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Armageddon and paranoia: Nuclear confrontation from 1945 to the present by Rodric BraithwaiteIn 1945, the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and old ideas of warfare came to an end. This book tells how the power of the atom was harnessed to produce weapons capable of destroying human civilisation. Some tried to grapple with the unanswerable question: what end could possibly be served by such a fearsome means? The danger of war by accident or misjudgement was never entirely absent. Rodric Braithwaite paints a vivid and thought-provoking portrait of this intense period in history. Its implications are as relevant today, as thoughtless talk about nuclear war begins to spread once more.
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Turkey will play a critical geopolitical role in the events of the Middle East. After the attempted coup of July 2016, the spotlight is on Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the powerful leader of the country whose increasingly authoritarian regime has heightened tensions both within and outside the country. Leading Turkish expert Soner Cagaptay looks at where Erdogan comes from in Turkish history, what he believes in, and how he has cemented his rule. He describes the increasingly Islamic Turkey Erdogan has built, and assesses the threats faced from the liberal youth to the Gulen movement, the army plotters and the fallout from the Kurdish question.
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How long will Israel survive?: The threat from within
by Gregg Carlstrom
Examines the increasingly fractured political and social views of the Israeli people and warns that a nation that was once considered a melting pot is becoming a political and cultural battleground. Gregg Carlstrom maps this conflict, from cosmopolitan Tel Aviv to the hilltops of the West Bank, and asks a pressing question: will the Middle East's strongest power survive its own internal contradictions?
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Fractured continent: Europe's crises and the fate of the West by William DrozdiakDescribes the events that have led to a loss of faith in mainstream ruling parties in Europe, resulting in Britain leaving the European Union, Marine Le Pen’s popularity in the latest vote in France and millions of refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. An urgent examination of how the political and social volatility in Europe impacts the United States and the rest of the world.
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The storm before the storm: The beginning of the end of the Roman republic by Michael DuncanRecreating the turbulent years from 133-80 BCE, the author tells the story of the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic—a tale of the first generation that had to cope with the dangerous new political environment made possible by Rome’s unrivaled domination over the known world.
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The square and the tower: Networks and power, from the Freemasons to Facebook by Niall FergusonAcclaimed, bestselling historian Niall Ferguson outlines the collisions between established hierarchies and upstart networks throughout history, arguing that they have led to political and social change. From ancient Rome to the current day, Ferguson looks at various networks such as the 18th-century Illuminati and Facebook.
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Ukraine over the edge: Russia, the West and the "new Cold War" by Gordon M HahnThis study focuses on the Ukrainian crisis, from the rise of demonstrations on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti to the making of the post-revolt regime. The author sheds new light on the role of radical Ukrainian nationalists and neofascists in the February 2014 snipers' massacre, the ouster of President Yanukovych and Russia's seizure of Crimea.
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Travels with an archaeologist: Finding a sense of place by Richard HodgesArchaeology is about hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching past textures in our time. With these senses, in the company of friends, new places are created from old ones. Travel with archaeologist and writer Richard Hodges as he explores sites of ruins, monuments and hidden traces of long-distant worlds and civilisations across the globe and ponders the relationship of the individual with the past and the present.
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A river in darkness: One man's escape from North Korea
by Masaji Ishikawa
At thirteen Masaji Ishikawa moved to North Korea, where he and his family became part of the lowest social caste and where he spent the next thirty-six years under the crushing totalitarian regime before escaping to Japan.
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Black Tudors: The untold story by Miranda KaufmannA black porter publicly whips a white Englishman in the hall of a Gloucestershire manor house. A Moroccan woman is baptised in a London church. Henry VIII dispatches a Mauritanian diver to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose. From long-forgotten records emerge the remarkable stories of Africans who lived free in Tudor England... They were present at some of the defining moments of the age. They were christened, married and buried by the Church, and were paid wages like any other Tudors. The untold stories of the Black Tudors, dazzlingly brought to life by Kaufmann, will transform how we see this most intriguing period of history.
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The survival of the Princes in the tower: Murder, mystery and myth by Matthew LewisThe murder of the Princes in the Tower is the most famous cold case in English or British history. By delving into the context of their disappearance and the characters of the suspects Matthew Lewis will examine the motives and opportunities afresh as well as ask a crucial but often overlooked question: what if there was no murder?What if Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York survived their uncle's reign and even that of their brother-in-law Henry VII? There are glimpses of their possible survival and compelling evidence which is considered alongside the possibility of their deaths to provide a rounded and complete assessment of the most fascinating mystery in history.
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The stowaway: A young man's extraordinary adventure to Antarctica
by Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Documents the true story of a scrappy teen from New York's Lower East Side who stowed away on a daring expedition to Antarctica in 1928, tracing the sensational heyday of the time and how high schooler Billy Gawronski jumped into the Hudson and snuck aboard the expedition's flagship, eventually becoming an international celebrity.
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Focus on: Business and Economics
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| Author Jonah Berger has drawn on detailed research to discuss why some trends, products, and ideas take off -- and some don’t. He identifies six key ingredients that work together to promote word-of-mouth popularity and uses real-world examples (the "hit" song "Friday," the Atkins diet, Apple products) as evidence. Surprisingly, he argues that the Internet has less influence than you might expect. |
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| Flash boys: A Wall Street revolt by Michael LewisAt the outset, Flash Boys exposes how post-crisis Wall Street was rigged through computerized stock exchanges. However, the heart of this exciting narrative is the four “Wall Street guys” who figured this out separately -- working independently at different firms -- and then banded together to reform the financial markets. Bestselling author Michael Lewis does a “superb job of explicating the inexplicable in his lucid, absorbing account” (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The revenge of analog: Real things and why they matter by David SaxJust when you think the world has been overtaken by digital content and products, statistics arrive showing sales of tangible goods like vinyl records are up -- way up. But why? Journalist David Sax examines the surprising reasons why some consumers opt to limit their screen time and purchase printed books, Moleskine notebooks, and film cameras instead. |
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| Outspoken and impassioned U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren shares her views on how the American middle class is under siege, and offers strategies on how to save it. She shares the story of her own working-class family in 1960s Oklahoma and discusses why things have changed since the 1980s. Warren also describes her battles in the U.S. Senate on behalf of the shrinking middle class.
Further reading: Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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