Other books that might interest you

• 

  Civil War in the Roman Republic...

  Caius Memmius, Caius Marius,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Introduction 
  While compiling and narrating these speeches, I've often been struck by how easily they could be translated into a modern day context. Frequently, a speech has reminded me of the news of the day, somewhere in the world. Nowhere has this been more evident than in these speeches. Given over two thousand years ago, every single one could be applied to situations and people today with barely any revision. 
  The late republic (from about 133BCE) was characterized by civil discontent, with three Servile Wars, two attempted coups, a Social War between Rome and Italian allies, and endless conflict. 
  We begin in 110-106BCE with two speeches railing against the fixed social order and corruption of the highborn, as well as the scorn poured on those of lower birth. We then jump to the Cataline Conspiracy in 63 BCE, an attempt to overthrow the Senate that was only defeated at great cost, and continued to be a symbol of Rome’s troubles. Here we see Cataline exhorting his troops, Cato arguing for harsh punishment, C icero calling Cataline every contemptible name under the sun, and the only known speech of Julius Caesar, in which he argues for a sensible and jurisprudential response to this great crime. 
  Cicero’s leadership of Rome is then documented, covering the beliefs and actions that saw him exiled and then returned to power by the Senate. Finally, we have Mark Antony’s hagiographic oration of Julius Caesar, and then two speeches of Cicero’s railing against the perversion of Caesar’s legacy that Mark Antony was putting into practice, and the need to hold onto tradition for the right reasons, not simply to cover the misdeeds of politicians. Antony became Consul in this time, and Cicero saw in him the final downfall of the republic, which lasted for only seventeen years after this moment before becoming an Empire.

  Show book

• 

  Russia's War on Everybody - And...

  Keir Giles

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Russia's 2022 attack on Ukraine saw confrontation between Moscow and the West spill over into open conflict once again. But Russia has also been waging a clandestine war against the West for decades. Hostile acts abroad, from poisoning dissidents to shooting down airliners, interfering in elections, spying, hacking, and murdering, have long seemed to be the Kremlin's daily business. But what is it all for? Why does Russia consistently behave like this? And what does it achieve?In this book, Keir Giles explains how and why Russia pushes for more power and influence wherever it can reach, far beyond Ukraine—and what it means not just for governments, but for ordinary people. Bringing together stories from the military, politics, diplomacy, espionage, cyber power, organized crime, and more, Giles describes how Moscow conducts its campaigns across the globe, and how nobody is too unimportant to be caught up in them. By lifting the lid on the daily struggle going on behind the scenes to protect governments, businesses, societies, and people from Russian hostile activity, Russia's War On Everybody shows how Moscow's hostile intentions for the rest of the world are far broader and more ambitious, and the ways it tries to achieve them far more pervasive and damaging, than we realize.

  Show book

• 

  A Century Turns - New Hopes New...

  William J. Bennett

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A state of the union address as the twentieth century turned into the twenty-first—from the New York Times–bestselling author of America, the Last Best Hope. 
   
  In A Century Turns, William J. Bennett explores America’s recent and momentous history—the contentious election of 1988, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of global Communism, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, the technological and commercial boom of the 1990s, the war on terror, and the election of America’s first black president. 
   
  Surveying politics and pop culture, economics and technology, war and religion, Bennett pieces together the players, the personalities, the feats and the failures that transformed key moments in the American story. And he captures it all with piercing insight and unrelenting optimism.

  Show book

• 

  Female Intelligence - Women and...

  Tammy M Proctor

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A history of women who spied for Britain during WWI that “retells forgotten stories and unearths new evidence of intrepid female field agents” (London Review of Books).   When the Germans invaded her small Belgian village in 1914, Marthe Cnockaert’s home was burned and her family separated. After getting a job at a German hospital, and winning the Iron Cross for her service to the Reich, she was approached by a neighbor and invited to become an intelligence agent for the British. Not without trepidation, Cnockaert embarked on a career as a spy, providing information and engaging in sabotage before her capture and imprisonment in 1916. After the war, she was paid and decorated by a grateful British government for her service. Cnockaert’s is only one of the surprising and gripping stories that comprise Female Intelligence. This is the first history of the female spies who served Britain during World War I, focusing on both the powerful cultural images of these women and the realities, challenges, and contradictions of intelligence service. Between the founding of modern British intelligence organizations in 1909 and the demobilization of 1919, more than 6,000 women served the British government in either civil or military occupations as members of the intelligence community. These women performed a variety of services and represented an astonishing diversity of nationality, age, and class.   From Aphra Behn in the seventeenth century to the famed Mata Hari, female spies have a long history—existing in stark juxtaposition to the folkloric notion of women as chatty, gossipy, and indiscreet. Using personal accounts, letters, official documents, and newspaper reports, Female Intelligence interrogates different, and apparently contradictory, constructions of gender in the competing spheres of espionage activity.   “Proctor attempts to rescue female spies from cliches that classed them as either sexual predators or martyred virgins, manipulators or dupes, heartless vamps or emotional basket cases.” ―The New Yorker   “Useful and engaging . . . an important contribution to the history of British intelligence [that] sheds light on the unglamorous reality of a highly romanticized aspect of women's work.” ―American Historical Review  Includes illustration

  Show book

• 

  In Solidarity - Essays on...

  Kim Moody

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “One of the leading intellectuals of the labor movement” explores the state of unions in the United States, as well as evaluating the forces working against them (Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe). 
   
  In this thorough collection of inspiring and informed essays, Kim Moody, one of the world’s most authoritative and recognized labor writers, asks key questions: What has happened to union organizing in the United States? Is there an alternative to the strike? How does the increased presence of immigrant and women workers change the balance of forces? What strategies can workers use to counteract company “union avoidance” campaigns and bureaucratic “business unionism”? What is the role of socialists in the labor movement? 
   
  Drawing on his own background as a working-class radical, the works of Karl Marx, and the everyday experiences of nurses, miners, autoworkers, and more, Moody sketches a comprehensive picture of the state of US labor—and points the way forward for a rank-and-file union movement that can win real change. 
   
  Praise for Kim Moody 
   
  “One most of the most experienced working-class organizers in the US over the past few decades.” —Monthly Review 
   
  “[His] books and articles have for more than forty years provided essential analysis and strategy for the labor left.” —New Politics

  Show book

• 

  Enough: The Violence Against...

  Harriett Johnson

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  ’Outstanding’ THE SECRET BARRISTER‘It’s brilliant, it’s comprehensive, buy it’ EVENING STANDARD‘A powerful, illuminating, enraging and inspiring read’ JESS PHILLIPS MP‘Precise, heartfelt and anti-pompous’ THE TIMES 
  Why is our criminal justice system so bad at protecting women from violence? 
  Reporting from the heart of the courtroom, this book sees barrister Harriet Johnson dissect the problems in our policing, laws and culture. How can we hold the police accountable, take stalking seriously and make justice a reality for sexual assault survivors? 
  This is an unforgettable case for change and a clear plan of how we can make it happen. 
  In ENOUGH, Harriet Johnson, a best-selling author, provides a comprehensive look at the gender bias and corruption in our justice system. Her insights into social policy and public accountability make this book a top pick for anyone interested in these issues. 
  For fans of Laura Bates (Sisters of Sword and Shadow), The Secret Barrister (The Secret Barrister Collection 3 Books Set), Shon Faye (The Transgender Issue), Kate Manne (Down Girl), and Evan Stark (Women at Risk). 
  HarperCollins 2022

  Show book