World Affairs

Grid view List view Table view

Showing 1–36 of 183 results

100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

No rating

Every once in a while, an idea comes along that makes the entire world sit up and take notice. From the earliest understandings of our place in the solar system, via Darwinism, DNA, neutrons and quarks, right up to the theories that are pushing the boundaries of our knowledge today, we are forever propelled forward by our most gifted scientific minds. In this fascinating book, former BBC Focus magazine editor Jheni Osman explores 100 of the most forward thinking, far-reaching and downright inspired ideas and inventions in history, each nominated by experts from all fields of science and engineering. With selections from established authorities such as Brian Cox, Patrick Moore, Richard Dawkins and Marcus du Sautoy, Osman covers topics as diverse as the Big Bang, vaccination, computing, radioactivity, human genomes, the wheel and many more. Each essay looks at the logic behind these great inventions, discoveries, theories and experiments, studying the circumstances that brought them into being and assessing the impact that they had on the world at large. An intriguing and thought-provoking collection, 100 Ideas that Changed the World offers us a glimpse into the minds behind history’s greatest eureka moments. ISBN:9781849901963

KES 1,890

13 Hours In Benghazi

No rating

The harrowing, true account from the brave men on the ground who fought back during the Battle of Benghazi. 13 HOURS presents, for the first time ever, the true account of the events of September 11, 2012, when terrorists attacked the US State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex in Benghazi, Libya. A team of six American security operators fought to repel the attackers and protect the Americans stationed there. Those men went beyond the call of duty, performing extraordinary acts of courage and heroism, to avert tragedy on a much larger scale. This is their personal account, never before told, of what happened during the thirteen hours of that now-infamous attack. Author: Mitchell Zuckoff ISBN:9781455582280

KES 1,750

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

No rating

**FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER SAPIENS ** Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus looked to the future. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century explores the present. How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? What should we teach our children? Yuval Noah Harari takes us on a thrilling journey through today’s most urgent issues. The golden thread running through his exhilarating new book is the challenge of maintaining our collective and individual focus in the face of constant and disorienting change. Are we still capable of understanding the world we have created? Author: Yuval Noah Hariri ISBN:9781787330672

KES 2,090

21 Speeches That Shaped Our World: The people and ideas that changed the way we think

No rating

In this fascinating book, a political analyst takes a close look at 21 key speeches which have shaped the world today. He examines the power of the arguments embedded in these speeches to inspire people to achieve great things, or do great harm, and he draws upon his political expertise to explain how our current understanding of the world is rooted in pivotal moments of history. These moments are captured in the words of a range of influential speakers including: Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, Jr., Enoch Powell, Napoleon Beazley, Kevin Rudd, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, Margaret Beckett, Winston Churchill, Salvador Allende, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Tim Collins, Mohandas Gandhi, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Robin Cook, and Barack Obama. The speeches in this book are arranged thematically, linked by concepts such as “might is right,” “with us or against us,” and “give peace a chance.” Each transcript is accompanied by an insightful commentary that analyzes how the words relate to contemporary society. Author: Chris Abbot ISBN:9781846042720

KES 2,090

A HUNDRED AND ONE DAYS

No rating

In January 2003 Asne Seierstad entered Baghdad on a ten-day visa. She was to stay for over three months, reporting on the war and its aftermath. A Hundred and One Days is her compelling account of a city under siege, and a fascinating insight into the life of a foreign correspondent. An award-winning writer, Asne Seierstad brilliantly details the frustrations and dangers journalists face trying to uncover the truth behind the all pervasive propaganda. She also offers a unique portrait of Baghdad and its people, trying to go about their daily business under the constant threat of attack. Her passionate and erudite book conveys both the drama and the tragedy of her one hundred and one days in a city at war. Author: Åsne Seierstad ISBN:9781844081400

