Dulat and Asad Durrani. One was a former chief of RAW, India's external intelligence agency, the other of ISI, its Pakistani counterpart. As they could not meet in their home countries, the conversations, guided by journalist Aditya Sinha, took place in cities like Istanbul, Bangkok and Kathmandu. On the table were subjects that have long haunted South Asia, flashpoints that take lives regularly. It was in all ways a deep dive into the politics of the subcontinent, as seen through the eyes of two spymasters. Among the subjects: Kashmir, and a missed opportunity for peace; Hafiz Saeed and 26/11; Kulbhushan Jadhav; surgical strikes; the deal for Osama bin Laden; how the US and Russia feature in the India-Pakistan relationship; and how terror undermines the two countries' attempts at talks. When the project was first mooted, General Durrani laughed and said nobody would believe it even if it was written as fiction. At a time of fraught relations, this unlikely dialogue between two former spy chiefs from opposite sides-a project that is the first of its kind-may well provide some answers.

    It is filled with colorful characters, who risk their lives and reputations in the secret service of their nation. R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence, writes: “Raviv and Melman have redefined the gold standard for nonfiction about intelligence. This remarkable history of Israeli intelligence from the War of Independence to Stuxnet calls it straight. By describing the roots of both the triumphs and the screw-ups thoroughly and fairly the authors help us see not only how Israel's survival has been effectively protected but the huge debt the rest of us owe.” The award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley, author of CRONKITE, writes: “The revelatory research amassed in SPIES AGAINST ARMAGEDDON is nothing short of stunning. Raviv and Melman understand the inner workings of Israel’s Mossad better than most Mossad agents. Highly recommended!” James Roche, a former Secretary of the Air Force, writes: "Fascinating vignettes ... a detailed exposition of the activities of serious, professional, and generally successful Israeli operatives who are dedicated totally to the defense of Israel and the Jewish people."

    The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard--old families who summer on Martha's Vineyard--and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime.The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.But now the Judge's death raises, even more, questions--and it seems to be leading to a second, even more, terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with "the arrangements"--a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott--wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action--must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident--a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice has gone terribly wrong.

    Learn the mysteries of Mr Fantastic's past as he searches for his time-tramping father, revealing his pre-FF invasion-foiling credentials in a fight against a monster in the classic Marvel style.

    In 1960, Adolf Eichmann, a master chess player, is arrested in Buenos Aires, extradited to Israel, and hanged. Years later, a dying Polish count casts doubt on Eichmann's identity, leaving behind a manuscript with clues that tie the three men together. A gripping novel of imposture and identity, Shadow Without a Name is a harrowing parable of our century of chaos, where individual will is swamped by the cult of personality and destinies hang on a game of chess.

    The author recalls the adventure and danger of his espionage activities during the Second World War as a British agent posing as a Nazi supporter.

    She knows she has to do her homework . . . but she gets distracted. She knows she can't just say whatever thought comes into her head . . . but sometimes she can't help herself. She know she needs to focus . . . but how can she do that when the people around her are always chewing gum loudly or making other annoying noises?It's starting to be a problem—not just in school, but when Clea's playing chess or just hanging out with her best friend. Other kids are starting to notice. When Clea fails one too many tests, her parents take her to be tested, and she finds out that she has ADHD, which means her attention is all over the place instead of where it needs to be.Clea knows life can't continue the way it's been going. She's just not sure how you can fix a problem that's all in your head. But that's what she's going to have to do, to find a way to focus.

    On a hot afternoon in the autumn of 1950, a trusted colleague knocked at their door, held up a finger for silence, then began scribbling a note: Go now. Leave the lights on, walk out, don't look back. Born and raised in the Bronx and recruited to play football at Mississippi State, Morris Cohen fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and with the U.S. Army in World War II. He and his wife, Lona, were as American as football and fried chicken, but for one detail: they'd spent their entire adult lives stealing American military secrets for the Soviet Union. And not just any military secrets, but a complete working plan of the first atomic bomb, smuggled direct from Los Alamos to their Soviet handler in New York. Their associates Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who accomplished far less, had just been arrested, and the prosecutor wanted the death penalty. Did the Cohens wish to face the same fate? Federal agents were in the neighborhood, knocking on doors, getting close. So get out. Take nothing. Tell no one. In Operation Whisper, Barnes Carr tells the full, true story of the most effective Soviet spy couple in America, a pair who vanished under the FBI's nose only to turn up posing as rare book dealers in London, where they continued their atomic spying. The Cohens were talented, dedicated, worldly spies-an urbane, jet-set couple loyal to their service and their friends, and very good at their work. Most people they met seemed to think they represented the best of America. The Soviets certainly thought so.

    Who could go through a door which had been bricked up and paneled over for two hundred years, leaving an old man to a hideous death?Edward Stevens smiled at their fears of the supernatural - until he read a manuscript on female murderers. On one of the pages was a clear photograph of a woman. Under it, in small letters, had been printed:Marie D'AubrayGuillotined for Murder, 1861Edward Stevens was looking at a photograph of his own wife.

    It can be played by boys of every age from twelve to one hundred and fifty - and even later if the limbs remain sufficiently supple - by girls of the better sort, and by a few rare and gifted women. This is to be a full History of Little Wars from its recorded and authenticated beginning until the present time, an account of how to make little warfare, and hints of the most priceless sort for the recumbent strategist.

