Other books that might interest you

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  Chasing Bandits in the Badlands

  Bob Breen

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  In January 1993, the Australian government sent just under one thousand young men and women to serve under American command in a violent, impoverished, starving society. Most males over the age of twelve either carried or had access to a gun, and most Somali men had been fighting a vicious civil war for years. 
  Australian soldiers and their teams had to gain control of the streets of Baidoa and surrounding towns. This contest was not ‘find, fight and kill’ warfare. There was no decisive victory or defeat. The aim was to detect ‘the bad boys’ and deter and de-escalate their violence rather than escalate hostilities to success through ‘body count’. This mode of operation was not community policing by soldiers either. It involved adjusting attitudes forcefully and assuring uncomfortable consequences for bad behaviour and ultimately lethal responses to armed challenges. 
   
  The world looked over their shoulders. Corporals and diggers had to make split-second decisions to open or hold fire. Holding fire when provoked by punks constituted disciplined professional performance. Opening fire before understanding the situation, especially against unarmed provocateurs, constituted unprofessional conduct and possible condemnation, even criminal charges. These young Australians carried the international reputation of Australia and its army on their shoulders. Their actions would either enhance that reputation or create controversy, negative publicity and, potentially, international embarrassment and condemnation. 
   
  After adjusting their own attitudes to balance aggression and compassion, fight leaders and their diggers forcefully adjusted Somali attitudes, secured a stalemate, and then took control for the time they were in Somalia Australian soldiers individually and collectively helped a traumatised society needing a ‘fair go’ and gave ordinary Somali men, women and children trying to survive a little bit of hope.

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  Asphyxia - The Story of a Life...

  Thomas Tomazo Pagonis

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  Asphyxia is a hauntingly lyrical novel that unfolds like a cinematic screenplay in parenthetical time and conditional mood. Told through the voice of Nefeli—a young woman observing her life on a mental screen—this work blurs the boundaries between memory, myth, narration, and madness. Set in a literary universe where authors are tyrants, muses are merciless, and reality is often just a rumour, the story follows Nefeli’s metaphysical descent into guilt, obsession, and poetic hallucination. 
  Through the echo of voices—narrators, poets, and ghosts—the book explores the invisible lives of the mentally fragile, those who vanish quietly between diagnoses and metaphors. With a cast of characters both archetypal and painfully human, Asphyxia is not a love story, nor a murder mystery, though it flirts with both. It is a philosophical narrative about stories themselves: who writes them, who performs them, and who suffers them. 
  Written by Tomazo Pagonis and originally crafted in Greek, this audiobook has been translated into rich British English by Marilu Pagoni. It is recommended for lovers of experimental fiction, metafictional narrative, and those who sense their own lives unfolding in parentheses.

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  The UFO Abduction Book -...

  Brad Steiger

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  An astonishing collection of stories of extraterrestrial abduction, time travel, experimentation, teleportation, and alien-human hybrids.“Brad Steiger’s book does an excellent—indeed, essential—job of setting the scene and providing a foundation of the facts as they were known at the time it was written. It is to be hoped that, in time, this provocative and disturbing reality will come into ever greater focus.” —Whitley Strieber, from the forewordHere is the startling proof—in one comprehensive, eye-opening volume.Brad Steiger, the world-renowned authority on unexplained phenomena, presents a collection of UFO encounters and abductions. His provocative theories provide answers to the most puzzling questions: Why are they here? What do they want? And how will they change the fate of the human race?Included here are stories of airplane disappearances, alien experimentation, close encounters of many strange kinds, and hybrid children. Alternately entertaining and terrifying, this is a book for anyone who has gazed into the night sky and wondered if we are alone in the universe.

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  American Justice On Trial -...

  Lise Pearlman

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  The award-winning film version of this "world-changing true story" was featured by PBS across country during Black History Month 2025. The film highlighted the startling relevance of a riveting trial more than half a century ago when a black revolutionary, Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Newton, faced execution for the death of a white policeman -- with totally unexpected results. This audiobook was narrated by Rua, the same actor who voiced Huey Newton in the documentary. It allows listeners to take a ringside seat at the case that transformed the traditional all white male "jury of one's peers" to a jury truly drawn from a cross-section of the community, including women and minorities. The book also provides a rare look behind the scenes into life-or-death jury deliberations and features comments from key trial participants and observers. Pioneering television journalist Belva Davis vividly described the participants in that historic trial: "The Newton trial cast of characters would be hard to put together for a Hollywood film --- the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the jury foreman, the makeup of the jury, Newton himself." Huey's older brother Melvin Newton captured the essence of that historic trial, inspiring the book's title: "The prosecution represents the state -- the People of California vs. Huey Newton was putting Huey Newton on trial. As it turned out, [my brother] Huey put the United States on trial." 
  Award-winning author Lise Pearlman (www.lisepearlman.com) is a retired judge and the country's leading expert on the 1968 Newton trial. She appeared in Stanley Nelson's top-rated 2015 documentary "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" and created the award-winning 2022 film project for which she served as co-producer, American Justice on Trial recently renamed "In the Crosshairs." www.justicemovie.com

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  A Hidden Wisdom - Medieval...

  Christina Van Dyke

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  Medieval philosophy is primarily associated today with university-based disputations and the authorities cited in those disputations. In their own time, however, scholastic debates were recognized as just one part of wide-ranging philosophical and theological discussions. A Hidden Wisdom breaks new ground by drawing attention to another crucial component of these conversations: the Christian contemplative tradition. 
   
   
   
  The period from 1200 to 1500, in particular, saw a dramatic increase in the production and consumption of mystical and contemplative literature in the "Christian West," by laypeople as well as religious scholars, women as well as men. A Hidden Wisdom focuses on five topics of particular interest, namely, self-knowledge, reason and its limits, love and the will, persons, and immortality and the afterlife. This focus centers the (often overlooked) contributions of medieval women and demonstrates that when we reunite scholasticism with its contemplative counterpart, we gain not only a more accurate understanding of the scope of medieval Christian philosophy and theology but also an increased awareness of a deeply practical tradition that builds up as well as tears down. 
   
   
   
  The book's treatment of topics and figures is meant to be representative rather than exhaustive: a tasting menu, rather than a comprehensive study.

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  Urban Design - Principles...

  Lyric Vale

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  Urban design is the process of shaping the physical features of cities, towns, and villages. It is a discipline that integrates various elements such as architecture, planning, landscaping, and sociology to create functional, aesthetically pleasing, and sustainable urban spaces. As cities continue to grow and evolve, urban design becomes increasingly important in ensuring that urban areas meet the needs of both current and future generations. This chapter introduces the concept of urban design, its historical development, and its significant role in modern cities. 
  The history of urban design can be traced back to ancient civilizations where urban planning was guided by principles of geometry, religion, and governance. The layout of cities such as Ancient Rome and Greek cities was often designed with grand structures, forums, and public spaces to reflect social hierarchies and civic values. Over time, as cities grew larger and more complex, the role of urban design evolved. In the modern era, the Industrial Revolution brought about rapid urbanization, with a focus on accommodating large populations and facilitating economic growth. However, this period also led to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions that highlighted the need for better planning and design to improve quality of life. 
  Urban design today is centered around creating environments that are not only functional but also enhance the well-being of their inhabitants. It involves a multidisciplinary approach that considers various factors such as traffic flow, pedestrian access, environmental sustainability, and social equity. The goals of urban design are to create places that are safe, accessible, inclusive, and beautiful. This requires careful consideration of the built environment, including buildings, streets, public spaces, and infrastructure, as well as the natural environment, such as green spaces, waterways, and ecosystems.

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