KES 950

AFFLUENZA

No rating

There is currently an epidemic of ‘affluenza’ throughout the world – an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses – that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. Over a nine-month period, bestselling author Oliver James travelled around the world to try and find out why. He discovered how, despite very different cultures and levels of wealth, affluenza is spreading. Cities he visited include Sydney, Singapore, Moscow, Copenhagen, New York and Shanghai, and in each place he interviewed several groups of people in the hope of finding out not only why this is happening, but also how one can increase the strength of one’s emotional immune system. He asks: why do so many more people want what they haven’t got and want to be someone they’re not, despite being richer and freer from traditional restraints? And, in so doing, uncovers the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you’ve already got. In other words, how to be successful and stay sane. Author: Oliver James ISBN:9780091900113

KES 1,650

AGE OF AMBITION, CHASING FORTUNE, TRUTH & FAITH IN THE NEW CHINA

No rating

Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction finalist Winner of the 2014 National Book Award in nonfiction An Economist Best Book of 2014 Winner of the bronze medal for the Council on Foreign Relations’ 2015 Arthur Ross Book Award A vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy-or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don’t see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes. As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals-fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture-consider themselves “angry youth,” dedicated to resisting the West’s influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth? Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail. Author: Evan Osnos ISBN:9780374280741

KES 1,550

Age of Consent, The

No rating

Naomi Klein’s ‘No Logo’ told us what was wrong. Now, George Monbiot shows us how to put it right. Provocative, brave and beautifully argued, ‘The Age of Consent’ is nothing less than a manifesto for a new world order. ‘Our task is not to overthrow globalisation, but to capture it, and to use it as a vehicle for humanity’s first global democratic revolution.’ All over our planet, the rich get richer while the poor are overtaken by debt and disaster. The world is run not by its people but by a handful of unelected or underelected executives who make the decisions on which everyone else depends: concerning war, peace, debt, development and the balance of trade. Without democracy at the global level, the rest of us are left with no means of influencing these men but to shout abuse and hurl ourselves at the lines of police defending their gatherings and decisions. Does it have to be this way? George Monbiot knows not only that things ought to change, but also that they can change. Drawing on decades of thinking about how the world is organized and administered politically, fiscally and commercially, Monbiot has developed an interlocking set of proposals all his own, which attempts nothing less than a revolution in the way the world is run. If these proposals become popular, never again will people be able to ask of the critics of the existing world order, ‘we know what they don’t want, but what do they want?’ Fiercely controversial and yet utterly persuasive, the ingenious solutions Monbiot suggests for some of the planet’s most pressing problems mark him as perhaps the most realistic utopian of our time and a man whose passion is infectious and whose ideas, many will surely come to agree, are becoming irresistible. Author: George Monbiot ISBN:9780007150434

KES 1,290

Age Of Turbulance, The

No rating

Alan Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence is the essential guide to what is happening in the world, and where we’re heading, from the ultimate expert. Alan Greenspan wielded more power than the presidents he worked for, from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to George Bush and his son. He was in the command room of the world economy for longer than any other single figure. One word from him could send markets into freefall. Now Alan Greenspan, the legendary former chairman of the Federal Reserve, gives us a unique insider’s view of the world over his lifetime, from stock market exuberance to political turmoil – and his predictions for the future of our fast-changing, increasingly turbulent global economy. Author: Alan Greenspan ISBN:9780141029917

KES 2,000

AGE OF UNREASON, THE

No rating

We will not survive unless we adapt to the way the world is changing. The Age of Unreason is an inspiring vision of an era of new discoveries, new enlightenment and new freedoms. It helps us to understand what Tom Peters, the American business guru, has called the new ‘upside down’ competitive realities in the world of work and of leisure. It is a book to turn your understanding of the world on its head. (l Author: Charles Handy ISBN:9780099548317

