c hurst co publishers ltd united kingdom london (61 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. There has been an explosion of research into the experiences of British Muslims, but what has been conspicuous by its absence is a proper historical treatment of the phenomenon. This text aims to address this issue. The book is being reprinted with a new cover image in March 2009. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Noted Gulf expert Christopher Davidson contends that the collapse of the Gulf monarchies is going to happen, and always was. The Gulf monarchies (Saudi Arabia and its five smaller neighbours: the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain) have long been governed by highly autocratic and seemingly anachronistic regimes. Yet despite bloody conflicts on their doorsteps, fast-growing populations, and powerful modernising and globalising forces impacting on their largely conservative societies, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience. The obituaries of the traditional monarchies have frequently been penned, but even now, these absolutist, almost medieval, entities still appear to pose the same conundrum as before: in the wake of the 2011 'Arab Spring' and the fall of incumbent presidents in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, the apparently steadfast Gulf monarchies have, at first glance, re-affirmed their status as the Middle East's only real bastions of stability. In this book, noted Gulf expert Christopher Davidson contends that the collapse of these kings, emirs, and sultans is going to happen, and was always going to. While the revolutionary movements in North Africa, Syria, and Yemen will undeniably serve as important, if indirect, catalysts for the coming upheaval, many of the pressures that were building up in the Arab republics are now also present in the Gulf monarchies. It is now no longer a matter of if but when the West's steadfast allies fall. This is a bold claim to make but Davidson, who accurately forecast the economic turmoil that afflicted Dubai in 2009, has an enviable record in diagnosing social and political changes afoot in the region. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In the inaugural issue of Critical Muslim: Ziauddin Sardar tries to understand the significance of what just happened in the Middle East, Robin Yassin-Kassab spends some quality time in Tahrir Square, Ashur Shamis dodges the bullets of Gaddafi's henchmen, Abdelwahab El-Affendi traces the roots of the uprisings, Anne Alexander tunes into the digital revolution, Fadia Faqir joins women protestors, Shadia Safwan asks how long could Assad last, Jamal Mahjoub contemplates futures of the Sudan, Jasmin Ramsey joins the activists in Tehran, and Jerry Ravetz ponders the significance of Ibn Khaldun to the Arab Spring. Also in this issue: Rachel Holmes visits the Palestinian Festival of Literature, S. Parvez Manzoor asks if Turkey is a good model for the Muslim world, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad is overwhelmed by leaks, Taus Makhacheva takes 'Affirmative Action', Aasia Nasir accuses Pakistan and Merryl Wyn Davies's 'last word' on Saudi women drivers. Plus a new short story from Bilal Tanweer and revolutionary poetry from Nizar Qabbani, Tawfiq Zayyad, Abul-Qasim al-Shabi, Ayat al-Qormezi and Naomi Foyle. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. As 2023 marks the 300th birthday of Adam Smith, Father of Capitalism, capital apparently makes the world go roundbut, as this issue explores, it is not the only structure we can use to orchestrate interactions, transactions and the business of conducting our lives. As permacrisis engulfs the planet, capitalism seems unfit for purpose, moving between hero and villain in our increasingly complex world. This issue considers capital as acquisition, mentality, a place to live, and a severely unjust basis upon which we seem to exist. Can the system hold? What might lie beyond a capital state of mind? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A former paratrooper in the British Army with extensive experience of conflict and post-conflict management in the countries of former Yugoslavia, Mark Etherington had just completed a degree in international relations at Cambridge University in 2003 when the British Foreign Office asked him to assume the administration of Wasit Province in southern Iraq on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority or CPA.He established a small team in the provincial capital of al-Kut on the banks of the Tigris in order to begin the process of reconstruction - both political and physical - of a province with a predominantly Shia population of 900,000 and a long border with Iran.The province was plagued by poverty and beset by social paralysis. A demoralized and sometimes corrupt police force was incapable of imposing the rule of law. Ba'ath party functionaries had been purged, local municipal authority was weak, and basic services were lacking. More challenging still was an escalating armed insurgency by the followers of Moqtada al-Sadr that culminated in a sixteen-hour firefight for control of the CPA's base in Kut. This gritty and compelling firsthand account of post-conflict Iraq describes the turmoil visited on the country by outside intervention and the difficulties faced by the Coalition in fashioning a new political and civil apparatus. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The development of thinking machines is an adventure as bold and ambitious as any that humans have attempted. And the truth is that Artificial Intelligence is already an indispensable part of our daily lives. Without it, Google wouldn't have answers and your smartphone would just be a phone. But how will AI change society by 2050? Will it destroy jobs? Or even pose an existential threat? Android Dreams is a lively exploration of how AI will transform our societies, economies and selves. From robot criminals to cyber healthcare, and a sky full of empty planes, Toby Walsh's predictions about AI are guaranteed to surprise you. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Noted Gulf expert Christopher Davidson contends that the collapse of the Gulf monarchies is going to happen, and always was. The Gulf monarchies (Saudi Arabia and its five smaller neighbours: the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain) have long been governed by highly autocratic and seemingly anachronistic regimes. Yet despite bloody conflicts on their doorsteps, fast-growing populations, and powerful modernising and globalising forces impacting on their largely conservative societies, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience. The obituaries of the traditional monarchies have frequently been penned, but even now, these absolutist, almost medieval, entities still appear to pose the same conundrum as before: in the wake of the 2011 'Arab Spring' and the fall of incumbent presidents in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, the apparently steadfast Gulf monarchies have, at first glance, re-affirmed their status as the Middle East's only real bastions of stability. In this book, noted Gulf expert Christopher Davidson contends that the collapse of these kings, emirs, and sultans is going to happen, and was always going to. While the revolutionary movements in North Africa, Syria, and Yemen will undeniably serve as important, if indirect, catalysts for the coming upheaval, many of the pressures that were building up in the Arab republics are now also present in the Gulf monarchies. It is now no longer a matter of if but when the West's steadfast allies fall. This is a bold claim to make but Davidson, who accurately forecast the economic turmoil that afflicted Dubai in 2009, has an enviable record in diagnosing social and political changes afoot in the region. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. After the Second World War, Germany was an international pariah. Today, it has become a beacon of the Western world. But what makes this extraordinary nation tick? On Germany tells the story of a country reborn, from defeat in 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the painstaking reunification of 'the two Germanies', and the Republic's return to the world stage as an economic colossus and European leader. Giles MacDonogh restores these momentous events of world history to their German context, from the food and drink that accompanied them to the deep-rooted provincialism behind the national story. Full of vivid and often whimsical vignettes of German life, this is a Germanophile's homage to the culture and people of a country he has known for decades. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In 1977, Johnson's best-selling How Long Will South Africa Survive? offered a controversial and highly original analysis of the survival prospects of apartheid. Now, after more than two decades of ANC in government, he believes the question must be posed again. 'The big question about ANC rule,' Johnson writes, 'is whether African nationalism would be able to cope with the challenges of running a modern industrial economy. Twenty years of ANC rule have shown conclusively that the party is hopelessly ill-equipped for this task. Indeed, everything suggests that South Africa under the ANC is fast slipping backward and that even the survival of South Africa as a unitary state cannot be taken for granted. The fundamental reason why the question of regime change has to be posed is that it is now clear that South Africa can either choose to have an ANC government or it can have a modern industrial economy. It cannot have both.'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. ** Includes a New Postcript 'The Chilcot ReportEarly Thoughts on Military Matters'** From 2001 Britain supported the United States in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'Victory' in such conflicts is always hard to gauge and domestic political backing for them was never robust. For this, the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were held responsible, and paid the price, but the role played by the High Command in the Ministry of Defence also bears examination. Critics have noted that the armed services were riven by internal rivalry and their leadership was dysfunctional, but the truth is more complicated. In his book Elliott explores the circumstances that led to these wars and how the Ministry of Defence coped with the challenges presented. He reveals how the Service Chiefs were set at odds by the system, almost as rivals in the making, with responsibility diffuse and authority ambiguous. The MoD concentrated on making things work, rather than questioning whether what they were being asked to do was practicable. