Drawing on a wealth of unexplored material - available for the first time since the collapse of the former Soviet Union - Robert Service's biography of Stalin is the most authoritative yet published. It concentrates not simply on Stalin as dedicated bureaucrat or serial political killer, but on a fuller assessment of his formative interactions in Georgia, his youthful revolutionary activism, his relationship with Lenin, with his family, and with his party members. 'This is effectively the first full biography since perestroika to encompass the economic, political, diplomatic, military, administrative and, above all, ideological dimensions, as well as the personal aspects of Stalin's colossal life . . . Gritty and unshowy, but enlightened by Service's compelling characterisation, magisterial analysis and dry wit, this outstanding biography of lightly worn authority, wide research and superb intuition will be read for decades' Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of STALIN: The Court of the Red Tsar Sunday Times
‘A gripping read as well as an important one.’ Rana Mitter, Guardian In October 1839, Britain entered the first Opium War with China. Its brutality notwithstanding, the conflict was also threaded with tragicomedy: with Victorian hypocrisy, bureaucratic fumblings, military missteps, political opportunism, and collaboration. Yet over the past hundred and seventy years, this strange tale of misunderstanding, incompetence, and compromise has become the founding episode of modern Chinese nationalism. Starting from this first conflict, The Opium War explores how China’s national myths mold its interactions with the outside world, how public memory is spun to serve the present, and how delusion and prejudice have bedeviled its relationship with the modern West. ‘Lively, erudite and meticulously researched’ Literary Review ‘An important reminder of how the memory of the Opium War continues to cast a dark shadow.’ Sunday Times
In this urgent new book, Noam Chomsky surveys the threats and prospects of our early twenty-first century. Exploring challenges such as the growing gap between North and South, American exceptionalism (even under Obama), the fiascos of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli assault on Gaza and the recent financial bailouts, he also sees hope for the future and a way to move forward - in the so-called democratic wave in Latin America and in the global solidarity movements which suggest 'real progress towards freedom and justice'. Hopes and Prospects is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about the primary challenges still facing the human race and is wondering where to find a ray of hope.
In this important new collection of interviews with the acclaimed radio journalist David Barsamian, Noam Chomsky discusses U.S. foreign policy in the post-9/11 world. Barsamian has a unique rapport with Chomsky having conducted more interviews and radio broadcasts with him than any other journalist and here explores topics Chomsky has never before discussed: the 2004 presidential campaign and election; the future of Social Security; the increasing threat of global warming; and new dangers presented by the United States' ever-deepening entanglement in Iraq. The result is an illuminating dialogue with one of the world's leading thinkers and a startling picture of the turbulent world in which we live.
Chomsky tries to understand why US has become the only remaining superpower in the world from the aftermath of the Cold War. He explores the presence of US as a ruthless policing power in the face of international chaos and conflicts. He tries to explain why public opinion is so varied where the Cold War is concerned, and he digs into the collective criticism of the Soviet Union and other communist states. He criticizes the stance of the US during the war, expressing his view that despite its stance, it still supported authoritarian regimes. His book presents his evocative distaste for regimes which seek to mark their desire for resources and geopolitical power through claims of supporting freedom.
How are the dynamics of the Israel-Palestinian conflict changing today? What are the responsibilities of the United States and Europe, especially in a post 9-11 era? How do we define ‘terror’? How do misperceptions define current policy and how can we look beyond them to find more viable solutions? These are among the many current and divisive questions Noam Chomsky takes up in his newest book, Middle East Illusions. This latest work includes chapters written by Chomsky just before the 2000 Intifada and up through October 2002. As 9-11 and the US campaign against Iraq have added new pressures to longstanding conflicts, Chomsky’s voice should be heard now more than ever. The book also includes the full text of Chomsky’s earlier release, Peace in the Middle East?: Reflections on Justice and Nationhood, written during the crucial period spanning the Six-Day and 1973 wars, which continue to define and deeply influence events today.
With many myths and facts still circling around the life and death of one of history’s iconic revolutionaries Che Guevara, Hunting Che is a fast paced book that unravels the untold. Major Ralph Pappy Shelton led the special forces mission. He handpicked a bunch of Bolivian peasants and trained them in fighting and intelligence-gathering. This mission eventually succeeded in capturing the most famous revolutionary and his execution.
