This New York Times bestseller is the hilarious philosophy course everyone wishes they d had in school Outrageously funny, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . . has been a breakout bestseller ever since authors and born vaudevillians Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein did their schtick on NPR s Weekend Edition . Lively, original, and powerfully informative, Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar . . . is a not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical thinkers and traditions, from Existentialism ( What do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common? ) to Logic ( Sherlock Holmes never deduced anything ). Philosophy 101 for those who like to take the heavy stuff lightly, this is a joy to read and finally, it all makes sense! Watch a QuickTime trailer for this book. ,

北京遇上西雅图 不二情书 里面的传情书籍！ 看完电影后，偷偷送他/她一本，让你示爱的方式也诗情画意起来！ 全球爱书人之间的一个暗号 被称为 爱书人的圣经 《北京遇上西雅图之不二情书》电影原形 世界那么大，遇到你好难 在这个浮躁的时代，别说有人给你写信了 连好好听你说说心里话都难 总跟人保持着安全距离 把自己活成了仙人掌 扎伤了别人，其实自己更疼 当文学邂逅电影，诗意浪漫至极。 你想看的是爱情 它却还给了你整个人生 查令十字街 ，是伦敦无与伦比的旧书店一条街，是全世界爱书人的圣地； 查令十字街84号 ，是一本小书，是一叠悠悠20载的书信集。那书信的

Remote, forbidding, and volatile, the Caspian Sea longtantalized the world with its vast oil reserves. But outsiders,blocked by the closed Soviet system, couldn't get to it. Then theSoviet Union collapsed, and a wholesale rush into the regionerupted. Along with oilmen, representatives of the world's leadingnations flocked to the Caspian for a share of the thirty billionbarrels of proven oil reserves at stake, and a tense geopoliticalstruggle began. The main players were Moscow and Washington-theformer seeking to retain control of its satellite states, and thelatter intent on dislodging Russia to the benefit of theWest. The Oil and the Glory is the gripping account of this latestphase in the epochal struggle for control of the earth's "blackgold." Steve LeVine, who was based in the region for The WallStreet Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek, weaves anastonishing tale of high-stakes political gamesmanship, greed, andscandal, set in one of the most opaque corners of the world. InLeVine's tel

The Politics of Upheaval, 1935-1936, volume three of PulitzerPrize-winning historian and biographer Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr."sAge of Roosevelt series, concentrates on the turbulent concludingyears of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. A measure of economicrecovery revived political conflict and emboldened FDR's critics todenounce "that man in the White house." To his left were demagoguesHuey Long, Father Coughlin, and Dr. Townsend. To his right were thechampions of the old order ex-president Herbert Hoover, theAmerican Liberty League, and the august Supreme Court. For a time,the New Deal seemed to lose its momentum. But in 1935 FDR ralliedand produced a legislative record even more impressive than theHundred Days of 1933 a set of statutes that transformed the socialand economic landscape of American life. In 1936 FDR coasted toreelection on a landslide. Schlesinger has his usual touch withcolorful personalities and draws a warmly sympathetic portrait ofAlf M. Landon, the Republican candidate of 1936.

This definitive edition of the original "Robert's" presentsrules of order, motions, debate, conduct of business, andadjournment. All problems of conducting a successful meetingsmoothly and fairly are resolved.

Spy tells, for the first time, the full, authoritative storyof how FBI agent Robert Hanssen, code name grayday, spied forRussia for twenty-two years in what has been called the “worstintelligence disaster in U.S. history”–and how he was finallycaught in an incredible gambit by U.S. intelligence. David Wise, the nation’s leading espionage writer, has called onhis unique knowledge and unrivaled intelligence sources to writethe definitive, inside story of how Robert Hanssen betrayed hiscountry, and why. Spy at last reveals the mind and motives of a man who was awalking paradox: FBI counterspy, KGB mole, devout Catholic,obsessed pornographer who secretly televised himself and his wifehaving sex so that his best friend could watch, defender of familyvalues, fantasy James Bond who took a stripper to Hong Kong andcarried a machine gun in his car trunk. Brimming with startling new details sure to make headlines, Spydiscloses: -the previously untold story of how the FBI got the a

Now the inspiration for the CBS Television drama, "TheUnit." Delta Force. They are the U.S. Army's most elite top-secretstrike force. They dominate the modern battlefield, but you won'thear about their heroics on CNN. No headlines can reveal theirtop-secret missions, and no book has ever taken readersinside—until now. Here, a founding member of Delta Force takes usbehind the veil of secrecy and into the action-to reveal thenever-before-told story of 1st Special Forces OperationalDetachment-D (Delta Force). Inside Delta Forece The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit He is a master of espionage, trained to take on hijackers,terrorists, hostage takers, and enemy armies. He can deploy byparachute or arrive by commercial aircraft. Survive alone inhostile cities. Speak foreign languages fluently. Strike at enemytargets with stunning swiftness and extraordinary teamwork. He isthe ultimate modern warrior: the Delta Force Operator. In this dramatic behind-the-scenes ch

In this riveting collection, published for the first time,we follow Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, two giants of thepost–World War II period, as they move from an officialrelationship to one of candor, humor, and personal expression.Together they were primarily responsible for the Marshall Plan andNATO, among other world-shaping initiatives. And in these letters,spanning the years from when both were newly out of office untilAcheson’s death at the age of seventy-eight, we find them sharingthe often surprising and always illuminating opinions, ideas, andfeelings that the strictures of their offices had previously keptthem from revealing. Adapting easily to their private lives, they nonetheless felt apowerful need to keep in touch as they viewed with dismay what theyconsidered to be the Eisenhower administration’s fumbling offoreign affairs, the impact of Joseph McCarthy, John FosterDulles’s foreign policy, and the threat of massive nuclearretaliation. Adlai Stevenson’s poor campaign o

