Business & Investing | International | Economics

Business & Investing | Popular Economics | Economic Conditions

History | Asia | Southeast Asia; Hong Kong

Nonfiction | Economics | International Economics

Few groups are more secretive than the Asian “godfathers”--the tiny group of obscenely wealthy businessmen who control the economic fates of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Mysterious, shrewd, and ruthless, these tycoons represented 8 of the 25 wealthiest people on the planet in the 1990s and they continue to command multi-billion-dollar personal fortunes, controlling everything from banking and real estate to shipping and gambling—yet their names would not be familiar to regular readers of The Wall Street Journal. Who are they and how do they do it? That's the question Joe Studwell, author of the acclaimed book The China Dream, answers in this incisive behind-the-scenes exploration of the outsize figures behind the veil. Studwell has spent fifteen years as a reporter in the region and uses his unprecedented access to paint intimate and revealing portraits of the godfathers—who they really are and how they make, build, and maintain their fortunes. Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia  is an explosive book that lifts the curtain on a world of staggering secrecy and hypocrisy and reveals—for the first time—who the leaders of one of the world’s most important and tumultuous markets really are.

The "forgotten" second volume of Capital, Marx's world-shaking analysis of economics, politics, and history, contains the vital discussion of commodity, the cornerstone to Marx's theories.

A gripping and vibrant book soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and directed by Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson’s War was a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times best seller when it was published in 2003. Crile’s book is the true story of how a Texas Congressman and a rogue CIA agent conspired to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful CIA campaign ever — the operation to fund the mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet army that had invaded Afghanistan. Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol to secret chambers at Langley, from arms dealers’ conventions to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson’s War presents an astonishing chapter of our recent past, and the key to understanding what helped trigger the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and ultimately led to the emergence of a brand-new foe in the form of radical Islam.

History | Asia | China

History | Historical Study

Textbooks | Humanities | History | Asia

This is a sourcebook that tells the momentous history of China since 1919, mainly from the viepoints of participants, including extracts from telegrams, speeches, memoirs, political statements and letters and poems.

Curfewed Night is a brave and unforgettable piece of literary reporting that reveals the personal stories behind one of the most brutal conflicts in modern times. Since 1989, when the separatist movement exploded, more than seventy thousand people have been killed in the battle between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Born and raised in the war-torn region, Basharat Peer brings this little-known part of the world to life in haunting, vivid detail.

Peer tells stories from his youth and gives gut-wrenching accounts of the many Kashmiris he met years later as a reporter. He chronicles a young man's initiation into a Pakistani training camp, a mother forced to watch her son hold an exploding bomb by Indian troops, a poet finding religion when his entire family is killed. He writes about politicians living in refurbished torture chambers, idyllic villages rigged with land mines, and ancient Sufi shrines decimated in bomb blasts.

Curfewed Night is a tale of a man's love for his land, the pain of leaving home, and the joy of return -- as well as a fierce and moving piece of reportage from an intrepid young journalist.

If any modern democratic leader has believed in the "great man'' theory of history and acted self-consciously in accordance with it, it was surely de Gaulle. On both occasions when he came to power it was in his own right, as a ``providential figure'', not as the representative of a political or social movement. In office, his wielding of power was, by modern standards, remarkably personal; and his impact on France, and on Europe, was immense. He is a natural subject for Profiles in Power.

History | Asia | Japan

Textbooks

Nonfiction | Women's Studies

Nonfiction | Social Sciences | Anthropology | Cultural

In this classic best seller, Liza Dalby, the first non-Japanese ever to have trained as a geisha, offers an insider's look at the exclusive world of female companions to the Japanese male elite. A new preface examines how geisha have been profoundly affected by the changes of the past quarter century yet--especially in Kyoto--have managed to take advantage of modern developments to maintain their social position with flair.

