The United Nations has been called everything from the best hope of mankind" to "irrelevant" & "obsolete." With this much-needed introduction to the UN Jussi Hanhimaki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was originally conceived how it has come to its present form & how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. After a brief history of the United Nations & its predecessor the League of Nations the author examines the UNs successes & failures as a guardian of international peace & security as a promoter of human rights as a protector of international law & as an engineer of socio-economic development. Hanhimaki stresses that the UNs greatest problem has been the impossibly wide gap between its ambitions & capabilities. In the area of international security for instance the UN has to settle conflicts--be they between or within states--without offending the national sovereignty of its member states & without being sidelined by strong countries as happened in the 2003 intervention of Iraq. Hanhimaki also provides a clear accounting of the UN & its various arms & organizations (such as UNESCO & UNICEF) & he offers a critical overview of how effective it has been in the recent crises in Rwanda & the former Yugoslavia for example--and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future. The United Nations Hanhimaki concludes is an indispensable organization that has made the world a better place. But it is also a deeply flawed institution in need of constant reform." ...

With Lou Macari Joe Jordan Martin Buchan Gordon Hill Tommy Docherty Gerry Daly Sammy Mc Ilroy Jimmy Greenhoff Jimmy Nicholl & Stuart Pearson Following the success of his books on United in the 1980s & 90s Andy Mitten has travelled far & wide to track down ten of Manchester Uniteds stars from 1970s
- including Martin Buchan Lou Macari Sammy Mc Ilroy Gordon Hill Gerry Daly Joe Jordan Jimmy Greenhoff
- as well as The Doc himself to open the door to the Old Trafford dressing room during one of the most enthralling eras in the history of Englands greatest club. A highly respected journalist & editor of the influential United We Stand fanzine Mitten has produced another book packed with brilliantly colourful anecdotes that transports the reader back to a time when the players were not highly paid went to the pub after training & played hard on & off the pitch. His interviewees discuss not only cup final joys & disasters but also behind the scenes politics sackings relegation hooliganism bust ups & mad pranks. United! United! is an astonishingly candid & entertaining look at the decade when the Red Army & Uniteds wingers went on the rampage from Northampton to Norwich George Best went AWOL four managers tried to fill Matt Busbys shoes & fans were fenced in.

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The Universal Carrier was a fast lightly armed vehicle developed by the British Army to carry infantry across ground defended by small-arms fire; specifically the Bren light machine gun hence the name Bren Gun Carrier. This name would stick with the Universal Carrier & all of its future variants. This book details the Carrier which was employed in a number of roles including carrying ammunition & towing anti-aircraft guns & trailers. All Allies used the Universal Carrier extensively during practically every World War II campaign. By the wars end the Universal Carrier had proved itself to be an invaluable & successful cross-country vehicle that was both agile & fast for its time. ...

Whether a marketing campaign or a museum exhibit a video game or a complex control system the design we see is the culmination of many concepts & practices brought together from a variety of disciplines. Because no one can be an expert on everything designers have always had to scramble to find the information & know-how required to make a design work-until now. Universal Principles of Design is the first comprehensive cross-disciplinary encyclopedia of design. Richly illustrated & easy to navigate it pairs clear explanations of every design concept with visual examples of the concepts applied in practice. From the 80/20" rule to chunking from baby-face bias to Occams razor & from self-similarity to storytelling every major design concept is defined & illustrated for readers to expand their knowledge. This landmark reference will become the standard for designers engineers architects & students who seek to broaden & improve their design expertise." ...

Jonathan Cowap: if someone is described as hirsute what are they? Contestant: Erm... Jonathan Cowap: here's a clue. Most men are & most women would like us to think they are not. Contestant: is it gay Jonathan?
- 24 Hour Challenge" (BBC Radio York). There's nothing quite like a quick fire question the pressure of a countdown or the expectant stare of Jeremy Paxman for making even the most intelligent quiz show contestants (as well as the not so clever) come out with the most unbelievably stupid answers. " Universally Challenged" is a collection of slip-ups blunders & misunderstandings from contestants who really are the weakest link. It

Includes:: these priceless examples from " Family Fortunes"
- Les Dennis: name something that could be useful to a blind man. Contestant: a sword. Les Dennis: name a bird with a long neck. Contestant: Naomi Campbell. Les Dennis: name something people might be allergic to. Contestant: skiing. This hilarious compendium of stupidity is guaranteed to have readers of any age howling in disbelief."



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The Universe: 365 Days has been created by the founders of Astronomy Picture of the Day a website created & maintained by two astrophysicists in collaboration with NASA that has been in existence since 1995. The site has become one of the most popular on the web
- it now gets one million hits a week. Using this website as a resource for The Universe: 365 Days this book contains a visually stunning group of the best & most educational astronomy-based images available. The text that accompanies each picture is both fun & informative engaging the reader with questions anecdotes & the wonders of the cosmos.
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This is an out-of-this world journey across the universe. From the fiery mass of the Sun's core to the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Universe" takes you on the ultimate guided tour of the cosmos. Full of stunning out-of-this world images reflecting recent advances in space imagery you'll go on a journey from our solar system all the way to the farthest limits of space. This new edition has been expanded & updated to include the most exciting new discoveries from water on Mars to planets in other solar systems plus up-to-date charts & information on the latest equipment for studying the wonders of the universe. The comprehensive night-sky atlas covers all the constellations & planetary charts showing their positions right up to 2019. With a special embossed jacket " Universe" is a beautiful special gift for keen amateur astronomers as well as a great reference book for the whole family." ...

This stunning collection of images & essays surveys the key breakthroughs that have shaped our understanding of the universe ...

Internationally renowned theoretical physicist & bestselling author Lawrence Krauss offers provocative revelatory answers to the biggest philosophical questions: Where did our universe come from? Why does anything exist? & how is it all going to end? ' Why is there something rather than nothing?' is the question atheists & scientists are always asked & until now there has not been a satisfying scientific answer. Today exciting scientific advances provide new insight into this cosmological mystery: not only can something arise from nothing but something will always arise from nothing. A mind-bending trip back to the beginning of the beginning A Universe from Nothing authoritatively presents the most recent evidence that explains how our universe evolved
- & the implications for how it's going to end. It will provoke challenge & delight readers to look at the most basic underpinnings of existence in a whole new way. In the words of Richard Dawkins: this could potentially be the most important scientific book since Darwin's On the Origin of Species.
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Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time was a publishing phenomenon. Translated into thirty languages it has sold over nine million copies worldwide. It continues to captivate & inspire new readers every year. When it was first published in 1988 the ideas discussed in it were at the cutting edge of what was then known about the universe. In the intervening years there have been extraordinary advances in our understanding of the space & time. The technology for observing the micro- & macro-cosmic world has developed in leaps & bounds. During the same period cosmology & the theoretical sciences have entered a new golden age. Professor Stephen Hawking has been at the heart of this new scientific renaissance. Now in The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking brings us fully up-to-date with the advances in scientific thinking. We are now nearer than we have ever been to a full understanding of the universe. In a fascinating & accessible discussion that ranges from quantum mechanics to time travel black holes to uncertainty theory to the search for science's Holy Grail
- the unified field theory (or in layman's terms the 'theory of absolutely everything') Professor Hawking once more takes us to the cutting edge of modern thinking. Beautifully illustrated throughout with original artwork commissioned for this project The Universe in a Nutshell is guaranteed to be the biggest science book of 2001.
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