Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat there.Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in 2006. The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches. A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come.Dispatched as a diversionary force in support of the main coalition attack, Bradley’s Special Forces A-team and two others, along with their longtime Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was quickly engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley’s small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters—from whom they seized an impossible victory.Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. The blistering trek across Afghanistan’s infamous Red Desert. The eerie traces of the elusive Taliban. The close relations with the Afghan people and army, a primary mission focus. Sperwan Ghar itself: unremitting waves of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; a targeted truck turned into an inferno; the death trap of a cut-off compound. Most important: the men, Americans and Afghans alike—the “shaky” medic with nerves of steel and a surgeon’s hands in battle; the tireless sergeant who seems to be everywhere at once; the soft-spoken intelligence officer with laser-sharp insight; the diminutive Afghan commander with a Goliath-sized heart; the cool maverick who risks all to rescue a grievously wounded comrade—each unique, all indelible in their everyday exercise of extraordinary heroism.Praise for Lions of Kandahar   “A raw and authentic war story about untamed Green Berets in action.”—Dalton Fury, New York Times bestselling author of Kill Bin Laden   “A powerful and gripping account of a battle that helped shape the war in Afghanistan . . . With crisp writing and page-turning action, Lions of Kandahar is one of the best books written about the conflict.”—Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist and co-author of Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War   “One of the most important documents to emerge from the war in Afghanistan.”—The Seattle Times   “Powerful . . . a riveting account of a strategic battle that doesn’t glorify war or focus on heroic deeds . . . Make room on your military bookshelf for Lions of Kandahar.”—San Antonio Express-News  “Bradley takes the reader into battle.” —Time

    That war is real; but it sits atop an older struggle, between Kabul and the countryside, between order and chaos, between a modernist impulse to join the world and the pull of an older Afghanistan: a tribal universe of village republics permeated by Islam.Now, Tamim Ansary draws on his Afghan background, Muslim roots, and Western and Afghan sources to explain history from the inside out, and to illuminate the long, internal struggle that the outside world has never fully understood. It is the story of a nation struggling to take form, a nation undermined by its own demons while, every 40 to 60 years, a great power crashes in and disrupts whatever progress has been made. Told in conversational, storytelling style, and focusing on key events and personalities, "Games without Rules" provides revelatory insight into a country at the center of political debate.

    

    Andrei Lankov is in a unique position to interpret North Korea's culture and society to a foreign audience. Accepted into the prestigious faculty of Oriental Studies at Leningrad State university during the declining days of the Soviet Union, Lankov had originally hoped to study Chinese. Instead, he found himself specialising in North Korean studies, an eccentric option even within the Soviet Bloc.The Faculty of Oriental Studies was world apart from the daily life of the average Soviet citizen, in which well-paid Professors avoided their students as much as they possibly could and took refuge from current political troubles in obscure corners of classical philology. Even within this world, North Korean studies were a minority interest. As Lankov himself put it: “Most of the time, Korean departments played host to undergraduates deemed not good enough to be accepted to more prestigious and competitive majors like, say, Japanese and Arab studies. This meant that interest in things Korean was present but not necessarily enthusiastic. It did not help, of course, that North Korea, with its bizarre political system, hysterical propaganda and crazy personality cult was seen as a laughing stock in the entire socialist bloc of the time.”Despite this, Lankov pursued his studies and was eventually dispatched to Pyongyang to study at Kim Il Sung University. Here he gained first-hand experience of life in North Korea: restrictions on movement, ideological proselitizing, corruption and black-market trading. After graduating he taught Korean history and language at his alma mater before moving on to the Australian National University and Kookmin University in Seoul and bringing his knowledge of the closed world of North Korea to a wider audience via a variety of media outlets, including NK News.In this volume we bring together a selection of Andrei Lankov's most popular columns for NK News, illustrated with luminous photographs by Eric Lafforgue.

