In six years in office he has committed forces to action in Kosovo, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. This work shows how Blair's government has sought to be at the forefront of a new and turbulent world order.

    Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party - and you are invited. Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the Bright Young Things. With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician - whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas - Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating. The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war - and a uniquely fast-living period of English history. Praise for The Long Weekend:'Delicious, occasionally fantastical, revealing in ways that Downton Abbey never was. It is as if Tinniswood is at the biggest, wildest, most luxuriantly decadent party ever thrown, and he knows everyone.' Observer 'A deliciously jaunty and wonderfully knowledgeable book. Tinniswood displays a terrific insider's grasp of gossip . A meticulous, irresistible story.' Spectator 'Elegant, encyclopedic and entertaining . A confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly . Deserves to be on every costume drama producer's bookshelf.' Times

    "Kisses from a Good God" recounts his journey from the first diagnosis, through the prayers of believing friends and family, his choice to undergo surgery, and to his ultimate healing victory."a""Kisses from a Good God" provides encouragement and challenges some commonly held beliefs. He removes shame from those who have been healed by the hands of doctors and surgeons rather than through prayer. Instead of simply encouraging you with practical, biblical truths, a clear line is drawn between faith and religionOCoand redefines victory through the eyes of a cancer survivor saved by God in the form of modern medicine.aaaIf you are now walking or have walked through a life-threatening illness or circumstance, or if you have watched a loved one endure, "Kisses from a Good God" relieves your body, soul, mind, and spirit of tons of unnecessary pressures and pain.aa"

    We witness scenes of passionate, even violent intensity that give rise to meditations on eros and literature, the solitariness of travel, and the poetics of place.These individual pieces, most of which first appeared in The London Review of Books and won an international cult following, are by turns "poignant, surreal, down home and lyrical, a mixture of qualities that inheres in his language with uncommon delicacy and effect" (Leonard Michaels). Together they make up an intellectual and emotional autobiography on the run. The book's final section, about Kleinzahler's adored, doomed older brother, is unforgettable, and since its appearance last year in the LRB, has already entered the literature as one of the most moving contemporary memoirs.

    This treasury of brief essays is chock-full of the wise ideas, personal anecdotes, and practical strategies that have inspired millions of her readers and audiences to live more beautifully and meaningfully every day. She helps readers form their own personal philosophy for living as well as discover specific, small actions that build tranquil time into the most hectic day, add lightness and energy when needed most, elevate a passing moment into a vivid memory. She encourages readers to "take stock, and rethink everything. We need to make the connection between how we spend our time and how well we live our lives."With each essay offering a memorable mindset for living, Alexandra's observations are searching ("What is your deepest desire?"), surprising ("Lower your standards"), encouraging ("You have 8,766 hours a year to act wisely"), and whimsical ("You've gotta have a look") and are certain to spur readers to new levels of insight and joy.

    Dormann—founder, chairman, and editor-in-chief of LEADERS magazine, whose circulation is limited to such leading figures. Here, he brings together the first-ever exclusive collection of wisdom and inspiration addressed to young people from the world’s most influential people—advice on leadership, goal achievement, public service, and life journeys. Letters from Leaders is a beautifully designed book comprising nearly eighty letters from those who have done so much to shape our world today—from Muhammad Ali to four U.S. Presidents, Mikhail Gorbachev, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and King Abdullah II of Jordan, and the Dalai Lama; from Cathie Black to T. Boone Pickens, Muriel Siebert, and Donald Trump. The letters, some as facsimile reproductions of handwritten originals, are each introduced with a biographical note by Dormann. As put so aptly by Dormann in his introduction, “All kings and queens, presidents, Nobel Laureates, chairmen and chairwomen, CEOs, and world leaders have one thing in common: They want what they have achieved to be useful and to be handed over to a younger generation. . . . The leaders in these pages have ‘lived’ and now offer their experiences as a treasure to ambitious and open minds—those who want to be something in life.”

    In fact, when you keep it simple and just follow a few basic rules, the weight comes off naturally (even if you have health challenges). It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter what your genetics are. It doesn't matter how long you've been overweight or what other methods you've tried. You can do this! The Code Red Revolution is all about taking your life back by eating real food and giving your body what it needs—water, high-quality nutrition, and plenty of sleep. Most weight-loss books and plans teach you one magical way to lose weight, but they don’t take into account just how wonderfully individual we all are. This book shows you how to integrate the simple-but-effective program recommendations into your daily life. Stay-at-home parent cooking for fussy eaters? We gotcha covered. Travel for work and are rarely home to cook? You can absolutely learn how to eat in restaurants and still lose weight. Allergic to certain types of foods? We can work with that. Couch potato? No problem! Vegetarian (or a really-hate-vegetables-tarian)? You can do this. Thousands of people around the world have already lost 10, 50, even 100 pounds with the Code Red lifestyle. And they’ve kept the weight off for years. This book is full of detailed success stories from people of all ages and all walks of life. Isn’t it time you learned the secret to lasting weight loss? Make this time the last time you have to lose weight. Get this book and take your life back once and for all!

    Answers your questions about important topics including: why some diets are harmful for martial artists; how to calculate your protein needs for training; when and how to use supplements; how to eat at fast food places and not ruin your diet; why it's okay to splurge on 'Dirt Day'; and, how to safely make weight for a tournament.

