From its earliest days, association football was seen not just as a contest between individuals and teams, but also between nations and peoples. The Irish national team was among the first in the world to participate in international competition in the early 1880s, but not everyone accepted it as a truly national entity. Sport in Ireland was disputed ground in a manner that was not the case elsewhere – even the term ‘football’ itself was a contested one. But soccer followers generally found no contradiction between their sporting and national loyalties, and the game found an important niche in Irish life, supported by many leading nationalists, from James Connolly to John Hume. This book provides a unique window into the history of Ireland and Britain, with keen insights into the making of national, regional, sectarian, class and gender identities that crystallised around Irish soccer. Taking the story from the 1870s up to the present, it examines the domestic as well the international game in Ireland, North and South, and sets both in a richly detailed historical and cultural context. It also examines the experience of Irish communities in England and Scotland, and the ways in which the game affected their relationship with their host societies. Carefully weaving together political, social, cultural and sporting history, No Foreign Game tells a story not just of division and conflict, but also one of solidarity and celebration, and in doing so it breaks new ground in the history of Irish sport.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Turn of the Key comes Ruth Ware’s The Lying Game. Isa Wilde knows something terrible has happened when she receives a text from an old friend. Why would Kate summon her and their two friends to the seaside town where they briefly attended the Salten House boarding school together seventeen years ago? The four friends had quickly bonded over the Lying Game—a risky contest that involved tricking fellow boarders and faculty with their lies. Now reunited, Isa, Kate, Thea, and Fatima discover that their past lies had far-reaching effects and criminal implications that threaten them all. In order to protect their reputations, and their friendship, they must uncover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. Atmospheric and twisty, with just the right amount of chill, The Lying Game will have readers at the edge of their seats, not knowing who can be trusted in this tangled web of lies.

I. Human Artifacts, Social ¡Dilemma and the International System -- 1. The International System as a Human Artifact -- 2. States and the International System as a Response to the Social Dilemma and as a Means of Exploitation and Oppression -- 3. Nature of International Actors, of International Aims and Issues -- II. International Political Systems -- 1. Basic Laws of the International Political System -- 2. The Multipolar International System -- 3. Balance of Power Systems -- 4. Factors Causing the Breakdown of Balance of Power Systems -- 5. Factors Causing the End of the European Balance of Power System -- 6. The Bilateral Power System (Bipolar System) -- 7. The Universal Empire -- III. Factors Determining the Power of States -- 1. Military Power -- 2. Geographical Situation, Size and Population -- 3. Education, Science, Economic and Technological Development -- 4. Social and Political Organization -- IV. Aims of International Politics -- 1. Limited Aims: The Nation State -- 2. Expansionist Aims: The Nation State and Economic Interests -- 3. Economic Relations between State and Non-State Actors -- 4. Holy and Unholy Imperialism -- 5. The Aims of Universal States -- V. The Means of Foreign Policy -- 1. Economic Pressure and Warfare -- 2. Infiltration, Internal Destruction and Terrorism -- 3. Ideology and Religion -- 4. Guerilla War -- 5. Diplomacy -- VI. Contradictions and Dilemmas of International Politics -- 1. The Armaments Race -- 2. The Preservation of Knowledge and the Continuity of Foreign Policy -- 3. The Dilemma between External and Internal Policies -- 4. International Disorder, International Law and Morality -- VII. The Present World System -- 1. The Bipolar Post-War System -- 2. Possible Future Developments of the Present International System -- 3. What Kind of World do we Want? -- 4. Can we Move Towards an Improbable Future?

By the author of Destiny Disrupted: an enlightening, accessible history of modern Afghanistan from the Afghan point of view, showing how Great Power conflicts have interrupted its ongoing, internal struggle to take form as a nation

“An exhilarating, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately unforgettable journey that lays bare the true human stakes of the world’s most popular game.”—Warren St. John, best-selling author of Outcasts United Searching for soccer’s next superstars, an audacious program called Football Dreams held tryouts for millions of 13-year-old boys across Africa. In The Away Game, Sebastian Abbot follows several of the boys as they chase their dreams in a dizzying world of rich Arab sheikhs, money-hungry agents, and soccer-mad European fans.