BBC R4 Book of the Week‘Brilliant’ Guardian‘Fascinating and often delightful’ The TimesWhat if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter? In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself – a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind’s fitful development from unruly clumps of seaborne cells to the first evolved nervous systems in ancient relatives of jellyfish, he explores the incredible evolutionary journey of the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous molluscs who would later abandon their shells to rise above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so – a journey completely independent from the route that mammals and birds would later take. But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually ‘think for themselves’? By tracing the question of inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Godfrey-Smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind – and on our own.

Other Minds

An argument that love requires the courage to accept self-negation for the sake of discovering the Other. Byung-Chul Han is one of the most widely read philosophers in Europe today, a member of the new generation of German thinkers that includes Markus Gabriel and Armen Avanessian. In The Agony of Eros, a bestseller in Germany, Han considers the threat to love and desire in today's society. For Han, love requires the courage to accept self-negation for the sake of discovering the Other. In a world of fetishized individualism and technologically mediated social interaction, it is the Other that is eradicated, not the self. In today's increasingly narcissistic society, we have come to look for love and desire within the “inferno of the same.” Han offers a survey of the threats to Eros, drawing on a wide range of sources—Lars von Trier's film Melancholia, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Fifty Shades of Grey, Michel Foucault (providing a scathing critique of Foucault's valorization of power), Martin Buber, Hegel, Baudrillard, Flaubert, Barthes, Plato, and others. Han considers the “pornographication” of society, and shows how pornography profanes eros; addresses capitalism's leveling of essential differences; and discusses the politics of eros in today's “burnout society.” To be dead to love, Han argues, is to be dead to thought itself. Concise in its expression but unsparing in its insight, The Agony of Eros is an important and provocative entry in Han's ongoing analysis of contemporary society. This remarkable essay, an intellectual experience of the first order, affords one of the best ways to gain full awareness of and join in one of the most pressing struggles of the day: the defense, that is to say—as Rimbaud desired it—the “reinvention” of love. —from the foreword by Alain Badiou This audiobook is skillfully read by Peter Noble, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Allie McSwain.

Byung-Chul Han: The Collected Audio Works

The Agony of Eros

Our competitive, service-oriented societies are taking a toll on the late-modern individual. Rather than improving life, multitasking, user-friendly technology, and the culture of convenience are producing disorders that range from depression to attention deficit disorder to borderline personality disorder. Byung-Chul Han interprets the spreading malaise as an inability to manage negative experiences in an age characterized by excessive positivity and the universal availability of people and goods. Stress and exhaustion are not just personal experiences, but social and historical phenomena as well. Denouncing a world in which every against-the-grain response can lead to further disempowerment, he draws on literature, philosophy, and the social and natural sciences to explore the stakes of sacrificing intermittent intellectual reflection for constant neural connection. This audiobook is expertly read by Peter Noble, with audio engineering by Logan Nyman. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Burnout Society

'Beautifully written... I promise you will feel more in tune with the world around after reading only one chapter of Wild Signs and Star Paths, let alone the book in its entirety' - Royal Institute of Navigation 'A beautifully written almanac of tricks and tips that we've lost along the way' - Observer The keys to enjoying the outdoors in an extraordinary way, one that is new and ancient. Tristan Gooley, author of the internationally bestselling How To Read Water and The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs, shows how it is possible to achieve a level of outdoors awareness that will enable you to sense direction from stars and plants, forecast weather from woodland sounds and predict the next action of an animal from its body language - instantly. Although once common, this now rare awareness would be labelled by many as a 'sixth sense'. We have become so distanced from this way of experiencing our environment that it may initially seem hard to believe that it is possible, but Tristan Gooley uses a collection of 'keys' to show how everyone can develop this ability and enjoy the outdoors in an exciting way - one that is both new and ancient. (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Wild Signs and Star Paths

Exploring how neoliberalism has discovered the productive force of the psyche Byung-Chul Han, a star of German philosophy, continues his passionate critique of neoliberalism, trenchantly describing a regime of technological domination that, in contrast to Foucault’s biopower, has discovered the productive force of the psyche. In the course of discussing all the facets of neoliberal psychopolitics fueling our contemporary crisis of freedom, Han elaborates an analytical framework that provides an original theory of Big Data and a lucid phenomenology of emotion. But this provocative essay proposes counter models too, presenting a wealth of ideas and surprising alternatives at every turn. This audiobook is expertly read by Peter Noble, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Allie McSwain.

