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The Democratic Republic of Congo Betw...
Brief Summary
Over the past two decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been at the centre of the deadliest series of conflicts since the Second World War, and now hosts the largest United Nations peacekeeping mission in the world. In this compelling book, acclaimed journalist Michael Deibert paints a picture of a nation in flux, inching towards peace but at the same time solidifying into another era of authoritarian rule under its enigmatic president, Joseph Kabila.
Featuring a wealth of first-hand interviews and secondary sources, the narrative travels from war-torn villages in the country's east to the chaotic, pulsing capital of Kinshasa in order to bring us the voices of the Congolese - from impoverished gold prospectors and market women to government officials - as it explores the complicated political, ethnic and economic geography of this tattered land.
A must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Africa, The Democratic Republic of Congo: Between, Hope and Despair sheds new light on this sprawling and often misunderstood country that has become iconic both for its great potential and dashed hopes.
ISBN:9781780323459
Author:Michael Deibert
Black Gold The Dark History of Coffee
Brief Summary
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 societies 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 exposé, 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.
ISBN:9781841156569
Author:Antony Wild
The Fate of Africa A History of Fifty...
"The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically in the fifty years since the independence era began. As Europe's colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were launched amid much jubilation and to the world's applause.
African leaders stepped forward with energy and enthusiasm to tackle the problems of development and nation-building, boldly proclaiming their hopes of establishing new societies that might offer inspiration to the world at large. The circumstances seemed auspicious. Independence came in the midst of an economic boom.
On the world stage, African states excited the attention of the world's rival power blocs; in the Cold War era, the position that each newly independent state adopted in its relations with the West or the East was viewed as a matter of crucial importance. Africa was considered too valuable a prize to lose."
"Today, Africa is spoken of only in pessimistic terms. The sum of its misfortunes - its wars, its despotisms, its corruption, and its droughts - is truly daunting. No other area of the world arouses such a sense of foreboding. Few states have managed to escape the downward spiral: Botswana stands out as a unique example of an enduring multi-party democracy; South Africa, after narrowly avoiding revolution, has emerged in the post-apartheid era as a well-managed democratic state.
But most African countries are effectively bankrupt, prone to civil strife, subject to dictatorial rule, weighted down by debt, and heavily dependent on Western assistance for survival." "So what went wrong? What happened to this vast continent, so rich in resources, culture and history, to bring it so close to destitution and despair in the space of two generations?"
Focusing on the key personalities, events and themes of the independence era, Martin Meredith's narrative history seeks to explore and explain the myriad problems that Africa has faced in the past half-century, and faces still. The Fate of Africa is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how it came to this — and what, if anything, is to be done.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpa...
Brief Summary
More than 98 percent of human genes are shared with two species of chimpanzee. The 'third' chimpanzee is man.
Jared Diamond surveys out life-cycle, culture, sexuality and destructive urges both towards ourselves and the planet to explore the ways in which we are uniquely human yet still influenced by our animal origins.
ISBN:9780099913801
Author:Jared Diamond
The Third Chimpanzee
Brief Summary
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
The Development of an Extraordinary Species
We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet -- having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival.
What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins? In this fascinating, provocative, passionate, funny, endlessly entertaining work, renowned Pulitzer Prize?winning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world . . . and the means to irrevocably destroy it.
ISBN:9780060845506
Author:Jared Diamond
The Greatest Show on Earth The Eviden...
Brief Summary
Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity.
In The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of ‘Intelligent Design’ and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the ‘time clocks’ of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. All of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution.
The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America. In Britain and elsewhere in the world, teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.
ISBN:9780593061732
Author:Richard Dawkins
Good To Great In God’s Eyes
Brief Summary
Good to Great in God's Eyes: 10 Practices Great Christians Have in Common
Now poised to reach a new readership, Good to Great in God's Eyes shows how Christians can honor God with lives of great faith and excellent work. Believers become great in God's eyes by applying the ten common characteristics of great Christians:
• think great thoughts
• read great books
• pursue great people
• dream great dreams
• pray great prayers
• take great risks
• make great sacrifices
• enjoy great moments
• empower great people
• develop great habits
Using Scripture, personal stories, and examples from Christians who left a lasting legacy, bestselling author Chip Ingram offers practical steps for becoming great in all areas of life, in spiritual growth, family, relationships, and career. Includes a foreword by Bob Buford and helpful discussion questions to facilitate group or individual study.
ISBN:9780801012938
Author:Chip Ingram
McMafia Seriously Organised Crime
Brief Summary
Have you ever bought a pirate DVD? Taken drugs? Fallen for a phishing scam?
Organized crime is part of all our worlds - often without us even knowing. McMafia is a journey through the new world of international organized crime, from gunrunners in Ukraine to money launderers in Dubai, by way of drug syndicates in Canada and cyber criminals in Brazil.
During his investigation into the dark side Misha Glenny speaks to countless gangsters, policemen and victims of organized crime, and also explores the ferocious consumer demands for drugs, trafficked women, illegal labor and arms across five continents.
ISBN:9780099481256
Author:Misha Glenny
Parenting With Love And Logic
Brief Summary
This parenting book shows you how to raise self-confident, motivated children who are ready for the real world.
Learn how to parent effectively while teaching your children responsibility and growing their character.
Establish healthy control through easy-to-implement steps without anger, threats, nagging, or power struggles.
ISBN:9781576839546
Author:Foster Cline and Jim Fay
The Purity Principle God’s Safe...
Brief Summary
For thirty years Randy Alcorn has been encouraging people-young and old-to pursue the rewards of sexual purity. Too often we settle for a compromised Christianity that's just a baptized version of the world's sad existence, rather than the abundant life to which God calls us.