    Four years ago, the GOP dominated politics at every level in Colorado. Republicans held both Senate seats, five of seven congressional seats, the governor’s mansion, the offices of secretary of state and treasurer, and both houses of the state legislature. After the 2008 election, the exact opposite was true: replace the word Republicans with Democrats in the previous sentence, and you have of one the most stunning reversals of political fortune in American history.This is also the story of how it will happen—indeed, is happening—in other states across the country. In Colorado, progressives believe they have found a blueprint for creating permanent Democratic majorities across the nation. With discipline and focus, they have pioneered a legal architecture designed to take advantage of new campaign finance laws and an emerging breed of progressive donors who are willing to commit unprecedented resources to local races. It’s simple, brilliant, and very effective.Rob Witwer is a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives and practices law in Denver.Emmy award–winning journalist Adam Schrager covers politics for KUSA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Denver. Schrager and his family live in the Denver area. He is the author of The Principled Politician: Governor Ralph Carr and the Fight against Japanese Internment

    Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters – pious knights and belligerent popes, romantics spouting folklore and revolutionaries imitating Rome – and its coming apart provided the dynamic of European history in modern times.Accompanied by lively illustrations, The Shortest History of Europe is a clear, humorous and thought-provoking account of a remarkable civilisation.

    A magisterial account of the money and violence behind the world’s most powerful dictatorships.” –Washington PostIn this shocking, meticulously reported work of narrative nonfiction, an award-winning investigative journalist exposes “capitalism’s monster”—global kleptocracy—and reveals how it is corrupting the world around us.They are everywhere, the thieves and their people. Masters of secrecy. Until now we have detected their presence only by what they leave behind. A body in a burned-out Audi. Workers riddled with bullets in the Kazakh Desert. A rigged election in Zimbabwe. A British banker silenced and humiliated for trying to expose the truth about the City of London.They have amassed more money than most countries. But what they are really stealing is power.In this real-life thriller packed with jaw-dropping revelations, award-winning investigative journalist Tom Burgis weaves together four stories that reveal a terrifying global web of corruption: the troublemaker from Basingstoke who stumbles on the secrets of a Swiss bank, the ex-Soviet billionaire constructing a private empire, the righteous Canadian lawyer with a mysterious client, and the Brooklyn crook protected by the CIA.Glimpses of this shadowy world have emerged over the years. In Kleptopia, Burgis connects the dots. He follows the dirty money that is flooding the global economy, emboldening dictators, and poisoning democracies. From the Kremlin to Beijing, Harare to Riyadh, Paris to the White House, the trail shows something even more sinister: the thieves are uniting. And the human cost will be great.

    Symptoms of decline are all around us today, it seems: slowing growth, crushing debts, aging populations, anti-social behaviour. But what exactly is amiss with Western civilization? The answer, Niall Ferguson argues, is that our institutions - the intricate frameworks within which a society can flourish or fail - are degenerating. Representative government, the free market, the rule of law and civil society: these were once the four pillars of West European and North American societies. It was these institutions, rather than any geographical or climatic advantages, that set the West on the path to global dominance after around 1500. In our time, however, these institutions have deteriorated in disturbing ways. Our democracies have broken the contract between the generations by heaping IOUs on our children and grandchildren. Our markets are increasingly distorted by over-complex regulations that are in fact the disease of which they purport to be the cure. The rule of law has metamorphosed into the rule of lawyers. And civil society has degenerated into uncivil society, where we lazily expect all our problems to be solved by the state.The Great Degeneration is a powerful - and in places polemical - indictment of an era of negligence and complacency. While the Arab world struggles to adopt democracy, and while China struggles to move from economic liberalization to the rule of law, Europeans and Americans alike are frittering away the institutional inheritance of centuries. To arrest the degeneration of the West's once dominant civilization, Ferguson warns, will take heroic leadership and radical reform. This book is based on Niall Ferguson's 2012 BBC Reith Lectures, which were broadcast under the title 'The Rule of Law and Its Enemies'.