KES 1,550

Ahmadinejad

No rating

When Ahmadinejad was elected President in June 2005, anxiety replaced election fever amongst many Iranians. To let off steam they told jokes. ‘Why did the new President part his hair so straight? To segregate the male and female lice.’ But while the laughter died down, the anxiety never went away… As Iran s nuclear programme accelerates, all eyes are on the blacksmith s son who could have his finger on the trigger. Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? What drives him? What formed him? To whom, if anyone, does he answer? Internationally acclaimed journalist Kasra Naji, a native Persian speaker, has spent years in Iran interviewing friends, family and colleagues of the firebrand President to tell for the first time the true story of how he came to power. A picture emerges far more compelling than any of the caricatures offered up so far. While Naji documents the often strange behaviour of Ahmadinejad, with his visions of the Hidden Imam and diatribes against Israel, he also shows him to be full of contradictions: a strange and complex man, at once gripped by apocalyptic beliefs, yet capable of switching spiritual allegiance in the quest for power. A man tough enough to fight street battles in the name of Ayatollah Khomeini during the revolution, who was described by former army comrades as a coward. A man crude enough to invite the German Chancellor to join him in an anti-Jewish alliance, yet sophisticated enough to win the political support of the all-powerful Revolutionary Guard. The unknown Ahmadinejad – revealed here by Naji – is much more of a force to be reckoned with than the bogeyman conjured up by Washington. Naji takes us inside the shadowy council chambers of Tehran, and shows us the plots, passions and personalities that will influence Ahmadinejad’s next move, while the world waits with baited breath. Author: Kasra Naji ISBN:9781845116361

KES 2,090

ALL THE TROUBLE IN THE WORLD

No rating

O’Rourke is not really a travel writer (see Holidays in Hell) or a right-wing apologist (see Republican Party Reptile ) or even a responsible journalist (see passim), but something far more valuable than any of these. Fuelled on duty-free Scotch, he is America’s greatest prose comedian . . . Nobody tells or times a gag better, even when – especially when – he fetches up in a place as unfunny as Somalia’ Anthony Quinn, Sunday Times ‘O’Rourke has picked up the title of champion gonzo journalist of the world. He’s been there and done twice as much of it . . . [the book] is aimed like a guided missile straight up the liberal nostril . . . a splendid antidote to the modern fever of artificially-induced compassion’ Literary Review ‘O’Rourke can write more compellingly than almost any of those he writes about and he is funnier than almost anyone writing in America today’ John Diamond, The Times ‘In the politically-correct wastes of American journalism, P. J. O’Rourke stands out like a naughty deed in a good world’ John Naughton, Observer ‘Mr O’Rourke is the only writer in the world who can make foreign trade funny’ New York Times Book Review Author: P.J. O’rourke ISBN:9780330331777

KES 880

ALLY

No rating

Michael B. Oren s memoir of his time as Israel s ambassador to the United States a period of transformative change for America and a time of violent upheaval throughout the Middle East provides a frank, fascinating look inside the special relationship between America and its closest ally in the region. Michael Oren served as the Israeli ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. An American by birth and a historian by training, Oren arrived at his diplomatic post just as Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton assumed office. During Oren s tenure in office, Israel and America grappled with the Palestinian peace process, the Arab Spring, and existential threats to Israel posed by international terrorism and the Iranian nuclear program. Forged in the Truman administration, America s alliance with Israel was subjected to enormous strains, and its future was questioned by commentators in both countries. On more than one occasion, the friendship s very fabric seemed close to unraveling. Ally is the story of that enduring alliance and of its divides written from the perspective of a man who treasures his American identity while proudly serving the Jewish State he has come to call home. No one could have been better suited to strengthen bridges between the United States and Israel than Michael Oren a man equally at home jumping out of a plane as an Israeli paratrooper and discussing Middle East history on TV s Sunday morning political shows. In the pages of this fast-paced book, Oren interweaves the story of his personal journey with behind-the-scenes accounts of fateful meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu, high-stakes summits with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and diplomatic crises that intensified the controversy surrounding the world s most contested strip of land. A quintessentially American story of a young man who refused to relinquish a dream irrespective of the obstacles and an inherently Israeli story about assuming onerous responsibilities, Ally is at once a record, a chronicle, and a confession. And it is a story about love about someone fortunate enough to love two countries and to represent one to the other. But, above all, this memoir is a testament to an alliance that was and will remain vital for Americans, Israelis, and the world. Author: Michael B. Oren ISBN:9780812986426

