David Chandler, a world-renowned historian of Cambodia, examines the Khmer Rouge phenomenon by focusing on one of its key institutions, the secret prison outside Phnom Penh known by the code name "S-21." The facility was an interrogation center where more than 14,000 "enemies" were questioned, tortured, and made to confess to counterrevolutionary crimes. Fewer than a dozen prisoners left S-21 alive.During the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era, the existence of S-21 was known only to those inside it and a few high-ranking Khmer Rouge officials. When invading Vietnamese troops discovered the prison in 1979, murdered bodies lay strewn about and instruments of torture were still in place. An extensive archive containing photographs of victims, cadre notebooks, and DK publications was also found. Chandler utilizes evidence from the S-21 archive as well as materials that have surfaced elsewhere in Phnom Penh. He also interviews survivors of S-21 and former workers from the prison.Documenting the violence and terror that took place within S-21 is only part of Chandler's story. Equally important is his attempt to understand what happened there in terms that might be useful to survivors, historians, and the rest of us. Chandler discusses the "culture of obedience" and its attendant dehumanization, citing parallels between the Khmer Rouge executions and the Moscow Show Trails of the 1930s, Nazi genocide, Indonesian massacres in 1965-66, the Argentine military's use of torture in the 1970s, and the recent mass killings in Bosnia and Rwanda. In each of these instances, Chandler shows how turning victims into "others" in a manner that was systematically devaluing and racialist made it easier to mistreat and kill them. More than a chronicle of Khmer Rouge barbarism, Voices from S-21 is also a judicious examination of the psychological dimensions of state-sponsored terrorism that conditions human beings to commit acts of unspeakable brutality.

    Black Bolshevik is the autobiography of Harry Haywood, the son of former slaves who became a leading member of the Communist Part USA and a pioneering theoretician on the Afro-American struggle.The author’s first-hand accounts of the Chicago race riot of 1919, the Scottsboro Boys’ defense, communist work in the South, the Spanish Civil War, the battle against the revisionist betrayal of the Party, and other history-shaping events are must reading for all who are interested in Black history and the working class struggle.

    So, when a long-time NPR correspondent wanted to learn more about the real China, he started driving a cab--and discovered a country amid seismic political and economic change.China--America's most important competitor--is at a turning point. With economic growth slowing, Chinese people face inequality and uncertainty as their leaders tighten control at home and project power abroad.In this adventurous, original book, NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt describes how he created a free taxi service--offering rides in exchange for illuminating conversation--to go beyond the headlines and get to know a wide range of colorful, compelling characters representative of the new China. They include folks like "Beer," a slippery salesman who tries to sell Langfitt a used car; Rocky, a farm boy turned Shanghai lawyer; and Chen, who runs an underground Christian church and moves his family to America in search of a better, freer life.Blending unforgettable characters, evocative travel writing, and insightful political analysis, The Shanghai Free Taxi is a sharply observed and surprising book that will help readers make sense of the world's other superpower at this extraordinary moment.

    This book—the first comprehensive study of the Pol Pot regime—describes the violent origins, social context, and course of the revolution, providing a new answer to the question of why a group of Cambodian intellectuals imposed genocide on their own country.Ben Kiernan draws on more than five hundred interviews with Cambodian refugees, survivors, and defectors, as well as on a rich collection of previously unexplored archival material from the Pol Pot regime (including Pol Pot's secret speeches). He recounts how in the first few days after Cambodia became Democratic Kampuchea in 1975, authorities evacuated all cities, closed hospitals, schools, monasteries, and factories, and abolished the use of money. For nearly four years, the country was a prison-camp state, the countryside was "cleansed" of minorities, and a savage war was fought against Vietnam. Exploring the nature of the regime that enforced such a revolution, Kiernan shows that its atrocities—the widespread massacres, forced assimilation of minorities, and foreign alliances and wars—can be explained by its ideological preoccupation with racist and totalitarian policies. Kiernan concludes with a description of the resistance movements that sprang up and the destruction of the regime by Vietnamese forces in 1979.

    to 1850), modern (1850-1945), and postwar (1945-1989) Japanese civilization from imperial rule through the death of Emperor Hirohito. Professor Reischauer, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, explores the roots and development of the military dictatorship that brought Japan into World War II, the dubious leadership of its emperor, and the effects of the postwar American occupation.Download PDFhttp://www.2shared.com/document/vwGCG...

