Its power, however, has been diminishing since it reached a historically unprecedented peak in 1945. It still largely sets the terms for global discourse, ranging from such concerns as Israel-Palestine, Iran, Latin America, the “war on terror,” international economic organization, rights and justice, and others like them to the ultimate issues of survival of civilization (nuclear war and environmental destruction). But it is not hard to recognize the sharp differences in ability to shape world affairs, and to identify the more prominent and influential actors.Īmong states, since the end of World War II the United States has been by far the first among unequals, and remains so. The world is too varied, too complex, for that to be possible. The question raised by the title of this book cannot have a simple and definite answer.
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Well-developed characters round out the story, including old favorites from Starflight in addition to some new faces. The story balances the romance with action and some political commentary on what the best form of government for Cassia’s home planet would be. Though some of the plot does take place in the cramped confines of the ship, Landers ensures the characters see a lot of action racing from planet to planet as they deal with soldiers, pirates, and the mafia. Their relationship is full of banter and teasing but also tension, as Cassia must decide whether she wants to stay with Kane and the life she has built as a crewmember of a spaceship or whether she wants to go home to the planet she ran from and reclaim her role as a princess. As a companion to Starflight, Starfall picks up the story right where it ended but switches the points of view from Solara and Doran to Cassia and Kane. Or injury, this tall mark of havoc – a pillar of fire. It appeared without warning like an angel In it, the exclamation mark is an event in and of itself, silently signifying shock. The opening poem, titled an artist-formerly-known-as-Prince-like unvoiceable ‘!’, flits between two dimensions – the 2D and the three-dimensional. We are, of course, not dealing just with ‘space’ as the extra-terrestrial here these poems are very much rooted in the domestic, too, in living- as much as outer-space. The book is divided into four sections – Flying Machines, Navigating a Space, The Space Age and Living Space. This is a work from which to gain strength, rather than by which to feel depleted. Moreover, it has the definite feel of a collection the poems share resonance, and McCullough’s interest in etymology, memory and gaps filter through the pages, gathering their resources even as they promote melancholy. This is a work of quiet song, one whose affecting tenor insinuates into cracks in the reader’s mind. Spacecraft is John McCullough’s second collection, following his lauded The Frost Fairs in 2012. We meet several people especially early on who are given a rich background of how they’ve come to be in their current situation, some make it and some don’t making every chapter exciting reading. The best thing Herbert does in this book is giving every character a background even ones that don’t stick around that long, he writes to make us understand the feelings and type of person each character is even if their purpose is to only see out one chapter. Little does he realise he’ll soon be plonked right into the middle of the battle against the giant rats, I always enjoy a story with an unlikely hero, a normal bloke come good and Harris more than fits that description. Herbert does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters very quickly especially the main character Harris, a teacher who first hears about rats attacking people from one of his pupils and then in the news. This book clocks in at a very low 187 pages but don’t let that put you off it’s crammed with great and horrible scenes. A few days ago I saw loads of James Herbert books there I decided to buy them, for the three Rats books it was £2.50p well worth a buy. There’s a second hand shop in the town I live in which is made up of small units and people chuck their stuff into the unit and you can pick up and buy anything at the main till. I’d heard of James Herbert and I’d also heard that The Rats was a pretty damn good read. I must admit I’ve not read that many horror books, I mostly stick to fantasy and autobiography books. The book’s characterisation of how the immune system wards off external and internal threats is very detailed. The book is also a graphic representation of the intricate signals and pathways that drive the critical activities of what is indeed an elegant defense (pages 6, 9, 43, 47, 71, 135 -139 and 153). The book also conveyed the sense of the improbable task the immune system accomplishes in maintaining a delicate balance between ‘what to attack and what to leave alone’, and in restraining itself from overreacting to the invading pathogens he referred to as ‘ brutal festival crashers‘. The book painted a picture of an elegant system which is ‘precisely and delicately tailored‘ to maintain a state of harmony, and which operates efficiently to detect and disable all