’, organic, non-GM, zero-waste, not to mention palm oil, silicones and micro-plastics – where do you start when it comes to creating a sustainable beauty routine? There are thousands of products claiming to be better for the environment and your skin, but they also come with a hefty price tag.So what can we actually do to make a difference? This book provides the small steps everyone can take to make a big difference at home.Justine Jenkins, an holistic and sustainable make-up artist & consultant, guides you through – breaking down the issues and explaining how we can mitigate them at home.With easy tutorials to follow – from simplifying your beauty routine and product label literacy through to recipes for DIY hydrating serums and superfood face masks – Jenkins shows you how small changes in habit can result in a more sustainable beauty routine that doesn't break the bank.Did you know that... More than 120 billion units of packaging are produced in the global cosmetics industry annually. If refillable containers were used for cosmetics, as much as 70% of carbon emissions associated with the beauty industry could be eliminated. An estimated 70% of beauty products contain a palm oil derivative, the production of which is believed to be responsible for 8% of the world’s deforestation between 1990 and 2008. With this book you can... Take your first steps in creating an eco-smart dresser: learn how to read a label, and find out what natural ingredients you'll need to make your own recipes such as making your own deodorant and body butter. Make essential, nature-based cosmetics: minimize your make-up drawer and master both the application and creation of your new go-to beauty products, from multipurpose lip balms to the perfect eyeliner flick. Simplify your skincare and body routines: from cleansing and toning to rejuvenating and conditioning, discover your body's needs from head to toe and the secret to beautiful skin, body, hands and nails. Get luxurious hair with low-waste practices: from hair masks to healing rinses, remedying, maintaining and styling shiny, healthy hair has never been easier with Jenkins' savvy recipes, hacks and tutorials. Other titles in the Sustainable Living series include: Sustainable Home, Sustainable Travel, Sustainable Garden.
£16.20
Penguin Random House India Escaped:: True Stories of Indian Fugitives in London
London has emerged as a safe haven for those who want to escape the law in India. Through eyewitness accounts and archival records, DANISH KHAN and RUHI KHAN delve into twelve extraordinary cases of extradition over seven decades to unravel the legal quagmire that has caused much debate in Her Majesty's courts, and consternation in New Delhi's corridors of power. Escaped examines the extradition of billionaire VIJAY MALLYA and diamantaire NIRAV MODI, throws a spotlight on their ultra-luxe world, uncovers the complex ownership of their UK assets and brings to life the intense courtroom battles. The book also chronicles the saga of cricket bookie SANJEEV CHAWLA, now dispatched to India, and that of music director NADEEM SAIFI, who has been exonerated but can never return home. It explores how drug lord IQBAL MIRCHI and terror accused HANIF PATEL evaded extradition, and investigates the loopholes that saved convicted paedophile RAYMOND VARLEY and NRI parents ARTI DHIR and KAVAL RAIJADA, accused of murdering their adopted child. The book reveals the inside story of how RAVI SHANKARAN, the alleged spy, was set free, and how the famed NARANG BROTHERS were snagged for trading in stolen Indian artefacts. Taking a trip through history, the book recounts how a newly independent India managed to bring back two powerful industrialists, DHARMA JAYANTI TEJA and MUBARAK ALI AHMED, who were involved in financial crimes. Escaped decodes why London is an irresistible siren for Indian fugitives.
