Search results for ""author ian black""

ECONOMIST, SUNDAY TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES AND GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017'Comprehensive and compelling ... A nuanced, landmark study that has deservedly won plaudits from both Palestinian and Israeli historians' Justin Marozzi, The TimesA century after Britain's Balfour Declaration promised a Jewish 'national home' in Palestine, veteran Guardian journalist Ian Black has produced a major new history of one of the most polarising conflicts of the modern age. Drawing on a wide range of sources - from declassified documents to oral testimonies and his own decades of reporting - Enemies and Neighbours brings much-needed perspective and balance to the long and unresolved struggle between Arabs and Jews in the Holy Land.Beginning in the final years of Ottoman ruleand the British Mandate period, when Zionist immigration transformed Palestine in the face of mounting Arab opposition, the book re-examines the origins of what was a doomed relationship from the start. It sheds fresh light on critical events such as the Arab rebellion of the 1930s; Israel's independence and the Palestinian catastrophe (Nakba in Arabic) of 1948; the watershed of the 1967 war; two Intifadas; the Oslo Accords and Israel's shift to the right. It traces how - after five decades of occupation, ever-expanding Jewish settlements and the construction of the West Bank 'separation wall' - hopes for a two-state solution have all but disappeared, and explores what the future might hold.Yet Black also goes beyond the most newsworthy events - wars, violence and peace initiatives - to capture thereality of everyday life on the ground in Jerusalem and Hebron, Tel Aviv,Ramallah, Haifa and Gaza, for both sides of an unequal struggle. Lucid, timelyand gripping, Enemies and Neighbours illuminates a bitter conflict that shows no sign of ending - which is why it is so essential that we understand it.

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This book presents more friendly city rivalry anecdotes from Ian Black. How much do Mancs hate Scousers? Well, there's not a lot you can compare it to, except of course how much Scousers hate Mancs. Which is rather a lot, as you might gather from this charming little ditty from the Anfield terraces: 'There's only one Dr. Shipman, there's only one Harold Shipman, we owe him our thanks, cos he killed lots of Mancs, we're walking in a Shipman wonderland.' There are diatribes and angry jibes, but, according to Ian Black, the bestselling author of "Weegies vs Edinbuggers", it's just a friendly rivalry, really. Right?

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The traditional rivalries run deep between Glasgow's industry-blighted East End and the leafy suburban academia of the West End. The typical West Ender viewpoint is that the East End is full of workshy junkies and your average East Enders knows fine that the West End is populated by jumped-up snobs, but a shared sense of humour means that everything is just hunky-dory. 'Aye right', as we say in Glasgow when we mean: 'No way'.These rivalries are ancient, sometimes vicious, and run as deep at the Styx, but nowadays the main weapon is humour. People in the West are reacting to the suggestion that the Commonwealth Games is being shared by the city: 'Shared is it? Aye, the East End is getting it and we're paying for it'. These are the tall tales, the tantrums and the taradiddles told by both sides. Laugh? You'll probably flit to Edinburgh.

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Mair/Merr hilarious jokes and anecdotes on the eternal struggle that is WEEGIES v EDINBUGGERS Ian Black has been called 'a best selling author' so many times that he is thinking of patenting the phrase and making his fortune that way, but he still wishes that he was Alexander McCall Smith or that nice blonde woman who writes about the wee laddie with the scar and the glasses, as that would mean to hell with poverty and let's throw another pea in the soup. But he still has to work and has now produced MAIR Edinbuggers Vs Weegies/MERR Weegies Vs Edinbuggers. This latest effusion is a completely new collection of anti-Weegie and anti-Edinbugger swedging, hard hits and sneaky bits from the West and East sides, sharp jibes and bludgeoning diatribes, including the slogan from a graffitti-covered wall in Glasgow's West End which avers that 'James Kelman likes fucking Edinburgh' and the one, possibly from Pilton, which claims 'Hugh MacDiarmid took sugar in his porridge'.You may find some reference to Shir Sean and the reason that he chose to support Celtic rather than Hearts or Hibs*, and you will find a list of things that you will never see in Edinburgh, but which have been personally observed by the author in the streets of Glasgow, starting with a Muslim woman in the full chador, Iranian Abaya-style, eyeslit only, pulling said eyeslit down so that she could blow a big bubble with her gum to amuse her toddler. But it is just friendly rivalry really, isn't it? To use the double positive negative, a figure of speech unique to Scotland: Aye, right. * It's because, as the Weegies so artlessly say: "He's a Fenian b******".

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On the 18th September 2014, a mere 700-and-a-bit years after the Battle of Bannockburn, the struggle for power between Scotland and England will reach another milestone - this time probably without the swords, horses and armour. It is, without question, the most serious subject of the year, but there is a funny side too. Now Ian Black, master of the witty remark, king of the one-liner and enthusiastic unfurler of the Saltire sets his mind to the lighter side of Independence. With more pro-Independence and anti-No-voter jokes and tales than you can shake a stick at, Scotland vs England is the antidote to a very serious year. This book explains that the new Scots currency will be the Dreichma, perfect if our usual weather combines with Greek-style financial meltdown anytime in the future, or possibly the Punt, though apparently all of the punts are in the south-east of England. Mr Black also explains that occasional mutterings of "durty English bastards" north of the border refer not to the great majority of English folk but to the filthy goings-on in Westminster.And there are answers to some of the great questions, like: "What goes 'putt' and what goes 'putt, putt, putt, putt'", to which the answer is: a Scottish golfer and an English golfer on the Old Course at St Andrews. Scotland vs England may not help you make up your mind about which way to vote, but in the serious months ahead when all will seem lost and there will be no escape from politicians, it will be very welcome.

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If there's one thing that sets Weegies apart, it's our sense of humour. Come crisis time, we not only laugh in the face of danger, but we spit on its shadow, follow it around, and occasionally set about it. Take John Smeaton, the baggage handler who clobbered the Glasgow Airport terrorists. He showed the kind of heroism, down-to-earth decency and self-deprecating humour that we all aspire to, and it turned him into an instant worldwide icon. Mere houses after he'd banjoed the terrorists the jokes started. Some of them are in here. "This is Glasgow. We'll set about ye." Got the t-shirt yet? Bin Laden's got one. And he's not coming back, at least not on John's shift. As well as paying homage to El Smeato, The Almost Completely Ultimate Weegie Jokebook is a collection of stories, jokes and anecdotes about the things that make us laugh - ourselves mostly. You are either on the Glesca bus or you're not. Welcome aboard.

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