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The rise of populism in the West, the rise of China in the East and the spread of peer-driven social media everywhere are prompting a deep rethinking of how democracy works; or doesn't. The creation of new classes of winners and losers as a result of globalization and digital capitalism are also challenging how we think about global interconnectivity and the social contract. If contemporary democracies are going to take back control and compete with autocratic systems on the world stage while avoiding their own suicide through polarization and paralysis fueled by untrustworthy information, they need a radical renovation that responds to the forces undermining them.
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Marie-Janine Calic reveals the many ways in which southeastern Europe's position at the crossroads of East and West shaped continental and global developments. The nascent merchant capitalism of the Mediterranean world helped the Balkan knights fight the Ottomans in the fifteenth century. The deep pull of nationalism led a young Serbian bookworm to spark the conflagration of World War I. The late twentieth century saw political Islam spread like wildfire in a region where Christians and Muslims had long lived side by side. Along with vivid snapshots of revealing moments in time, Calic introduces fascinating figures rarely found in standard European histories.
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Seven years after the death of his mother, Malka, Stanley A. Goldman traveled to Israel to visit her best friend during the Holocaust. The best friend's daughter showed Goldman a pamphlet she had acquired from the Israeli Holocaust Museum that documented activities of one man's negotiations with the Nazi's interior minister and SS head, Heinrich Himmler, for the release of the Jewish women from the concentration camp at Ravensbrück. Wanting to know the details of how they were saved, Goldman set out on a long and difficult path to unravel the mystery.
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Elizabeth revealed: 500 facts about the Queen and her world
by Lucinda Hawksley
A lively and affectionate celebration of The Queen's long and eventful life blending personal and public, frivolous and factual in a tribute to an extraordinary woman and the sweeping social changes she has lived through. It offers illuminating glimpses into a changing monarchy and royal family life as an elegant young princess developed into the most famous woman in the world.
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Buried by Vesuvius: The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum
by
Kenneth D. S Lapatin
A comprehensive look at all aspects of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, from its original Roman context to the most recent archaeological investigations, includes coverage of its burial by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, its rediscovery in 1750 and its history-rich library.
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Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children; the last holdouts of the revolt against Rome following the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple, reportedly took their own lives on top of Masada rather than surrender to the Roman army. Jodi Magness, an archaeologist who has excavated at Masada, explains what happened there, how we know it, and how recent developments might change understandings of the story. Incorporating the latest findings, she integrates literary and historical sources to show what life was like for Jews under Roman rule during an era that witnessed the reign of Herod and Jesus's ministry and death.
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In this evocative memoir,
O'Doherty recounts his experiences of living through the three decades of the Troubles and the subsequent peace process. Incorporating interviews with political, professional and paramilitary figures, he draws a profile of an era that produced violent trauma, comparing and contrasting it with today and asks how frail is the current peace as Brexit approaches, politics are deadlocked and violence is simmering in both republican and loyalist camps.
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Archaeology from space : how the future shapes our past
by
Sarah H Parcak
The National Geographic Fellow and TED Prize winner tours the modern world of satellite-driven "space archaeology" and its role in significantly advancing human discoveries and understandings about the ancient world.
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A history of the Soviet Union under Stalin offers a portrait of the Soviet leader as well as the five ruthless politicos who presided over his secret police and became responsible for the deaths of twenty million Soviet citizens.
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Though the Paris Agreement on climate change was a significant achievement, most authorities agree that its measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will be insufficient to offset the forecasted increase in global warming. Climate expert Roger A. Sedjo argues we must also begin planning adaptation strategies; Plan B, which enable societies to anticipate and protect against the worst effects of inevitable climate change.
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This succinct guide follows Silicon Valley and the tech industry from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day, tracing how Silicon Valley changed the San Francisco Bay Area, changed human culture, and ultimately changed the way we think about ourselves. From the first Macintosh to the rise of social media, A Brief History of Silicon Valley peels back the curtain on an industry that brands itself as visionary but which may be swiftly hurtling us towards dystopia.
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Putin's World examines the country's turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians' understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed. This book looks at Russia's key relationships its downward spiral with the United States, Europe, and NATO; its ties to China, Japan, the Middle East; and with its neighbors, particularly the fraught relationship with Ukraine.
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In the space of a hundred days, a million Tutsi in Rwanda were slaughtered by their Hutu neighbours. At the height of the genocide, as men with bloody machetes ransacked her home, Denise Uwimana gave birth to her third son. With the unlikely help of Hutu Good Samaritans, she and her children survived. Her husband and other family members were not as lucky. Leaving a secure job in business, she devoted the rest of her life to restoring her country by empowering other genocide widows to band together, tell their stories, find healing, and rebuild their lives.
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