Capitalism now dominates the globe, both in economics and ideology, shapes every aspect of our world and influences everything from laws, wars and government to interpersonal relationships. "Introducing Capitalism" tells the story of its remarkable and often ruthless rise, evolving through strife and struggle as much as innovation and enterprise. Tracing capitalism from its beginning to the present day, Dan Cryan and Sharron Shatil, alongside Piero's brilliant graphics, look at its practical and theoretical impact. They cover the major economic, social and political developments that shaped the world we live in, such as the rise of banking, the founding of America and the Opium Wars.This book explores the leading views for and against, including thinkers like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Theodor Adorno and Milton Friedman, together with the connections between them and their historical context. Capitalism has influenced everything in the 21st-century world. For anyone who wants to gain a broad understanding of this fascinating subject, this book cuts across narrow academic lines to analyse an all-encompassing feature of modern life.
There are few more compelling and more tragic issues in the world today than the bitter struggle between Palestinians and Israelis. Their tiny patch of land, desperately crowded and with few resources, has been a focus for so many years of rival claims and counter-claims that it has become almost impossible to make sense of the daily reporting. The best guide to the region is Anton La Guardia's highly acclaimed Holy Land, Unholy War. More than any other book, Holy Land, Unholy War disentangles myths and realities and gives a brilliantly clear and thoughtful picture of an unhappy place. This new edition is fully revised and updated to late 2006.
At a time of corrosive popular cynicism and profound international unease, the need for clarity over the fundamental concepts of politics has never been greater: the forces of Terrorism and Fundamentalism endanger our Security, while government responses to it pose a basic threat to Liberty, Democracy and Human rights. Corruption, Spin and a suspect Political culture arouse public indignation, which is further aggravated by an array of Pressure groups and the far-from-disinterested attentions of the Mass media. In 50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know, Ben Dupr? clears away the murk that obscures key concepts that we ignore at our peril.
This volume is based on selected papers from two conferences on Bangladesh at Harvard University in 2008 and 2009. It covers a variety of challenging topics, ranging from linkages between democracy and security to effects of a given electoral system on political stability, micro-national autonomy for subregional peace, terrorism and its counter-forces. It also covers the role of NGOs in development and social change, intra-regional cooperation in conflict mitigation and refugee related violence in South Asia.
A Group of Assassins led by a handful of officers, struck down Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family including his 10-year-old son, on August 15, 1975. And on 3 November 1971, four National Leaders and Heroes of Bangladesh war in 1971, Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, M Mansur Ali and A H M Kamaruzaman Who were in Custody had been gunned down within central Jail precincts.
Bengali Language Movement and Creation of Bangladesh is a monumental work of 776 pages by Dr. Anwar Dil and his wife Dr. Aria Dil. It is a well-researched and objectively written book dedicated to our children and our children's children so they may understand why the Bengali Muslims took such a prominent and leading role in the creation of East and West Pakistan in 1947 and then the happenings that led first to the Bengali Language Movement and then the demise of East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. The husband and wife, both of them distinguished scholars of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics respectively and authors of acclaimed books and research papers, worked together for most of their forty years of life together since 1961 in conducting research of sources in English, Urdu, Bengali and some other languages, and published in 2000 a limited edition for scholars and libraries. It was recognized as a most comprehensive and objective record of the uniquely rich multi-ethnic and multi-religious tradition of Eastern Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) and the events from the first partition of Bengal in 1905 to the second partition in 1947 until the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 with the last part covering a review of its first thirty years as an independent nation-state. The chief merit of this landmark study is that it presents an international perspective with a balanced and judicious treatment of some of the fundamental issues in the history of Bengal in the 20th century. Because of the non-availability of the book the Adorn Publication has published this edition for national and international readers, to read and reflect on an unbiased and insightful study of our belovd nation-state.
There is no lack of evidence to show how natural resources have become curse for peripheral countries and the people. Corporate grabbing, imperial power structure and global alliance for making super profit at the cost of people and nature make people and nature in peripheral countries highly vulnerable. Bangladesh is no exception. It is already clear that because of production sharing contracts with multinational corporations, its natural gas resources have already become a source of danger and continuous leakage and corruption.
Why has India, the largest and the most dominant state in South Asia, not been able to lead this region to prosperity? Having inherited from the British a strong system of administration, an organised military structure, a thriving class of entrepreneurs, a proven judicial system, English as a language for an immediate international exposure in trade, business and diplomacy and an elite class of highly articulate political leaders, South Asia remains one of the poorest regions of the world.
The opposition's main demand which Ershad conceded immediately was that the Parliamentary Election be held first. Later this concession was rejected since the opposition's other demand that Ershad step down before holding general election was not accepted.
