Political genius is never without controversy, or without mystery. This is what makes it so interesting and so rare. Is Lee Kuan Yew the feral, authoritarian figure that Western critics claim? Or a stoic pioneer in new approaches to developing a nation—uncorrupt, modern, almost scientific? American journalist Tom Plate first interviewed the founder of modern Singapore in 1996 in a continuing back-and-forth with LKY that led to the summer of 2009, when the former prime minister agreed to sit down for two days of unprecedentedly informal but intense conversations that led to this special book.This new edition includes fascinating excerpts from prior interviews, as well as the author’s assessment of the man who goes down in history as the world’s longest-serving prime minister—and as one of the most unforgettable political figures of modern times. “You have done a superb job of capturing the many facets of this extraordinary man...." - Dr Henry A. Kissinger on Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.

Lee Kuan Yew was no one's fool and handled know-it-all Western journalists well when he cared to deal with them at all.

Going home is an iconic theme of literature and music that touches everyone’s heart. Bur rarely has that journey looked more like an impossible dream than for Thaksin Shinawatra, the much loved and much hated former prime minister of Thailand. Expelled from the former Siam by a military coup in 2006, the cell-phone billionaire retreated to a dacha in Dubai to bide his time and plot his triumphant return.While in exile in Dubai, Thaksin tells his tale of triumph and betrayal to American journalist Tom Plate as well as his personal thoughts about poverty reduction, power politics, the future of democracy in Asia — and why he prefers to lose at golf. In this volume, Plate masterfully dissects the mogul who ran his country like a CEO until the tanks came to show who was boss.

A stunning political and personal portrait of one of the world's leading political figures.

Building on the author’s 2012 book, Lee Kuan Yew’s Strategic Thought, this new book presents a comprehensive overview of Lee Kuan Yew’s strategic thought over the course of his entire life. It analyses the factors underlying Lee Kuan Yew’s thinking, discusses his own writings and speeches, and shows how his thinking on foreign policy, security and international relations evolved. It also appraises writing about Lee Kuan Yew and memorialisation of him, assessing how views of his legacy have changed and continue to change.

He began his professional career as a family physician but wound up prescribing innovative political medicines for the entire nation that remain controversial even today. Was he exactly the bold and fearless policy doctor that the troubled body politic of Malaysia needed? Or was he just another mendacious mediocrity with a record of persistent misdiagnoses, phony remedies and self-serving justifications? Only history’s judgment can offer the final verdict but Dr Mahathir himself is in no doubt. In a riveting series of unprecedented conversations, Malaysia’s most famous former prime minister reveals to American journalist and author Tom Plate a panoramic panoply of views on governing, on Islam, on Jews, on the West and on Malays that are striking in historical sweep and contemporary relevance.

Only eight people have been privileged to hold the job of Secretary General since the United Nations’ founding in 1945. And only one of them has ever told the inside story of the UN while still holding that special office. That man is Ban Ki-moon, the veteran diplomat and former star foreign minister of South Korea now in his second term as “SG”. Because he understands that the UN is in crisis – and because he fears the reasons for this are not widely understood – he believes it is time to unveil the truth about the organization and explain why its failure would be a catastrophe. The result, via unprecedented conversations with American journalist Tom Plate, is a deeply revealing book about the kinds of issues and challenges whose resolutions (or lack thereof) will in fact determine the future of the world.