£15.19
Hodder & Stoughton Mummy's Boy: My Autobiography
Acting wasn't a long-held childhood dream for Larry Lamb, instead his childhood memories are filled with recollections of his parents continuously fighting. His mother and father were totally mismatched, the only thing they shared in common was their children and life in the Lamb household veered from laughter and happy moments to hysterical outbursts and terrifying episodes. Larry, the eldest of three children was only too often caught in the middle and found himself at the centre of his father's raging anger, tormented by a man who struggled with the enormity of fatherhood. When his parents' marriage finally broke down, Larry's mother moved out along with her baby daughter and as they grew up, Larry and his brother, Wesley, lived with their father, seeing their mother and sister only in rushed meetings at bus stops and in public parks. For years Larry didn't know where his mum lived and he didn't dare talk of her at home, his mother's presence left a gaping hole. As soon as Larry was old enough, he left home. Putting as much distance as he could between himself and his volatile childhood, he set off on a journey that would take him to work as an encyclopaedia salesman in Germany, in the oil business in Libya and Nova Scotia until he found himself starring on Broadway. In time it would take him to Hollywood too and bring him leading roles on the Square in Eastenders and in Billericay in the much-loved comedy Gavin and Stacey. Along the way Larry wasn't just trying to make his own way in the world, he was seeking the close female companionship he'd missed out on with his mother too. After a series of relationships, he found himself back in England and father to George. Facing fatherhood was a pivotal moment, so easily he could have fallen into the ways of his own father but whilst his marriage to George's mother didn't last, he couldn't let the same mistakes be repeated again and he vowed to have the relationship with his son that he'd never been able to have with his father. Mummy's Boy is by turns heartrending as Larry recalls the relationship broken beyond repair with his father, searingly honest as he describes the effect his childhood had in later life and hugely entertaining as he tells captivating tales of making it as an actor, breaking out from his little world in Essex and finding himself in a new life on stage and screen. 'What a life! I loved it. Almost as good as sitting with him and listening to his stories.' Rob Brydon 'A wonderful story of survival against the odds told with compassion and humour. This is so much more than a showbiz autobiography.' Anne Robinson 'Mummy's Boy manages to be touching, funny and uniquely warm all at once. A must-read.' Best
£14.99
Advantage Media Group Beyond the Jumbotron: New Way to Create Consumer Engagements
A simple guidebook for navigating the new world of sports marketing and brand managementThe modern consumer, today’s fan, is no longer passive. Over three quarters of millennials say they prefer experiences over traditional advertising. Old approaches won’t work. Yard barkers handing out free towels. A stadium plastered with billboards. Maybe a new Jumbotron. Today’s fan is looking for something more engaging, more interactive, and more immersive.Industry pioneer, James Giglio, the founder of MVP Interactive, takes us through his fascinating decade-long journey, starting out with a vision for immersive experiences, well before anyone had ever heard of virtual reality. Over that time, he has had the opportunity to work with many leading sports teams, professional leagues, advertising agencies, and consumer brands, to completely redefine the fan experience and now he shares those lessons with us.James also takes us through his own personal story of building a startup, from growing up as a daydreaming kid in Ocean County, New Jersey, to working with an advertising agency in New York and recognizing that three themes were emerging: the iPhone app explosion, the increased use of digital signage or so-called “street furniture,” and the emergence of “pop up events” by leading brands. He began to wonder how these three trends could be brought together. What if the immersive technology on our iPhone could be brought to the streetscape? What if those digital displays could become interactive? And what if brands could attract consumers to them rather them just hawking them promotions and free stuff? The result was MVP Interactive. But like any startup, there were bumps along the way and James’ story is a heartfelt, honest tale of making many... let’s just say, learning a lot of lessons along the way.The timing could not be better. Post Covid, events are back and back big. During the pandemic, we all went fully remote and realized it was just way too much screentime. But we are also not going back to the way it was. Beyond the Jumbotron lies a new, hybrid world where human interaction and technology combine. James takes us through not only the why — the dramatic changes in consumer attitudes and behavior that are driving the adoption of immersive technology, but more importantly the how — how to bring these projects to life and lead to real, measurable result after case study and shows the possibilities of new technology are not only endless, but also just the beginning. lts for sports properties and brands. James and his team at MVP Interactive have completed over 200 immersive technology projects and the book is filled with case study after case study and shows the possibilities of new technology are not only endless, but also just the beginning.
