Title search results
Showing 41 - 60 of 3378 items
A Pipeline Runs Through It: The Story of Oil from Ancient Times to the First World War
By Keith Fisher. 2022
'Fascinating revelations' Max Hastings, Sunday Times'Wonderfully detailed and colourful' Steven Poole, Daily Telegraph'The book I have long been waiting for...…
Essential reading' Michael KlarePetroleum has always been used by humans: as an adhesive by Neanderthals, as a waterproofing agent in Noah's Ark and as a weapon during the Crusades. Its eventual extraction from the earth in vast quantities transformed light, heat and power. A Pipeline Runs Through It is a fresh, comprehensive in-depth look at the social, economic, political and geopolitical forces involved in our transition to the modern oil age. It tells an extraordinary origin story, from the pre-industrial history of petroleum through to large-scale production in the mid-nineteenth century and the development of a dominant, fully-fledged oil industry by the early twentieth century.This was always a story of imperialist violence, political disenfranchisement, economic exploitation and environmental destruction. The near total eradication of the Native Americans of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio has barely been mentioned as a precondition for the emergence of the first industrialised oil region in the United States. Britain's invasion of Upper Burma in 1885 was perhaps the first war fought, at least in part, for access to oil; the growth of Royal Dutch-Shell involved the genocidal subjugation of people of the Dutch East Indies and the exploitation of oil in the Middle East arose seamlessly out of Britain's prior political and military interventions in the region.Finally, in an entirely new analysis, the book shows how the British navy's increasingly desperate dependence on vulnerable foreign sources of oil may have been a catalytic ingredient in the outbreak of the First World War. The rise of oil has shaped the modern world, and this is the book to understand it.The Peterloo Massacre
By The Estate Marlow. 1969
***The subject of the new major film by Mike Leigh***Unity of the oppressed can make a difference in politically uncertain…
times A peaceful protest turned tragedy; this is the true story of the working class fight for the vote.On August 16 1819, in St Peter’s Field, Manchester, a large non-violent gathering demanding parliamentary reform turned into a massacre, leaving many dead and hundreds more injured.This catastrophic event was one of the key moments of the age, a political awakening of the working class, and eventually led to ordinary people gaining suffrage. In this definitive account Joyce Marlow tells the stories of the real people involved and brings to life the atrocity the government attempted to cover up. The Peterloo Massacre is soon to be the subject of a major film directed by Mike Leigh.The Penguin History of the World: 6th edition
By J M Roberts, Odd Arne Westad. 2013
This is a completely new and updated edition of J. M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad's widely acclaimed, landmark bestseller…
The Penguin History of the World.For generations of readers The Penguin History of the World has been one of the great cultural experiences - the entire story of human endeavour laid out in all its grandeur and folly, drama and pain in a single authoritative book. Now, for the first time, it has been completely overhauled for its 6th edition - not just bringing it up to date, but revising it throughout in the light of new research and discoveries, such as the revolution in our understanding of many civilizations in the Ancient World. The closing sections of the book reflect what now seems to be the inexorable rise of Asia and the increasingly troubled situation in the West.About the authors:J.M. Roberts, CBE, published The Penguin History of the World in 1976 to immediate acclaim. His other major books include The Paris Commune from the Right, The Triumph of the West (which was also a successful television series), The Penguin History of Europe and The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century. He died in 2003.Odd Arne Westad, FBA, is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He has published fifteen books on modern and contemporary international history, among them The Global Cold War, which won the Bancroft Prize, and Decisive Encounters, a standard history of the Chinese civil war. He also served as general co-editor of the Cambridge History of the Cold War.Reviews'A work of outstanding breadth of scholarship and penetrating judgements. There is nothing better of its kind' Jonathan Sumption, Sunday Telegraph 'A stupendous achievement' A.J.P. Taylor'A brilliant book ... the most outstanding history of the world yet written' J.H. PlumbThe Penguin History Of Latin America: New Edition
By Edwin Williamson. 2009
Now fully updated to 2009, this acclaimed history of Latin America tells its turbulent story from Columbus to Chavez. Beginning…
with the Spanish and Portugese conquests of the New World, it takes in centuries of upheaval, revolution and modernization up to the present day, looking in detail at Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Cuba, and gives an overview of the cultural developments that have made Latin America a source of fascination for the world. 'A first-rate work of history ... His cool, scholarly gaze and synthesizing intelligence demystify a part of the world peculiarly prone to myth-making ... This book covers an enormous amount of ground, geographically and culturally' Tony Gould, Independent on SundayA calming collection of allegories, and illustrations from a world-renowned peace ambassador.Global peace ambassador Prem Rawat has spent his entire…
