Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate or we 'blink' & go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they're discovering this is not how the mind works. This book shows how the fluctuations of a few dopamine neurons saved a battleship during the Persian Gulf War, & how the fevered activity of a single brain region led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. ...

Moving from the birth of Europe to the current crisis, this irreverent & topical book questions the relevance of the European Union today, addressing issues ranging from immigration & Turkish integration to the sovereign debt crisis, & whether this will prove to be merely the beginning of intractable economic challenges. ...

Just what was so great about Peter, Catherine, Frederick & Alexander? What did Cleopatra see to admire in the fat man with a beard, Mark Anthony? Why do people suffer from Montezuma's revenge? This title takes you on a journey through the annals of history with the heroes & villains of the past as your fellow travellers. ...

No empire has been larger or more diverse than the British Empire. At its apogee in the 1930s, 42 million Britons governed 500 million foreign subjects. This book presents the story of the decline & eclipse of British might, the major historical event in the closing stages of the second millennium. ...