£16.99
Johns Hopkins University Press Breeding Bin Ladens: America, Islam, and the Future of Europe
While American leaders wage war on extremists in the Middle East, they are dangerously detached from a potentially greater threat closer to home. In Breeding Bin Ladens, Zachary Shore asserts that the growing ambivalence of Europe's Muslims poses risks to national identities, international security, and the transatlantic alliance. Europe's failure to integrate its Muslim millions, combined with America's battered image in the Muslim world, have left too many Western Muslims easy prey for violent dogmas. Until America and Europe adopt new strategies, Shore argues, Europe will increasingly become the incubation ground for breeding new Bin Ladens. The United States continues to spend billions of dollars and lose thousands of its young men and women to combat Islamic extremists, a group estimated to be as small as fifty thousand. What Western leaders have not done, says Shore, is seek to understand the millions of moderate Muslims who live peacefully in the United States and Europe. Many in this extraordinarily diverse group are deeply ambivalent toward perceived Western values. Although they may admire America's economic or technological might, many are appalled by its crass consumerism, sexualization of women, lack of social justice, and foreign policies. Shore taps into this oft-ignored perspective through in-depth interviews with Muslims living across the European Union. He gives voice to people of deep faith who speak of the conflict between their desire to integrate into their adopted societies and the repulsion they feel toward some of what the West represents. Shore offers a deeply nuanced and hopeful consideration of Islam's future in the West. Cautioning Western leaders against an anti-terrorist tunnel vision that could ultimately backfire, Shore proposes bold, creative, and controversial solutions for attracting the hearts and minds of moderate Muslims living in the West.
£35.08
Signal Books Ltd Ageing Giant: China’s Looming Population Collapse
Before the end of the present century the population of China – currently around 1.4 billion – is forecast to drop to around half that level as a major and unprecedented demographic crisis begins to bite. Its working-age population has already stopped growing and is now well into a process of contraction. Increasing longevity means that by the 2050s there will be more than 400 million Chinese citizens over the age of 65 – with little provision for their care in a society where a single child is now the norm. The ratio of the retired to those working is steadily rising, putting pressure on families and the public finances. Years of preference for a male child has seen the creation of a skewed sex ratio at birth that already guarantees well over 50 million surplus adult males, unmarried and unhappy, in the coming years. This is more than the entire male population of Germany. The state has previously sought to impose its will on reproduction, but Chinese families experienced a sharply reduced birthrate even before the introduction of the notorious one-child policy. And despite the lifting of restrictions on the number of children allowed, births remain stubbornly low. As Timothy Beardson shows in this timely and fascinating new book, the Chinese people have largely ignored official policy, as trends in urbanization, employment and education alter traditional demographic patterns. China in fact reflects a clearly identifiable shift in the whole world of moving from high to low fertility. This book is the first to examine in detail China’s demographic history and the impending crisis that will see more people in the United States by 2100 than in China. It explains how China’s ageing and shrinking population will affect such widely disparate areas as the ethics of business, artificial intelligence and the combat-worthiness of the military – not to mention China’s overall place in the modern world.
£18.99
5M Books Ltd From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life
With the beginning of the new 21st century, mankind is ¬finally close to being able to answer the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe. The rise of computers and rocket science in the last half of the 20th century allowed scientists to make two amazing discoveries that indicated life may be widespread throughout our universe. In the1970s, life scientists started ¬finding small bacterial-like creatures living on our planet in extreme hostile environments that everyone believed should instantly kill any living things. Some of these life-forms lived in hot or boiling water that was extremely salty, acidic, or alkaline. A few made their homes inside icebergs, while others lived inside rocks located miles below ground, or even on the power rods of nuclear power plants. These fi¬ndings challenged science’s long held belief that life is an extremely complicated and fragile process that demands equally complex and fragile environmental conditions. These strange creatures (which scientists call extremophiles or “lovers of extreme environments”) appear to be the direct descendants of the earliest life-forms that evolved on earth almost four billion years ago when our world was extremely hot and believed to be totally incompatible with any kind of life. Scientists suddenly realized that life may be far more resilient, flexible, and adaptable than previously believed possible and might easily evolve on other worlds that have environmental conditions that are very different from those found on earth. Then, in the 1990s, astronomers began discovering that “homes” for alien or extraterrestrial life might also be very common in the universe. Powerful new ground-based and space telescopes have confi¬rmed that our sun is only one of innumerable stars in our galaxy that has planets circling it. Many scientists now believe that de¬finitive evidence of extraterrestrial life will be found well before the end of the 21st century.