KES 1,800

America’s Kingdom

No rating

America’s Kingdom debunks the many myths that now surround the United States’ special relationship with Saudi Arabia, also known as ‘the deal’: oil for security. Exploding the long-established myth that the Arabian American Oil Company, Aramco, made miracles happen in the desert, Robert Vitalis shows how oil led the U.S. government to follow the company to the kingdom, and how oil and ARAMCO quickly became America’s largest single overseas private enterprise.From the establishment in the 1930s of a Jim Crow system in the Dhahran oil camps, modeled on similar labor camps set up in Latin America, the book examines the period of unrest in the 1950s and 1960s when workers challenged the racial hierarchy of ARAMCO while a small cadre of progressive Saudis challenged the hierarchy of the international oil market. The defeat of these groups led to the consolidation of America’s Kingdom under the House of Fahd, the royal faction that still rules today. Informed by first-hand accounts from ARAMCO employees and top U.S. government officials, this book offers the true story of the events on the Saudi oil fields. Author: Robert Vitalis ISBN:9781844673131

KES 1,650

American Jihad: Islam after Malcolm X

No rating

American Jihad is the only popular book available about the religious experience of Muslims, both black and white, in America. With over one billion faithful worldwide, and over six million in the United States alone, Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. In fact, the population of American Muslims surpasses the membership of many mainline Protestant denominations. However, the media’s depiction of Muslims in America often stops short of any real examination and opts instead to cover only the sensational, puzzling charisma of Louis Farrakhan, who leads the Nation of Islam, or the violence of some of the more extremist Muslims. American Jihad dispels these prominent but dangerously deceptive stereotypes and is the first book to take a serious and inclusive approach to exploring how the Muslim faith is embraced and practiced in America. Like many African-Americans of his generation, author Steven Barboza was affected profoundly by Malcolm X and converted from Catholicism after reading the Autobiography. In American Jihad, he features a myriad of faithful Muslims who come from many different walks of life from a foreign policy advisor of Richard M. Nixon’s, to a blond Sufi, to an AIDS activist, and so on. In American Jihad, you’ll hear from some of the most famous American Muslims after Malcolm X, including Louis Farrakhan, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Attallah Shabazz (Malcolm X’s daughter), and the former H.Rap Brown. In American Jihad, Steven Barboza does for Islam what Studs Terkel has recently done for race relations.” Author: Steven Barboza ISBN:9780385476942

KES 1,400

And The Weak Suffer What They Must?

No rating

A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of failed capitalism. In this startling account of Europe’s economic rise and catastrophic fall, Yanis Varoufakis pinpoints the flaws in the European Union’s design – a design that was thought up after the Second World War, and is responsible for Europe’s fragmentation and the resurgence of racist extremism across the Continent. When the financial crisis struck in 2008, the political elite’s response ensured that it would be the weakest citizens of the weakest nations that would pay the price for the bankers’ mistakes. Drawing on his personal experience of negotiations with the eurozone’s financiers, and offering concrete policies to reform Europe, Varoufakis shows how we concocted this mess, and points the way out of it. And The Weak Suffer What They Must? reminds us of our history, in order to save European capitalism and democracy from the abyss. Author: Yanis ISBN:9781568585994

KES 1,450

Another World is Possible

No rating

In 2001 the first World Social Forum was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The meeting was viewed by many at the time as a new manifestation of the global Left, a people’s opposition to the World Economic Forum that stood as the first real front to global capitalism since the collapse of the Soviet Union. While many activists and intellectuals on the left have since become deeply critical of the Forum, newer movements, such as Occupy, the Arab Spring and the indignados, have built upon its successes and innovations. Another World is Possible is the original collection of essays and demands from the heart of the ‘movement of movements’. Based on the work of the first two annual meetings of the WSF, this classic collection not only set out the initial aims of the movements that came together, it also paved the way for the theoretical study of new social movements, their multiple and participatory character. Today, as many crises affect all our lives, it is time to revisit the original demands of a global solidarity movement, united in its determination to fight against the concentration of wealth, the proliferation of poverty and inequalities, and the destruction of our earth, and to reconstitute a global left. Author:William F. Fisher, Irfan A. Habib ISBN:9781783605170