Psychopolitics

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘His masterpiece’ Antony Beevor, Spectator‘A masterful performance’ Sunday Times‘By far the best book on the Vietnam War’ Gerald Degroot, The Times, Book of the YearVietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed 2 million people. Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners’ victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, Huey pilots from Arkansas. No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings’ readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the 21st century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.

Vietnam

For many years an atheist, C. S. Lewis vividly describes the spiritual quest that convinced him of the truth and reality of Christianity, in his famous autobiography. “In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God … perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” Thus Lewis describes memorably the crisis of his conversion. ‘Surprised by Joy’ reveals both that crisis and its momentous conclusion that would determine the shape of Lewis’s entire life.

C. S. Lewis Signature Classic

Surprised by Joy

Knowing the truth will destroy her. Keeping it secret will destroy him.‘A powerful, beautifully crafted story that ratchets up the tension with every page and packs a huge emotional punch’ TM Logan, bestselling author of The Catch It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding she never had. Everyone she loves will be there except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But although Livia loves Marnie, she’s secretly glad she won’t be at the party. She needs to tell Adam something about their daughter but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together. Adam wants everything to be perfect for Livia so he’s secretly arranged for Marnie to come home and surprise her on her birthday. During the day, he hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia, because how can the party go on? But she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive. The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness? One day that will change a family forever, The Dilemma is the breathtaking, heartbreaking new novel from the international, million-copy-selling, Sunday Times bestseller, B A Paris. Praise for The Dilemma: ‘A powerful, beautifully crafted story that ratchets up the tension with every page and packs a huge emotional punch’ TM Logan ‘A departure from B A Paris’s previous psycho-thrillers, this emotional story is gripping’ Daily Mail ‘A heartbreaking page-turner that will have you up at night reading just one more chapter’ Catherine Steadman ‘A dark family drama … builds a palpable wall of tension that leaves you desperate to find out what happens next’ Sunday Mirror ‘A beautifully written story of love and loss which will stay with me’ Louise Jensen ‘What a book… utterly unputdownable!’ Samantha King ‘A beautifully written novel that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. B A Paris has a unique ability to get inside your head and stay there!’ HC Warner

The Dilemma

Culture Smart! - Spain provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in Spain, ensuring that you arrive aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. This concise guide tells you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your Spanish hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Spain - Culture Smart!

When troubled army veteran and musician Josh Robertson returns home to Nashville to be the best man at his younger brother Chad's wedding he's just sure that he's going to mess it all up somehow. But when it becomes clear that the wedding might not be going to plan, it's up to Josh and fellow guest Louise Giles to make sure that Chad and his wife-to-be Maggie get their perfect day. Can Josh be the best man his brother needs? And is there somebody else who is beginning to realise that Josh could be her "best man" too?

Here Comes the Best Man

It starts with the hanging woman in the Maple Valley woods; the woman with no shoes, no car and no name. On paper it's an obvious case of suicide – but to Officer Dean Matheson, something doesn't add up. Then there are the other deaths, deaths that also look like suicides – but are they? The victims are all women living on the fringes of society, addicts and criminals. Who will miss them? Does anyone really care if they die? Dean Matheson is making it his business to care, even if it means he becomes a target…

Who Cares if they Die

The chilling new psychological thriller by S. K. Tremayne, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller, THE ICE TWINS. IT TOOK ONLY SIX WORDS TO SHATTER HER DREAMS… When Rachel marries handsome David and moves to a beautiful house in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie. But then Jamie’s behaviour changes, and her perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother. As September slips away and December looms, Rachel grows increasingly suspicious of her husband – and begins to suspect there might be truth in Jamie’s words: ‘YOU WILL BE DEAD BY CHRISTMAS’

The Fire Child

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in the Philippines, ensuring that you arrive aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. This concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. The inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience.

Culture Smart!

Philippines - Culture Smart!

Australia is different-a vast island-continent with distances so great that the capital of Western Australia is closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. The landscape embraces magnificent tropical rainforests and deserts the size of several European states; temperate areas that sustain a flourishing wine industry, making Australia the world's fourth largest wine exporter; a sixteen-thousand-mile coastline of breathtaking beaches; and its unique fauna is testament to the country's down-underness. Culture Smart! Australia introduces you to a young nation with one of the world's highest standards of living, where people work to live in order to enjoy a lifestyle that many across the globe covet, and in which Australians take great pride (and don't mind telling you about).

Australia - Culture Smart!