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Turkey of today little resembles that of recent decades. Its economy has expanded hugely, new political elites have emerged, and the once powerful Kemalist military is no longer a potent and dominant political player. Meanwhile, new prosperity has had many unexpected social and political repercussions, pre-eminent among which is the advent of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which first came to power in 2002 by downplaying its Islamist leanings and marketing itself as a centre-right party. After several terms in office, and amid unprecedented popularity, the conduct of the AKP and its leading cadres has faced growing criticism. Turkey has yet to solve its Kurdish question, and its foreign policy is increasingly under threat as it balances relations with Iran, Israel, Iraq and Russia, to name only a few of its more demanding interlocutors. Widespread domestic protests gripped the country in 2013. The government is now perceived by many to be corrupt, unaccountable, intimidating of the press and intolerant of alternative political views and criticism.Has this once promising democracy descended into a tyranny of the majority led by a charismatic leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan? Is Turkey more polarised now than ever in its recent history? These are among the questions posed in this timely primer on a rising economic power. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. Through the stories of three generations of her family, Karoline Kan, a former New York Times reporter based in Beijing, reveals how they navigated their way in a country beset by poverty and often-violent political unrest. As the Kans move from quiet villages to crowded towns and through the urban streets of Beijing in search of a better way of life, they are forced to confront the past and break the chains of tradition, especially those forced on women. Raw and revealing, Karoline Kan offers gripping tales of her grandmother, who struggled to make a way for her family during the Great Famine; of her great-uncle, a former Communist Red Guard; of her mother, who defied the One-Child Policy by giving birth to Karoline; of her cousin, a factory worker scraping by on 6 yuan (88 cents) per hour; and of herself, an ambitious millennial striving to find a job--and true love--during a time rife with bewildering social change. Under Red Skies is an engaging eyewitness account and Kan's quest to understand the rapidly evolving, shifting sands of China. It is the first English-language memoir from a Chinese millennial to be published in the West, and a fascinating portrait of an otherwise hidden world.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Amid the ongoing Brexit crisis, both sides are appealing to Britains past relationship with Europe tojustifytheir positions. But much specious history is presented toargue for eitherthe closeness or distance of our political, cultural and economic links with the Continent. We urgently need a dispassionate account of howBritains history truly fits intoa European context. How similar has Britain been to other European countries, and in what respects? Do Brits feel European, and have they takenan interestin events on the Continent, or has their distance from Europe led to insularity and xenophobia? Finally, how involved in European affairshas Britain beenover the last several hundred years?Jeremy Blacks fresh and trenchant analysis sets an increasinglypoliticisedBritishhistoryin itsreal European context. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Boko Haram's appetite for exemplary violence and kidnapping women and girls has thrust it to the top of the global news agenda. In a few furious years its cadres have all but severed parts of northern Nigeria -- Africa's most populous state and largest economy -- from the hands of the government in Abuja. Videos broadcast by Boko Haram feature its leader, a grimacing rantingdemagogue who taunts viewers, claiming he will 'eat the heart of the infidel' and calling on Nigerians to reject their corrupt democracy and return to a 'pure' form of Islam. Thousands have been slaughtered in their campaign of purification which has evolved through a bloody civil war. In Northern Nigeria - which has witnessed many caliphates in the past - radical ideas flourish and strange sects are common. Boko Haram has drawn on and exploited these traditions to mobilise people against the corruption of Nigeria's politicians and oligarchs who have preyed on a state buoyed by oil revenues and turned public institutions into spoons for the pot. When the going was good it didn't matter. Now a new ravenous force threatens them all.Andrew Walker guides the reader through Boko Haram's hinterland - examining northern Nigeria's history, culture and politics - in search of where the group comes from and where Nigeria might be going. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Something has gone badly wrong: people loathe politicians,distrust the press and increasingly fear each other. It's easy to blame Russian trolls,Facebook news feeds,or the sinister manipulation of 'big data'--but these are all symptoms of an abusive thirty-year relationship between politics, the media, and a new information age. Interviewing everyone from Tony Blair to Michael Gove, top journalists to Russian bloggers, and tech giant execs to online activists, Tom Baldwin describes a vicious battle forcontrolof the news agenda, at the expense of public trust and the value of truth. He shows how technological change has hollowed out space for virulent newpopulist alternatives, including the so-called 'alt-right' and 'alt-left'. And he warns that not only extremists, but also the progressive centre, may now decide to press 'delete'on liberal democracy altogether. Ctrl Alt Deleteis a brutally honest and sometimes funny account of how our democracy was crashed -- and whether we can still re-boot it. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In Kashmir, folktales often begin with the word dapaanit is said. So too do local narratives told and retold about the past, among people who have lived through nearly eight decades of a bitter contest between India and Pakistan. This is a story about stories. In the hyper-nationalist din over a territorial dispute, Kashmiri voices are often drowned out. Yet the region is home to long habits of storytelling, its communities intensely engaged with history-keeping. For centuries, folk traditions of theatre, song and fable have flowed into a reservoir of common talk. Mythology, hearsay and historical memory coexist here without any apparent hierarchies. By the time armed rebellion spread through Kashmir in 1989, many of these traditions had died out, or been forced underground. But they have left traces in the way ordinary people speak about the conflictin their songs of loss, and jokes about dark times; in fantastical geographies, and rumours turning the Valleys militarisation into a ghostly haunting. From Partition to the 2019 Indian crackdown, Ipsita Chakravarty discovers a vivid, distinctly Kashmiri vision of events that have often been narrated from the top-down. Her interviewees conjure a kaleidoscope of towns and villages shaping their own memories. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. An urgent call to reform capitalism so that it stops failing women. Although the #MeToo movement has been hugely important, empowerment of the mind will not achieve full power for women while there remains economic inequality. Leading economist Vicky Pryce urgently calls for feminists to focus attention on this pressing issue: the pay gap, the glass ceiling, and the obstacles to women working at all. She shows that gender equality is good for business and economies, but the free market is wired to perpetuate inequality; only government intervention can empower women, with proper support and reward for their work. From the gendered threat of robot labour to the lack of women in economics itself, Women vs Capitalism is a bold and timely look at an uncomfortable truth: we will not achieve equality for women without radical changes to contemporary capitalism. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. After the Second World War, Germany was an international pariah. Today, it has become a beacon of the Western world. But what makes this extraordinary nation tick? On Germany tells the story of a country reborn, from defeat in 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the painstaking reunification of 'the two Germanies', and the Republic's return to the world stage as an economic colossus and European leader. Giles MacDonogh restores these momentous events of world history to their German context, from the food and drink that accompanied them to the deep-rooted provincialism behind the national story. Full of vivid and often whimsical vignettes of German life, this is a Germanophile's homage to the culture and people of a country he has known for decades. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Good. First. 8vo. clean uninscribed copy, pages yellowing with age, some scuffing to outside page edges. Surface wear to cover, rubbing to extremities, creases down length of spine. Light soiling to back cover, top left corner of back cover creased (but flat). old price sticker in bottom right corner. Book.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Chinas Belt and Road strategy is acknowledged to be the most ambitious geopolitical initiative of the age. Covering almost seventy countries by land and sea, it will affect every element of global society, from shipping to agriculture, digital economy to tourism, politics to culture. Most importantly, it symbolises a new phase in Chinas ambitions as a superpower: to remake the world economy and crown Beijing as the new centre of capitalism and globalisation. Bruno Macaes traces this extraordinary initiatives history, highlighting its achievements to date, and its staggering complexity. He asks whether Belt and Road is about more than power projection and profit. Might it herald a new set of universal political values, to rival those of the West? Is it, in fact, the story of the century? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. From international NGOs to UN agencies, from donors to observers of humanitarianism, opinion is unanimous: in a context of the alleged 'clash of civilizations', our 'humanitarian space' is shrinking. Put in another way, the freedom of action and of speech of humanitarians is being eroded due to the radicalization of conflicts and to the reaffirmation of state sovereignty over aid actors and policies. The purpose of this book is to challenge this assumption through the analysis of the events that have marked MSF's history since 2003 (when MSF published its first general work on humanitarian action and its relationships with governments). It addresses the evolution of humanitarian goals, the resistance to these goals and the political arrangements that overcame this resistance (or that failed to do so). The contributors seek to analyze the political transactions and balances of power and interests that allow aid activities to move forward, but that are usually masked by the lofty rhetoric of 'humanitarian principles'. They focus on one key question: what is an acceptable compromise for MSF. This book seeks to puncture a number of the myths that have grown up over the last forty years since MSF was founded and describes in detail how the ideals of humanitarian principles and 'humanitarian space' to operate in conflict zones are in reality illusory. How in fact it is the grubby negotiations with varying parties, each of whom have their own vested interests, that may allow organisations such as MSF to operate in a given crisis situation -- or not. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. In 1993, a newly-appointed CIA director warned that Western powers might have slain a large dragon with the fall of the USSR, but now faced a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. Since then, both dragons (state enemies like Russia and China) and snakes (terrorist and guerrilla organisations) have watched the US struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan, and mastered new methods in response: hybrid and urban warfare, political manipulation, and harnessing digital technology. Leading soldier-scholar David Kilcullen reveals everything the Wests opponents have learned from twenty-first-century conflict and explains how their cutting-edge tactics and adaptability pose a serious threat to America and its allies, disabling the Wests military advantage. The Dragons and the Snakes is a compelling, counterintuitive look at the new, vastly complex global arena. Kilcullen reshapes our understanding of the Wests foes, and shows how it can respond.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Winner of the 2022 James Beard Book Award A Guardian Best History and Politics Book of 2022 Selected as one of the 25 Best Cookbooks of 2022 in Delicious Magazine Nominated for the 2022 Spirited Awards This is the forgotten history of women making, serving and drinking alcohol. Drink has always been at the centre of social rituals and cultures worldwideand women have been at the heart of its production and consumption. So when did drinking become gendered?How have patriarchies tried to erase and exclude women from industries they've always led, and how have women fought back?And why are things from bars to whiskey considered masculine, when, without women, they might not exist? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity,Girly Drinksunveils distillers, brewers, drinkers and bartenders with a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol, fromCleopatra, Catherine the Greatand the real Veuve Clicquotto Chinese poets, medieval nuns and Prohibition bootleggers. Mallory OMearas fun and fascinating history dismantles the long-standing myth that drink is a male tradition. Now, readers everywhere can discover each woman celebrated in this bookand proudly have what shes having. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. When Madian Al Jazerah came out to his Arab parents, his mother had one question. Are you this? she asked, cupping her hand. Or are you this? she motioned with a poking finger. If youre the poker, she said, you arent a homosexual. For Madian, this opposition reveals not who he is, but patriarchy, power, and societys efforts to fit us into neat boxes. He is Palestinian, but wasnt raised in Palestine. He is Kuwaiti-born, but not Kuwaiti. Hes British-educated, but not a Westerner. Hes a Muslim, but cant embrace the Islam of today. Hes a gay man, out of the closet but still living in the shadows: he has left Jordan, his home, three times in fear of his life. Madian has searched for acceptance and belonging around the world, joining new communities in San Francisco, New York, Hawaii and Tunisia, yet always finding himself pulled back to Amman. This frank and moving memoir narrates his battles with adversity, racism and homophobia, and a rich life lived with humour, dignity and grace. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. The Northumbrians have been overlooked by British and global history, but theyve made astonishing contributions to both. Dan Jackson sets out to recover this lost history, exploring the deep roots of Northumbrian culturehard work and heavy drinking, sociability and sentimentality, militarism and masculinitythrough centuries of border warfare and dangerous industry. He explains what we can learn about Northumbrias people from its landscape and architecture, and revisits the Northumbrian Enlightenment that gave the world the locomotive and the lightbulb. This story reaches right to the present day, as this extraordinary region finds itself caught between an indifferent south and an increasingly confident Scotland. From the Venerable Bede and the prince-bishops of Durham to Viz and Geordie Shore, this vital new history reveals a part of England with an uncertain future, but whose people remain as remarkable as ever.