The Smell of War: Lessons from the Battlefield


Roland Bartetzko - 2018
    It is the true story of what the war was like in Bosnia and in Kosovo.Combined with the stories are his 'observations' about the military tactics that were applied in these conflicts. They provide practical advice for soldiers and civilians on how to survive in a war zone.

A Life in Diplomacy


Maharajakrishna Rasgotra - 2016
    This was taking place as the Cold War slid into the subcontinent and complex relationships with India's neighbours—China, Pakistan and Nepal—were taking shape. Looking back on those crucial years with a discerning eye for the interplay of personalities—Nehru, Krishna Menon, or S. Radhakrishnan, for instance—Rasgotra assesses their influence on events and their impact on the evolution of Indian diplomacy.For over three decades Rasgotra's assignments took him to Nepal, Britain and France, among other countries, as well as twice to the United States. His account of Nixon and Kissinger, and the mix of truculence and persuasion in their dealings with Mrs Gandhi in the run up to the 1971 Bangladesh war, sheds new light on the events of that time. His tenure as foreign secretary covered a period of great change and A Life in Diplomacy provides a ringside view of the beginnings of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, the last years of the Cold War, the negotiations on the formation of SAARC, Mrs Gandhi's assassination and the Bhopal gas disaster.This is a compelling, authoritative account of a personal and professional journey; a reflective look at the leaders, events and forces that formed relations between India and the world over fifty years.

On the House: A Washington Memoir


John Boehner - 2021
    At a time when the arbiters of American culture were obsessing over organic kale, cold-pressed juice, and SoulCycle, the man who stood second in line to the presidency was unapologetically smoking Camels, quaffing a glass of red, and hitting the golf course whenever he could.There could hardly have been a more diametrically opposed figure to represent the opposition party in President Barack Obama's Washington. But when Boehner announced his resignation, President Obama called to tell the outgoing Speaker that he'd miss him. Mr. President, Boehner replied, yes you will. He thought of himself as a regular guy with a big job, and he enjoyed it.In addition to his own stories of life in the swamp city and of his comeback after getting knocked off the leadership ladder, Boehner offers his impressions of leaders he's met and what made them successes or failures, from Ford and Reagan to Obama, Trump, and Biden. He shares his views on how the Republican Party has become unrecognizable today; the advice--some harsh, some fatherly--he dished out to members of his own party, the opposition, the media, and others; and his often acid-tongued comments about his former colleagues. And of course he talks about golfing with five presidents.Through Speaker Boehner's honest and self-aware reflections, you'll be reminded of a time when the adults were firmly in charge.

Cairnaerie


M.K.B. Graham - 2017
     Geneva Snow commits the unforgivable Southern sin. No longer the apple of her father’s eye, she is a pariah, defying her society's most sacrosanct rule. To protect her—and hoping for a change of heart—her shattered yet steadfast father hides her at Cairnaerie, his mountain estate. But his iron-willed daughter is unrepentant. After years of solitude, an older and wiser Geneva is finally mellowing, and she is desperate to leave a legacy worthy of the father she loved and lost. To that end, she engages an unwitting young history professor for help to escape Cairnaerie long enough to attend the wedding of her granddaughter—a girl dangerously unaware of her lineage. But when a postman’s malevolence and a colleague’s revenge converge, Geneva's long-kept secret is exposed. For a second time, she faces a calamity of her own making. Only this time, there is no place to hide.

All Together Now?: One Man's Walk in Search of His Father and a Lost England


Mike Carter - 2019
    I called work and booked some time off. Then I bought a one-way train ticket to Liverpool.'In 1981, Mike Carter's dad, Pete, organised the People's March for Jobs, which saw 300 people walk from Liverpool to London to protest as the Thatcher government's policies devastated industrial Britain and sent unemployment skyrocketing. Just before the 2016 EU referendum, Mike set off to walk the same route in a quest to better understand his dad and his country.As he walked, Mike found many echoes of the early eighties: a working class overlooked and ignored by Westminster politicans; communities hollowed out but fiercely resistant; anger and despair co-existing with hope and determination for change. And he also found that he and Pete shared more in common than he might have thought.All Together Now? maps the intricate, overlapping path of one man's journey and that of an entire country. It is a book about belonging, about whether to stay or go, and about the need to write new stories for our communities and ourselves.

Together: 10 Choices For a Better Now


Ece Temelkuran - 2021
    This is about what kind of world we want to live in now, and the joy we can take in finding our dignity again. ‘If I had to choose just one book that I want everybody of any age to read at this moment in time, this would be it’ Brian Eno‘Delightful’ Yanis VaroufakisIn 2020 protest movements across the world revealed the inequalities sewn into the fabric of society. The wildfires that ravaged Australia and California made it clear we are in the middle of a climate catastrophe. The pandemic showed us all just how precarious our economies really are, and the conspiracy theories surrounding the US election proved the same of our democracies. Those in charge do not have the answers. In fact, those in charge, more often that not, are the problem.So, what do we do? In Together: 10 Choices for a Better Now, award-winning political commentator Ece Temelkuran puts forward a compelling new narrative for our current moment, not for some idealised future but for right now, and asks us to make a choice. To choose determination over hope; to embrace fear rather the cold comfort of ignorance; to save our energy for an unwavering attention on those in power and the destructive systems they uphold, rather than wasting time spewing out anger and outrage online.Above all, this book asks you to choose to have faith in the other human beings we share this planet with.‘I am giving Temelkuran’s Together to everyone I know. So clear-eyed, frank, wise and joyous! An obligatory book for any human on earth today’ Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less

This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa


James Martin - 1999
    His mission was straightforward: to help the refugees who had settled in the sprawling slums of Nairobi, Kenya, to begin small businesses and earn a living. He imagined that he would be teaching them much, and he did. But the Kenyans and refugees with whom the author worked - from Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia - would end up teaching him much more about life, about survival and faith, and about love and friendship.