Culture Smart! Cuba provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in Cuba, ensuring that you arrive aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. This concise guide tells you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with Cubans. This inside knowledge will enable you to feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships on the largest island in the Caribbean.

Cuba - Culture Smart!

This new, updated edition of Culture Smart! Turkey reveals a nation in transition. Over the last two decades living conditons have improved greatly and Turkey is now classified as a developed country with an emerging market economy. Viewed by many as a model for outward-looking Islam, it is a country with laws to protect against religious paternalism, where restaurants are open during the fast of Ramadan, and where headscarves or no scarves can be worn in universities, schools, and public offices. Turkey continues to seek EU membership, but the road to accession has been full of twists and turns and the outcome is uncertain.

Turkey - Culture Smart!

Culture Smart! Kenya provides essential information, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! Kenya offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience.

Kenya - Culture Smart!

Culture Smart! Norway provides essential information, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! Norway offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience.

Norway - Culture Smart!

For those who choose to break out of the confines of all-inclusive tourist resorts, Culture Smart! Dominican Republic offers a tantalizing insight into this warm, vital, and intriguing people. It takes you on a journey from the unspoiled coastline to the agricultural interior, to the imposing mountains and to the hamlets where time appears to have stood still. It then catapults you into the twenty-first century, through poverty and opulence, to the hustle and bustle of the large cities and the lifestyles of the luxury coastal tourist resorts. It offers practical advice on what to expect and to how to behave in a Dominican home, or in social and work settings.

Dominican Republic - Culture Smart!

A global thriller presenting an apocalyptic vision of a world on the brink of despair and destruction. What would you do if the world was brought to a standstill? If you heard deafening static followed by the words, ‘My children. Do not be afraid’? Would you turn to God? Subscribe to the conspiracy theories? Or put your faith in science and a rational explanation? The lives of all twenty-six people in this account are affected by the message. Most because they heard it. Some because they didn’t. The Testimony – a gripping story of the world brought to its knees and of its people, confused and afraid.

The Testimony

‘The Road meets Waiting for Godot: powerful, unforgettable, unique’ Melissa Harrison, author of At Hawthorn Time. Doggerland is a superbly gripping debut novel about loneliness and hope, nature and survival – set on an off-shore windfarm in the not-so-distant future. ‘His father’s breath had been loud in the small room. It had smelled smoky, or maybe more like dust. He had knotted and unknotted a strap on the bag he was holding – he must have been leaving to go out to the farm that day. ‘I’ll get out,’ he’d said. ‘I’ll come back for you, ok?’ The boy remembered that; had always remembered it. And, for a time, he’d believed it too.’ In the North Sea, far from what remains of the coastline, a wind farm stretches for thousands of acres. The Boy, who is no longer really a boy, and the Old Man, whose age is unguessable, are charged with its maintenance. They carry out their never-ending work, scoured by wind and salt, as the waves roll, dragging strange shoals of flotsam through the turbine fields. Land is only a memory. So too is the Boy’s father, who worked on the turbines before him, and disappeared. The boy has been sent by the Company to take his place, but the question of where he went and why is one for which the Old Man will give no answer. As his companion dredges the sea for lost things, the Boy sifts for the truth of his missing father. Until one day, from the limitless water, a plan for escape emerges… This beautifully crafted novel about loneliness and hope, nature and survival, is as haunting as it is compelling – a very special debut indeed.

Doggerland

When Michael decides to track down ex-girlfriend Rae, who disappeared ten years ago while pregnant with his baby, he knows it could change his life forever. His search for her takes unexpected turns as he unearths multiple changes of identity and a childhood she tried to pretend never happened, but nothing could prepare him for what awaits when he finally finds her. Rae appears to be happily married with a brand new baby daughter. But she is cagey about what happened to Michael’s child and starts to say alarming things: that her husband is trying to force her to give up her new baby for adoption, that he’s attempting to undermine the bond between her and her child, and that he’s deliberately making her doubt her own sanity. As Michael is drawn in deeper to her disturbing claims, he begins to doubt the truth of what she is saying. But is she really making it all up, or is there a shocking and heartbreaking secret at the root of the stories she tells?

The Stories She Tells

A man holds a gun to Professor Alex Harker in a Cambridge University lecture room. He wants to know about the mysterious Codex Gigas. But before Harker can learn more, the man shoots himself, threatening Harker’s girlfriend Chloe as he does so. Soon Harker is deep in a life-or-death struggle that takes him to Berlin, Italy, and France. It seems that, thanks to the Codex, the dead are rising. It can only mean one thing: Judgement Day. Or does it? In a game of crosses and double crosses, Harker doesn’t know who or what to believe anymore. Behind the lies, behind the Vatican, behind the Codex, is the most terrible puppet master of all… This white-knuckle thriller is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Scott Mariani, and Chris Kuzneski!

