"Nigeria, the United States' most important strategic partner in West Africa, is in trouble. While Nigerians often claim they are masters of dancing on the brink without falling off, the recent vacuum in government authority, the upcoming 2011 elections, and escalating violence in the Delta and the North may finally provide the impetus that pushes it into the abyss of state failure." "John Campbell explores Nigeria's post-colonial history and presents...

When an 18-year-old boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, McCoy knows it can't be a random act of violence. With a newbie partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to build a picture of a secret society run by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes...

Provides in-depth coverage of the political and cultural conflicts in the Middle East, exploring each conflict or latent conflict, including the history, the nature of the conflict, the factors involved, and any steps toward resolution.

"Morgan Freeman takes viewers on a global journey to meet with people from different cultures whose lives are shaped in surprising ways, and to explore themes that unite us all. At a time when global events seem to be driving cultures apart, this series aims to reveal the common humanity that lies inside each one of us. Each episode explores a single fundamental force or topic: freedom, peace, love, social division, power, and rebellion."--Container....

From the Booker Prize–winning author of The White Tiger, a stunning novel of greed and murder in contemporary Mumbai. 
At the heart of Adiga's gripping second novel ("his plots don’t unwind, they surge" —USA Today) are two equally compelling men, poised for a showdown.
Real estate developer Dharmen Shah rose from nothing to create an empire and hopes to seal his legacy with a luxury building

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Draws on biblical scripture to argue that the controlling dogmas of religion have caused many of the world's ills and that we should have the same attitude, in a controversial study that calls for an end to conflict and division along religious lines.

A witty and inherently feminist novel about passion and marriage, based on a true story of an unstoppable woman ahead of her time in Victorian London. In 1887, Isabel Bilton is the eldest of three daughters of a middle-class military family, growing up in a small garrison town. By 1891 she is the Countess of Clancarty, dubbed "the peasant countess" by the press, and a member of the Irish aristocracy. Becoming Belle is the story of the four years in...

"A maverick thinker who's drawn the applause of both the populist left and right offers a searing indictment of the managerial elite. Mainstream politicians and pundits explain today's populist unrest as a simple divide between "winners" and "losers." They recognize that globalization has created massive inequalities, but these are inevitable, they say--and the best we can do is throw a sop to the "deplorables" to keep them from revolting. But what...

"As the dystopian trilogy that began with Gilded Cage and Tarnished City concludes, the people of Britain rise up against their magically gifted masters. They must break the system--or be broken. MAGIC RUINS. WE RISE. The rules are simple, the system cruel: the lower classes must give ten years in service to Britain's powerfully gifted rulers. With one uprising crushed by the glittering elite, commoners and aristocrats alike now take sides for a final...

"San Cristobal was an unremarkable city--small, newly prosperous, contained by rain forest and river. But then the children arrived. No one knew where they came from: thirty-two kids, seemingly born of the jungle, speaking an unknown language. At first they scavenged, stealing food and money and absconding to the trees. But their transgressions escalated to violence, and then the city's own children began defecting to join them. Facing complete collapse,...