This book deals with - raising children to embrace sexual purity - providing an example of purity in the home - protecting purity in dating (at any age) - and maintaining purity in marriage. Biblical, practical, and concise, The Purity Principle is a one-stop handbook for individuals, families and churches.
Some people have given up on purity. Some have never tried. Bestselling author Randy Alcorn shows us why, in this culture of impurity, the stakes are so high—and what we can do to experience the freedom of purity. Impurity will always destroy us; purity always leads to higher pleasures! Choose wisely. Let the insights of this amazing book—written for old and young, married and single—help you gain your footing on the path to truly lasting joy.
ISBN:9781590521953
Author:Randy Alcorn
Anointed for Business
Brief Summary
Anointed for Business: How Christians Can Use Their Places of Influence to Make a Profound Impact on the World.
Most of the leaders of the early church were community leaders and successful business people.
Silvoso's inspiring book shows why it's time to break down the wall between labor and religious service and view labor as worship.
ISBN:9780830728619
Author:Ed Silvoso
African Traditional Religion and Chri...
Brief Summary
Why are African Christians often tempted to resort to animistic practices in times of crisis? What does the Christian counsellor need to know about the African worldview and the Bible in order to help the African Christian with his problems and temptations?
This booklet provides answers. It analyzes the African worldview, interprets it from a biblical perspective, and applies the insights to ministry.
ISBN:9781594520754
Author:Karl Grebe and Dr. Wilfred Fon
A Hunger For God
Brief Summary
There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: "This much, O God, I want you."
Our appetites dictate the direction of our lives--whether it be the cravings of our stomachs, the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longings of our spirits for God. But for the Christian, the hunger for anything besides God can be an arch-enemy. While our hunger for God--and Him alone is the only thing that will bring victory.
Do you have that hunger for Him? As John Piper puts it: "If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world.
Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great." If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God.
Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is this path of pleasant pain called fasting. It is the path John Piper invites you to travel in this book.
For when God is the supreme hunger of your heart, He will be supreme in everything. And when you are most satisfied in Him, He will be most glorified in you.
ISBN:9780891079668
Author:John Piper
Africa Study Bible NLT
Brief Summary
God’s Word through African Eyes.
The Africa Study Bible brings together 350 contributors from over 50 countries, providing a unique African perspective. It’s an all-in-one course in biblical content, theology, history, and culture, with special attention to the African context. Each feature was planned by African leaders to help readers grow strong in Jesus Christ by providing understanding and instruction on how to live a good and righteous life:
• Over 2400 notes explain the Bible, inspire readers to apply truth to everyday life, teach Christian values and doctrine, and more.
• "Touch points” and "Proverbs and Stories” give African perspective on the Bible and also show parallels with African wisdom.
• A narrative timeline highlights God’s work in Africa.
There are over 1.3 million African immigrants in the US and an additional half million African born people living in the UK.
ISBN:9781496424723
Author:Oasis International
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
ISBN:9780062498533
The Hot Zone The Chilling True Story ...
Brief Summary
In March 2014, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported. By October 2014, it had become the largest and deadliest occurrence of the disease.
Over 4,500 people have died. Almost 10,000 cases have been reported, across Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the United States.
Impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone is the terrifying, true-life account of when this highly infectious virus spread from the rainforests of Africa to the suburbs of Washington, D.C in 1989. A secret SWAT team of soldiers and scientists were quickly tasked with halting the outbreak. And they did. But now, that very same virus is back. And we could be just one wrong move away from a pandemic.
ISBN:9780552143035
Author:Richard Preston
This Blinding Absence of Light
Brief summary
An immediate and critically acclaimed bestseller in France, This Blinding Absence of Light is the latest work by internationally renowned author Tahar Ben Jelloun, the first North African winner of the Prix Goncourt and winner of the Prix Mahgreb.
Crafting real life events into narrative fiction, Ben Jelloun reveals the horrific story of the desert concentration camps in which King Hassan II of Morocco held his political enemies in underground cells with no light and only enough food and water to keep them lingering on the edge of death.
Working closely with one of the survivors, Ben Jelloun narrates the story in the simplest of language and delivers a shocking novel that explores both the limitlessness of inhumanity and the impossible endurance of the human will.
ISBN:9780143035725
Author:Tahar Ben Jelloun
Stars of the New Curfew
Brief summary
This collection of short stories is set in Nigeria and reflects the mad, exotic and often dangerous chaos which reigns there.
They include jumbled up voodoo stories, stories of shanty towns and of men from the villages seeking their fortunes in the streets and filthy gutters of the new towns.
ISBN:9780140116021
Author:Ben Okri
Songs of Enchantment
Brief summary
One great thought can change the dreams of the world. One great action, lived out all the way to the sea, can change the history of the world.
The adventures of Azaro, the spirit child, continue. From the bestselling author of The Famished Road comes this radiant sequel.
ISBN:9780385471572
Author:Ben Okri
Tattoos on the Heart The Power of Bou...
Brief summary
Father Gregory Boyle’s sparkling parables about kinship and the sacredness of life are drawn from twenty years working with gangs in LA.
How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life.
As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio.
Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JCPenney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From ten-year-old Lula we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Pedro we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the darkness.
In each chapter we benefit from Boyle’s wonderful, hard-earned wisdom. Inspired by faith but applicable to anyone trying to be good, these personal, unflinching stories are full of surprising revelations and observations of the community in which Boyle works and of the many lives he has helped save.
Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.
ISBN:9781439153024
Author:Gregory Boyle