life travelling the world to deliver one timeless message: Peace is Possible. Conflict, he explains, takes place at three levels: between countries, between people, and finally within each of us as individuals. These levels are all interconnected. Hence the conflict that rages within a person will lead them to seek out conflict with another. Similarly, conflict between people of one nation is likely to result in conflict between many nations. So the first step to world peace is a simple one: we must first find peace within ourselves. Peace is Possible draws together age-old stories which, as they have been passed down over generations, inspired and transformed the lives of millions. From the power of adaptability, to the importance of trust, to the sticking-place of courage, these are the messages that will change the world. For good."This is an anthology to contemplate, revisit and relish" - LoveReading4Kids'It's time we told our story too. The melanin speaks…
for itself.' - George the PoetPart of a Story That Started Before Me is an extraordinary new collection of poems chosen by acclaimed spoken-word performer and social commentator George the Poet.Taking readers on a thought-provoking poetical journey through Black British history, the anthology brings together some of the most exciting wordsmiths from across the diaspora and fascinating era-by-era notes from historian Dr Christienna Fryar.From Africans in Roman Britannia to the first Black actor to play Othello on stage, from Malcolm X's visit to the West Midlands to highlighting an organizer of the UK's first Gay Pride, this important collection reveals unsun people and events from our past to recognize the intrinsic impact they've had on Britain today.Featuring: Abi Simms, Adesayo Talabi, AFLO. the poet, Amina Jama, Anu Balofin, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Becksy Becks, Benjamin Zephaniah, Bridget Minamore, Cara Thompson, Casey Bailey, Deanna Rodger, Derek Walcott, Dorothea Smartt, Dzifa Benson, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Eno Mfon, Evan the Poet, Fred D'Aguiar, FULAANI onda 3s, George The Poet, Grace Nichols, Henry Stone, Highwater Ell aka Elliott Henry, Ife Grillo, Inua Ellams, Irenosen Okojie, Isaiah Hull, Jade LB, Jeffrey Boakye, Jenny Mitchell, Jeremiah Brown, John Agard, Joseph Coelho, Jude Yawson, Kat Francois, Keith Jarrett, Kelechi Okafor, M. NourbeSe Philip, Malika Booker, Michael Groce, Miles Chambers, Muneera Pilgrim, Nick Makoha, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Nile Faure-Bryan, Olaudah Equiano, Olivette Otele, Patience Agbabi, Peter deGraft-Johnson aka The Repeat Beat Poet, Phillis Wheatley, Priss Nash, Rakaya Fetuga, Raymond Antrobus, Reece Williams, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasha, Samuel King, Sophia Thakur, Stretch the Top Boy, Thembe Mvula, Theresa Lola, Tré Ventour, Vanessa Kisuule, Wretch 32 and Zena Edwards.Over Here and Undertaxed: Multinationals, Tax Avoidance and You
By Richard Murphy. 2013
Tax has rocketed to the top of the news agenda. When Amazon, Google and Starbucks were pulled up in front…
of the Public Accounts Committee, many were stunned at how little corporation tax they paid (if at all) in a time of austerity and government cuts. How can a tax gap of £12 billion be justified, when a CEO can take home $101 million a year? There is a growing realization that maybe we aren't ‘all in this together’, and what are Google's 'Dutch sandwich' and a 'double Irish' anyway? In this 30,000-word ebook Richard Murphy, a highly respected economic commentator and blogger, explains how we came to this situation, its origins and development after the 2008 economic crisis, who the villains of the piece are, and why. But this ebook also seeks answers and Murphy offers concrete and practical solutions in the face of growing public awareness, which politicians and companies will ignore at their peril as taxpayers vote with their feet. Part of the Brain Shots series, the pre-eminent source for high quality, short-form non-fiction.Our Common Interest: An Argument
By Commission For Africa. 2005
'The Commission for Africa finds the conditions of the lives of the majority of Africans to be intolerable and an…
affront to the dignity of all mankind. We insist upon an alteration of these conditions through a change of policy in favour of the weak.'The report of the Commission for Africa is the most important document of our time. Created by major decision-makers from across the globe, it is a call to action for the nations meeting at the 2005 G8 summit to end extreme poverty in the world's most desperate continent. This book sets out clearly the arguments and recommendations of the Commission's plan for a strong, prosperous Africa. 'The Africa Commission is a masterful display of diagnosis and politics' Jeffrey Sachs, Guardian'If we act on these recommendations, there is a good chance of a better life for hundreds of millions' Financial Times'This report will be an important contribution to the continuing search for effective solutions to the continent's problems' Kofi AnnanAn Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History
By Askold Krushnelnycky. 2006
In December 2004, the world watched as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians gathered to defy the results of a transparently…