levels of threats. Describing it as ‘one of the world’s most complex systems’, the author underscored its importance when he portrayed it as ‘the glue that defines the whole of human health and wellness‘. The subject of this book is the exquisite immune system and the constellation of disorders that manifest when it fails. Dolphin later befriends Oliver, a shy and studious boy who spends the lunch period in the library to avoid being teased. Star appears to be more popular, and Dolphin dislikes the fact that Star has an older boyfriend. Dolphin feels like an outsider at school she is bullied by some classmates and feels her teacher is unkind to her. Dolphin loves Marigold and thinks she is wonderful and unique, while Star is embarrassed by Marigold's tattoos and erratic behaviour. Marigold, an avid lover of tattoos, suffers from bipolar disorder and also has a drinking problem. Set in London, the first person narrative by a young girl, Dolphin, features her manic depressive mother Marigold, nicknamed "the illustrated mum" because of her many tattoos.ĭolphin and her older sister, Star, live with their mother, Marigold, in a small London flat. The Illustrated Mum is a children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson, first published by Transworld in 1999 with drawings by Nick Sharratt. The Illustrated Mum is a book written by Jacqueline Wil The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. But that didn't mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6'4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me.Aaron Blackford. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.Four weeks wasn't a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic-from NYC and all the way to Spain-for a wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.That would certainly be tomorrow's headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister's wedding. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.Catalina Martín, finally, not single. They also killed thousands of “sooths” – soothsayers whom the previous emperors relied on to tell the future, who can also do magic and whose blood burns blue on exposure to air. They freed slaves and serfs, instituted gender equality, and tried to build a more just and equitable landscape. Two of them (known to history as One and Two of the Eleven) were the first rulers of the empire’s new age. Centuries ago, a band of 11 heroes overthrew the last of the so-called relic emperors. (I’m almost certainly missing references and resonances that would make the reading experience even deeper, simply due to my lack of familiarity with parts of the well from which He’s drawing.) It’s a lush, deeply realised world, full of laws and ministries and red-light districts, scents and textures and presences, histories and legacies. Descendent of the Crane sets itself in a world deeply influenced by Chinese history and culture. I more than liked Joan He’s debut fantasy. And even if she can save her dad, Mup’s not sure if anything will ever be the same again. In a world of rhyming crows, talking cats, and golden forests, it’s all Mup can do to keep her wits about her. But everything is odd in the strange, glittering Witches Borough, even Mam. When witches carry off her dad, Mup and her mam leave the mundane world to rescue him. Pale, cold, and relentless, the witches will do anything for the tyrannical queen who has outlawed most magic and enforces her laws with terror and cruelty - and who happens to be Mup’s grandmother. On the night that Aunty dies, the raggedy witches come for Mup’s family. Can she reunite her family and find her way back? When witches kidnap her dad, Mup is swept up in a wild tide of magic that carries her to another world. Numerous analysts considered Machiavelli one of the first political theorists and philosophers to divorce politics from ethics. Machiavelli became controversial because of his departure from the norms. These ends or goals and objectives revolve around a ruler surviving in the harsh political realities while attaining and maintaining glory. The overarching theme of “The Prince” centers on the use of all means regardless if it is moral or immoral to achieve specific ends. Exploring and Understanding the Different Interpretations of “The Prince” Political Realism and Practical Teachings for Navigating Through and Surviving Real-World Politics: The End Justifies the Means Others have examined it from the perspective of Machiavelli as an ardent republican. There are those who have scrutinized it in consideration of specific contexts. Some have read and understood it at face value. However, “The Prince” has become a contentious work of literature due to its varied and often conflicting interpretations. The treatise also became the foundation of the Machiavellian brand of leadership and even the Machiavellian personality trait. Furthermore, it has undergone numerous analyses and interpretations, some of which became the basis of Machiavellianism. It has become one of the most popular manuscripts in political science and leadership theories. The treatise eventually served another purpose, and that is to immortalize Machiavelli. |