The Harker Chronicles

The Last Judgement

When a brutal attack leaves a priest close to death and screaming of dark prophecies, Professor Alex Harker once again finds himself pulled into the shadowy world of the Magi. On dubious pretenses, Harker must join a desperate search for the missing child he has sworn to protect. But as he edges closer to the truth, he realizes the child’s importance pales in significance to the cataclysmic events unfolding around him. When reality and prophecy start to merge, and nations begin to crumble, Harker knows the future of the planet is in his hands. Its salvation lies in the discovery of one thing: The 4th Secret.

The 4th Secret

Tony Brooks was unique. He was barely out of school when recruited in 1941 by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the wartime secret service established by Churchill to 'set Europe ablaze'. After extensive training he was parachuted into France in July 1942 - being among the first (and youngest) British agents sent to support the nascent French Resistance. Brook's success was primarily due to his exceptional qualities as a secret agent, although he was aided by large and frequent slices of luck. Among much else, he survived brushes with a British traitor and a notorious double agent; the Gestapo's capture of his wireless operator and subsequent attempts to trap Brooks; brief incarceration in a Spanish concentration camp; injuries resulting from a parachute jump into France; and even capture and interrogation by the Gestapo - although his cover story held and he was released. In an age when we so often take our heroes from the worlds of sport, film, television, music, fashion, or just 'celebrity', it is perhaps salutary to be reminded of a young man who ended the war in command of a disparate force of some 10,000 armed resistance fighters, and decorated with two of this country's highest awards for gallantry, the DSO and MC. At the time, he was just twenty-three years old. This remarkable, detailed and intimate account of a clandestine agent's dangerous wartime career combines the historian's expert eye with the narrative colour of remembered events. As a study in courage, it has few, if any, equals.

Undercover Agent

Classic adventure from the million copy bestseller Jack Higgins If there’s such a thing as a grade A terrorist then his name is Frank Barry. His ideology is money and his track record is flawless. When the Russians want review copies of the latest NATO missile system, Barry’s the man to deliver them. Stopping him will be near enough impossible, but one man knows all the moves. Martin Brosnan is a poet, scholar and trained killer. A graduate of Vietnam and polished in the ranks of the IRA he could be the key to ending Barry’s reign. There’s one problem, Brosnan is languishing in a French prison, and only the powerfully persuasive Liam Devlin can get him out and working for British intelligence.

Touch the Devil

When Natalie reluctantly agrees to attend a school reunion, she hits it off with former classmate Josh—a boy she barely spoke to while they were at school together—and finds herself swept up in a whirlwind romance with him. Then she receives a message: you can do better than marrying a murderer. As Natalie pieces together the tragic story of the teenage girl who drowned at Chedford Lake, she realizes she has the perfect opportunity to clear Josh’s name. But it will mean putting herself in serious danger—and betraying someone she loves. With Josh spiraling deeper into despair and her own life torn apart by lies, can Natalie unravel what really happened before it’s too late?

Into the Lake

The Gentleman from San Francisco is a short story by Ivan Bunin, a Nobel Prize-winning but often overlooked Russian author. It was translated into English by D. H. Lawrence (with Samuil Koteliansky). The story is often hailed as a classic of the genre. A 58-year-old American from San Francisco, now in possession of a vast fortune, sets off with his wife and daughter on a world tour. A series of events causes laughter, embarassment, and revolt as he and his family travel through Italy and remarkable changes begin to take effect.

The Gentleman from San Francisco

One missing person. Endless buried secrets... When a man vanishes after embezzling funds for a secret rendezvous in Berlin, Ravn is drawn into a chilling investigation by the man's sister, Louise. The mystery deepens as Ravn discovers a pattern of lonely men disappearing under mysterious circumstances, a trail leading back to the dark days of Stasi-Germany. As he gets closer to the truth, Ravn finds himself caught in the crosshairs, stirring up horrors better left buried... The gripping second book of Michael Katz Krefeld's acclaimed “Ravn” series, “Missing” is a pulse-pounding thriller from the Danish crime master that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Fans of Jo Nesbø and Peter Høeg will love this gritty, Nordic Noir series. Detective Ravn Thrillers In the thrilling Nordic noir series, ”Detective Ravn”, Thomas "Raven" Ravnsholdt, a tenacious private detective, navigates the dark underbelly of society. Ravn's investigations take him through a chilling labyrinth of crime, encountering trafficking rings, rampant corruption, doomsday cults, and haunting relics from the GDR era. Fans of Scandinavian crime thrillers, will love this Danish detective series in English for the first time. Perfect for readers of Jo Nesbø, Stieg Larsson, and Peter Høeg. Best-selling Danish crime author Michael Katz Krefeld is renowned for his Nordic Noir series featuring Detective Ravn. His gripping, fast-paced crime thrillers explore personal sacrifice and the fight against evil, all set against the atmospheric backdrop of Scandinavia.

