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NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS &’ CHOICE • In Ai Weiwei&’s widely anticipated memoir, &“one of the most important artists working…
in the world today&” ( Financial Times ) tells a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own extraordinary life and the legacy of his father, the nation&’s most celebrated poet. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • BookPage • Kirkus Reviews • &“With uncommon humanity, humbling scholarship, and poignant intimacy, Ai Weiwei recounts a life of courage, argument, defeat, and triumph. His is one of the great voices of our time.&”—Andrew Solomon Hailed as &“an eloquent and seemingly unsilenceable voice of freedom&” by The New York Times, Ai Weiwei has written a sweeping memoir that presents a remarkable history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating his artistic process. Once an intimate of Mao Zedong and the nation&’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei&’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution, and he and his family were banished to a desolate place known as &“Little Siberia,&” where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labor cleaning public toilets. Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol. With candor and wit, he details his return to China and his rise from artistic unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist—and how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime. Ai Weiwei&’s sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe, and his architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird&’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing. His political activism has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011. Here, for the first time, Ai Weiwei explores the origins of his exceptional creativity and passionate political beliefs through his life story and that of his father, whose creativity was stifled. At once ambitious and intimate, Ai Weiwei&’s 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows offers a deep understanding of the myriad forces that have shaped modern China, and serves as a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect freedom of expression
CNN national security analyst, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know (DB 65312), examines actions and strategies--some successful, some…
not--of the United States and bin Laden's al-Qaeda during the so-called "war on terror" that began after the 9/11 attacks. 2011
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist details the December 30, 2009, gathering in Khost, Afghanistan, of CIA and U.S. military officials…
and Pakistani and Afghani operatives to meet Jordanian pediatrician and spy Humam Khalil al-Balawi. Relates Balawi's subsequent suicide bombing, which killed himself and seven CIA personnel. 2011
Anthropologist traces the interplay among tribes, ethnic groups, and political authorities in Afghanistan from pre-modern times to the early twenty-first…
century. Discusses regional and cultural differences, insurgencies against invaders, and efforts to build a stable government after the overthrow of the Taliban. 2010
Journalist Giridharadas, a first-generation American, moves to his parents' homeland of India in 2003 to work and record the societal…
changes wrought by the country's economic boom. Details the cultural upheaval as younger Indians seek betterment and escape from restrictive traditions. 2011
Author of Constantine's Sword (DB 51712) and Practicing Catholic (DB 69393) traces the history of Jerusalem and explores its role…
as a locus for religious violence among the three Abrahamic religions--Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 2011
Presents a chronological history of China and its territories from the earliest dynasties to Chairman Mao and the twentieth-century Cultural…
Revolution. Discusses philosophical, religious, population, and economic factors affecting Chinese civilization across the span of thousands of years. 2009
American statesman and scholar who helped President Nixon reestablish relations with Beijing in 1971-72 explains the differences between China's conceptual…
thinking about problems of war, peace, and international order and America's more pragmatic case-by-case approach. Focuses on the interaction of Chinese and American leaders since 1949. 2011
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's 2007-2011 observations of the inhabitants of Annawadi, a slum surrounding the luxury hotels at the Mumbai, India,…
airport. Portrays the lives of disadvantaged families who battle hunger and disease and describes India's political and religious tensions and police corruption. Violence and strong language. Bestseller. 2012
Geopolitical analyst examines the countries surrounding the South China Sea, particularly China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Details geographical, economic, and historical…
influences; describes the lingering impact of U.S. foreign policy; and discusses threats to regional stability in the early twenty-first century. 2014
Traces North Africa's role in Western history, from the time of the pharaohs through the Middle Ages to the rise…
of the transcultural hubs of postcolonial Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Western Sahara. 2009
TV newsman chronicles the October 3, 2009, attack on U.S. Army base Combat Outpost Keating in the Afghanistan mountains and…
the events that preceded it. Describes the lives and fates of the more than fifty American soldiers who eventually prevailed over a much-larger Taliban force. Violence and strong language. 2012
Retired Lieutenant Commander Denver describes the training and attitude it takes to be a successful Navy SEAL. Discusses his missions…
in the Middle East and his later duty directing the SEAL's training program. Relates his role in making the movie Act of Valor. Violence and strong language. 2013
Historian reconstructs events surrounding the 1937 murder of twenty-year-old Briton Pamela Werner in Peking, China, just before the Japanese occupation.…
Chronicles the discovery of Werner's body, the failure of Chinese and British police to find her killers, and her father's own investigation during internment by the invaders. Some violence. 2011
Memoir by female Marine second lieutenant who served in Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Blair discusses the combat…
she experienced and her role in a unit that provided reconnaissance and surveillance. Also describes dealing with sexism. Violence and strong language. 2011
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter examines the social, cultural, economic, and political factors of Saudi Arabia's past, present, and future. Argues that…
Saudi citizens' desire for change in the governing structure and squabbling among Al Saud family members may undermine the monarchy's power. 2012
Reporter covers the life of Shin Dong-hyuk, born in 1982 in a North Korean prison labor camp, and details his…
2005 escape. Discloses the brutal conditions, including hunger and torture, the prisoners endured and discusses Shin's difficulty adjusting to life as a defector. Violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2012
Iranian author--writing under a pseudonym and changing some details to avoid retaliation--recounts the years he spied for the CIA in…
Iran. Explains why he grew disillusioned with the Revolutionary Guards and offered to help the United States, where he had studied in the 1970s. Some violence. 2010
Former CIA officer Mendez recounts the rescue of six Americans who escaped from the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November…
4, 1979, when it was overrun by militants. Details the plan to extract the diplomats from Iran disguised as members of a Hollywood film crew. Some strong language. 2012
Chronological exploration of the city of Jerusalem profiles the individuals who have shaped it over the centuries. Discusses King David,…
Jesus, Muhammad, Cleopatra, the Crusaders, King Hussein, and Sir Moses Montefiore, the author's nineteenth-century ancestor who established Jewish settlements in Palestine. Violence. 2011