Designed for a popular audience that is intrigued by our ever-growing knowledge of space, ” The New Solar System”, is the next compelling work by two terrifically reviewed popular astronomy authors: Robert Burnham (” Great Comets”) & Pat Daniels (” Encyclopedia of Space”). Throughout there are gems of information that challenges the reader with did-you-know surprises: the Sun`s true temperature & timeline; an inside look at solar sails; when the next ice age begins for Earth; the lowdown on Mercury, the mystery Ppanet; why Venus is `volcanism run wild`; how to hunt for asteroid impacts on Earth...and predict future ones; & why Pluto, alas, is no more than an icy dwarf. As NASA turns 50 & we prepare for a manned return to the Moon, & new studies reveal evidence of water on Mars, this compelling new book sheds new light on the ever-evolving solar system. ...

`I was just a regular idiot, a nutcase, a show-off & all that. Nothing to cry about. Seriously` Edgar W., teenage dropout, unrequited lover, unrecognized genius
- & dead
- tells the story of his brief, spectacular life. It is the story of how he rebels against the petty rules of communist East Germany to live in an abandoned summer house, with just a tape recorder & a battered copy of Goethe`s The Sorrows of Young Werther for company. Of his passionate love for the dark-eyed, unattainable kindergarten teacher Charlie. & of how, in a series of calamitous events (involving electricity & a spray paint machine), he meets his untimely end. Absurd, funny & touching, this cult German bestseller is both a satire on life in the GDR & a hymn to youthful freedom.

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A fully revised, expanded & updated edition of John Hooper`s fantastic look at contemporary Spain. The restoration of democracy in 1977 heralded a period of intense change that continues today. Since then Spain has become a land of extraordinary paradoxes in which traditional attitudes & contemporary preoccupations exist side by side. Focussing on issues which affect ordinary Spaniards, from housing to gambling, from changing sexual mores to rising crime rates, John Hooper`s insightful study brings to life the new Spain of the twenty-first century. ...

” Number one Evening Standarad bestseller book of the year”. (Daily Telegraph). ” Exceptional. A blueprint for productive, sophisticated espionage in the age of Islamist terror”. (Daily Telegraph). Spying has changed. In this era of email intercepts & drone strikes, spooks are expected to uncover plots buried in mountains of data. Yet this makes the need for trained field operatives who can verify facts & uncover secrets more acute than ever. The human factor endures. In The New Spymasters, the first real account of how modern espionage works, we follow riveting stories of dramatic missions & the larger-than-life characters who undertook them. These were moments when success
- & ultimately life or death
- depended on whether the right person was in the right place...at exactly the right time.

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In The New Threat renowned expert & prize-winning reporter Jason Burke provides the clearest & most comprehensive guide to Islamic militancy today. From Syria to Somalia, from Libya to Indonesia, from Yemen to the capitals of Europe, Islamic militancy appears stronger, more widespread & more threatening than ever. ISIS & other groups, such as Boko Haram, together command significant military power, rule millions & control extensive territories. Elsewhere Al-Qaeda remains potent & is rapidly evolving. Factions & subsidiaries proliferate worldwide, & a new generation of Western Jihadists are emerging, joining conflicts abroad & attacking at home. Who are these groups & what do they actually want? What connects them & how do they differ? How are we to understand their tactics of online activism & grotesque violence? Drawing on almost two decades of frontline reporting as well as a vast range of sources, from intelligence officials to the militants themselves, renowned expert Jason Burke cuts through the mass of opinion & misinformation to explain dispassionately & with total clarity the nature of the threat we now face. He shows that Islamic militancy has changed dramatically in recent years. Far from being a `medieval` throwback, it is modern, dynamic & resilient. Despite everything, it is entirely comprehensible. The New Threat is essential reading if we are to understand our fears rather than succumb to them, to act rationally & effectively, & to address successfully one of the most urgent problems of our time. ...

An epic tale of Vladimir Putin`s path to power, as he emerged from obscurity to become one of the world`s most conflicted & important leaders. Former New York Times Moscow Bureau Chief Steven Lee Myers has followed Putin since well before the recent events in the Ukraine, & gives us the fullest & most engaging account available of his rise to power. A gripping, page-turning narrative about Russian power & prestige, the book depicts a cool & calculating leader with enormous ambition & few scruples. As the world struggles to confront a newly assertive Russia, the importance of understanding Putin has never been greater. Vladimir Putin rose out of Soviet deprivation to the pinnacle of influence in the new Russian nation. He came to office in 2000 as a reformer, cutting taxes & expanding property rights, bringing a measure of order & eventually prosperity to millions whose only experience of democracy in the early years following the Soviet collapse was instability, poverty & criminality. But soon Putin orchestrated the preservation of a new kind of authoritarianism, consolidating power, reasserting his country`s might, brutally crushing revolts & swiftly dispatching dissenters, even as he retained the support of many. ...

Updated since the decision to begin Turkey`s admission to the European Union. Turkey is a country in a state of flux, swept along by an extraordinary process of change. In the last few years, a series of far-reaching political & economic reforms has swept away much of the old order which ruled the country for so long. Some people call it a second Turkish revolution. But resistance to reform remains strong. Pressure for change has come from ordinary people fed up with the old ways; it`s also been motivated by the dominant issue of Turkish political life
- the long pursuit of membership of the European Union. & yet Turkey remains a mystery to many outsiders; a complex country hard to underst&. It`s secular & Muslim, Western & Eastern, democratic & authoritarian, all at the same time. This book examines the potential & the problems of the new Turkey, & the expectations of the people who live there, drawing on first hand interviews & observations gathered over several years.
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Our cities drive innovation & growth, but they also propel us into housing crises & give rise to ever-greater inequality, as the super-rich displace the well-off, & the workers who run our essential services are ghettoised & pushed out to the suburbs. There is a New Urban Crisis, & it is undermining the foundations of our society. In this bracingly original work of research & analysis, leading urbanist Richard Florida demonstrates how our cities are evolving in the twenty-first century, for good & for ill. From the world`s superstar metropolises to the urban slums of the developing world, he shows how the crisis touches all of us, & sets out how we can make our cities more inclusive, ensuring prosperity for all. ...

Veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce used to think of invasive species as evil interlopers spoiling pristine `natural` ecosystems. Most conservationists would agree. But what if traditional ecology is wrong, & true environmentalists should be applauding the invaders? In The New Wild, Pearce goes on a journey to rediscover what conservation should really be about. He explores ecosystems from Pacific islands to the Australian outback to the Thames estuary, digs into the questionable costs of invader species, & reveals the outdated intellectual sources of our ideas about the balance of nature. Keeping out alien species looks increasingly flawed. The new ecologists looking afresh at how species interact in the wild believe we should celebrate the dynamism of alien species & the novel ecosystems they create. In an era of climate change & widespread ecological damage, we must find ways to help nature regenerate. Embracing the `new wild` is our best chance. ...

Veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce used to think of invasive species as evil interlopers spoiling pristine `natural` ecosystems. Most conservationists would agree. But what if traditional ecology is wrong, & true environmentalists should be applauding the invaders? In The New Wild, Pearce goes on a journey to rediscover what conservation should really be about. He explores ecosystems from Pacific islands to the Australian outback to the Thames estuary, digs into the questionable costs of invader species, & reveals the outdated intellectual sources of our ideas about the balance of nature. Keeping out alien species looks increasingly flawed. The new ecologists looking afresh at how species interact in the wild believe we should celebrate the dynamism of alien species & the novel ecosystems they create. In an era of climate change & widespread ecological damage, we must find ways to help nature regenerate. Embracing the `new wild` is our best chance. ...