Detective Ravn Thrillers

Missing: A Detective Ravn thriller

This fresh and hugely entertaining narration joined with Lewis Carroll’s surreal genius results in pure, boundless FUN.  Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass brilliantly capture a young girl's feelings about growing up in a nonsensical world. Sylvie and Bruno was Lewis Carroll's final novel and is followed by Carroll's delightful nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark.

The Complete Novels: Lewis Carroll

The free-market, limited government development model has been an ecological and social disaster for the developing world. Sustainable and equitable development is only possible with the active involvement of a strong central state that can guide the economy, protect the environment, and prioritize meeting their people's basic needs. In this sure to be controversial book, Chandran Nair shows that the market-dominated model followed by the industrialized west is simply not scalable. The United States alone, with less than five percent of the world's population, consumes nearly a quarter of its resources. If countries in Asia, where 60% of the world's population lives, try to follow the Western lead, the results will be calamitous. . Instead, Nair argues that development must be directed by a state that is willing and able to intervene in the economy . Corporations, which by design demand ever-expanding consumption, need to be directed towards meeting societal needs or otherwise restrained, not unleashed. Development has to be oriented towards the greatest good-clean drinking water for the many has to take precedence over swimming pools for the few. He provides three compelling case studies demonstrating the benefits of such strong state governance and the findings of weak state governance. This will mean rethinking the meaning of concepts like "prosperity," "freedom," and "rights," and whether democracy is always the best way to ensure responsive government-as Nair writes, "A democracy that cannot work to improve the life of its citizens is not better than a non-democracy that can actually improve quality of life." Many people will find these to be challenging ideas, but what Nair offers is a model suited to the realities of the developing world, not the assumptions of the dominant culture.

The Sustainable State - The Future of Government, Economy, and Society (Unabridged)

India is in transition. Since the publication of Culture Smart’s first guide to India in 2003, it has been transformed from a developing, third-world country into the world’s fastest growing economy. This completely new and up-to-date volume by American author Becky Stephen is unrivalled. It highlights the many subtle and not so subtle changes that are taking place in Indian society, describes and explains those areas of life where traditional attitudes and practices continue to prevail, and offers original insights, practical tips, and vital human information to guide you through the pitfalls and delights of this complex, vibrant, and increasingly important country.

India - Culture Smart!

This new edition of an award-winning risk management classic is more actionable than ever with new chapters on facilitating risk conversations and running a risk workshop. Risk isn't just about threat; it's also about opportunity. You have to be ready to take advantage of the most unexpected events-good or bad-with any project you are managing. But how does this work in practice? The Active Threat and Opportunity Management (ATOM) methodology offers a simple, scalable risk process that applies to all projects in all industries and business sectors. For each process step, the authors offer practical advice, hints, and tips on how to get the most out of the risk management process. Risk management really can work in practice. This Project Management Institute award-winning methodology is already used by top corporations. Whether you are someone with no prior knowledge of risk management or someone who simply needs guidance on how to apply risk management successfully, this book will help you tackle the ups and downs of this unpredictable world.

Practical Project Risk Management - The ATOM Methodology (Unabridged)

Featuring an exclusive interview with Joe, plus a sneak preview of USERNAME: REGENERATED. Like anyone who feels as though they just don't fit in, Evie dreams of a place of safety. When times are tough, all she wants is a chance to escape from reality and be herself. Despite his failing health, Evie's father comes close to creating such a virtual idyll. Passing away before it's finished, he leaves her the key in the form of an app, and Evie finds herself transported to a world where the population is influenced by her personality. Everyone shines in her presence, until her devious cousin, Mallory, discovers the app... and the power to cause trouble in paradise. (P) 2016 Hodder & Stoughton

Username: Evie

Brilliantly read by Audie award winning narrator Peter Noble, Sylvie and Bruno, a hybrid of fairy tale, Victorian romance and social treatise is the final novel published before Lewis Carroll’s death. Noble follows his extraordinary reading with Carroll’s famous nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark.