After decades of domination on campus, college sports' supremacy has begun to weaken. "Enough, already!" detractors cry. College is about learning, not chasing a ball around to the whir of TV cameras.
In Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University James Duderstadt agrees, taking the view that the increased commercialization of intercollegiate athletics endangers our universities and their primary goal, academics. Calling it a "corrosive example of entertainment culture" during an interview with ESPN's Bob Ley, Duderstadt suggested that college basketball, for example, "imposes on the university an alien set of values, a culture that really is not conducive to the educational mission of university."
Duderstadt is part of a growing controversy. Recently, as reported in The New York Times, an alliance between university professors and college boards of trustees formed in reaction to the growth of college sports; it's the first organization with enough clout to challenge the culture of big-time university athletics.
This book is certainly part of that challenge, and is sure to influence this debate today and in the years to come.
James J. Duderstadt is President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering, University of Michigan.

Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820) was at the center of the post-Revolution discussion concerning the proper role of women in the new Republic. Her voice dominated American discussion of women's character and their future in both intimate and public life. Here, Sheila Skemp supports her biographical essay with 15 of Murray's letters, essays, and poems.

The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago--remote, tranquil, and now largely ignored. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, Run's harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and a small band of ragtag British adventurers led by the intrepid Nathaniel Courthope. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland, but in return was given another small island, Manhattan.

A brilliant adventure story of unthinkable hardship and savagery, the navigation of uncharted waters, and the exploitation of new worlds, Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a remarkable chapter in the history of the colonial powers.

"An exciting account of the dangerous voyages, bizarre transactions and desperate battles of the Spice Wars."--The Washington Post

"Fascinating . . . an epic tale, told superbly . . . There is plenty of gore, chance, and piracy to the story."--The Wall Street Journal

"A rousing historical romp. . . a tale of courage, treachery, endurance, cowardice, greed and derring-do."--The New York Times Book Review

History | Asia | Japan

Law | International Law | Legal Theory & Systems | Judicial Systems

In June 1988, Japan was rocked by a newspaper report alleging that Recruit Co. Ltd., a media conglomerate founded by Hiromasa Ezoe, had bribed the deputy Mayor of Kawasaki City. Thus began what became known as the Recruit Affair, a scandal that shook Japanese politics to the core, just at the height of the Bubble Economy, and brought down the ruling party and the Prime Minister. At the center of the storm was Ezoe, then the company's President. Ezoe was detained by the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office, and harshly interrogated. Fueled by the media and public outcry, the prosecutors pressured Ezoe into signing a confession. He was given a suspended sentence, and resigned from the business he had founded as a university student. In 2010, Hiromasa Ezoe published Where is the Justice? Media Attacks, Prosecutorial Abuse, and My 13 Years in Japanese Court, which told of his experiences during and after the Recruit Affair. Now, in Still Seeking the Justice, Ezoe turns his attention to the recent reforms implemented to Japan's judicial system, pointing to numerous problems with the new system. He addresses the fact that Japan's criminal conviction rate of 99.8% would be unimaginable in any other country. But that phenomenal success rate is the result of coercive interrogations away from public scrutiny. Also, as the Recruit case revealed, Japanese judicial decisions are heavily influenced by the content and tone of media reporting. And there are warranted concerns that the new lay judge system will only amplify such influence. Ezoe and his co-authors, the defense attorneys during his trial, deal with these issues, and offer insightful suggestions for bringing Japan's judicial system, belatedly, into the twenty-first century.

From the author of the #1 bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the continuing story of this determined humanitarian's efforts to promote peace through education

In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban. He shares for the first time his broader vision to promote peace through education and literacy, as well as touching on military matters, Islam, and women-all woven together with the many rich personal stories of the people who have been involved in this remarkable two-decade humanitarian effort.

Since the 2006 publication of Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson has traveled across the U.S. and the world to share his vision with hundreds of thousands of people. He has met with heads of state, top military officials, and leading politicians who all seek his advice and insight. The continued phenomenal success of Three Cups of Tea proves that there is an eager and committed audience for Mortenson's work and message.

A collection of annals written in Old English narrating the history of Anglo-Saxons.