` Outsourcing` -- when will the horror stories stop coming? Every year the government gives private companies like G4S, Serco, Capita & ATOS GBP80 billion of taxpayers` money to handle some of our most sensitive & important services
- but where is their transparency? Immigration is perhaps the most challenging & divisive issue of our time -- so why has our government abdicated responsibility? As privatisation looms over an NHS in crisis, how do we hold these companies to account? Now, White speaks to campaigners, Whitehall insiders
- & the companies themselves. Who Really Runs Britain? is a shocking compendium of what happens when outsourcing goes wrong
- & what we do now.


...

A new book on the state of the world today -- from one of the most respected & revered political commentators alive Noam Chomsky: philosopher, political writer, fearless activist. No one has done more to question the hidden actors who govern our lives, calling the powers that be to account. Here he presents Who Rules the World?, his definitive account of those powers, how they work, & why we should be questioning them. From the dark history of the US & Cuba to China`s global rise, from torture memos to sanctions on Iran, this book investigates the defining issues of our times & exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of America`s policies & actions. The world`s political & financial elite are now operating almost totally unconstrained by the so-called democratic structure. With climate change & nuclear proliferation threatening our very survival, dissenting voices have never been more necessary. Fiercely outspoken & rigorously argued, Who Rules the World? is an indispensable guide to how things really are. ...

Internationally renowned political commentator Noam Chomsky examines America`s pursuit & exercise of power in a post 9/11 world Noam Chomsky is the world`s foremost intellectual activist. Over the last half century, no one has done more to question the great global powers who govern our lives, forensically scrutinizing policies & actions, calling our politicians, institutions & media to account. The culmination of years of work, Who Rules the World? is Chomsky`s definitive intellectual investigation into the major issues of our times. From the dark history of the US & Cuba to China`s global rise, from torture memos to sanctions on Iran, Chomsky explores how America`s talk of freedom & human rights is often at odds with its actions. Delving deep into the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, & Israel/ Palestine, he provides nuanced, surprising insights into the workings of modern-day imperial power. The world`s political & financial elite have become ever more insulated from democratic constraints on their actions. Chomsky shines a powerful light on this inconvenient truth. With climate change & nuclear proliferation threatening the survival of our civilization, the message has never been more pertinent or more urgent: the need for an engaged & active public to steer the world away from disaster grows ever greater. Fiercely outspoken & rigorously argued, Who Rules the World? is an indispensable guide to how things really are from the lone authoritative voice courageous & clear-sighted enough to tell us the truth. ...

If your funny older sister were the former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, her behind-the-scenes political memoir would look something like this... Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, & long before his run for president. From the then-senator`s early days in Congress to his years in the Oval Office, she made Hope & Change happen through blood, sweat, tears & lots of briefing binders. But for every historic occasion
- meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace, bursting in on secret climate talks, or nailing a campaign speech in a hailstorm
- there were dozens of less-than-perfect moments when it was up to Alyssa to save the day. Like the time she learned the hard way that there aren`t nearly enough bathrooms at the Vatican. Full of hilarious, never-before-told stories, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? is an intimate portrait of a president, a book about how to get stuff done, & the story of how one woman challenged, again & again, what a ` White House official` is supposed to look like. Here Alyssa shares the strategies that made her successful in politics & beyond, including the importance of confidence, the value of not being a jerk, & why ultimately everything comes down to hard work (and always carrying a spare tampon). Told in a smart, original voice & topped off with a couple of really good cat stories, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? is the brilliantly funny, frank & inspirational memoir from a savvy political star.

...

This is an accessible & informative guide to the major pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, their names & their cartouches. It is a concise guide arranged chronologically. It is illustrated with colour photographs for the first time. It is a perfect reference for beginners & scholars alike. In Ancient Egypt, a name did more than express ones identity; it incorporated it, forming a profound element of it. Names of kings were especially important as the king of Egypt acted as the earthly counterpart to the sun-god. At his accession to the throne, a pharaoh would take five names to distinguish him from ordinary human beings; the first being his birth name & the remaining four composed specially for the coronation. The first four chapters of this book are divided by period, covering 3000 years of history from the dawn of Egyptian writing to the use of royal names under the Roman emperors in Egypt. With the help of ancient hieroglyphic texts & modern research, they give an indepth but accessible history of Ancient Egyptian royalty & society. The final chapter provides an extensive list of royal names & displays the principal cartouches for all the major kings of Ancient Egypt as well as some lesser-known but equally intriguing pharaohs. It also details the key events & characteristics of each reign. This book is an indispensible guide to the identity of the Egyptian pharaohs for people of all levels of knowledge. The Author Stephen Quirke was formerly a Curator in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum. He is now Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology at UCL. ...