Sylvie and Bruno

The Human is the final, thrilling, book in Neal Asher’s Rise of the Jain trilogy. Their enemy seems unbeatable. But humanity is indomitable . . . A Jain warship has risen from a prison five million years old, wielding a hoard of lethal technology. Its goal is to catch their old enemy, the Client, and it will destroy all who stand in its path. Humanity and the prador thought their mutual nemesis – the bane of so many races – was long extinct. But the Jain are back and Orlandine must prepare humanity’s defence. She needs the Client’s knowledge to counter this ancient threat. But is the enemy of your enemy a friend? Earth Central even looks to the prador for alliance. These old enemies must now learn to trust one another, or face utter annihilation. As the Jain warship crosses the galaxy, it seems unstoppable. Human and prador forces alike struggle to withstand its devastating weaponry ­­– far in advance of their own. And Orlandine’s life’s work has been to neutralize Jain technology, so if she can’t triumph, no one can. But could she become what she’s vowed to destroy? 'Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain' – John Scalzi, author of the Old Man's War series. 'Magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven' – Peter F. Hamilton on the first in the trilogy, The Soldier.

Rise of the Jain

The Human

'But wise is the man who disdains no character, but with searching glance explores him to the root and cause of all.' First published in 1842, and considered one of the greatest novels borne out of nineteenth century Russian literature, Dead Souls is a dark reckoning with modern society's appalling hypocrisies. A mysterious stranger, Chichikov, arrives at a small town to set about a bizarre plan: to acquire all the dead 'souls' (AKA serfs), freeing local landowners from the tax they still paid on them, despite them having passed. As Chichikov progresses his plan, he comes across a ludicrous cast of characters – each more neurotic than the next. However, as time unfolds, it appears his Chichikov's intentions also ought to be questioned. A scathing satire of society's obsession with wealth and power, Dead Souls remains a beloved Russian classic – and one of the most unique literary offerings of the nineteenth century – to this very day. This audiobook edition is expertly read by Peter Noble. Nikolai Gogol (1809 – 1852) was a Russian novelist and playwright. Known for his surrealist approach and use of the grotesque, Gogol also drew upon Ukrainian folklore and culture in his writing. His work influenced several revered Russian writers, including Fyodor Dostoevsky, Frankz Kafka, Vladimir Nabokov and more.

Dead Souls

Brought to you by Penguin. The idea that people are basically driven by individualism and economic incentives, and that prosperity and good societies come from top-down leadership, has dominated politics for the last thirty years (from some perspectives, much longer). This book shows that the age of homo economicus and centralisation is coming to an end. Instead, Collier and Kay argue that community and mutuality will be the drivers of successful societies in the future - as they are already in some parts of the world. They show how politics can reverse the move to extremes of right and left in recent years, that the centre can hold, and that if we think differently we can find common ground to the benefit of all. © John Kay, Paul Collier 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Greed Is Dead

June, 1554. Professional assassin Jack Blackjack has been despatched to the palace of Woodstock, where Queen Mary's halfsister, Princess Elizabeth, is being kept under close guard. Jack's employer has reason to believe that a spy has been installed within the princess's household, and Jack has been ordered to kill her. Jack has no choice but to agree. But he arrives at Woodstock to discover that a murder has already been committed. As he sets out to prove his innocence by uncovering the real killer, Jack finds the palace to be a place steeped in misery and deceit. But who among Woodstock's residents is hiding a deadly secret – and will Jack survive long enough to find out?

Jack Blackjack

A Murder Too Soon

Culture Smart! New Zealand provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! New Zealand offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience.

New Zealand - Culture Smart!

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and religious author interested in human psychology. He is regarded as a leading pioneer of existentialism and one of the greatest philosophers of the 19th Century. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard aimed to understand the anxiety that must have been present in Abraham when God commanded him to offer his son as a human sacrifice. Abraham had a choice to complete the task or to forget it. He resigned himself to the loss of his son, acting according to his faith. In other words, one must be willing to give up all his or her earthly possessions in infinite resignation and must also be willing to give up whatever it is that he or she loves more than God. Abraham had passed the test -- his love for God proved greater than anything else in him. And because a good and just Creator would not want a father to kill his son, God intervened at the last moment to prevent the sacrifice.