Reagan’s War is the story of Ronald Reagan’s personaland political journey as an anti-communist, from his early days asan actor to his years in the White House. Challenging popularmisconceptions of Reagan as an empty suit who played only a passiverole in the demise of the Soviet Union, Peter Schweizer detailsReagan’s decades-long battle against communism. Bringing to light previously secret information obtained fromarchives in the United States, Germany, Poland, Hungary, andRussia—including Reagan’s KGB file—Schweizer offers a compellingcase that Reagan personally mapped out and directed his war againstcommunism, often disagreeing with experts and advisers. Anessential book for understanding the Cold War, Reagan’s War should be read by open-minded readers across the politicalspectrum.

The series of essays that comprise The Federalist constitutes one of the key texts of the American Revolution and thedemocratic system created in the wake of independence. Written in1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay topromote the ratification of the proposed Constitution, these papersstand as perhaps the most eloquent testimonial to democracy thatexists. They describe the ideas behind the American system ofgovernment: the separation of powers; the organization of Congress;the respective positions of the executive, legislative, andjudiciary; and much more. The Federalist remains essentialreading for anyone interested in politics and government, andindeed for anyone seeking a foundational statement about democracyand America. This new edition of The Federalist is edited by Robert Scigliano, aprofessor in the political science department at Boston College.His substantive Introduction sheds clarifying new light on thehistorical context and meaning of The Federalist . Scig

The former president's personal tale of political intrigue andsocial conflict during his first campaign for public office.Iluminates the origins of his commitment to human rights and bearsfurther witness to the accomplishments of an extraordinary man.

In the era of Kennedy and Khrushchev, power was expressed interms of nuclear missiles, industrial capacity, numbers of menunder arms, and tanks lined up ready to cross the plains of EasternEurope. By 2010, none of these factors confer power in the sameway: industrial capacity seems an almost Victorian virtue, andcyber threats are wielded by non-state actors. Politics changed,and the nature of power—defined as the ability to affect others toobtain the outcomes you want—had changed dramatically. Power is notstatic; its story is of shifts and innovations, technologies andrelationships. Joseph Nye is a long-time analyst of power and a hands-onpractitioner in government. Many of his ideas have been at theheart of recent debates over the role America should play in theworld: his concept of "soft power" has been adopted by leaders fromBritain to China; "smart power” has been adopted as thebumper-sticker for the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. Thisbook is the summation of his work, as relevant to gene

In retrospect, writes David Halberstam, "the pace of thefifties seemed slower, almost languid. Social ferment, however, wasbeginning just beneath this placid surface." He shows how theUnited States began to emerge from the long shadow of FDR's 12-yearpresidency, with the military-industrial complex and the Beatmovement simultaneously growing strong. Television brought not onlysituation comedies but controversial congressional hearings intomillions of living rooms. While Alfred Kinsey was studying people'ssex lives, Gregory Pincus and other researchers began work on apill that would forever alter the course of American reproductivepractices. Halberstam takes on these social upheavals and more,charting a course that is as easy to navigate as it iswide-ranging.

Neglected by scholars and journalists alike, the years ofconflict in Vietnam from 1968 to 1975 offer surprises not onlyabout how the war was fought, but about what was achieved. Drawingfrom thousands of hours of previously unavailable (and stillclassified) tape-recorded meetings between the highest levels ofthe American military command in Vietnam, A Better War is aninsightful, factual, and superbly documented history of these finalyears. Through his exclusive access to authoritative materials,award-winning historian Lewis Sorley highlights the dramaticdifferences in conception, conduct, and-at least for a time-resultsbetween the early and later years of the war. Among his mostimportant findings is that while the war was being lost at thepeace table and in the U.S. Congress, the soldiers were winning onthe ground. Meticulously researched and movingly told, A Better Warsheds new light on the Vietnam War.

In his inspiring new book, You Don’t Need a Title to Be aLeader , Mark Sanborn, the author of the national bestseller The Fred Factor , shows how each of us can be a leader in ourdaily lives and make a positive difference, whatever our title orposition. Through the stories of a number of unsung heroes, Sanbornreveals the keys each one of us can use to improve ourorganizations and enhance our careers. Genuine leadership – leadership with a “little l ”, as heputs it, is not conferred by a title, or limited to the executivesuite. Rather, it is shown through our everyday actions and the waywe influence the lives of those around us. Among the qualities thatgenuine leaders share: ? Acting with purpose rather than getting bogged down by mindlessactivity ? Caring about and listening to others ? Looking for ways to encourage the contributions and developmentof others rather than focusing solely on personalachievements ? Creating a legacy of accomplishment and contribution ineverything they do As reade

Why do the poor borrow to save? Why do they miss out on freelife-saving immunizations, but pay for unnecessary drugs? In "PoorEconomics," Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two practicalvisionaries working toward ending world poverty, answer thesequestions from the ground. In a book the "Wall Street Journal"called "marvelous, rewarding," the authors tell how the stress ofliving on less than 99 cents per day encourages the poor to makequestionable decisions that feed--not fight--poverty. The result isa radical rethinking of the economics of poverty that offers aringside view of the lives of the world's poorest, and shows thatcreating a world without poverty begins with understanding thedaily decisions facing the poor.