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The full catastrophe: travels among the new Greek ruins
By James Angelos. 2015
The author presents the contrasting images of Greece, a nation both romanticized for its classical past and castigated for its…
dysfunctional present. With vivid character-driven narratives and engaging reporting that offers an immersive sense of place, he brings to life some of the causes of the country’s financial collapse, and examines the changes, some hopeful and others worrisome, emerging in its aftermath. 2015.The fourth power: a grand strategy for the United States in the 21st Century
By Gary Hart. 2004
Hart, a former senator and presidential candidate, fears that containment of communism has been supplanted by a blatant strategy of…
empire as the basis of American foreign policy. He rejects what he regards as the unilateral efforts by the current administration to promote geopolitical interests. As an alternative, Hart proposes a foreign policy designed to advance the "fourth power" - that is, the power of core American values, including representative government and individual liberty. 2004.The end of absence: reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection
By Michael Harris. 2014
Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the internet. For everyone who follows us,…
online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. The author chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained and lost in the bargain. He argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself -- of silence, wonder and solitude. Winner of the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction. 2014.The clouded leopard: travels to landscapes of spirit and desire
By Wade Davis. 1998
Davis examines the link between the diversity of our biological landscape and cultural diversity. He argues that the more we…
destroy the biological landscapes of the Earth, the more we cause diverse cultures to assimilate with the more mainstream cultures. Davis uses his travels around the world to illustrate his argument and shares stories of his time spent with a variety of peoples throughout the world. c1998.The climate wars
By Gwynne Dyer. 2008
Dwindling resources, massive population shifts, natural disasters, spreading epidemics. Drought, rising sea levels, plummeting agricultural yields, crashing economies and political…
extremism. These are some of the expected consequences of runaway climate change in the decades ahead, and any of them could tip the world towards conflict. 2008.The captive mind (Vintage International)
By Czesław Miłosz. 1990
Written in the early 1950s, when Eastern Europe was in the grip of Stalinism and many Western intellectuals placed their…
hopes in the new order of the East, this work reveals in detail the often beguiling allure of totalitarian rule to people of all political beliefs and its frightening effects on the minds of those who embrace it. 1990. Uniform title: Zniewolony umysł.The burning house: unlocking the mysteries of the brain
By Jay Ingram. 1994
The beauty of the beastly: new views on the nature of life
By Natalie Angier. 1996
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer for the New York Times offers her essays on the beauty of organisms usually considered beastly,…
and the beastliness behind conventional icons of beauty in the natural world. Admitting she "anthropomorphizes shamelessly," she humorously discusses commonalities that humans share with other species. Topics include loving, adapting, healing, creating, and dying. Some descriptions of violence. 1995.A collection of humourous and surprising essays which examine the scientific explanation for certain human behaviours, the scientific world's attempts…
to re-examine history, including the Salem witch trials, and some of the stranger questions tackled by scientists. Sections on human behaviour, curiosities of life, science and history, natural battles and how things work are included. 1998.Presents discoveries about the 9/11 terrorist attack, the emergency response, and insights into the inner workings of the US government,…
including the decision-making process at the top levels, the miscommunication between the FBI and CIA, and the fatal oversights made by the Bush administration before the attacks. It also explores the investigation process itself, placing the 9/11 investigation into historical context, and asks who will be held responsible for the intelligence and leadership failures revealed by the investigations. And perhaps most importantly, will the 9/11 investigation help prevent such a tragedy from happening again? Some descriptions of violence. 2004.The alchemy of love and lust: discovering our sex hormones and how they determine who we love, when we love, and how often we love
By Theresa Larsen Crenshaw. 1997
Identifies the role our hormones play in the different sexual stages, exploring the age-old concept of chemistry between the sexes…