KES 1,850

ANTIFRAGILE

No rating

Antifragile is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and The Bed of Procrustes. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, reveals how to thrive in an uncertain world. Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. In Antifragile, Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. Furthermore, the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events. Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is what we call “efficient” not efficient at all? Why do government responses and social policies protect the strong and hurt the weak? Why should you write your resignation letter before even starting on the job? How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives? The book spans innovation by trial and error, life decisions, politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems, and medicine. And throughout, in addition to the street wisdom of Fat Tony of Brooklyn, the voices and recipes of ancient wisdom, from Roman, Greek, Semitic, and medieval sources, are loud and clear. Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb’s message is revolutionary: The antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it. Author: Nassim Nicolas Taleb ISBN:9780812979688

KES 1,850

APARTHEID ISRAEL

No rating

Uri Davis has been at the forefront of the defence of human rights in Israel since the mid-1960s and at the cutting edge of critical research on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this book, he provides a critical insight into how it was possible for Jewish people, the victims of Nazi genocide in the Second World War, to subject the Palestinian people, beginning with the 1948-49 war, to such criminal policies as mass deportation, population transfers and ethnic cleansing, prolonged military government (with curfews, roadblocks and the like), and economic, social, cultural, civil and political strangulation, punctuated by Apache helicopters strafing civilians and their homes. Since its establishment in 1948 Israel has acted in blatant violation of most UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, including amassing weapons of mass destruction in violation of international law. How is it then possible for this country, its apartheid legislation notwithstanding, to still maintain its reputation in the West as the only democracy in the Middle East and effectively to veil the apartheid cruelty it has perpetrated against the Palestinian people? In the course of outlining answers to these questions, Uri Davis traces the departure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its declared political programme; its demise beginning with the Oslo peace process; and the struggle within Israel against Israeli apartheid. Author: Uri Davis ISBN:9781842773390

KES 2,630

Arab Revolution, The

No rating

The democratic uprising throughout the Arab world is proving how wrong we were to accept either dictatorship or Islamism as the only political alternatives. Lessons are already being learnt from this grassroots process, even while it is in the making. Above all, when it comes to freedom and justice, there is definitely no Arab exceptionalism. Social networks have been crucial in empowering a leaderless movement, where the generational factor is striking. The Facebook-savvy globalised youngsters from the urban middle class are key, but it is from the wrong side of town that disenfranchised youths spearheaded the Tunisian revolution. Ruling regimes everywhere are striving to adapt, while major sectors of the opposition favour prolonged transitional periods to rebuild the devastated political scene. The challenge is historical for the Muslim Brotherhood in its various national branches, with the Turkish example of government participation, even when constrained, proving an appealing model. But the main losers could be the jihadi groups whose discourse and violence have been invalidated by the mass protests and their pluralist agendas. Even though the situation is still volatile, nothing will be the same again in the Arab world. Jean-Pierre Filiu’s preliminary assessment of this major revolutionary movement underlines what else might change and at what cost. Author:Jean Pierre Filiu ISBN:9781849041591

KES 1,900

ARAB SPRING,THE

No rating

Spontaneous, unforeseen and contagious, the uprisings of the Arab Spring took everyone – participants included – by surprise. Like revolutions in other times and places, they seemed impossible beforehand and inevitable afterwards. In mid-December 2010 the desperate act of a young Tunisian barely featured on the global news agenda. But it set off a chain reaction of extraordinary events that would unseat dictators, reshape the political landscape of North Africa and the Middle East and affect the lives of millions of people. The Guardian has been running, often breathlessly, to follow the story and to explain it ever since. This is a tale of many chapters, told by the journalists, bloggers and citizens who have lived through this incredible time. Author: Toby Manhire ISBN:9780852652541

