This is a provocative bestseller that explains why the world is divided into nations with wildly differing levels of prosperity. Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail" sets out to answer this question with a compelling & elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate geography or culture but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary & historical examples from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China leading academics Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson show that to invest & prosper people need to know that if they work hard they can make money & actually keep it
- & this means sound institutions that allow virtuous circles of innovation expansion & peace. Based on fifteen years of research & answering the competing arguments of authors ranging from Max Weber to Jeffrey Sachs & Jared Diamond Acemoglu & Robinson step boldly into the territory of Francis Fukuyama & Ian Morris. They blend economics politics history & current affairs to provide a new powerful & persuasive way of understanding wealth & poverty."
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Mandy Mc Millan was not a fighter. She was ordinary: a hairdresser a party girl a bit of a coward when it came to all things medical. The worst shed ever fought was a cold. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27
- the second in her group of five friends to be struck down by the disease. Shed had a one in 1 900 chance of getting it. Her cancer was incurable; chemotherapy almost killed her her body was so ravaged that she almost gave up but Mandy battled on. Her one stroke of good fortune? The arrival of new wonder-drug Herceptin. Then a miracle happened: Mandy gave birth to Britains first Herceptin baby a little girl conceived carried & born to a mum on long-term treatment. A drug saved Mandy Mc Millan now a daughter called Holly is keeping her alive. & she will fight every single day to see her child grow up.
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Is socialism desirable? Is it even possible? In this concise book one of the worlds leading political philosophers presents with clarity & wit a compelling moral case for socialism & argues that the obstacles in its way are exaggerated. There are times G. A. Cohen notes when we all behave like socialists. On a camping trip for example campers wouldnt dream of charging each other to use a soccer ball or for fish that they happened to catch. Campers do not give merely to get but relate to each other in a spirit of equality & community. Would such socialist norms be desirable across society as a whole? Why not? Whole societies may differ from camping trips but it is still attractive when people treat each other with the equal regard that such trips exhibit. But however desirable it may be many claim that socialism is impossible. Cohen writes that the biggest obstacle to socialism isnt as often argued intractable human selfishness
- its rather the lack of obvious means to harness the human generosity that is there. Lacking those means we rely on the market. But there are many ways of confining the sway of the market: there are desirable changes that can move us toward a socialist society in which to"e Albert Einstein humanity has overcome & advanced beyond the predatory stage of human development.
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Why do some people heal while others do not. Caroline Myss has studied this question for many years working with hundreds of people & motivating them to examine their souls & change their lives. Now in Why People Don't Heal & How They Can Dr Myss builds on her earlier teaching to reveal the cultural & individual contexts in which people become physically & spiritually ill. With her practical approach to healing readers will learn to overcome the mental & emotional blocks to becoming well. Why People Don't Heal & How They Can...- Brings together Dr Myss's breakthrough views on energy medicine & the development of human consciousness & spirituality over the ages.
- Teaches you how to perceive the seven different energy centres of the body & interpret the spiritual challenges they present.
- Provides healing rituals & prayers that will help you to get & stay on the path to wellness. Through her characteristic no-nonsense style & high-voltage storytelling Caroline Myss provides non-stop insights & practical advice that will enable you to disconnect from a culture of wounds & reconnect with an inner & outer spiritual energy & purpose.

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We live surrounded by the beauty--and the bounty--of the botanical world but rarely do we stop to think seriously about all the roles plants play many of them crucial to life on earth. After reading Why People Need Plants " however we wont be likely to take the earths flora for granted ever again. Accessible & wide-ranging " Why People Need Plants" covers such topics as food production biofuels medicine biodiversity conservation economics genetic modification & many more--all aimed at demonstrating the importance of plants to nearly every aspect of human life & society. A collaboration between the Open University & the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with assistance from the Royal Horticultural Society the book will inform--and surprise--plant lovers gardeners & students of all levels of knowledge." ...

Too many companies are managed not by leaders but by mere role players & faceless bureaucrats. What does it take to be a real leader-one who is confident in who she is & what she stands for & who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee & Gareth Jones argue that leaders don't become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers' hearts minds & souls. They are skillful at consistently being themselves even as they alter their behaviors to respond effectively in changing contexts. In this lively & practical book Goffee & Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone & deploy one's unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: showing emotion & withholding it getting close to followers while keeping distance & maintaining individuality while conforming enough." Underscoring the social nature of leadership the book also explores how leaders can remain attuned to the needs & expectations of followers. Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? will forever change how we view develop & practice the art of leadership wherever we live & work." ...

This is an informative guide to one of the hottest subjects around at the moment; mankind's effects on the planet & how we can reverse them. Written in a conversational style this book offers children an approachable source of information on key subjects such climate change recycling energy sources & the small differences we can all make to save our planet. It is accompanied by the witty & vibrant illustrations of Adam Larkum. It is written in conjunction with climate change experts. ...

One day a little boy goes on a school trip & they have a picnic in a wood. The class start misbehaving
- throwing litter breaking
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On 11 May 1812 Spencer Perceval the British Prime Minister was fatally shot at close range in the lobby of the House of Commons. In the confused aftermath his assailant John Bellingham made no effort to escape. A week later before his motives could be examined he was tried & hanged. Here for the first time the historian Andro Linklater looks past the conventional image of Bellingham as a deranged businessman & portrays him as an individual driven by personal anxieties & by the raw emotions that convulsed his home town of Liverpool. But as the evidence accumulates a wider darker picture emerges
- John Bellignham was not alone in hating the prime minister. Two hundred years later Andro Linklater examines the ecidence & brilliantly deconstructs the assassination of Spencer Perceval
- the only British Prime Minister ever to have suffered that fate
- to offer a fresh perspective on Britain & the Western world at a critical moment in history.


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Why does the West rule? Eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question drawing uniquely on 15 000 years of history & archaeology & the methods of social science. In the middle of the eighteenth century British entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding energies of steam & coal & the world changed forever. Factories railways & gunboats then propelled the West's rise to power & computers & nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its global supremacy. Today however many worry that the emergence of China & India spell the end of the West as a superpower. How long will the power of the West last? & in order to find out we need to know: why has the West been so dominant for the past two hundred years? With flair & authority historian & achaeologist Ian Morris draws uniquely on 15 000 years of history to offer fresh insights on what the future will bring. Deeply researched & brilliantly argued Why The West Rules
- For Now" is a gripping & truly original history of the world."
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