rigged presidential election. The charismatic popular candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, had been poisoned and disfigured by his opponents. The security forces threatened violent repression. But the demonstrators stayed and, as international pressure grew, the corrupt old regime that had been supported by Putin's Kremlin was deposed. It was the most significant moment for Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.An Orange Revolution is the gripping account of this historic uprising and the events that led to it. Ukraine was treated roughly by the twentieth century, occupied by the Germans and annexed by the Soviets. It saw guerrilla fighting after the Second World War and dissent was crushed by successive Communist administrations. Its history has been one of corruption, power struggles, organised crime, but a resiliently optimistic population.Based on firsthand observation and interviews with major players and anonymous demonstrators alike, this is about a people who have forced a lasting change: judges who defied death threats, a murdered journalist, amateur musicians who composed an anthem for the people, and soldiers who staked their lives to back the opposition. An Orange Revolution also traces the story of the author's family, who paid a high price for speaking out. An Orange Revolution is a captivating book about a defining moment in European history.Operation Crossbow: The Untold Story of the Search for Hitler’s Secret Weapons
By Allan Williams. 2011
The story of the photographic intelligence work undertaken from a country house at Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, is one of the great…
lost stories of the Second World War . At its peak in 1944, almost 2,000 British and American men and women worked at the top-secret Danesfield House, interpreting photographs - the majority stereoscopic so they could be viewed in 3D - to unlock secrets of German military activity and weapons development. Millions of aerial photographs were taken by Allied pilots, flying unarmed modified Spitfires and Mosquitos on missions over Nazi Europe. it was said that an aircraft could land, the photographs be developed and initial interpretation completed within two hours - marking the culmination of years of experiments in aerial intelligence techniques.Their finest hour began in 1943, during the planning stages of the Allied invasion of Europe, when Douglas Kendall, who masterminded the interpretation work at Medmenham, led the hunt for Hitler's secret weapons. Operation Crossbow would grow from a handful of photographic interpreters to the creation of a hand-picked team, and came to involve interpreters from across the Medmenham spectrum, including the team of aircraft specialists led by the redoubtable Constance Babington Smith. In November that year, whilst analysing photographs of Peenemunde in northern Germany, they spotted a small stunted aircraft on a ramp. This intelligence breakthrough linked the Nazi research station with a growing network of sites in northern France, where ramps were being constructed aligned not only with London, but targets throughout southern Britain.Through the combined skill and dedication of the Crossbow team and the heroism of the Allied pilots, throughout late 1943 and 1944 V-weapon launch sites were located and through countermeasures destroyed, saving hundreds of thousands of lives, and changing the course of the war.Operation Crossbow is a wonderful story of human endeavour and derring-do, told for the first time.10 PM, on the 7 May. The exit poll predicting the result of the 2015 General Election is announced. In…
that instant three lives are changed for ever.David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg were three very different men, from very different backgrounds. But they shared one ambition. To lead their country.In pursuit of their dream they were forced to make sacrifices. Of their principles. Of those they loved. Of themselves.And right up until the final moment the exit poll was released each man clung to the hope those sacrifices had not been in vain. Then the clock struck ten.In One Minute to Ten, Dan Hodges brings to life the most dramatic general election campaign in living memory, and tells the untold story of the three men who contested it. And in doing so reveals the price paid by those who risk everything in their quest for the ultimate political prize...On War
By Carl Clausewitz. 1968
Writing at the time of Napoleon's greatest campaigns, Prussian soldier and writer Carl von Clausewitz created this landmark treatise on…
the art of warfare, which presented war as part of a coherent system of political thought.In line with Napoleon's own military actions, he illustrated the need to annihilate the enemy and make a strong display of one's power in an 'absolute war' without compromise. But he was also careful to distinguish between war and politics, arguing that war could only be justified when debate was no longer adequate, and that if undertaken, its aim should ultimately be to improve the wellbeing of the nation.On The Missionary Trail
By Tom Hiney. 2000
This is the strange and wondrous story of an eight-year voyage and a mission to save souls. Their mission started…
in the South Seas, where they reported scenes of chiefs surfing, perpetual warfare and a sudden surge of Christianity. From there they went via New Zealand, Australia and its aboriginal hinterland, through 'the Orient' to India and slave-ridden Mauritius. Based on contemporary journals, mission reports, letters and illustrations, and bursting with character and anecdote. ON THE MISSIONARY TRAIL is both the enthralling narrative of the longest missionary voyage ever undertaken and a colourful, detailed, eye-opening snapshot of little-known worlds, set against the wider picture of evangelism and guilt, heroism and humanity.On Liberty
By Shami Chakrabarti. 2014
On Liberty is the story of today's threats to our freedoms and a highly personal, impassioned plea in defence of…