£24.99
John Wiley & Sons Inc The Altman Close: Million-Dollar Negotiating Tactics from America's Top-Selling Real Estate Agent
Land the deals you want and develop your instincts with million-dollar negotiation techniques After selling over $3 Billion in real estate, including the most expensive one-bedroom house in history, Josh Altman, co-star of the hit show Million-Dollar Listing Los Angeles, wants to teach you the real estate sales and negotiation tactics that have made him one of America’s top agents. Buying or selling a house, whether for a client or yourself, is one of the most important (and most stressful) deals anyone can make, demanding emotional intelligence and a solid set of negotiating skills. But by mastering the same techniques that sell multi-million-dollar homes in Bel Air and Beverly Hills, you can attract buyers and close deals on any property. Josh breaks down the art of real estate into three simple parts. First, he’ll help you get business in the door during the Opening. Then he takes you step-by-step through the Work: everything between the first handshake and the last. And finally, the Close, the last step that ensures all your hard work pays off as you seal the deal. Learn how to open with a prospect, work the deal, close, open, and repeat Build and market your reputation, creating more sales opportunities Develop the traits of a closer in you and your team Drive the deal forward and get the best price for your property by creating desire, scarcity, and demand Successful real estate sales are driven by the same principles, whether they happen in the Hollywood Hills or just down the street. Josh wants to put those principles, and the techniques for applying them, in your hands. Learn them and discover what you can achieve.
£17.09
The University of Chicago Press Planet of Microbes – The Perils and Potential of Earth`s Essential Life Forms
We live in a time of unprecedented scientific knowledge about the origins of life on Earth. But if we want to grasp the big picture, we have to start small very small. That's because the real heroes of the story of life on Earth are microbes, the tiny living organisms we cannot see with the naked eye. Microbes were Earth's first lifeforms, early anaerobic inhabitants that created the air we breathe. Today they live, invisible and seemingly invincible, in every corner of the planet, from Yellowstone's scalding hot springs to Antarctic mountaintops to inside our very bodies more than a hundred trillion of them. Don't be alarmed though: many microbes are allies in achieving our to say nothing of our planet's health. In Planet of Microbes, Ted Anton takes readers through the most recent discoveries about microbes, revealing their unexpected potential to reshape the future of the planet. For years, we knew little about these invisible invaders, considering them as little more than our enemies in our fight against infectious disease. But the more we learn about microbes, the more it's become clear that our very lives depend on them. They may also hold the answers to some of science's most pressing problems, including how to combat a warming planet, clean up the environment, and help the body fight off a wide variety of diseases. Anton has spent years interviewing and working with the determined scientists who hope to harness the work of microbes, and he breaks down the science while also sharing incredible behind-the-scenes stories of the research taking place everywhere from microbreweries to Mars. The world's tiniest organisms were here more than three billion years before us. We live in their world, and Planet of Microbes at last gives these unsung heroes the recognition they deserve.
£22.00
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot: The Great Mistake of Scottish Independence
The Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been. Success would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members. In this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as £10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success. The alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.
