As China emerges as an international economic & military power the world waits to see how the nation will assert itself globally. Yet as M. Taylor Fravel shows in Strong Borders Secure Nation" concerns that China might be prone to violent conflict over territory are overstated. The first comprehensive study of Chinas territorial disputes " Strong Borders Secure Nation" contends that China over the past sixty years has been more likely to compromise in these conflicts with its Asian neighbors & less likely to use force than many scholars or analysts might expect. By developing theories of cooperation & escalation in territorial disputes Fravel explains Chinas willingness to either compromise or use force. When faced with internal threats to regime security especially ethnic rebellion China has been willing to offer concessions in exchange for assistance that strengthens the states control over its territory & people. By contrast China has used force to halt or reverse decline in its bargaining power in disputes with its militarily most powerful neighbors or in disputes where it has controlled none of the land being contested. Drawing on a rich array of previously unexamined Chinese language sources " Strong Borders Secure Nation" offers a compelling account of Chinas foreign policy on one of the most volatile issues in international relations." ...

Blending history science & gripping storytelling Strong in the Rain" brings the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 & its immediate aftermath to life through the eyes of the men & women who experienced it. Following the narratives of six individuals the book traces the shape of a disaster & the heroics it prompted including that of David Chumreonlert a Texan with Thai roots trapped in his schools gymnasium with hundreds of students & teachers as it begins to flood & Taro Watanabe who thought nothing of returning to the Fukushima plant to fight the nuclear disaster despite the effects that he knew would stay with him for the rest of his life. This is a beautifully written & moving account of how the Japanese experienced one of the worst earthquakes in history & endured its horrific consequences." ...

Can Lord Peter Wimsey prove that Harriet Vane is not guilty of murder
- or find the real poisoner in time to save her from the
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Karren Brady is Britain's best-known business woman. An inspiration to women everywhere her incredible success is borne of her passion impressive business instinct ambition & her very genuine honest down-to-earth outlook. This is her story...how she started out as a sparky 18 year old selling advertising space & how she went on to persuade David Sullivan at the age of 23 to buy a football club
- turning that business round to sell it for an incredible GBP82 million 12 years later. How she balances her personal life with her professional her priorities her life as mother of two & wife. How she coped when doctors told her after a routine scan that she had a brain aneurysm that she must have a complicated operation immediately & had a 30% chance of not surviving & how it has since influenced her outlook & priorities. An overwhelmingly inspiring & real look at work & life Karren Brady defies convention as a directional business woman in a male industry. This is how she does it & through her experience her drive & her skills
- it's a brilliant insight into how you can do it too.

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Karren Brady is an inspiration to women everywhere & her incredible success is borne of her passion impressive business instinct ambition & her very genuine honest down-to-earth outlook. This is Karren's story...before being Alan Sugar's aide on The Apprentice & VC of West Ham United how she started out as a sparky 18 year old at Saatchi & Saatchi & at 23 went on to persuade David Sullivan to buy Birmingham City football club
- turning that business round to sell it for an incredible GBP82 million 12 years later. Strong Woman tells how she balances her personal life with her professional her priorities her life as mother of two & wife. Karren reveals how she coped when doctors told her after a routine scan that she had a brain aneurysm that she must have a complicated operation immediately & had a 30% chance of not surviving & how it has since influenced her outlook & priorities. An overwhelmingly inspiring & real look at work & life Karren Brady defies convention as a directional business woman in a male industry. This is the truth about how she does it & through her experience her drive & her skills
- it offers brilliant advice on how you can do it too.

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Two books in one! A bind-up of books 5 & 6 in the highly successful My Secret Unicorn" series in which Lauren & her magical pony Twilight share some exciting adventures: In " Stronger Than Magic" Lauren is desperately worried when Twilight falls ill
- perhaps he has been doing too much magic? In "A Special Friend" Lauren & Twilight discover that a little pony Moonshine is also a secret unicorn
- but how can he find a special friend? This book is full of pony detail & magic just perfect for little girls."

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Josie Jenkins aged eight & three quarters can do a few tricks but she astonishes herself & everyone else when she finds she can lift a table a car & even a bus with no effort at all. Josie becomes famous & Mr Two Suit sweeps in with a contract & swoops the whole family off to New York. How Josie copes with fame & fortune & with the loss of it when she wakes up one day to find she cant do her trick any more makes a story of enormous charm with a tiny modest & sensible heroine you have to cheer for. Entrancing drawings on every page make this a really special book. ...

Strong men were the pop stars of their day topping the bill before packed houses with their bizarre & often dangerous stunts. Their photographs sold in the millions & the more popular among them gave private displays of rippling physiques to gatherings of thrilled society ladies willing to pay many guineas to bear witness. The craze began towards the end of Victoria's reign & spread across the world before the outbreak of the Great War. It encompassed larger-than-life characters both on & behind the stage dazzling displays bitter rivalries tragedy & disaster. The Strongest Men on Earth looks at the rise & fall of the body beautiful craze with each chapter focussing on a particular strong man showing how each developed & refined their art against the backdrop of Music Halls Svengali-like managers & an admiring but demanding public. This remarkable book gives a fascinating insight into a little-known aspect of Edwardian social history sport & show business. ...

Following the Atom Wars in the 22nd century many of the survivors were mutated by the Strontium 90 fallout. Unable to get regular jobs forced into ghettoes & considered an underclass by the norms the only work open to them was bounty hunting. These Search Destroy Agents
- or Strontium Dogs
- hunt the criminals too dangerous for the Galactic Crime Commission. One such S/D Agent is Johnny Alpha whose eyes enable him to see through solid objects. Book 4 collects together such classic stories as Max Bubba" & " Rage"."

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Following the Atom Wars in the 22nd century many of the survivors were mutated by the Strontium 90 fallout. Unable to get regular jobs forced into ghettoes & considered an underclass by the norms the only work open to them was bounty hunting. These Search Destroy Agents
- or Strontium Dogs
- hunt the criminals too dangerous for the Galactic Crime Commission. One such S/D Agent is Johnny Alpha whose eyes enable him to see through solid objects. Book 2 collects together such classic stories as Outlaw" & " The Moses Incident"."

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