Growing up in the Nairobi of the 90s, a seething boiling pot of racial tension & conflicting cultural taboos, Leena & Jai are raised to believe in a Kenya full of possibility & potential. But as they come of age & venture into a world of underground activists beyond the confines of their tight-knit East Asian community & closely guarded, gated compound, they start to see a country divided by deep ethnic allegiances & on the brink of something very sinister. Soon Leena & Jai find themselves entangled in a shady world of crooked policemen, seedy salesmen, prostitutes, & bohemian artists. As the city tightens its grip, so begins a dangerous game of corruption & conspiracy, where rebellions simmer, & a tangled web of power unravels as dark forces collide & disturbing revelations surface.A powerful tale of love & politics in contemporary Nairobi, Who Will Catch Us As We Fall depicts a Kenya on the cusp of change in all its complexity. Through two of the most memorable & remarkable characters in contemporary African fiction, Iman Verjee has penned a moving portrait of a family torn apart by national politics & prejudice, yet still painfully tethered together. ...

In 1940 the Jews in Warsaw were forced to live in horrendous conditions in a crowded ghetto where many people were killed. Emanuel Ringelblum began an underground organisation recording their lives to ensure that their history would be written if he was killed. The secret group named Oyneg Shabes gathered photographs, letters, papers, poems & sketches which they buried in milk boxes & tins. Years later one of the survivors of the Oyneg Shabes reveals its secret location & their story can fully be told. ...

Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton was the first Mexican-American woman to write novels in English & the first nineteenth-century Californian writer to publish a novel in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War. Her first book, Who Would Have Thought It?, tells the story of Lola, a young, orphaned Mexican girl rescued from Indian captors by one Dr Norval, who returns with Lola to his New England home. Through the riveting story of a girl's coming-of-age, Who Would Have Thought It? offers a stunning portrayal of the clash of cultures & communities, & a fresh perspective on Civil War America. ...

Sing around the world, from high in the mountains to low in the valleys, in every town & city, with all the fish, birds, trees & flowers of the Earth. Featuring informative endnotes on the environment & global warming, this book & CD combo is adapted from the popular gospel spiritual. This Music CD features well-known singalong song with an environmental twist. It is printed on ancient forest friendly paper &

Includes:: great tips on how to keep our earth healthy & happy.

...

Approximately 250 wild whooping cranes nest in northern Canada & winter in south Texas, flying 2, 500 miles annually between these two distinct havens: the coastal marshes of the Gulf of Mexico & the boreal wilderness on the border of Alberta & the Northwest Territories. Through twists of good fortune, each of these terminal migratory places is protected from human encroachment--by a U.S. national wildlife refuge on the one hand & a Canadian national park on the other. This last remaining natural flock of the species, its numbers small but slowly increasing, has thus become known by the names of its sanctuaries: Aransas-Wood Buffalo. On the flock`s wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, photographer Klaus Nigge has captured the daily activity of a single family over several weeks in two separate years, documenting their life in the salt marshes of the central Texas coast &, in one year, the happy arrival from the north of twin adolescents, itself an unusual event. Then, with the backing of ” National Geographic” magazine, he received unprecedented permission from the Canadian government to photograph the cranes` summer nesting sites in remote areas of Wood Buffalo National Park. To obtain these unique photographs, he sat in a cleverly constructed blind for six days & nights, watching as a chick hatched & the adults cared for their young. There he witnessed both the peace & the perils of the cranes` summer haven. In three galleries, each containing portfolios of images of these magnificent birds in their natural habitat, Nigge captures the beauty & essential mystery that have led humans the world over to include cranes in their earliest myths & legends. in addition, Nigge has written vignettes to accompany each of the portfolios. Krista Schlyer provides an introductory text that affords an overview of crane history. She chronicles the monumental efforts by humans to ensure the survival of the species & has added a profile of Nigge, outlining his extraordinary entry into the world of wild whooping cranes in order to acquire these breathtaking photographs. See the recent article in ” National Geographic”here. ...