KES 1,590

Arab- Israeli Wars, The

No rating

The Arab-Israeli Wars is former President of Israel Chaim Herzog’s acclaimed history of Israel’s fight since 1947 to preserve her existence against repeated attacks. Revised after his death by friend and colleague General Shomo Gazit, this new edition also covers the events of the past twenty years, including the pullout from Lebanon, both intifadas, the first Gulf War, the Oslo Process, and beyond. Riveting, informative, and comprehensive, this authoritative account tells the story of Israel’s struggle to survive but gives a clear picture of the people and politics that continue to shape the destiny of this crucial region. Author: Chaim Herzog and Shlomo Gazit ISBN:9781400079636

KES 2,050

Ascent of Money, The

No rating

Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot. Call if what you like, it matters now more than ever. In The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that financial history is the back-story to all history. From the banking dynasty who funded the Italian Renaissance to the stock market bubble that caused the French Revolution, this is the story of booms and busts as it’s never been told before. With the world in the grip of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, there’s never been a better time to understand the ascent – and descent – of money. ‘Beautifully written … Breathtakingly clever’ Sunday Telegraph ‘A lucid and racy account of financial history’ New Statesman Author: Niall Ferguson ISBN:9780141035482

KES 1,650

ASSAULT ON REASON, THE

No rating

Nobel Peace Prize winner, bestselling author, activist, and political icon, Al Gore has become one of the most respected and influential public intellectuals in America today. The Assault on Reason takes an unprecedented look at how faith in the power of reason?the idea that citizens can govern themselves through rational debate?is now under assault. The marketplace of ideas, once open to everyone through the printed word, has been corrupted by the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith. By leading us to an understanding of what we can do to restore the rule of reason, Gore has written a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking. A #1 New York Times bestseller: A visionary analysis of the degradation of our public sphere and its consequences for our democracy Author: Al Gore ISBN:9780143113621

KES 1,650

Bad Samaritans

No rating

Ha-Joon Chang argues that, the world’s wealthiest countries and major institutions, such IMF and the World Bank, want to see all nations become modern, thriving societies. In practice though, those at the top are kicking away the ladder to wealth that they themselves climbed. Author: Ha-Joon Chang ISBN: 9781905211371

KES 1,450

Best Intentions, The ( Kofi Annan)

No rating

During his first term as secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan was one of the most widely admired men in the world. In 2001, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Then the UN failed to stop war in Iraq and genocide in Darfur, and the institution was engulfed by the Oil-for-Food scandal. By the time Annan left office in December 2006, both he and the UN had suffered a terrible loss of standing. Did the UN’s failures arise from its own structure and culture or from a clash with an American administration determined to go its own way in defiance of world opinion? In The Best Intentions, New York Times Magazine writer James Traub traces the entwined histories of Kofi Annan and the UN from 1992 to the present, and offers a definitive portrait of the institution’s role in the age of American dominance. Author: James Traub ISBN:9780312426743

KES 2,000

BEYOND THE UNIVERSITY. WHY LIBERAL EDUCATION MATTERS

No rating

An eloquent defense of liberal education, seen against the backdrop of its contested history in America Contentious debates over the benefits-or drawbacks-of a liberal education are as old as America itself. From Benjamin Franklin to the Internet pundits, critics of higher education have attacked its irrelevance and elitism-often calling for more vocational instruction. Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, believed that nurturing a student’s capacity for lifelong learning was useful for science and commerce while also being essential for democracy. In this provocative contribution to the disputes, university president Michael S. Roth focuses on important moments and seminal thinkers in America’s long-running argument over vocational vs. liberal education. Conflicting streams of thought flow through American intellectual history: W. E. B. DuBois’s humanistic principles of pedagogy for newly emancipated slaves developed in opposition to Booker T. Washington’s educational utilitarianism, for example. Jane Addams’s emphasis on the cultivation of empathy and John Dewey’s calls for education as civic engagement were rejected as impractical by those who aimed to train students for particular economic tasks. Roth explores these arguments (and more), considers the state of higher education today, and concludes with a stirring plea for the kind of education that has, since the founding of the nation, cultivated individual freedom, promulgated civic virtue, and instilled hope for the future. Author: Michael S. Roth ISBN:9780300212662