£18.00
Dixi Books (UK) Limited Bull Sugar: A Not So Sweet Novel
Alyson Soule is a novice journalist working for a Florida newspaper. A hospital calls to inform her that her forty-one-year-old mother has overdosed again. Virgie Soule's addiction is related to her secret past, which Alyson is determined to uncover. Back when Virgie was a college student, she volunteered to spend the summer in Belle Glade, Florida, helping the families of the sugar cane fieldworkers. She found them used clothing and donated food, and taught the children to read. And she fell in love with a fellow volunteer, a Harvard Law grad training to do foreign service work. Al Gomez also wanted to help the sugar cane workers, who led desperate lives. Together, Virgie and Al became involved in plans for a worker protest over unfair pay. But Al disappeared and Virgie returned to her parents' house, her world a much darker place. Now Alyson wants to know what happened to Al and to her mother back in 1986. In seeking answers, she learns about the plight of the sugar cane workers. The owners of the US sugar companies are some of the world's richest people. They've made their billions on the backs of the world's poorest people. In addition to human rights violations and corruption, Big Sugar has made significant contributions to environmental destruction and global ill health. Sugar cane fields take up thousands of acres of Florida land. The waste and runoff from the cane fields are the source of serious pollution. Drinking water in the state is contaminated, fish and aquatic life die, wildlife and sea grass are threatened. Bull Sugar fictionalizes true events to show the kind of insidious social injustice exhibited by Big Sugar, and to illustrate the ongoing damage caused to the environment and people of Florida. Bull Sugar is eco-fiction for readers age 12 and up.
£12.99
Duke University Press Porn Studies
In her pioneering book Hard Core, Linda Williams put moving-image pornography on the map of contemporary scholarship with her analysis of the most popular and enduring of all film and video genres. Now, fifteen years later, she showcases the next generation of critical thinking about pornography and signals new directions for study and teaching. Porn Studies resists the tendency to situate pornography as the outer limit of what can be studied and discussed. With revenues totaling between ten and fourteen billion dollars annually—more than the combined revenues of professional football, basketball, and baseball—visual, hard-core pornography is a central feature of American popular culture. It is time, Williams contends, for scholars to recognize this and give pornography a serious and extended analysis.The essays in this volume move beyond feminist debates and distinctions between a “good” erotica and a “bad” hard core. Contributors examine varieties of pornography from the tradition of the soft-core pin-up through the contemporary hard-core tradition of straight, gay, and lesbian videos and dvds to the burgeoning phenomenon of pornography on the Internet. They explore, as examples of the genre, individual works as divergent as The Starr Report, the pirated Tommy Lee/Pamela Anderson honeymoon video, and explicit Japanese “ladies’ comics” consumed by women. They also probe difficult issues such as the sexualization of race and class and the relationship of pornography to the avant-garde. To take pornography seriously as an object of analysis also means teaching it. Porn Studies thus includes a useful annotated bibliography of readings and archival sources important to the study of pornography as a cultural form.Contributors. Heather Butler, Rich Cante, Jake Gerli, Minette Hillyer, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Despina Kakoudaki, Franklin Melendez, Ara Osterweil, Zabet Patterson, Constance Penley, Angelo Restivo, Eric Schaefer, Michael Sicinski, Deborah Shamoon, Maria St. John, Tom Waugh, Linda Williams
£31.00
Cornerstone Spare
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow-and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling-and how their lives would play out from that point on.For Harry, this is that story at last.Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness-and, because he blamed the press for his mother's death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn't find true love.Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple's cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
£22.50
Pegasus Books Spin: A Novel Based on a (Mostly) True Story
Ride away on a 'round-the-world adventure of a lifetime—with only a change of clothes and a pearl-handled revolver—in this trascendent novel inspired by the life of Annie Londonderry.“Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”—Susan B. Anthony Who was Annie Londonderry? She captured the popular imagination with her daring ‘round the world trip on two wheels. It was, declared The New York World in October of 1895, “the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman.” But beyond the headlines, Londonderry was really Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a young, Jewish mother of three small children, who climbed onto a 42-pound Columbia bicycle and pedaled away into history. Reportedly set in motion by a wager between two wealthy Boston merchants, the bet required Annie not only to circle the earth by bicycle in 15 months, but to earn $5,000 en route, as well. This was no mere test of a woman’s physical endurance and mental fortitude; it was a test of a woman’s ability to fend for herself in the world. Often attired in a man’s riding suit, Annie turned every Victorian notion of female propriety on its head. Not only did she abandon, temporarily, her role of wife and mother (scandalous in the 1890s), she earned her way selling photographs of herself, appearing as an attraction in stores, and by turning herself into a mobile billboard. Zheutlin, a descendent of Annie, brilliantly probes the inner life and seeming boundless courage of this outlandish, brash, and charismatic woman. In a time when women could not vote and few worked outside the home, Annie was a master of public relations, a consummate self-promoter, and a skillful creator of her own myth. Yet, for more than a century her remarkable story was lost to history. In SPIN, this remarkable heroine and her marvelous, stranger-than-fiction story is vividly brought to life for a new generation.
