In the century after the Civil War an economic revolution enhanced the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable Electric lighting indoor plumbing motor vehicles air travel & television transformed households & workplaces But has that era of unprecedented growth come to an end? Weaving together a vivid narrative historical anecdotes & economic analysis The Rise & Fall of American Growth challenges the view that economic growth will continue unabated & demonstrates that the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 & 1970 cannot be repeated Gordon contends that the nation's productivity growth will be further held back by the headwinds of rising inequality stagnating education an aging population & the rising debt of college students & the federal government & that we must find new solutions A critical voice in the most pressing debates of our time The Rise & Fall of American Growth is at once a tribute to a century of radical change & a harbinger of tougher times to come ...

Nine Greek biographies illustrate the rise & fall of Athens from the legendary days of Theseus the city's founder through Solon Themistocles Aristides Cimon Pericles Nicias & Alcibiades to the razing of its walls by Lysander ...

Winner of the 2010 WJM Mackenzie Prize for Best Political Science Book of the Year 2010 The relentless rise of Communism was the most momentous political development of the first half of the twentieth century No political change has been more fundamental than its demise in Europe & its decline elsewhere In this hugely acclaimed book Archie Brown provides an indispensable history that examines the origins of the ideology its development in different countries its collapse in many states following the Soviet perestroika & its current incarnations around the globe The Rise & Fall of Communism explains how & why Communists came to power; how they were able in a variety of countries on different continents to hold on to power for so long; & what brought about the downfall of so many Communist systems A groundbreaking work from an internationally renowned specialist this is the definitive study of the most remarkable political & human story of our times ...

You think you know how the world works? Think again From bestselling author Neal Stephenson & critically acclaimed historical & contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating & complex near-future thriller that questions the very foundations of the modern world 1851 England The Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace has opened celebrating the rise of technology & commerce With it the power of magic
- in decline since the industrial revolution began
- is completely snuffed out The existence of magic begins its gradual devolution into mere myth 21st Century America Magic has faded from the minds of mankind until an encounter between Melisande Stokes linguistics expert at Harvard & Tristan Lyons shadowy agent of government leads to the uncovering of a distant past After translating a series of ancient texts Melisande & Tristan discover the connection between science magic & time travel & so the Department of Diachronic Operations
- DODO
- is hastily brought into existence It's mission to develop a device that will send their agents back to the past where they can stop magic from disappearing & alter the course of history But when you interfere with the past there's no telling what you might find in your future Written with the genius complexity & innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson's work & steeped with the down-to-earth warmth & humour of Nicole Galland's storytelling style this exciting & vividly realised work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible & take you to places
- & times
- beyond imagining





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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER' Entertaining acute & disarmingly honest' Economist'A vital guide to the new economic order' Rana Foroohar Time The crisis of 2008 ended the illusion of a golden era in which many people imagined that prosperity & political calm would continue to spread indefinitely In a world now racked by slowing growth & mounting unrest how can we discern which nations will thrive & which will fail? Shaped by prize-winning author Ruchir Sharma's twenty-five years travelling the world The Rise & Fall of Nations rethinks economics as a practical art By narrowing down the thousands of factors that can shape a country's future it spells out ten clear rules for identifying the next big winners & losers in the global economy' The nub of the book is how to spot which countries are likely to succeed & which to fail in this impermanent world Sharma offers a framework of 10 rules The more of these rules countries achieve the more they are likely to rise rather than fall it may just help you avoid picking losers' David Smith Sunday Times' Amazing fascinating insights quite simply the best guide to the global economy today' Fareed Zakaria' Lively & informative' Martin Wolf Financial Times' As ambitious as it is well executed a mix of humble pragmatism & daring decisiveness' Reuters ...

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE Paul Kennedy's international bestseller is a sweeping account of five hundred years of fluctuating economic muscle & military might Kennedy's masterwork begins in the year 1500 at a time of various great centres of power including Minh China the Ottomans the rising Mughal state the nations of Europe But it was the latter which through competition economic growth & better military organisation came to dominate the globe
- until challenged later by Japan the Soviet Union & the United States Now China boosted by its own economic prowess rises to the fore Throughout this brilliant work Kennedy persuasively demonstrates the interdependence of economic & military power showing how an imbalance between the two has historically led to spectacular political disaster Erudite & brilliantly original The Rise & Fall of the Great Powers is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the politics of power
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An illuminating & highly readable account of the rise & demise of a world classic which still informs our common language as well as much of the great literature of the last four centuries Most histories of Church of England liturgy for good reason begin in the 1530s & centre on the 1549 & 1552 Books of Common Prayer That is important for initial doctrinal changes & the establishment of the liturgical text However both liturgies were extremely short-lived & the real history of the Book of Common Prayer as the Liturgy of the Church of England begins with the Elizabethan Settlement 1559 & a long tenure of the enacted Elizabethan liturgy The only revision of any note was that of 1662 & this revision lasted without serious challenge until the 19th century & without legal alternative until the twentieth century This study therefore concentrates on 1559 until the Report of the Royal Commission in 1906 which paved the way for liturgical revision ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Simon Cotton & Kevin Leslie star as the infamous gangster twins Ronnie & Reggie Kray in this double bill of British crime dramas & Rise of the Krays& (2015) chronicles the Kray twins& early criminal career that saw them rise from amateur boxers to notorious & feared criminals in London&s East End The story follows the pair&s violent ascension during the &60s as they turn to lives of crime full-time with the expansion of their nightclub blackmail & racketeering operations The sequel & Fall of the Krays& (2016) follows the downfall of the brothers from Bethnal Green & their notorious Firm After their violent ascension to the top of the criminal underworld business is booming for the brothers as Reggie prepares to be married But the twins& good fortune doesn&t last as they each battle problems at home & the police prepare to finally bring down the Firm ...

More than 98 percent of human genes are shared with two species of chimpanzee The 'third' chimpanzee is man Jared Diamond surveys out life-cycle culture sexuality & destructive urges both towards ourselves & the planet to explore the ways in which we are uniquely human yet still influenced by our animal origins ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play British crime drama starring Timothy Spall Iwan Rheon & Matthew Lewis Falsely imprisoned as a result of local drug kingpin Roper (Neil Maskell)&s scheming Harvey (Luke Treadaway) returns home a man desperate to get his revenge As well as concocting a plan with the help of his three close friends Dempsey (Rheon) Charlie (Gerard Kearns) & Dodd (Lewis) to strip Roper of all his assets & undermine his reputation Harvey is also tasked with winning back the trust & admiration of his girlfriend Nicola (Vanessa Kirby) ...