Fear and Trembling

Speak out for the fate of millions or turn a blind eye? We all have choices. ‘Absolutely exceptional. So beautifully written, with precision and wisdom and real emotional acuity … A remarkable achievement’ STEPHEN KELMAN, author of Pigeon English 1944, Germany. Ernst Beck’s new job marks an end to months of unemployment. Working for Erfurt’s most prestigious engineering firm, Topf & Sons, means he can finally make a contribution to the war effort, provide for his beautiful wife, Etta, and make his parents proud. But there is a price. Ernst is assigned to the firm’s smallest team – the Special Ovens Department. Reporting directly to Berlin his role is to annotate plans for new crematoria that are deliberately designed to burn day and night. Their destination: the concentration camps. Topf’s new client: the SS. As the true nature of his work dawns on him, Ernst has a terrible choice to make: turning a blind eye will keep him and Etta safe, but that’s little comfort if staying silent amounts to collusion in the death of thousands. This bold and uncompromising work of literary fiction shines a light on the complex contradictions of human nature and examines how deeply complicit we can become in the face of fear.

The Draughtsman

New propulsive thriller from Denmark’s King of Crime. Criminal investigator Thomas Ravnsholdt—better known as Ravn—is on leave from Copenhagen’s special crime unit following the brutal murder of his wife. Racked with guilt over her death, Ravn must navigate the seedy underbelly of Stockholm he'd hoped to leave behind when he is informed of a young woman's strange disappearance. As he races to determine if the woman is still alive, Ravn's investigation takes a dangerous turn when he is drawn into the web of a sadistic murderer... Can he find the missing woman before it's too late? Fast-paced, moody, and atmospheric, "Derailed" is the first book in another exciting, international-bestselling series from Michael Katz Krefeld, award-winning author of the Inspector Cecilie Mars Thrillers. Michael Katz Krefeld (b. 1966) is one of the most-read Danish crime authors whose critically acclaimed books have been awarded several crime fiction prizes. He is best known for his international bestseller crime series about Detective Ravn, who has thrilled readers across the globe.

Derailed: A Detective Ravn Thriller

He can jump between worlds. But can he save his own?As the totalitarian Inspectorate tightens its grip, one man discovers the power to slip through the gaps and traverse alternate universes. World Walkers by Neal Asher is an exhilarating standalone novel set within the Owner universe. Ottanger is a rebel and mutant on an Earth governed by a ruthless Committee. But after its Inspectorate experiments on him, he discovers the ability to reach alternate worlds. The multiverse is revealed in all its glory and terror – and he can finally flee his timeline. Then Ottanger meets the Fenris, an evolved human visiting Earth from the far future. He’d engineered the original world-walking mutation, so those altered could escape the Committee’s regime. Yet this only aided a few, while millions still suffered. And Ottanger sees that the Committee will become unstoppable if not destroyed. However, the Fenris's visit also attracted the Hive. With the power of its trillion linked minds, it craves world-walking biotech and will do anything to get it. As conflict looms at home, and war threatens the multiverse – the Fenris, Ottanger and his companions must prepare for battle . . . Praise for Neal Asher 'Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain' – John Scalzi, author of Old Man's War 'Without a doubt the most entertaining science fiction author writing today' – SFF World

World Walkers

How well do you know the people you love…? Best friends Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad have always been inseparable. But when Noah is found floating unconscious in Bristol's Feeder Canal, Abdi can't--or won't--tell anyone what happened. Just back from a mandatory leave following his last case, Detective Jim Clemo is now assigned to look into this unfortunate accident. But tragedy strikes and what looked like the simple case of a prank gone wrong soon ignites into a public battle. Noah is British. Abdi is a Somali refugee. And social tensions have been rising rapidly in Bristol. Against this background of fear and fury two families fight for their sons and for the truth. Neither of them know how far they will have to go, what demons they will have to face, what pain they will have to suffer. Because the truth hurts.

