The world is full of problems & conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem. & this is getting worse: we are so accustomed to readily available information online that we search immediately for the answers rather than thinking about them. Our minds function like trying to drive a car using only one wheel. There's nothing wrong with that one wheel
- conventional thinking
- but we could all get a lot further if we used all four...

De Bono examines why we think the way we do from a historical perspective & uses some of his famous thinking techniques combined with new ideas to show us how to change the way we think. If we strengthen our ability & raise our thinking level, other areas of our life
- both personal & business success
- will improve.

De Bono is the master of the original big 'concept' book & his enticement to us to use our minds as constructively as possible should appeal to a whole new generation of fans.







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After the early death of her philandering husb&, Etsuko moves into her father-in-law's house, where she numbly submits to the old man's advances. But soon she finds herself in love with the young servant Saburo. Tormented by his indifference, yet invigorated by her desire, she makes her move, with catastrophic consequences. ...

After the early death of her philandering husb&, Etsuko moves into her father-in-law's house, where she numbly submits to the old man's advances. But soon she finds herself in love with the young servant Saburo. Tormented by his indifference, yet invigorated by her desire, she makes her move, with catastrophic consequences. ...

At the end of the First World War, Germany was demonised. The Treaty of Versailles contained a 'war guilt' clause pinning the blame on the aggression of Germany & accusing her of 'supreme offence against international morality'. Thirteen Days rejects this verdict. Clive Ponting also rejects the thesis that Europe in 1914 had reached such a boiling point that war was bound to erupt & the theory that the origins of the War lay in a mighty arms race. He argues that the War occurred primarily because of the situation in the Balkans, while he gives full weight to Austria-Hungary's desire to cripple Serbia instead of negotiating, & to Russia's militaristic programme of expansion. Clive Ponting begins with a dramatic recreation of the assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June. He then examines how things spiralled out of control during the weeks that led to war. The tension builds as his story criss-crosses the capital cities of Europe & describes developments day by day, &, latterly, hour by hour. The First World War destroyed the old Europe. Nearly nine million soldiers were killed & twenty-one million wounded; over ten million civilians died. By the end of the War, three great European empires
- Germany, Austria-Hungary & Russia
- had disintegrated. Why did the War happen? In 1914, the states of Europe had been at peace for forty years, & every diplomatic dispute had been resolved peacefully. Thirteen Days describes failures of communication, fateful decisions & escalating military moves; it is an extraordinary narrative of personalities & diplomacy in the dying weeks of an era in which telephone networks were in their infancy & governments relied on telegrams in code & face-to-face meetings of ambassadors.

...

At the end of the First World War, Germany was demonised. The Treaty of Versailles contained a 'war guilt' clause pinning the blame on the aggression of Germany & accusing her of 'supreme offence against international morality'. Thirteen Days rejects this verdict. Clive Ponting also rejects the thesis that Europe in 1914 had reached such a boiling point that war was bound to erupt & the theory that the origins of the War lay in a mighty arms race. He argues that the War occurred primarily because of the situation in the Balkans, while he gives full weight to Austria-Hungary's desire to cripple Serbia instead of negotiating, & to Russia's militaristic programme of expansion. Clive Ponting begins with a dramatic recreation of the assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June. He then examines how things spiralled out of control during the weeks that led to war. The tension builds as his story criss-crosses the capital cities of Europe & describes developments day by day, &, latterly, hour by hour. The First World War destroyed the old Europe. Nearly nine million soldiers were killed & twenty-one million wounded; over ten million civilians died. By the end of the War, three great European empires
- Germany, Austria-Hungary & Russia
- had disintegrated. Why did the War happen? In 1914, the states of Europe had been at peace for forty years, & every diplomatic dispute had been resolved peacefully. Thirteen Days describes failures of communication, fateful decisions & escalating military moves; it is an extraordinary narrative of personalities & diplomacy in the dying weeks of an era in which telephone networks were in their infancy & governments relied on telegrams in code & face-to-face meetings of ambassadors.

...

A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious John Christie committed a series of foul murders. He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby ...

A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious John Christie committed a series of foul murders. He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby ...

Mix Cellini (which he pronounces with an 'S' rather than a 'C') is superstitious about the number 13. In the musty old house where he is the lodger, there are thirteen steps down to the landing below his rooms, which he keeps spick & span. His elderly landlady, Gwendolen Chawcer, was born in St Blaise House, & lives her life almost exclusively through her library of books, so cannot see the decay & neglect around her. The Notting Hill neighbourhood has changed radically over the last fifty years, & 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious John Christie committed a series of foul murders, has been torn down. Mix is obsessed with the life of Christie & his small library is composed entirely of books on the subject. He has also developed a passion for a beautiful model who lives nearby
- a woman who would not look at him twice. Both landlady & lodger inhabit weird worlds of their own. But when reality intrudes into Mix's life, a long pent-up violence.
...