Black lives matter wherever they may be, whether in the developed world or in the consciousness of those who see the evil of our times. Racism has no place in an apparently civilized world. Indeed, all lives matter. In a comprehensive examination of worldwide slavery and its impact on modern society, Ken Menon delves into the further impacts of slavery, other than the transatlantic slave trade, that remain submerged in the Black Lives Matter movement and the iconoclasm of our times. While ...

When Albert Camus wrote ‘The Plague’ in 1947, he could have been predicting Covid-19 in 2020. Some of his words would not be out of place today. The worry and fear that people live with every day is hardly diminishing. Unlike in 1947, the fear today is not only about health and life but also about the future, employment and quality of life in general. There is a fear of the present, concern for the future and a longing for the past. Breaches of lockdown are manifestations of that longing f...

Great Speeches collects over forty of the most powerful and stirring addresses delivered in the English language.It captures the significant historical events of the past 400 years in the words of their participants, from those speeches given in times of war and sorrow, such as Winston Churchill's 'This Was Their Finest Hour', to those delivered at moments of hope, such as Barack Obama's election victory address.Other speeches include:• Charl...

A prominent British conservative warns Americans to stop President Obama from leading their country down the path to European-style socialism.In March 2009, British conservative Daniel Hannan became a celebrity overnight when he assailed prime minister Gordon Brown on the floor of the European Parliament. The YouTube clip went viral, leading to whirlwind appearances on FOX News and other conservative media outlets. A thoughtful and articulate spokesman for conservative ideas, Hanna...

A piercing and scientifically grounded look at the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and how it will change the way we live—"excellent and timely." (The New Yorker)Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020, and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutt...

Essential reading for anyone interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this Very Short Introduction looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. Key themes in current thinking about Africa's history are illustrated with a range of fascinating historical examples, drawn from over 5 millennia across this vast continent.

In January 2020, China alerted major international scientific bodies about the eruption of a dangerous new virus and heavily promoted basic precautions. U.S. politicians and corporate media ridiculed and ignored the warnings.Washington ramped up its policy of racist propaganda, military encirclement, trade war and sanctions. The consequence, tens of thousands of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. – the highest in the world.Rather than global cooperation on testing, vaccine development and PPE sup...

Interest in international law has increased greatly over the past decade, largely because of its central place in discussions such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo, the World Trade Organisation, the anti-capitalist movement, the Kyoto Convention on climate change, and the apparent failure of the international system to deal with the situations in Palestine and Darfur, and the plights of refugees and illegal immigrants around the world. This Very Short Introduction explains what inte...

A New York Times Bestseller, with an updated explanation of the 2010 Health Reform BillBringing to bear his talent for explaining complex issues in a clear, engaging way, New York Times bestselling author T. R. Reid visits industrialized democracies around the world--France, Britain, Germany, Japan, and beyond--to provide a revelatory tour of successful, affordable universal health care systems. Now updated with new statistics and a plain-English ...

A look at the 1918 influenza pandemic from its outbreak to its effects on the global population and its legacy.On the second Monday of March, 1918, the world changed forever. What seemed like a harmless cold morphed into a global pandemic that would wipe out as many as a hundred-million people—ten times as many as the Great War. German troops faltered, lending the allies the winning advantage, and India turned its sights to independence while South Africa turned to ...

As a diarist I have chronicled the time through which I have lived in meticulous detail: but all that is history. What matters now is the future for those who will live through it.The past is the past but there may be lessons to be learned which could help the next generation to avoid mistakes their parents and grandparents made.Certainly at my age I have learned an enormous amount from the study of history - not so much from the political leaders of the time but from those...

*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*A GUARDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR‘An astonishing book’ James O’Brien‘A gripping, devastating read’ Sunday TimesThe inside story of the UK’s response to the pandemic from the Insight investigations unit at The Sunday TimesFailures of State recounts the extraordinary political decision...