Odd Child Out

An inspiring selection of hand-picked adventures, chosen and narrated by Ed Stafford. For those who don’t mind a bit of discomfort in order to experience the wilder side of our amazing planet. Open your mind and reboot your soul with these unforgettable adventures. Get a taste of total freedom as you soar like an eagle over mountains and lakesCome-face-to-fin with ocean giants as you kayak spectacular coastlinesStrap on your skis and head off for an adventure in the frozen wastesExperience jaw-dropping sights and lung-bursting trails from the seat of your saddle …….and more“Life is for going out into the open. Life is for exploring, for feeling cold and vulnerable, for finding new possibilities and new opportunities.” Ed Stafford

Adventures for a Lifetime

A chilling psychological thriller about family – the ties that bind us, and the lies that destroy us. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go. You find your neighbour dead in his bath. Your son is with you. He sees everything. You discover your wife has been in the man’s house. It seems she knew him. Now the police need to speak to you. One night turns Alex Mercer’s life upside down. He loves his family and he wants to protect them, but there is too much he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know how the cracks in his and Millicent’s marriage have affected their son, Max. Or how Millicent’s bracelet came to be under the neighbour’s bed. He doesn’t know how to be a father to Max when his own world is shattering into pieces. Then the murder investigation begins…

A Line of Blood

Long-time art critic Richard Dorment reveals the corruption and lies of the art world and its mystifying authentication process. Late one afternoon in the winter of 2003 art critic Richard Dorment answered a telephone call from a stranger. The caller was Joe Simon, an American film producer and art collector. He was ringing at the suggestion of David Hockney, his neighbour in Malibu. A committee of experts called the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board had declared the two Warhols in his collection to be fake. He wanted to know why and thought Dorment could help. This call would mark the beginning of an extraordinary story that would play out over the next ten years and would involve a cast of characters straight out of fiction. From rock icons and film stars; art dealers and art forgers; to a murdered Russian oligarch and a lawyer for the mob; from courtrooms to auction houses: all took part in a bitter struggle to prove the authenticity of a series of paintings by the most famous American artist of the twentieth century. Part detective story, part art history, part memoir, part courtroom drama, Warhol After Warhol is a spellbinding account of the dark connection between money, power and art.

Warhol After Warhol

From the author of The Oak Papers comes a beautiful meditation on how to foster a profound and healing spiritual communion with the natural world, exploring how the sacred can be accessed by looking to the past, to our ancestors and how they tread through their worlds. “Canton's writing has an exquisite, somewhat dreamlike quality.”—Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees When James Canton walked into Suffolk’s Lindsey Chapel, it was the beginning of what would become a new journey in his life—hours away from the bustling city of London and distant from the years in his early twenties when he traveled from Egypt to Argentina. Standing inside the quaint chapel, Canton realized that his past cosmopolitan desires had been replaced by an intense yearning to understand the history of the place he called home, a burning curiosity about the past and the spiritual ways and beliefs of the people who came before us. In Grounded, Canton retraces his steps into the places where our ancestors have experienced profound emotion, otherwise known as numinous experiences, to help us better understand who we are. Through lyrical meditation, reflection, and a thoughtful consideration of the ways and beliefs of the people who came before us, Canton seeks to know what our ancestors considered to be human, and what lessons we can learn from them to find security in our contemporary selves. Steeped in literary and folklore references, Grounded is a powerful exploration of the power of nature to soothe, nourish, and inspire the human soul.

Grounded

LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF 2021 In this compelling story of lies, greed and tarnished idealism, two Wall Street Journal reporters investigate a man who Bill Gates, Western governments, and other investors entrusted with billions of dollars to make profits and end poverty, but who now stands accused of masterminding one of the biggest, most brazen financial frauds ever. Arif Naqvi was charismatic, inspiring, and self-made—all the qualities of a successful business leader. The founder of Abraaj, a Dubai-based private-equity firm, Naqvi was the Key Man to the global elite searching for impact investments to make money and do good. He persuaded politicians he could help stabilize the Middle East after 9/11 by providing jobs and guided executives to opportunities in cities they struggled to find on the map. Bill Gates helped him start a $1 billion fund to improve healthcare in poor countries and the UN and Interpol appointed him to boards. As Pope Francis blessed a move to harness capitalism for the good of the poor, Naqvi won the support of Obama’s administration and investors, who compared him to Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible. In 2018, Simon Clark and Will Louch were contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who said Naqvi had swindled investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and offered bribes to sustain his billionaire lifestyle. Digging into the claims, Clark and Louch uncovered hundreds of documents and exposed the wrongdoing. In April 2019—months after their exposé broke—Naqvi was arrested on charges of fraud and racketeering, and faces up to 291 years in jail. Populated by a cast of larger-than-life characters and moving across Asia, Africa, Europe and America, The Key Man is the story of how the global elite was duped by a capitalist fairytale. Clark and Louch shine a light on efforts to clean up global capital flows even as opaque private equity firms amass trillions of dollars and offshore tax havens cast a veil of secrecy which prevents regulators, investors and citizens from understanding what’s really going on in the finance industry.

The Key Man

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