and how hormones can determine the course of human relationships. Functions as both an encyclopedia of our attachment-related hormones, telling us exactly what they are and exactly what modern science thinks they do, and a guide to what we can do to get them to keep functioning the way we want them to. Descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1996.Systems of survival: a dialogue on the moral foundations of commerce and politics
By Jane Jacobs. 1994
In the form of a Platonic dialogue, Jacobs identifies two distinct moral syndromes - one governing commerce, the other, politics…
- and explores what happens when these two syndromes collide. She investigates such examples as business fraud, government subsidies to agriculture and criminal enterprise. She provides a new way of seeing our public transactions and encourages us towards the best use of our natural inclinations. 1994.Slumming it at the rodeo: the cultural roots of Canada's right-wing revolution
By Gordon Laird. 1998
Alberta premier Ralph Klein, the Reform Party's Preston Manning, and Ontario premier Mike Harris have all attempted to depict themselves…
as modern day cowboys, tough-talking rebels. But the author questions whether their actions live up to their images. Are they right-wing rebels or guardians of the status quo?Stones into schools: promoting peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan
By Greg Mortenson. 2009
Author of "Three Cups of Tea" and cofounder of the Central Asia Institute chronicles his school-building efforts and promotion of…
female literacy in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Discusses Mortenson's long-term goals and shares anecdotes about those impacted by his work. Bestseller. 2009.Slow death by rubber duck: how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health
By Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie, Sarah Dopp. 2009
To prove that the most dangerous pollution comes from commonplace items in our homes and workplaces, Smith and Lourie ingested…
and inhaled these items for one week. They expose the miscreant corporate giants who manufacture the toxins, the weak-kneed government officials who let it happen, and the effects on people across the globe; they also describe the extent to which we are poisoned, from the simple household dust that is polluting our blood to the toxins in our urine that are created by run-of-the-mill shampoos and toothpaste. c2009.Secret ingredients: the brave new world of industrial farming
By Stuart Laidlaw. 2003
A vivid portrait of what modern industrial farming is, what it is doing to the environment, to farmers, to the…
plants and livestock we eat, and to us as consumers and as citizens. The author takes us from the dairy farms of Pennsylvania to Canada's prairie wheatfields, from the tomato greenhouses of southern Ontario to the potato fields of P.E.I. All along the way, he shows us food's secret ingredient - its hidden costs. 2003.Secrets of the mummies: uncovering the bodies of ancient Egyptians (An I was there book)
By Shelley Tanaka, Peter Brand. 1999
Four mummies, from a mighty pharaoh to a poor weaver, are studied scientifically to reveal the lives and times of…
these three-thousand-year-old people. Also describes embalming and mummification, life in ancient Egypt, and the scientific techniques now used to study mummies. Grades 3-6. 1999.Sahara: a natural history
By Marq De Villiers, Sheila Hirtle. 2003
Description of the world's largest desert landscape and its inhabitants. Discusses the geography, natural cycles, and resilient life-forms of the…
sandy wilderness stretching across the broadest part of Africa. Covers the history of the Sahara's indigenous people--Berbers, Moors, and Tuareg--and the ancient kingdoms of past civilizations. 2003.Hertig asserts that both the American and Canadian governments are intentionally misleading their citizens about the Pentagon's unprecedented plans to…
weaponize space, about the new Russian and Chinese nuclear missile build-ups, and about the destruction of important, long-standing arms control agreements. Other topics covered are why the so-called U.S. missile "defence" system is really about establishing a U.S. first-strike-from-space capability, why both Paul Martin and Stephen Harper want to join in George W. Bush's program, and how all these factors may be leading to a rapidly increasing danger of a nuclear apocalypse. 2004.Red China blues: my long march from Mao to now
By Jan Wong. 1996
Born in Canada, Jan Wong began a rocky six-year romance with Maoism when she went to China in 1972. In…
this memoir, she describes leaving China as she became aware of the harsh realities of the communist system, and returning to China in the late 1980s as a reporter. She covered the crackdown in Tiananmen Square and the capitalist reforms of Deng Xiaoping. 1996.