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. An alternative account of the EU as a racialised project The European Union is often seen as a cosmopolitan rejection of violent nationalism. Yet the idea of Europe has a long, problematic historyin medieval times, it was synonymous with Christianity; in the modern era, it became associated with whiteness. Eurowhiteness exposes the EU as a vehicle for imperial amnesia. Narratives of European integration emphasise the lessons of war and the Holocaust, but not the lessons of colonial history. The EU is about power as much as peaceand civic ideas of Europe are being displaced by ethnic and cultural ones. Since the 2015 refugee crisis, whiteness has become even more central to European identitya troubling new turn in Europes long civilisational project. It is time to confront the relationship between ideas of Europe and ideas of race. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. In early summer 1982--winter in the South Atlantic--Argentina's military junta invades the Falklands. Within days, a Royal Navy Task Force is assembled and dispatched. This is the story of D Squadron, 22 SAS, commanded by Cedric Delves. The relentless tempo of events defies belief. Raging seas, inhospitable glaciers, hurricane-force winds, helicopter crashes, raids behind enemy lines--the Squadron prevailed against them all, but the cost was high. Holding fast to their humanity, D Squadron's fighters were there at the start and end of the Falklands War. Theirs was the first Union Jack raised over Government House in Stanley. Across an Angry Sea is a chronicle of daring, skill and steadfastness among a tight-knit band of brothers; of learning fast, fighting hard, and winning through.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 'An Intimate War' tells the story of the last thirty-four years of conflict in Helmand Province, Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of the Helmandis. In the West, this period is often defined through different lenses -- the Soviet intervention, the civil war, the Taliban, and the post-2001 nation-building era. Yet, as experienced by local inhabitants, the Helmand conflict is a perennial one, involving the same individuals, families and groups, and driven by the same arguments over land, water and power. This book -- based on both military and research experience in Helmand and 150 interviews in Pashto -- offers a very different view of Helmand from those in the media. It demonstrates how outsiders have most often misunderstood the ongoing struggle in Helmand and how, in doing so, they have exacerbated the conflict, perpetuated it and made it more violent -- precisely the opposite of what was intended when their interventions were launched. Mike Martin's oral history of Helmand underscores the absolute imperative of understanding the highly local, personal, and non-ideological nature of internal conflict in much of the 'third' world. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. ***THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER*** A robust and timely investigation into the political and moral fault-lines that divide Brexit Britain and how a new settlement may be achieved. Several decades of greater economic and cultural openness in the West have not benefited all our citizens. Among those who have been left behind, a populist politics of culture and identity has successfully challenged the traditional politics of Left and Right, creating a new division: between the mobile 'achieved' identity of the people from Anywhere, and the marginalised, roots-based identity of the people from Somewhere. This schism accounts for the Brexit vote, the election of Donald Trump, the decline of the centre-left, and the rise of populism across Europe. David Goodhart's compelling investigation of the new global politics reveals how the Somewhere backlash is a democratic response to the dominance of Anywhere interests, in everything from mass higher education to mass immigration. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Exploring death, religion, science and social crisis, a startling history of the occult between the world wars, when Spiritualism was truly an international obsession. The interwar period was a golden age of the uncanny. Clairvoyants, fakirs, Theosophists, mind-readers, miracle-workers and jinn-summoners--all assured the masses that, just like the newly discovered invisible forces of electricity, radiation and magnetism, unseen spiritual powers commanded a realm of hidden human potential. This was a transnational movement of eccentrics, gurus and prophets, with East and West interacting in unexpected ways. Drawing on untapped sources in Arabic as well as European records, Raphael Cormack follows two of the most unusual and charismatic figures of this age: Tahra Bey, who took 1920s Paris by storm as an 'Oriental' missionary; and Dr Dahesh, who harnessed Western science to create a pan-religious faith in Lebanon. Travelling between Cairo, New York and Jerusalem, Paris, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro, the two mystics reflected the desires and anxieties of a troubled age. These forgotten holy men, who embodied the allure of the unexplained at a time of dramatic change, speak to our own unstable world today.T. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.