Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he has held important government positions and participated in crucial national decisions and events. In this book, the former Minister of Defense and Finance draws on his unique personal experience, extensive relationships with members of the main political groups and parties in Iraq, and deep understanding of the history and society of his country to answer the baffling questions that persist about its current crises. What really led the United States to invade Iraq, and why have events failed to unfold as planned? The Occupation of Iraq examines what the United States did and didn't know at the time of the invasion, the reasons for the confused and contradictory policies that were enacted, and the emergence of the Iraqi political class during the difficult transition process. The book tracks the growth of the insurgency and illuminates the complex relationships among Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. Bringing the discussion forward to the reconfiguration of political forces in 2006, Allawi provides in these pages the clearest view to date of the modern history of Iraq and the invasion that changed its course in unpredicted ways.

A fresh as a daisy coming-of-age story for the pre-teen set, one of Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary’s beloved classics. Barbara can hardly believe her older sister is getting married. With all the excitement of wedding plans going on, Barbara can't help dreaming of the day she will be the bride. She can't wait to fall in love. But as the big day gets closer, wedding planning often turns into family arguments. Even the bride and groom are bickering over details, and Barbara's fun-loving sister is turning into a very practical, grown-up person. Weddings are fun, but all this serious stuff is scary enough to make Barbara think she's not going to be rushing into a serious romance any time soon.

The history of the Hanford Engineering Works, a site in eastern Washington that produced and separated plutonium for the Manhattan Project.

"Not only is Andrée Putman a wizard of design; she is also a muse that inspires timelessness." Jack Lang, former French Minister of Culture. Andrée Putman was first cut above the rest when, twenty years ago, she conceived the first boutique hotel, the Morgan. She was also the one to open a new path for modern design, reinstating the importance of such major designers as Eileen Gray, Robert Mallet Stevens, Mariano Fortuny, and Jean-Michel Frank, among informed professionals. Since then, Putman's eclecticism has led her to embrace projects as diverse as the Guggenheim Museum, the Azzedine Alaia boutique and Peter Greenaway movie sets. Today, the designer's elegant and bold style is known throughout the world, from Los Angeles to Shanghai, a city where she created numerous projects. Andrée Putman Style is a journey into the world of an uncommon designer, one which acquaints the reader with the influences and taste that inspired this amazing woman.

These exquisite mini essays reflect on the natural landscape, the changing seasons, village life, art, poetry, the stories that ancient churches tell, the Christian year. They refresh ones vision of ones own daily routine and surroundings and can be read over and over again, like poetry.

The shape-shifting poetry of Ovid's Metamorphoses has fascinated writers and artists from Shakespeare to Ted Hughes, Rembrandt to Picasso. Its eternal freshness is haunted by an ancient idea: that a person's true nature is revealed when their physical shape is changed- the wolf-like man becomes a wolf, the obsessive spinner a spider.For this dazzling collection Philip Terry asked leading writers to take Ovid as a starting point and set their invention free. The results are startling, from Apollo and Phaeton transposed to a Dutch classroom to Diana and Actaeon in the rain of Nova Scotia. We find fables, grotesques and white-coated scientists; sports-cars, swans and shells; and even Ovid himself, high-spirited and unrepentant, speaking to us from beyond the grave.Challenging the very shape of the modern short story, Ovid Metamorphosed is a kaleidoscope of delights, scary, sexy, suggestive and profoundly entertaining.