    The Korean War, the Taiwan Strait crises, and the Vietnam War--all of which involved China as a central actor--represented the only major hot conflicts during the Cold War period, making East Asia the main battlefield of the Cold War, while creating conditions to prevent the two superpowers from engaging in a direct military showdown. Beijing's split with Moscow and rapprochement with Washington fundamentally transformed the international balance of power, argues Chen, eventually leading to the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the decline of international communism.Based on sources that include recently declassified Chinese documents, the book offers pathbreaking insights into the course and outcome of the Cold War.

    Out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran and into Kurdish Turkey, Colin Thubron covers some seven thousand miles in eight months. Making his way by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart and camel, he travels from the tomb of the Yellow Emperor, the mythic progenitor of the Chinese people, to the ancient port of Antioch—in perhaps the most difficult and ambitious journey he has undertaken in forty years of travel.The Silk Road is a huge network of arteries splitting and converging across the breadth of Asia. To travel it is to trace the passage not only of trade and armies but also of ideas, religions and inventions. But alongside this rich and astonishing past, Shadow of the Silk Road is also about Asia today: a continent of upheaval.One of the trademarks of Colin Thubron's travel writing is the beauty of his prose; another is his gift for talking to people and getting them to talk to him. Shadow of the Silk Road encounters Islamic countries in many forms. It is about changes in China, transformed since the Cultural Revolution. It is about false nationalisms and the world's discontented margins, where the true boundaries are not political borders but the frontiers of tribe, ethnicity, language and religion. It is a magnificent and important account of an ancient world in modern ferment.

    By asking challenging questions with respect and empathy, Liao Yiwu managed to get his subjects to talk openly and sometimes hilariously about their lives, desires, and vulnerabilities, creating a book that is an instance par excellence of what was once upon a time called “The New Journalism.” The Corpse Walker reveals a fascinating aspect of modern China, describing the lives of normal Chinese citizens in ways that constantly provoke and surprise.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    From The Wire: "Matthew Ingram, aka Woebot, has published a book titled 100 Lost Rock Albums From The 1970s. The book takes in strands of metal, glam rock, French artists, punk and pub rock, and is released digitally as a self-published eBook via Amazon. Ingram says: 'Last year I started writing an article on the 100 Lost Rock Albums From The 1970s but it ballooned out of all proportions and I decided to turn it into an eBook.''Over time we have lost touch with the original character of the 70s. Using 'lost' records I've attempted to re-examinine the decade and redress what I see as imbalance. Beyond small reviews of a meticulously-selected 100 albums there's quite a lot of contemporary history, much theorising and lots of gags.'"

    We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience. This is an Instaread Summary of 'Me Before You' by JoJo Moyes. Below is a preview of the earlier sections of the summary: Chapter 1 Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark, a member of a working class family in a small English village, has just lost her job. Although both Lou’s father, Bernard, and her sister, Treena, work, neither makes enough money to help the family make ends meet without Lou’s income. For this reason, it is decided that Lou should apply for a new job at the Job Centre as soon as possible. The next day Lou goes to the gym to see her boyfriend, Patrick. He sees Lou’s lost job as an opportunity for her to improve herself and find something better. The counselor at the Job Centre suggests Lou apply as a care assistant for a man in a wheelchair. She is not interested in this job, but she is running out of options. She agrees to go for the interview. Chapter 2 Lou usually wears odd, eccentric clothes. For the job interview, Josie, her mother, insists she wear a business suit. Lou goes to Granta House, an elegant and expensive home next to the local tourist attraction, Stortfold Castle. She is interviewed by Camilla Traynor. Camilla is Will Traynor’s mother. Will became a quadriplegic after being hit by a motorcycle. He already has a nurse named Nathan to take care of his personal and medical needs. Camilla wants to hire someone to be a companion for Will and to stay with him during the day when no one else can be there. Lou thinks the interview goes badly. Therefore, she is surprised when Camilla offers her the job with a six-month contract and generous pay. Chapter 3 Lou reports for work at Granta House the following morning. Camilla shows her around the annexe, a space that was once stables but was turned into guest quarters. This is where Will lives now that he is confined to a wheelchair. Camilla explains her duties to Lou. She makes it clear that Lou is not to leave Will alone and unattended for more than 15 minutes at any one time. Camilla introduces Lou to Will and Nathan, Will’s nurse. Nathan explains Will’s medications to Lou and tells her she is there to cheer Will. Nathan leaves, and Lou and Will are left to get to know each other. It does not go well. Will is sullen, quiet, and talks very little. She keeps herself busy with cleaning and household chores to fill in the time. Lou is unhappy about the first day at her new job. She talks to her sister Treena about it. Treena asks her to stick with the job because she has decided to quit her job and go back to college. She has received a grant to help pay her tuition, but will have to quit her job. Lou feels this puts more pressure on her to earn an income.