KES 1,890

Bin Ladens, The

No rating

The Bin Ladens are shrouded in secrecy, living in one of the most closed, unaccountable countries on earth. Little has been known about the world that created Osama – until now. In this gripping account prizewinning journalist Steve Coll has interviewed those closest to the family who rose from Yemeni peasants to jetsetting millionaires in two generations. In doing so, he reveals a Saudi Arabia torn between religious purity and the temptations of the West, telling a story of oil, money, power, patronage and dangerous cultural extremes. Author: Steve Coll ISBN:9780141036489

KES 1,900

BLACK GOLD

No rating

The extraordinary tale of the wildfire spread of a drink which is embedded in our history and our daily cultural life – and which provides a compelling allegory for corporate greed, mercantile ruthlessness and global expansion. Arguably the most valuable legally traded commodity in the world after oil, coffee’s dark five-hundred year history links alchemy and anthropology, poetry and politics, and science and slavery. Revolutions have been hatched in coffee houses, secret socities and commercial alliances formed, and politics and art endlessly debated. With over a hundred million people looking to it for their livelihood, the coffee industry is now the world’s largest employer and the financial lifeblood of many third-world countries (or the blood with which they feed the global capitalist vampire, depending on your point of view). But with world prices at a historic low, the future looks uncertain. In this thought-provoking expose, Antony Wild, coffee trader and historian, explores coffee’s dismal colonial past and its perilous corporate present, revealing the shocking exploitation at the heart of the industry. To many people, coffee has become largely just another commodity. Black Gold restores our faith in the mystery of this unique beverage. Author: Anthony Wild ISBN:9781841156569

KES 1,550

BLOOD & RAGE

No rating

A far-reaching history of terrorism across the world from its beginnings to the modern-day, from the highly acclaimed author of ‘Sacred Causes’ and ‘Earthly Powers’. Basing his study on a wide range of sources and key players from the world of terrorism, Burleigh explains and defines the meaning of terrorism and marks its progression from its hard to trace beginnings to the modern-day. He begins with the first modern terrorist groups: the Irish Republican Brotherhood – the precursors of the IRA – who played a key role in the formation of an Irish Republican ideology. He goes on to look at Tsarist Russia where the ‘intelligentsia’ launched attacks on organs of state, left-wing fighting against ‘Fascism’ and ‘Nazism’ in the 70’s and 80’s in western Germany and Italy, and Britain and Spain’s long and drawn out battles with their own terrorist groups the IRA and ETA respectively. He ends with the first globally inclusive account of Islamist terrorism since 1980s till the present. Primarily, Burleigh aims to elucidate the mind-set of people who use political violence and explore the background and the milieu of the people involved. He will be interviewing several senior military and police figures who were responsible for security in Northern Ireland, as well as former soldiers who took part in operations such as ‘Bloody Sunday’. He will examine the Middle East which, since 1970’s, has been the world’s epicentre for terrorism and the mythologies and delusions of Islamist radicals. Finally, he makes clear that the west has considerable resources to comprehend and combat terrorism – despite consistently failing to do so – and highlights the shamefully inadequate nature of US public diplomacy. The book also includes a number of practical suggestions as to how terrorism can be combated both ideologically and militarily. ‘Blood and Rage’ is an unrivalled study that sheds an insightful new light, and a refreshingly complex angle, on a plight that threatens to affect the world at large for many years to come and establishes Michael Burleigh as one of the most original, learned and important historians of our time. Author:Michael Burleigh ISBN:9780007242252