    It was the worst bloodbath to take place in more than a century in the heart of the supreme authority of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. Four hours later, the Vatican announced that the lance corporal, twenty-three-year-old Cédric Tornay, had shot the couple, then committed suicide in "a fit of madness" brought on by frutstration with the unit's discipline - a conclusion it reaffirmed after a nine-month internal inquiry.But as John Follain's hard-hitting exposé shows, the official report was a travesty, a tissue of suppositions, contradictions, and omissions. Based on an exhaustive three-year investigation - the first independent attempt to establish the truth - 'City of Secrets' reveals how the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world, staged an elaborate plot to obstruct justice and hide the scandals it dares not confess. Echoing the pace and plotting of a highstakes thriller, Follain's true-life tale of intrigue moves from the guards' barracks and the pope's palace in Vatican City to Paris, Berlin, and the Swiss Alps, and features a fascinating cast: an old, suffering John Paul II; his chief bodyguard, formerly accused of spying for the Soviet bloc; a mysterious priest punished by the Vatican; and the powerful Opus Dei sect.Timely and explosive, 'City of Secrets' is the story of a still-unsolved crime committed on holy territory, and of a systematic attempt to hide the fatal failings of a security force charged with protecting one of the world's most influential leaders.

    For the two years leading up to his murder, Ivers had hosted the underground but increasingly popular LA-based music and sketch-comedy cable show New Wave Theatre.The late '70s through early '80s was an explosive time for pop culture: Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon were leading a comedy renaissance, while punk rock and new wave were turning the music world on its head. New Wave Theatre brought together for the first time comedians-turned-Hollywood players like John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Harold Ramis with West Coast punk rockers Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, Fear, and others, thus transforming music and comedy forever. The show was a jubilant, chaotic punk-experimental-comedy cabaret, and Ivers was its charismatic leader and muse. He was, in fact, the only person with the vision, the generosity of spirit, and the myriad of talented friends to bring together these two very different but equally influential worlds, and with his death the improbable and electric union of punk and comedy came to an end.The magnetic, impishly brilliant Ivers was a respected musician and composer (in addition to several albums, he wrote the music for the centerpiece song of David Lynch's cult classic Eraserhead) whose sublime and bizarre creativity was evident in everything he did. He was surrounded by people who loved him, many of them luminaries: his best friend from his Harvard days was Doug Kenney, founder of National Lampoon; he was also close to Harold Ramis and John Belushi. Upon his death, Ivers was just beginning to get mainstream recognition.In Heaven Everything Is Fine is the first book to explore both the fertile, gritty scene that began and ended with New Wave Theatre and the life and death of its guiding spirit. Josh Frank, author of Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies, interviewed hundreds of people from Ivers's circle, including Jello Biafra, Stockard Channing, and David Lynch, and we hear in their own words about Ivers and the marvelous world he inhabited. He also spoke with the Los Angeles Police Department about Ivers's still-unsolved murder, and, as a result of his research, the Cold Case Unit has reopened the investigation. In Heaven Everything Is Fine is a riveting account of a gifted artist, his tragic death, and a little-known yet crucial chapter in American pop history.

    He used the money to fund a gambling addiction that began with a bet of €1 and eventually rose to €10 million, leading to the loss of his job, his family, his home – and winning him a prison sentence.From the heart-stopping moments in a hotel room in Cyprus with his wedding money riding on the Epsom Derby, to the euphoria of winning half a million over a weekend, to the late goals and the horses falling at the last fence, Tony 10 is the story of an ordinary man’s journey from normality to catastrophe. At times, he vowed to get out while he was ahead, only to be taken by another surge of adrenaline, falling deeper and deeper into a compulsion that consumed his life. His disappearance on the morning the fraud was discovered led to a surreal three days on the run in Northern Ireland, and ultimately his arrest, conviction and sentencing to four years in jail.Tony 10 is the mesmerising story of the secret life of a pathological gambler – as well as the most compelling account yet of the damage wrought by the online gambling industry.

    

    Everybody dies...So then, what IS the point?What is the purpose of life? It is the question all of us have--or will have eventually. It may be the most important question you can ask, because how you answer it determines everything about you.In What Is the Point?, Misty Edwards tackles the difficult questions of finding meaning in seasons of success and failure, smallness and greatness, pain and pleasure as we live lives that are, in the end, not of this world.To find the purpose of life, we must deal with eternity and come to real conclusions not only about ourselves but also about God. We have to get caught up in His story in order to see ours. This is what will make our lives worth living today.

    That’s the premise of The Selfish Path to Romance. Love is not about sacrifice. Real, lasting romance comes when you are certain about yourself, your needs, and your worth. In the words of top-selling novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, “It is one’s one personal, selfish happiness that one seeks, earns and derives from love.” Authors Dr. Edwin Locke and Dr. Ellen Kenner are inspired by the work of philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand. Their book explores Ayn Rand’s belief that the assertion of your own needs and values is the foundation of love. The Selfish Path to Romance offers a no-nonsense, rational alternative for those who are serious about finding and sustaining a lifetime romance. Be prepared to have your preconceptions shattered, your intuition challenged, and be ready for candid introspection.

    Against extraordinary odds she opened the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, a haven of food, beds, medical aid and schooling where the street children of Saigon can find safety and new beginnings under the protection of "Mama Tina".In this vivid and moving book, Christina's compelling story continues with the amazing tale of what she and her Foundation have achieved. She takes us from the streets of Saigon to the Children's Prisons of Mongolia. A staunch campaigner for children's rights, for her there are no frontiers, only a world filled with children reaching out.