The Top Insults: How to Win Any Argument...While Laughing!


Full Sea Books - 2013
     “You’re about as useful as a windshield wiper on a goat’s butt.” Keep this book handy, someday you’ll be glad you have it. “Let's play horse. I'll be the front end and you just be yourself.” Pick any of the many jaw-dropping insults then laugh at the look on your adversary’s face when you whip one out and use it on them. You’ll leave no doubt in their mind that you are a master of sarcastic insults! ADDED BONUS: In addition to the fresh and hilarious insults in this book, you’ll also find great sarcastic observations about life hidden inside this book’s pages, like… “I think the reason so many people have smart phones is because opposites attract!” You’re no idiot, so you need this book to start your new life as the master of sarcastic insults and put-downs! “Hey! Who left the Idiot Box open? Now they're everywhere!”

All The Good Men (Garrison Chase #3)


Craig N. Hooper - 2020
    From both sides of the aisle.A bipartisan killer is on the loose, and only one man can stop them.Garrison Chase has done it all: A sniper in the Marines. A covert government operative. An agent for the Bureau. Now he’s opted for a quieter life in a sleepy coastal California town.His skills aren’t going to waste, however, as he occasionally works for a friend who owns a security firm in Washington, DC. And Chase’s latest job—protecting a United States senator from a threatening colleague—thrusts him right back into the action when he barges into a private meeting between the senators only to discover a bloodbath.Though it looks like a murder-suicide, Chase has his suspicions. He’s convinced it’s a setup, that someone else was at the meeting. But nobody believes him. Not the local police or the feds. Everyone wants the case wrapped up neat and tidy.When two more senators are targeted, one murdered and the other abducted, the feds finally get involved. But Chase is one step ahead and has already tracked down the killer. Now the real investigation can begin.As Chase peels back the layers, dark secrets and a deep coverup are revealed. The only way to stop the chaos and expose the truth, is for Chase to enter the dangerous and dirty waters and tread alongside the Washington elite.

One Last Day


Dustin Stevens - 2017
    One of those soldiers was my son, who never made it back. Now, I'm here to ask you, was it worth it? ​​​​​​​ The gathering was supposed to have been a perfunctory media exercise on retiring Senator Jackson Ridge's last day in office. When a grieving mother slips in and poses that simple question though, everything - from Ridge's own legacy to American interests in Afghanistan - all get called into question. Racing against a ticking clock and powerful figures that would prefer to keep things happening across the globe a secret, Ridge must call on every last favor he has accumulated over the course of his time in office in search of answers. Answers that ultimately have him looking at more than just the life of a fallen soldier when trying to decide if, in fact, it was all worth it... From bestselling author Dustin Stevens comes a new standalone work, a gripping political thriller with equal parts suspense and mystery!

Putin's Russia: How It Rose, How It Is Maintained, and How It Might End


Mikhail DmitrievNatalia Zubarevich - 2015
    As far as the regime’s fault lines are concerned, the evidence presented by the authors shows no reversal, or even narrowing, of these structural dysfunctions in Putin’s third presidential term.Topics covered here include Russia's political economy, political geography, and politics of federalism; the regime, ideology, public opinion, and legitimacy; and potential defeat and radicalization of civil society. Emerging in these pages is a finely textured portrait of a society rife in complexities, contradictions, and postponed but looming crises.

I Was a Potato Oligarch: Travels & Travails in the New Russia


John Mole - 2008
    Beginning with a risky business venture inspired by British fast food, Mole attempts to submerge himself in Russian culture—but often finds himself in the middle of a fiasco instead.

I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV, and Addiction


Bob Beckel - 2015
    On January 20, 2001--George W. Bush's first Inauguration Day--he hit rock bottom, waking up in the psych ward. Written with captivating honesty, Beckel chronicles how his addictions nearly killed him until he found help in an unexpected ally, conservative Cal Thomas, who helped him find faith, get sober, and get his life back on track.

Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria


Sam Dagher - 2019
    Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising -- an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis.Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged in Bashar's bloody quest to preserve his father's inheritance. By drawing on his own reporting experience in Damascus and exclusive interviews with Tlass, Dagher takes readers within palace walls to reveal the family behind the destruction of a country and the chaos of an entire region.Dagher shows how one of the world's most vicious police states came to be and explains how a regional conflict extended globally, engulfing the Middle East and pitting the United States and Russia against one another.

A Syrian Wedding


Nicholas Seeley - 2013
    It's a world without rules, where the value of money changes by the day, rumors and gossip are everywhere, and tragedy is a constant backdrop. Yet there are weddings nearly every day in Za'atari, the crowded, dusty camp in the Jordanian desert, where some 120,000 Syrians have come after fleeing the chaos that has consumed their homeland. "A Syrian Wedding" tells the true story of Mohammad and Amneh, a young couple who are navigating this treacherous landscape as they try to prepare for what should be the happiest day of their lives. Middle East reporter Nicholas Seeley offers readers an inside look at the terrible challenges and tiny joys of people displaced by violence and conflict.