    Growing up under the watchful eye of the hateful Matrons is hard for spirited, feisty Hetty, but she lives in hope that she'll find her real family one day, and have a real home.These three inventive, gripping and moving tales from one of our most beloved storytellers have captured the hearts of thousands of young readers. Follow Hetty as she leaves the Hospital, seeks work as a servant girl, searches for her mother and father, and finally decides where her future lies . . .

    an empty life without Christ and a meaningful one with Him. Through Caitlin's candid journal entries we see her grapple with such universal teen issues as peer pressure, loyalty, conflict with parents, the longing for a boyfriend, and her own spirituality.It's My LifeCaitlin O'Conner faces new trials as she grows in her faith and strives to maintain the recent commitments she's made to God. As a new believer, Caitlin begins her summer job and makes preparations for a Mexico mission trip with her church youth group. Torn between new spiritual directions and loyalty to Beanie, her best friend (now pregnant), Caitlin searches out her personal values on friendship, romance, dating, life goals, and key relationships with God and family. Tough choices threaten her progress, and her year climaxes in her realization that maturity sometimes means life-impacting decisions must be made ... by faith alone.Who I AmIt's challenging enough to be a normal high school senior -- but Caitlin O'Conner has a host of new difficulties to deal with in the third book of Melody Carlson's widely popular and fascinating teen series. Time is critical to help the orphans in Mexico, missions-minded Caitlin believes, but Mom and Dad are set on her attending college. Meanwhile, her relationship with Josh takes on a serious tone via e-mail -- threatening her commitment to "kiss dating goodbye." When Beanie begins dating an African-American, Caitlin's concern over dating seems to be misread as racism. One thing is obvious: God is at work through this dynamic girl in very real but puzzling ways. A soul-stretching time of racial reconciliation at school and within her church helps her discover God's will as never before.

    The North Korean army invades South Korea, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China.But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. In November 1950, the Chinese spring those traps. Allied forces, already battling stunningly cold weather, find themselves caught completely off guard as the Chinese advance around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A force that once stood on the precipice of victory now finds itself on the brink of annihilation. Assured by General Douglas MacArthur that they would be home by Christmas, the soldiers and Marines fight for their lives against the most brutal weather conditions imaginable--and an enemy that outnumbers them more than six to one.The Frozen Hours tells the story of Frozen Chosin from multiple points of view: Oliver P. Smith, the commanding general of the American 1st Marine Division, who famously redefined defeat as "advancing in a different direction"; Marine Private Pete Riley, a World War II veteran who now faces the greatest fight of his life; and the Chinese commander Sung Shi-Lun, charged with destroying the Americans he has so completely surrounded, ever aware that above him, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung watches his every move.Written with the propulsive force Shaara brings to all his novels of combat and courage, The Frozen Hours transports us to the critical moment in the history of America's "Forgotten War," when the fate of the Korean peninsula lay in the hands of a brave band of brothers battling both the elements and a determined, implacable foe. PRAISE FOR JEFF SHAARA'S RECENT CIVIL WAR SERIES A Blaze of Glory--Library Journal"Dynamic portrayals [of] Johnston, Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman."--The Wall Street JournalA Chain of Thunder"Shaara continues to draw powerful novels from the bloody history of the Civil War."--Kirkus Reviews"The voices of these people come across to the reader as poignantly clear as they did 150 years ago."--Historical Novels ReviewThe Smoke at Dawn"Beautifully written . . . Shaara once again elevates history from mere rote fact to explosive and engaging drama."--Bookreporter"Shaara's mastery of military tactics, his intimate grasp of history, and his ability to interweave several supporting narratives into a cohesive and digestible whole . . . will appeal to a broad range of historical and military fiction fans."--BooklistThe Fateful Lightning"Powerful and emotional . . . highly recommended."--Historical Novels Review"Readers . . . looking for an absorbing novel will be well rewarded."--The Clarion-Ledger

    As Edwin O. Reischauer, former ambassador to Japan, has pointed out, this book offers "a lesson that the postwar generations need most...with eloquence, crushing detail, and power."

    This is a competition between the American system—which is governed by freedom and the rule of law—and a totalitarian dictatorship that is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. These are two different visions for the future; one will succeed, and one will fail.It is possible for America to respond to the Chinese Communist Party's efforts, but doing so will require new thinking, many big changes, and many hard choices for our leaders in government and private sector.Newt Gingrich's Trump vs. China serves as a rallying cry for the American people and a plan of action for our leaders in government and the private sector. Written in a language that every American can understand but still rich in detail and accurate in fact, Trump vs. China exposes the Chinese Communist Party's multi-pronged threat against the United States and what we must do as a country to survive.