£20.00
Great Northern Books Ltd Lucas from Soweto to Soccer Superstar
Leeds United's biggest crowd of the 2004-05 season was for a testimonial match. But this was no ordinary testimonial. The 37,889 who packed into Elland Road were paying tribute to Lucas Radebe one of the few players whose name is mentioned in the same breath as the club legends like Don Revie, Billy Bremner, John Charles, Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer, Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter. The South African international so captured the hearts of Leeds fans that they still chant his name years after he retired and the Kaiser Chiefs band took their name from his first club. In his native land he is an iconic figure, who led his country to two World Cups as they emerged from the sporting wilderness and whose reputation as a player and a man helped convince the rest of the world that the World Cup finals should go to South Africa. The kid who was rescued from the violence of the anti-apartheid struggle in Soweto when his parents sent him away from home for fear he would end up in gaol or even dead, received the ultimate accolade when Nelson Mandela declared: 'He is my hero.' This is the story of how Lucas overcame a tough childhood, survived a shooting, and refused to be diverted from his destiny by injury, homesickness, freezing English winters and terrible English food to become not only a football superstar but acknowledged as one of the nicest people in the game. He was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award as much for his unstinting work for charities and anti-racism organisations as his immaculate defending. Lucas Radebe's story is much more than just another biography of a footballer. It is inspiring and heart-warming, tinged with tragedy yet marked throughout by his trademark smile that has lit up two continents and touched thousands of lives.
£9.04
Princeton University Press Trading at the Speed of Light: How Ultrafast Algorithms Are Transforming Financial Markets
A remarkable look at how the growth, technology, and politics of high-frequency trading have altered global financial marketsIn today’s financial markets, trading floors on which brokers buy and sell shares face-to-face have increasingly been replaced by lightning-fast electronic systems that use algorithms to execute astounding volumes of transactions. Trading at the Speed of Light tells the story of this epic transformation. Donald MacKenzie shows how in the 1990s, in what were then the disreputable margins of the US financial system, a new approach to trading—automated high-frequency trading or HFT—began and then spread throughout the world. HFT has brought new efficiency to global trading, but has also created an unrelenting race for speed, leading to a systematic, subterranean battle among HFT algorithms.In HFT, time is measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second), and in a nanosecond the fastest possible signal—light in a vacuum—can travel only thirty centimeters, or roughly a foot. That makes HFT exquisitely sensitive to the length and transmission capacity of the cables connecting computer servers to the exchanges’ systems and to the location of the microwave towers that carry signals between computer datacenters. Drawing from more than 300 interviews with high-frequency traders, the people who supply them with technological and communication capabilities, exchange staff, regulators, and many others, MacKenzie reveals the extraordinary efforts expended to speed up every aspect of trading. He looks at how in some markets big banks have fought off the challenge from HFT firms, and how exchanges sometimes engineer technical systems to favor certain types of algorithms over others.Focusing on the material, political, and economic characteristics of high-frequency trading, Trading at the Speed of Light offers a unique glimpse into its influence on global finance and where it could lead us in the future.
£20.00