Other books that might interest you

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  Charlie Wilson's War

  George Crile

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  The bestselling true story of a Texas congressman’s secret role in the Afghan defeat of Russian invaders is “a tour de force of reporting and writing” (Dan Rather).   A New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller.   Charlie Wilson’s penchant for cocktails and beauty-contest winners was well known, but in the early 1980s, the dilettante congressman quietly conducted one of the most successful covert operations in US history. Using his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, Wilson channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to support a ragged band of Afghan “freedom fighters” in their resistance against Soviet invaders.   Weapons were secretly procured and distributed with the help of an outcast CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos, who stretched the agency’s rules to the breaking point. Moving from the back rooms of Washington to secret chambers at Langley, and from arms-dealers’ conventions to the Khyber Pass, Wilson and Avrakotos helped the mujahideen win an unlikely victory against the Russians.   Adapted into a film starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War chronicles an overlooked chapter in the collapse of the Soviet Union—and the emergence of a brand-new foe in the form of radical Islam.   “Put the Tom Clancy clones back on the shelf; this covert-ops chronicle is practically impossible to put down. No thriller writer would dare invent Wilson.” —Publishers Weekly   “An engaging, well-written, newsworthy study of practical politics and its sometimes unlikely players, and one with plenty of implications.” —Kirkus Reviews

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  The Living Great Lakes -...

  Jerry Dennis

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  If fresh water is to be treasured, the Great Lakes are the mother lode. No bodies of water can compare to them. One of them, Superior, is the largest lake on earth, and the five lakes together contain a fifth of the world's supply of standing fresh water. Their surface area of 95,000 square miles is greater than New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. They are so vast that they dominate much of the geography, climate, and history of North America. In one way or another, they affect the lives of tens of millions of people.The Living Great Lakes is the most complete book ever written about the history, nature, and science of these remarkable lakes at the heart of North America. From the geological forces that formed them to the industrial atrocities that nearly destroyed them, to the greatest environmental success stories of our time, the lakes are portrayed in all their complexity. The book, however, is much more than just history. It is also the story of the lakes as told by biologists, fishermen, sailors, and others whom Jerry Dennis grew to know while traveling with them on boats and hiking with them on beaches and islands.

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  Pistol - The Life of Pete Maravich

  Mark Kriegel

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  Pistol is more than the biography of a ballplayer. It's the stuff of classic novels: the story of a boy transformed by his father's dream-and the cost of that dream. Even as Pete Maravich became Pistol Pete-a basketball icon for baby boomers-all the Maraviches paid a price. Now acclaimed author Mark Kriegel has brilliantly captured the saga of an American family: its rise, its apparent ruin, and, finally, its redemption.Almost four decades have passed since Maravich entered the national consciousness as basketball's boy wizard. No one had ever played the game like the kid with the floppy socks and shaggy hair. And all these years later, no one else ever has. The idea of Pistol Pete continues to resonate with young people today just as powerfully as it did with their fathers.In averaging 44.2 points a game at Louisiana State University, he established records that will never be broken. But even more enduring than the numbers was the sense of ecstasy and artistry with which he played. With the ball in his hands, Maravich had a singular power to inspire awe, inflict embarrassment, or even tell a joke.But he wasn't merely a mesmerizing showman. He was basketball's answer to Elvis, a white Southerner who sold Middle America on a black man's game. Like Elvis, he paid a terrible price, becoming a prisoner of his own fame.Set largely in the South, Kriegel's Pistol-a tale of obsession and basketball, fathers and sons-merges several archetypal characters. Maravich was a child prodigy, a prodigal son, his father's ransom in a Faustian bargain, and a Great White Hope. But he was also a creature of contradictions: always the outsider but a virtuoso in a team sport, an exuberant showman who wouldn't look you in the eye, a vegetarian boozer, an athlete who lived like a rock star, a suicidal genius saved by Jesus Christ.A renowned biographer-People magazine called him "a master"-Kriegel renders his subject with a style that is, by turns, heartbreaking, lyrical, and electric.The narrative begins in 1929, the year a missionary gave Pete's father a basketball. Press Maravich had been a neglected child trapped in a hellish industrial town, but the game enabled him to blossom. It also caused him to confuse basketball with salvation. The intensity of Press's obsession initiates a journey across three generations of Maraviches. Pistol Pete, a ballplayer unlike any other, was a product of his father's vanity and vision. But that dream continues to exact a price on Pete's own sons. Now in their twenties-and fatherless for most of their lives-they have waged their own struggles with the game and its ghosts.Pistol is an unforgettable biography. By telling one family's history, Kriegel has traced the history of the game and a large slice of the American narrative.