KES 2,150

Bottom Billion,The

No rating

Global poverty is falling rapidly, but in fifty or so states the world’s poorest people – the bottom billion – face a tragedy that is growing inexorably worse. Why do these states defy all attempts to help them? In his award winning bestseller, Paul Collier pinpoints the issues of corruption, political instability and resource management that lie at the root of the problem, and offers hard-nosed solutions and real hope for a way of solving one of the great crises facing the world today. Author: Paul Collier ISBN: 9780195374636

KES 2,500

Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes

No rating

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece which begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time. Author: Stephen Hawking ISBN: 9780533176988

KES 900

CAPITALISM IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

No rating

Samir Amin remains one of the world’s most influential thinkers about the changing nature of North-South relations in the development of contemporary capitalism. In this highly prescient book, originally published in 1997, he provides a powerful analysis of the new unilateral capitalist era following the collapse of the Soviet model, and the apparent triumph of the market and globalization. Amin’s innovative analysis charts the rise of ethnicity and fundamentalism as consequences of the failure of ruling classes in the South to counter the exploitative terms of globalization. This has had profound implications and continues to resonate today. Furthermore, his deconstruction of the Bretton Woods institutions as managerial mechanisms which protect the profitability of capital provides an important insight into the continued difficulties in reforming them. Amin’s rejection of the apparent inevitability of globalization in its present polarising form is particularly prophetic – instead he asserts the need for each society to negotiate the terms of its inter-dependence with the rest of the global economy. A landmark work by a key contemporary thinker. Author: Samir Amin ISBN:9781780325613

KES 2,500

Cash Nexus, The

No rating

The Cash Nexus is the controversial history of money’s central place in the world, from Niall Ferguson, bestselling author of Empire and Civilization Generations of historians have shied away from the truth behind the cliche: money makes the world go around. International bestseller Niall Ferguson answers the big questions about finance and its crucial place in bringing happiness and despair, warfare and welfare, boom and crash to nations buffeted by the onward march of history. Starting in 1700 and ending today, The Cash Nexus is a dazzling, powerful and controversial explanation of modern world history and the fundamental force that lurks behind it all. Author: Niall Ferguson ISBN:9780140293333

KES 1,790

CHALLENGE OF POST ZIONISM,THE

No rating

Israeli media, intellectual circles and academia about the defining characteristics of Israel and the future. The argument, known as Post-Zionism, challenges some of the fundamental myths surrounding the early history and contemporary identity of the Israeli State. This volume presents this emerging debate. Its contributors include some of its main protagonists, Israeli citizens of Jewish and Palestinian background, including A’sad Ghanem, Uri Ram and Ilan Pappe. They explore Post-Zionism’s meanings, ambiguities and prospects. The significance of this volume goes beyond Israel’s own emerging post-colonial identity and contains implications for theories of the post-colonial state generally. Author: Ephraim Nimni ISBN:9781856498944

KES 2,100

China Shakes the World

No rating

Authoritative and fully up-to-date account by leading China expert on China’s economic rise and how it will affect the world Authoritative and fully up-to-date account by leading China expert on China’s economic rise and how it will affect the world The new China, the nation that in 25 years has changed beyond all recognition is becoming an industrial powerhouse for the world. James Kynge shows not only the extraordinary rise of the Chinese economy, but what the future holds as China begins to influence the world. On the eve of the British industrial revolution some 230 years ago, China accounted for one third of the global economy. In 1979, after 30 years of Communism, its economy contributed only two per cent to global GDP. Now it is back up to five per cent, and rising. Although China is already a palpable force in the world, its re-emergence is only just starting to be felt. Kynge shows China’s weaknesses – its environmental pollution, its crisis in social trust, its weak financial system and the faltering institutions of its governments – which are poised to have disruptive effects on the world. The fall-out from any failure in China’s rush to modernity or simply from a temporary economic crash in the Chinese economy would be felt around the world. Author: James Kynge ISBN:9780753821558

KES 990

Showing 1–36 of 183 results