Other books that might interest you

• 

  Eight Days at Yalta - How...

  Diana Preston

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The authoritative history of the pivotal conference between Allied leaders at the close of WWII, based on revealing firsthand accounts. 
   
  Crimea, 1945. As the last battles of WWII were fought, US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin—the so-called “Big Three” —met in the Crimean resort town of Yalta. Over eight days of bargaining, bombast, and intermittent bonhomie, they decided on the endgame of the war against Nazi Germany and how the defeated nation should be governed. They also worked out the constitution of the nascent United Nations; the price of Soviet entry into the war against Japan; the new borders of Poland; and spheres of influence across Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Greece. 
   
  Drawing on the lively accounts of those who were there—from the leaders and advisors such as Averell Harriman, Anthony Eden, and Andrei Gromyko, to Churchill’s secretary Marian Holmes and FDR’s daughter Anna Boettiger—Diana Preston has crafted a masterful chronicle of the conference that created the post-war world. 
   
  Who “won” Yalta has been debated ever since. After Germany’s surrender, Churchill wrote to the new president, Harry Truman, of “an iron curtain” that was now “drawn upon [the Soviets’] front.” Knowing his troops controlled eastern Europe, Stalin’s judgment in April 1945 thus speaks volumes: “Whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system.”

  Show book

• 

  1984 And The Spanish Civil War

  Paula Read

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In 1937, George Orwell spent six months witnessing the rise and fall of a popular revolution on the streets of Barcelona and Catalonia. Alone amongst his contemporaries, Orwell understood what the success or failure of that Spanish Revolution would mean for the rest of the world.  
  1984 And The Spanish Civil War explores the background to the Civil War and the hidden anarchist revolution within a revolution. As Orwell arrives in Catalunya, he observes something bright and new in the world. But when Orwell returns from fighting on the front, he is confronted by the Communists conducting a misinformation campaign against this revolutionary spirit and he is forced to flee from their purges. He returns home to England, where he begins to write his account, but finds few are prepared to listen. In order to tell his story, he writes literally (Homage to Catalunya), then when that fails, he adopts the structure of allegory (Animal Farm) and finally that of a dystopian fictional Britain in 1984.  
  Yet publication is a constant struggle for Orwell in a world that refuses to criticise the role of the USSR. Though he dies in despair, his words are not lost, for their message is picked up once more on the streets of the same country he fought for back in the 1930's.  
  Praise for 1984 and The Spanish Civil War: 
  "Paul has achieved in a concise volume what others have failed in far more voluminous accounts." 
  "An interesting read if you are new to Orwell or the Civil War in Spain...Highly recommended". 
  The Forgotten Stories from Spain Series brings you accounts of human bravery and spirit at a moment of unleashed cruelty during the Spanish Civil War. Stories of co-operation that have a universal message, as relevant to the world today, as it was in Spain during the 1930's.

  Show book

• 

  Surviving the United Nations -...

  Robert B. Adolph

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A UN security advisor recounts his dangerous—and often contentious—time with the organization in this candid combat memoir. 
   
  Robert B. Adolph was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces before becoming a security advisor for the United Nations. Adolph was sent to some of the most dangerous places on earth in pursuit of humanitarian efforts. But sometimes his worst opponent was the institution that had sent him. He holds the distinction of having been twice promoted—and twice fired—by the U.N.  
   
  In Surviving the United Nations, Adolph vividly recounts his experiences on assignment in Iraq when terrorists blew up the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. He also describes encounters with murderous child-soldiers; blood diamonds; a double hostage-taking; an invasion by brutal guerrillas; an emergency aerial evacuation; a desperate mission to recover hundreds of prisoners; tribal gunfights and unusual kidnappings; refugee camp violence; and institutional corruption.

  Show book

• 

  The Prince

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "The Prince" is a political treatise by Niccolò Machiavelli, written in 1513 and published in 1532. The book is a pragmatic guide for political leaders, focused on how to maintain power and navigate the complex and often ruthless world of governance. Although the text is commonly viewed as a manual for manipulation and a justification for Machiavellian deceit and cunning, it has also been interpreted as a realistic, if cynical, analysis of power dynamics. The work is a foundational text in political theory and continues to be studied and debated today.

  Show book

• 

  The Politicos Guide to the New...

  Tim Carr

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In the wake of the most unprecedented election result in recent memory, the question on everyone's lips is: what just happened to the UK's political landscape - and why? And who are the 182 new faces on the House of Commons benches? In The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015, public affairs consultant Tim Carr teams up with editors of the bestselling Politicos Guide to the 2015 General Election Iain Dale and Robert Waller to present an all-inclusive and essential postelection document for academics, journalists, students and political enthusiasts alike in the wake of the poll-defying 2015 general election.
  Wide-ranging and accessible, this essential guide provides, amongst much else:
  • Biographies of the class of 2015, alongside details of their majorities and constituencies;
  • Demographic analysis by age, gender, ethnic origin, education and background;
  • Lists of new marginal constituencies, possible targets seats, defeated MPs, and more;
  • Expert commentary from political journalists and pollsters, exploring the role of the media, the historic result in Scotland and the future impact of fixed-term parliaments.
  Ranging from the disastrous pre-election polls to the failure of UKIP to make a breakthrough - and the massacre of Scottish Labour - The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015 is a must-read for anyone eager to know the details of the election result that has so dramatically re-shaped the country's political landscape.

  Show book

• 

  When the Stars Begin to Fall -...

  Theodore R. Johnson

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A “persuasive . . . heartfelt and vividly written” call to counter systemic racism and build national solidarity in America (Publishers Weekly). 
   
  The American Promise enshrined in our Constitution states that all men and women are inherently equal. And yet racism continues to corrode our society. If we cannot overcome it, Theodore Johnson argues, the promise that made America unique on Earth will have died. In When the Stars Begin to Fall, Johnson presents a compelling blueprint for the kind of national solidarity necessary to mitigate racism. 
   
  Weaving together history, personal memories, and his family’s multi-generational experiences with racism, Johnson posits that solutions can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society—not a color-blind one—is the true fulfillment of the American Promise. 
   
  Fueled by Johnson’s ultimate faith in the American project, grounded in his family’s longstanding optimism and his own military service, When the Stars Begin to Fall is an urgent call to undertake the process of overcoming what has long seemed intractable.

  Show book