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  Renewing the Republic

  Michael D. Higgins

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  Michael D. Higgins' vision as part of his Presidential election campaign and now following through to his tenure as President of Ireland, is 'of [an] inclusive citizenship in a creative society, as we build a real Republic that makes us proud to be Irish in the world'. Renewing the Republicis an expansion of that vision as Michael D. lays out, through a series of essays and speeches, the ideals and philosophies by which this is possible. This collection of essays include Michael D.'s reasons for running for the Irish presidency; his academic essays on a variety of subjects, including the peasantry in Ireland and public representation; his thoughts on recent social and political changes and the current economic crisis. His speech at the Tom Johnson Summer School, highlighting his commitment to the arts in Ireland, and his last speech to the Dáil on 25th January 2011 also feature. This rich and varied compilation explores six themes: citizenship and the republic; culture, identity and reputation; human rights; language; globalisation, emigration and exile; and the public space.

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  Bounty Hunter 4 3 - My Life In...

  Jason Delgado, Chris Martin

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  A brand new recording read by the author. 
  The memoir of Jason Delgado, a US Marine scout sniper and MARSOC's first lead sniper instructor. 
  The fight for Jason Delgado's life and soul began when he was just a boy. He ultimately escaped the death and drugs of a crime-riddled Bronx by way of the United States Marine Corps. However, after earning his way into the esteemed ranks of the service's famed Scout Snipers, Delgado saw that old struggle reignited when he was dumped into the hell of war in Iraq. 
  There Delgado proved not only a participant, but a warrior capable of turning the tide in several of the most harrowing and historically important battles of the evolving war. He took all the hard lessons learned in combat and, as MARSOC's original lead sniper instructor, made himself a pivotal figure in revolutionizing the way special operations snipers trained and operated. But even after accomplishing his mission in the military, Delgado still faced that original fight, struggling to understand and accept the man his experiences had transformed him into. Bounty Hunter 4/3 is Jason Delgado's captivating first-hand account of these powerful and life-changing experiences.

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  All to Play For - The Advance of...

  Michael Ashcroft

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  A Waterstones Best Politics Book of the Year 2023
  All to Play For, the anticipated follow-up edition to Going for Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak
  ★★★★✰  –Daily Telegraph
  "The overarching theme of Lord Ashcroft's revised and updated biography of Rishi Sunak is a portrayal of a politician trying to do the right thing."– George Parker, The House
  "The family history of both Sunak and his in-laws is fascinating and frequently quite moving." – Times Literary Supplement
  "Ashcroft has dug up a great deal of detail." – Eastern Eye
  PRAISE FOR GOING FOR BROKE
  "The fullest account yet written of Sunak the rising star." – Andrew Gimson, ConservativeHome
  "Clearly written, lively and perceptive, and contains much insight on the complex world of Tory politics." – Vernon Bogdanor, Prospect Magazine
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  The speed of Rishi Sunak's advance to 10 Downing Street is without precedent in modern British politics. In mid-2019, he was an unknown junior minister; seven months later, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and by October 2022, he had secured the highest office in the land. Aged forty-two, he was Britain's youngest Prime Minister in more than 200 years.
  Michael Ashcroft's biography – first published in 2020 and now fully revised and updated – charts Sunak's ascent to the University of Oxford, the City of London, Silicon Valley and Westminster before assuming the most powerful job in the country in chaotic circumstances.
  It is the story of a clever and hard-working son of immigrant parents who marries an heiress and makes a fortune of his own; a polished southerner who wins over the voters of North Yorkshire; a fiscal conservative who becomes the biggest-spending Chancellor in history; and a fastidious political operator tasked with reuniting the Conservative Party and repairing an economy in flux.
  Casting new light on Sunak's tense working relationship with his predecessor, Boris Johnson, All to Play For shows what makes him tick ahead of a general election whose outcome will have profound consequences for Britain.

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