fundamental rights, from Shami Chakrabarti, Britain's leading human rights campaignerOn 11 September 2001, our world changed. The West's response to 9/11 has morphed into a period of exception. Governments have decided that the rule of law and human rights are often too costly. In On Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti explores why our fundamental rights and freedoms are indispensable. She shows, too, the unprecedented pressures those rights are under today. Drawing on her own work in high-profile campaigns, from privacy laws to anti-terror legislation, Chakrabarti shows the threats to our democratic institutions and why our rights are paramount in upholding democracy.'Probably the most effective public affairs lobbyist of the past 20 years' - David Aaronovitch, The Times 'The undaunted freedom fighter' - Observer'The most dangerous woman in Britain' - SunOn Liberty
By John Stuart Mill. 1974
'Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.' To this 'one very simple principle' the whole…
of Mill's essay On Liberty is dedicated. While many of his immediate predecessors and contemporaries, from Adam Smith to Godwin and Thoreau, had celebrated liberty, it was Mill who organized the idea into a philosophy, and put it into the form in which it is generally known today. The editor of this essay, Gertrude Himmelfarb records responses to Mill's books and comments on his fear of 'the tyranny of the majority'. Dr Himmelfarb concludes that the same inconsistencies which underlie On Liberty continue to complicate the moral and political stance of liberals today.On Government
By Cicero. 1993
On The Edge
By Anthony Giddens. 2000
Capitalism has become the universal social and economic order of our time. The capitalism of today, however, differs from that…
of previous eras; with intensifying globalisation, flexible organisations, and new forms of class divisions. Globalisation brings new possibilities, but also new risks, ranging from degradation of the environment to the concentrated control of the media. On the Edge comprises original essays by, among others, Polly Toynbee, Richard Senett and George Soros. They chart the contours of contemporary capitalism, analyse the role of the business firm, and consider whether the new capitalism is compatible with social cohesion and social justice. They discuss capitalism both as a form of culture and as an influence on daily life, and ask if capitalism has any viable rivals at the turn of the millennium.Oman: The True-Life Drama and Intrigue of an Arab State
By John Beasant. 2002
Oman is one of the world’s most secretive countries,ruled with absolute authority by the Sultan. All information is strictly controlled…
by the State: British Prime Minister Edward Heath once said that the story of the 1970 Palace Coup and the events that followed would ‘not be told in our lifetime’. Following ten years’ residency in the country a senior member of Sultan Qaboos's Family suggested that John Beasant write a political history of Oman that would to some extent rehabilitate the maligned name of former Sultan Said, who was deposed in the 1970 Coup.In 'Oman' Beasant catalogues a nature of exploitation woven through all manner of political and commercial interests and casts light on the dark practices so often involved in the sale of arms to Middle Eastern states and illustrates the political use to which the sale of ‘black gold’ - oil - can be put. Oman is a parable of our times, detailing rivalry and intrigue between people in high places. It is one of the most dramatic tales in Arab history: a chronicle of personal price, rapacious greed and undiluted lust for power.Office Without Power: Diaries 1968-72
By Tony Benn. 1988
'The detail of these diaries, and their comprehensive candour, offer unprecedented insights into the personal behaviour of many senior Labour…
politicians... The most readable political diary of the period' Harold Lever, SpectatorTony Benn's second volume of diaries, which spans the years 1968-72, is a unique record of British politics as observed both from the heart of the Cabinet and the Labour Party.George Brown's spectacular resignation and Cecil King's plot to overthrow Wilson are just two of the events which dominate the opening chapter, and introduce the last years of Labour's increasingly demoralised government.And for the first time in a political diary, Labour's experience of Opposition after the unexpected and shattering defeat of 1970 is revealed. Here, too, are recorded the bitter arguments over the Common Market, in which Tony Benn emerged as the principal advocate of a referendum on Britain's entry - and which foreshadowed the Labour/SDP schism of 1981. The result is a fascinating and invaluable document of the times.'A fascinating insider's account' Ben Pimlott, StandardOf The People, By The People: A New History of Democracy
By Roger Osborne. 2011
'Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to…
time.'Churchill had more reason than most to rue the power of democracy, having been thrown out of office after leading Britain to victory in 1945. Democracy, when viewed from above, has always been a fickle master; from below it is a powerful but fragile friend.Most books on democracy focus on political theory and analysis, in a futile attempt to define democracy. Of The People, By The People takes the opposite approach, telling the stories of the different democracies that have come into existence during the past two and half millennia. From Athens to Rhaetia, Jamestown to Delhi, and Putney to Pretoria, the book shows how democratic systems are always a reflection of the culture and history of their birthplaces, and come about through seizing fleeting opportunities. Democracy can only be understood through the fascinating and inspiring stories of the peoples who fought to bring it about.