Winner of the 2010 W.J.M. 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. ...

ECW burst onto the sports entertainment scene in the early 1990s & redefined the industry with a reckless brutal death-defying & often bloody style that became known as hardcore. In the process it attracted a rabid cult-like following that is still going strong today. The ECW hardcore style changed the wrestling business forever; & more than any other single factor it was the adoption of this new breed of wrestling from the young upstart company by the WWE that was largely responsible for the subsequent WWE domination of the industry. Through extensive interviews with former ECW talent & management fans will have an inside look at what made the company great -- & what led to its ultimate demise. ...

Electric & Music Industries Ltd (EMI) first saw the light of day in the UK in 1931. In a visionary move for the gramophone age it manufactured both hardware (recording & playback equipment) & software (the records & tapes its machines would play). For over half a century EMI dominated both sectors its music division eventually becoming the most successful in the world with a roster that at various times included The Beatles Maria Callas Frank Sinatra Cliff Richard Pink Floyd The Beach Boys Queen Robbie Williams The Spice Girls Kate Bush & Kylie Minogue. Then in the 1990s things started to go wrong
- This is the continuing saga of Britains greatest music company as it faces an uncertain future under new ownership. Since 2009 EMI has broken new acts & sold millions of records BUT the massive debts incurred by its owners Terra Firma have finally taken it to the brink of a break-up. Music industry experts & executives financiers & commentators plus artists managers assess EMIs fortunes as the company celebrates its 80th birthday.

Includes:: interviews with many key players including former EMI Group/EMI Music executives Sir Colin Southgate Jim Fifield Eric Nicoli Tony Wadsworth David Munns Rupert Perry Ray Cooper & Jon Webster. He has also interviewed many managers music journalists financial analysists & rival record company executives.


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The medical achievements of the post-war years rank as one of the supreme epochs of human endeavour. Advances in surgical technique new ideas about the nature of disease & huge innovations in drug manufacture vanquished most common causes of early death But since the mid-1970s the rate of development has slowed & the future of medicine is uncertain. How has this happened? James Le Fanu's hugely acclaimed survey of the 'twelve definitive moments' of modern medicine & the intellectual vacuum which followed them has been fully revised & updated for this edition. The Rise & Fall of Modern Medicine is both riveting drama & a clarion call for change. ...

THE RISE & FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE covers the history of British expansion overseas from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Narrative & analysis are interwoven with revealing eyewitness"ation to provide keen insight into the minds of those involved in conquering settling & ruling the greatest Empire the world has seen. Throughout there are consistant themes; the search for profit & the moral misgivings it generated; domestic developments which made imperial expansion desirable; & the sense of national & personal destiny felt by the empire-builders. Spanning four centuries & six continents James' magnificent survey examines the imperial experience & its legacy with tremendous verve. Informed comprehensive & perceptive it is the essential summary of the era. ' James' epic is not only a first-rate narrative but also a penetrating portrait of the British... Having largely if often inadvertently selfishly or ham-fistedly engineered the world we live in we need the courage now to face up to our record as coolly & intelligently as Lawrence James has done'
- John Spurling TLS
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The Knights Templar a mysterious fraternity of warrior monks pledged their swords to defend pilgrims to the Holy Land from the bandits & marauders of the roads. Patronised by the aristocracy the Templars soon evolved into a formidable army & were the vanguard of the ongoing Crusades. They were widely acclaimed for their boldness & tenacity showered with gifts by Catholic nobles & granted special privileges by admiring Popes. Even after the failure of the Crusades the Templars remained one of the dominant forces in Christendom with political power to rival kings...until with shocking speed they were brought down by accusations of blasphemous crimes. With confessions tortured out of them by the Inquisition many knights were burnt as heretics & the Order was disbanded by the Pope. What really happended behind the closed doors of the Templars' preceptories? Was there truth in the rumours of secret rituals conducted in the dead of the night? Did heretical depravity & Devil-worship truly exist within the illustrious brotherhood? Why is their name associated today with the Freemasons? In this lively & authoritative account historian Gordon Napier unravels the many mysteries that surround the Knights Templar & their sudden fall from grace. Widely acclaimed for their boldness & tenacity showered with gifts by Catholic nobles & granted special privileges by admiring Popes. Even after the failure of the Crusades the Templars remained one of the dominant forces in Christendom with political power to rival kings...until with shocking speed they were brought down by accusations of blasphemous crimes. ...

The Tardis of the Doctor Who" BBC television series is all that most know about the police box. These boxes have a far more interesting history which was virtually unknown today before the publication of this book. The 1880s saw companies in America develop from earlier fire alarms police call points & kiosks before they pursued clients in Britain. Just a few police forces in this country took an interest in the idea in these early years. Although the Metropolitan Police in London experimented with systems it was the police in Glasgow & Liverpool that were particularly active before the end of the century. The hey days for the police box were the years between the 1920s & 1960s when a large proportion of the many police forces that existed at the time introduced some form of communication from the street for both police officers & the public to use. This important aspect of policing is described using the often amusing experiences of retired police officers from all areas of the United Kingdom. The dying days of the police box after 1960 show the lasting interest there has been in this abandoned method of policing with museums always keen to acquire a retired box for display. " The Rise & Fall of the Police Box" is a meticulously researched & illustrated book by a retired Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police who is well qualified to write on the subject as the boxes were an important part of his day to day duty as a young constable in London in the 1950s & 60s. Although this book is really directed at the ordinary reader with an interest in finding out more about this iconic part of police history it will also be a godsend for the researcher & academic. Libraries & museums will find it a source of unequalled reference as will police box afficionados & Doctor Who enthusiasts." ...

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. ...

It was Hitler's boast that the Third Reich would last a thousand years. Instead it lasted only twelve. But into its short life was packed the most cataclysmic series of events that Western civilisation has ever known. William Shirer is one of the very few historians to have gained full access to the secret German archives which the Allies captured intact. He was also present at the Nuremberg trials. This is his authoritative historical account of the years 1933-45 when the Nazis under the rule of their desporic leader Adolf Hitler ruled Germany. They commandeered the Holocaust one of the most shocking acts of evil in modern history plunged the world into a second war & changed the face of modern history & modern Europe forever. ...

The second book in Raymond Feists super-selling quartet: The Serpentwar Saga. Triumphant but overconfident after his defeat of the reptilian Sauur army Roo must resist a beguiling seductress who threatens to undo him & all of Midkemia. Roo Avery recently returned from a harrowing brush with the armies of the Emerald Queen is now free to choose his own destiny & his ultimate ambition is to become one of the richest & most powerful merchants in Midkemia. But nothing can prepare him for the dangers of the new life he has chosen where the repayment of a debt can be as deadly as a knife in the shadows. Even those closest to him are suspect & as Roo struggles to build his financial empire betrayal is always close at h&. But while Roo works towards achieving his goal memories of the invasion haunt him still. For the war with the Emerald Queen is far from over & the inevitable confrontation will pose the biggest threat yet to his new found wealth & power. ...