    By Boucher, Effinger, Ellison, Friesner, Resnick, Sheckley, Silverberg, Zelazny, and more.Stories in the collection:As Is by Robert SilverbergThe Same to You Doubled by Robert SheckleyThe Egg of the Glak by Harvey JacobsBeibermann's Soul by Mike ResnickThimgs by Theordore R. CogswellMs. Lipshutz and the Goblin by Marvin KayeUnferno by George Alec EffingerUnicorn Variations by Roger ZelaznyYes Sir That's My by Daniel P. DernPlease Stand By by Ron GoulartBottle Party by John CollierMy Mother Was a Witch by William TennDjinn, NO Chaser by Harlan EllisonUp the Wall by Esther M. FriesnerTrouble With Water by Horace L. GoldSavage Breasts by Nina Kiriki HoffmanOr the Grasses Grow by Avram DavidsonSnulbug by Anthony Boucher

    From a vast survey of primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World distills the story of how gamers first decided fictional battles with boards and dice, and how they moved from simulating wars to simulating people. The invention of role-playing games serves as a touchstone for exploring the ways that the literary concept of character, the lure of fantastic adventure and the principles of gaming combined into the signature cultural innovation of the late twentieth century.

    The title story, "Unicorn Variation", was written as a result of Zelazny having been asked to contribute to two different upcoming anthologies — one collecting stories set in bars, and one collecting stories about unicorns. When Zelazny mentioned these requests to his close friend George R. R. Martin, the other told Zelazny of a third upcoming anthology — one which would collect stories about chess — and jokingly suggested that Zelazny write a story about playing chess against a unicorn in a bar, so that he could sell the story three times. Zelazny did just that and then went on to win a Hugo Award for the story.Contents:Introduction (Unicorn Variations) [essay] (1983)Unicorn Variation (1981)The Last of the Wild Ones [Sam Murdock] (1981)Recital (1981)The Naked Matador (1981)The Parts That Are Only Glimpsed: Three Reflexes [essay] (1978)Dismal Light [Francis Sandow] (1968)Go Starless in the Night (1979)But Not the Herald (1965)A Hand Across the Galaxy (1967)The Force That Through the Circuit Drives the Current (1976)Home is the Hangman [Nemo] (1975)Fire and/or Ice, Exeunt Omnes, A Very Good Year ... [essay] (1983)Fire and/or Ice (1980)Exeunt Omnes (1980)A Very Good Year ... (1979)My Lady of the Diodes (1970)And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee (1981)The Horses of Lir (1981)The Night Has 999 Eyes (1964)Angel, Dark Angel (1967)Walpurgisnacht (1981)The George Business (1980)Some Science Fiction Parameters: A Biased View [essay] (1975)

    But with its nearly endless possibilities and challenges, it is more than just another game; it is a way of life for tens of millions of players throughout the world. Embodying four thousand years of Oriental thought and culture, go is the oldest game in the world still played in its original form.Go is the kind of game that one can learn in a day--and spend a lifetime perfecting. It is more art than science: in order to surround and capture the opponent's territory, one needs intuition, flexibility, and acute perception combined with a sharp analytical mind. Each player is a partner in an exercise of coexistence; each player needs the other for self-enlightenment and for enjoyment. But then, too, go is a game whose strategy has been compared to the tactics of guerilla warfare. Go can be all things to all people; it is simple, elegant, and unexpectedly beautiful.This book contains an introduction; a brief example game; a clear, leisurely explanation of the rules; and illustrations of the simplest techniques of good play and of some easy and some more difficult problems the player will encounter. The appendixes include a concise list of rules, a glossary of technical terms, and a list of international and American go organizations. Among go players, Go for Beginners is known as the best beginner's book available.

    Contents:1 · Nasty 2 · Abominable 5 · Rebound [“The Power”] 7 · Nightmare in Gray 8 · Nightmare in Green 9 · Nightmare in White 10 · Nightmare in Blue 12 · Nightmare in Yellow 14 · Nightmare in Red 15 · Unfortunately 16 Granny’s Birthday 18 · Cat Burglar 20 · The House 22 · Second Chance 24 · Great Lost Discoveries I - Invisibility 26 · Great Lost Discoveries II - Invulnerability 27 · Great Lost Discoveries III - Immortality28 · Dead Letter [“The Letter”] 30 · Recessional 31 · Hobbyist 33 · The Ring of Hans Carvel 34 · Vengeance Fleet [“Vengeance, Unlimited”]36 · Rope Trick 37 · Fatal Error [“The Perfect Crime”] 39 · The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver I, II, & III [“Of Time and Eustace Weaver”] 43 · Expedition 45 · Bright Beard 46 · Jaycee 47 · Contact [“Earthmen Bearing Gifts”] 49 · Horse Race 51 · Death on the Mountain 54 · Bear Possibility56 · Not Yet the End 58 · Fish Story 60 · Three Little Owls (A Fable)62 · Runaround [“Starvation”]660 · Murder in Ten Easy Lessons [“Ten Tickets to Hades”] 740 · Dark Interlude · Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds 810 · Entity Trap [“From These Ashes”]950 · The Little Lamb 106 · Me and Flapjack and the Martians113 · The Joke [“If Looks Could Kill”]121 · Cartoonist [“Garrigan’s Bems”]128 · The Geezenstacks137 · The End [“Nightmare in Time”]