    He could buy himself a new car or build himself a nice house or give it to his friends and family, but that was about it. If he kept stealing, the money would just pile up in his house until he had no rooms left to put it in, or it was eaten by mice.And then some bankers in London had a bright idea.Join the investigative journalist Oliver Bullough on a journey into Moneyland - the secret country of the lawless, stateless superrich.Learn how the institutions of Europe and the United States have become money-laundering operations, undermining the foundations of Western stability. Discover the true cost of being open for business no matter how corrupt and dangerous the customer. Meet the kleptocrats. Meet their awful children. And find out how heroic activists around the world are fighting back.This is the story of wealth and power in the 21st century. It isn't too late to change it.

    This dish is not obligatory; recollect that it is but aculinary work of supererogation.SOUP: Let your soup be extremely hot; do not let it be like theLaodiceans. You know what St. John said about them, and you would besorry to think of your soup sharing the fate which he describes with suchsaintly verve. Be sure that your soup has a good foundation, and avoidthe Italian method of making _consommé_, which is to put a pot ofwater on to warm and to drive a cow past the door.FISH: It is a truism to say that fish should be absolutely fresh, yetonly too many cooks think, during the week-end, that fish is like themanna of the Hebrews, which was imbued with Sabbatarian principles thatkept it fresh from Saturday to Monday. I implore of you to thinkdifferently about fish. It is a most nourishing and strengthening food--other qualities it has, too, if one must believe the anecdote of theSultan Saladin and the two anchorites.MEAT: If your meat must be cooked in water, let it not boil but merelysimmer; let the pot just whisper agreeably of a good dish to come. Do youknow what an English tourist said, looking into a Moorish cooking-pot?"What have you got there? Mutton and rice?" "For the moment, Sidi, it ismutton and rice," said the Moorish cook; "but in two hours, inshallah,when the garlic has kissed the pot, it will be the most deliciouscomforter from Mecca to Casa Blanca." Simmer and season, then, yourmeats, and let the onion (if not garlic) just kiss the pot, even if youallow no further intimacy between them. Use bay-leaves, spices, herbs ofall sorts, vinegar, cloves; and never forget pepper and salt.Game is like Love, the best appreciated when it begins to go. Onlyexperience will teach you, on blowing up the breast feathers of apheasant, whether it ought to be cooked to-day or to-morrow. Men, as arule, are very particular about the dressing of game, though they may notall be able to tell, like the Frenchman, upon which of her legs apartridge was in the habit of sitting. Game should be underdone ratherthan well done; it should never be without well-buttered toast underneathit to collect the gravy, and the knife to carve it with should be very,very sharp.VEGETABLES: Nearly all these are at their best (like brunettes) justbefore they are fully matured. So says a great authority, and no doubt heis thinking of young peas and beans, lettuces and asparagus. Try to dresssuch things as potatoes, parsnips, cabbages, carrots, in other ways thansimply boiled in water, for the water often removes the flavor and leavesthe fiber. Do not let your vegetable-dishes remind your guests ofFroissart's account of Scotchmen's food, which was "rubbed in a littlewater."

    This new model replaces the popular D5000 and creates a nice bridge between the more beginner-level D3100 and the high-end D7000.This book has one goal: to teach D5100 owners how to make great shots using their new Nikon camera. Users learn how to use the D5100 to create the type of photos that inspired them to buy the camera in the first place. Everything in the book is in service of creating a great image.Starting with the top ten things users need to know about the camera, photographer Rob Sylvan carefully guides readers through the operating features. Owners get practical advice from a pro on which settings to use when, great shooting tips, and even end-of-chapter assignments.

