Africa is forever on our TV screens but the bad-news stories (famine genocide corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of de-colonialisation began in the mid-1950s & arguably before the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war improper use of natural resources & misappropriation of revenues & aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What if anything is to be done? Fully revised & updated & weaving together the key stories & characters of the last sixty years into a stunningly compelling & coherent narrative Martin Meredith has produced the definitive history of how European ideas of how to organise 10 000 different ethnic groups has led to what Tony Blair described as the 'scar on the conscience of the world'. Authoritative provocative & consistently fascinating this is the updated edition of the seminal book on one of the most important issues facing the West today. ...

The book behind major BBC2 series The Seventies" Dominic Sandbrook's " State of Emergency
- The Way We Were: Britain 1970-74" is
...

The Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park Congo & Sphere takes on global warming in this gripping & critically acclaimed thriller. In Paris a physicist dies after performing a laboratory experiment for a beautiful visitor. In the jungles of Malaysia a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitation technology built to his specifications. In Vancouver a small research submarine is leased for use in the waters of New Guinea. & in Tokyo an intelligence agent tries to understand what it all means. Thus begins Michael Crichtons exciting & provocative techno-thriller State of Fear. Only Crichtons unique ability to blend scientific fact with pulse-pounding fiction could bring such disparate elements to a heart-stopping conclusion. This is Crichtons most wide-ranging thriller. State of Fear takes the reader from the glaciers of Iceland to the volcanoes of Antarctica from the Arizona desert to the deadly jungles of the Solomon Islands from the streets of Paris to the beaches of Los Angeles. The novel races forward on a roller-coaster thrill ride all the while keeping the brain in high gear. Gripping & thought-provoking State of Fear is Michael Crichton at his best. ...

Julie a young doctor is running late. She is about to pick up her daughter from school close to the City of London when there is an explosion. Sirens shriek. A police van tells everyone to take cover from radiation. She huddles in a shop with strangers
- City workers an Asian girl an American a Russian beauty therapist & a mysterious Chechen. Were any of them involved in the attack? Is she contaminated
- & will the radiation spread to the school? As she helps the victims she is terrified about her daughter. As a second strike looms fear engulfs the nation. Will what Julie learnt that day help MI5 prevent another attack?

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The first ever collection of Iain Banks's short fiction this volume

Includes:: the acclaimed novella The State

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Many of the environmental & social problems we face today are symptoms of a deeper systemic failing: a dominant cultural paradigm that encourages living in ways that are often directly counter to the realities of a finite planet. This paradigm typically referred to as 'consumerism ' has already spread to cultures around the world & has led to consumption levels that are vastly unsustainable. If this pattern spreads further there will be little possibility of solving climate change or other environmental problems that are poised to dramatically disrupt human civilization. It will take a sustained long-term effort to redirect the traditions social movements & institutions that shape consumer cultures towards becoming cultures of sustainability. These institutions include schools the media businesses & governments. Bringing about a cultural shift that makes living sustainably as 'natural' as a consumer lifestyle is today will not only address urgent crises like climate change it could also tackle other symptoms like extreme income inequity obesity & social isolation that are not typically seen as environmental problems. State of the World 2010" paints a picture of what this sustainability culture could look like & how we can
- & already are
- making the shift."

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2012 There were people on the banks of the river. Among the tangled waterways & giant anacondas of the Brazilian Rio Negro an enigmatic scientist is developing a drug that could alter the lives of women for ever. Dr Annick Swenson's work is shrouded in mystery; she refuses to report on her progress especially to her investors whose patience is fast running out. Anders Eckman a mild-mannered lab researcher is sent to investigate. A curt letter reporting his untimely death is all that returns. Now Marina Singh Anders' colleague & once a student of the mighty Dr Swenson is their last hope. Compelled by the pleas of Anders's wife who refuses to accept that her husband is not coming home Marina leaves the snowy plains of Minnesota & retraces her friend's steps into the heart of the South American darkness determined to track down Dr. Swenson & uncover the secrets being jealously guarded among the remotest tribes of the rainforest. What Marina does not yet know is that in this ancient corner of the jungle where the muddy waters & susurrating grasses hide countless unknown perils & temptations she will face challenges beyond her wildest imagination. Marina is no longer the student but only time will tell if she has learnt enough. ...

If America is the Roman Empire of our time then New York City is Rome. The pulsating heart of the West pumps greenbacks through the veins of Manhattan the richest place in the world. Power emanates from it's corporate brains & financial muscle across the whole surface of the globe. So how is it that even in the body of America land of eternal youth there is failure death & decay hidden just beneath its glossy surfaces? A new breed of urban adventurers take a savage ride through the invisible story of the North Eastern USA. From NYC to the infamous Rust Belt once home to America's heavy industry States of Decay brings you a glimpse of the broken the doomed the entropic dreamlands on the flipside of the silver dollar coin. A unique exploration of everything from abandoned power plants hospitals asylums schools theatres steel mills prisons factories hotels cathedrals blast furnaces convents to a boat graveyard. This extended photo-essay functions as a visual poem allowing the reader to draw their own experiences & conclusions from the images themselves. No interpretation necessary. This book will ask disturbing questions & inspire unexpected answers from anyone with an imagination & a heart. Sit back & let us take you on a walk around the Bad Apple. ...

THE STATESMANS YEARBOOK 2013 This classic reference work presents a political economic & social account of every country of the world together with facts & analysis. The 2013 edition
Includes:: * Revised & updated biographical profiles of all current leaders * Revised economic overviews for every country * Expanded & updated historical introductions * Chronology of key political events from April 2011 to March 2012 * NEW ESSAY: The Future Balance of Economic Power by Barry Turner * NEW: Extensive factsheet on Migration * NEW EXTRACT: Globalization & Human Mobility from The Age of Migration by Stephen Castles & Mark J. Miller * Detailed maps of all 194 countries DO YOU KNOW How...many adults in the world are obese? If...the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were a separate country where would it be in a world ranking based on a countrys population? What...is the worlds smallest country by land mass? When...did Algeria gain independence from France? Which...country was the only member of the EU to avoid recession in 2009? Who...was elected New Yorks first black mayor in 1989? THE EDITOR Author of over twenty books most of which have a link to history & economics Dr Barry Turner is the seventh editor in the 149-year history of The Statesmans Yearbook.
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In 1939 several hundred people
- students professors international chess players junior military officers actresses & debutantes
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