    A single Yes, a single No, a Too Soon or a Too Late makes that hour irrevocable for hundreds of generations while deciding the life of a single man or woman, of a nation, even the destiny of all humanity.Five vivid dramatizations of some of the most pivotal episodes in human history, from the Fall of Constantinople to Scott's doomed attempt to reach the South Pole, bringing the past to life in brilliant technicolor.Contents:ForewordThe Field of Waterloo The Race to Reach the South Pole The Conquest of Byzantium The Sealed Train (Lenin's journey across Europe before the Russian Revolution)Wilson's Failure (Woodrow Wilson and Versailles)

    This boxed set is loaded with a variety of sweet to steamy romances designed to entice your senses and warm your heart. * * * Painted Montana Sky by Debra Holland, NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling author. Can two lonely hearts find their hearts' desire under the majestic Montana sky? "You'll fall in love with this town and these characters." Daisy (Brides of Seattle series) by Kirsten Osbourne, USA Today Bestselling Author. Can she possibly find love and contentment or is she doomed to a life of regret? "I definitely recommend this book and this series to Everyone!" His Brother’s Wife by Lily Graison, USA Today Bestselling Author. A high society mail order bride with a 14 year old bridegroom and his devilishly handsome brother all under one roof. What could possibly go wrong? “An emotional roller coaster ride, right up to the end.” ~Charlene Botha Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf, Amazon Bestselling Author. Revenge is a dish best served cold. “Love, trust and lust just in the right combo...” Sleight of Heart by Jacquie Rogers, Amazon Bestselling author. A strait-laced spinster, a gambler with magic hands, and a fortune to be won—by sleight of hand, or Sleight of Heart? “It's a full house with romance, high stakes and adventure. You can always count on Jacquie Rogers for some laughs, and she doesn't disappoint...Enjoy the ride!” ~Meg Mims, author of Double or Nothing A Hero’s Heart by Sylvia McDaniel, Amazon Bestselling author. Wade Ketchum is searching for his only surviving sibling when he finds a ready-made family. A 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Laying Claim by Paty Jager, Amazon Bestselling author. Jeremy Duncan heads into the Yukon Territory by dog team in the middle of a blizzard to keep one strong-willed, business-minded beauty alive. “A wonderful plunge into the Alaskan gold mining era.” Sarah Sunshine by Merry Farmer, Amazon Bestselling author. Only love can stop history from repeating itself before it’s too late…. “Loved Sarah’s story! Makes you feel good about life and how you can overcome your past.” 5 Stars Amazon Reviewer Chasing the Dead by Keta Diablo, Amazon Bestselling author. A sinister ghost chases Deacon, Madrid and the Indian maiden, Sacheen, across the desolate landscape of New Mexico. “The old west and paranormal all wrapped into one page turning book. A five-star read!” The Book Heathens The Most Unsuitable Courtship by Caroline Clemmons, Amazon Bestselling author. Storm Kincaid wants justice; Rena Dmitriev wants vengeance. “More than just another western novel. A well-plotted action thriller that's full of romance and passion and peopled by very likable characters.”

    Students lashing out at any speaker brave enough to say something they disagree with. Precious snow flakes demanding “Safe Spaces” to protect them from any idea they haven’t heard from their liberal professors. In this book and the accompanying movie, Dennis Prager, Mark Joseph, and Adam Carolla expose the attack on free speech and free thought. It began in the universities, but—fair warning—it’s coming to your neighborhood and your workplace. “No Safe Spaces is a film every American should see. I could barely move when it was over. Powerful, emotional, and a call to action for anyone worried about the intellectual fascism happening in this country. A brave, timely, and important film.” —MEGYN KELLY, former FOX News anchor and host of Megyn Kelly Today “There is no free speech in America for free thinkers! You can have free speech in America but only if you say what everybody else agrees with. It’s not enough to ‘live and let live’ now. The psycho-elite believe ‘silence is violence’ and you must actively promote what THEY want no matter how vile or reprehensible it is to you. George Orwell lives! They should’ve called Orwell ‘Nostradamus’ because his most frightening prophecies have come to pass, as you will witness in No Safe Spaces!” —MANCOW MULLER, radio phenomenon “An excellent film, the best I’ve seen on the subject of free speech. I especially like Dennis’s line, ‘They have to believe we are evil; otherwise they’d have to debate us.’ Perfect!” —CAL THOMAS, America’s #1 syndicated columnist

    This is the compelling story of how one of Japan's biggest motorcycle manufacturers stole a Nazi rocket scientist's engine secrets from behind the Iron Curtain to conquer the world.