A classic book on the history of the USA's involvement with Afghanistan

A concise examination of the Middle East conflict surrounding Jerusalem provides historical information while considering Jewish and Arab claims to the city, the political significance of the conflict, and the prospects for both war and peace. Original.

Of the intellectual underpinnings of the more radical elements of contemporary Islam.

There are few more compelling and more tragic issues in the world today than the bitter struggle between Palestinians and Israelis. Their tiny patch of land, desperately crowded and with few resources, has been a focus for so many years of rival claims and counter-claims that it has become almost impossible to make sense of the daily reporting. The best guide to the region is Anton La Guardia�s highly acclaimed Holy Land, Unholy War. More than any other book, Holy Land, Unholy War disentangles myths and realities and gives a brilliantly clear and thoughtful picture of an unhappy place. This new edition is fully revised and updated to late 2006.

An insurgency in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has left thousands dead, shaken Africa's biggest country and worried the world. Yet it remains a mysterious – almost unknowable – organisation. ̃ rough exhaustive on-the-ground reporting, Mike Smith takes readers inside the con° ict and provides the ÿ rst in-depth account of the violence and unrest. He traces Boko Haram from its beginnings as a small Islamist sect in Nigeria's remote north-east, led by a baby-faced but charismatic preacher, to its transformation into a hydra-headed entity, deploying suicide bombers and abducting schoolgirls.Much of the book is told through the eyes of Nigerians who have found themselves caught between frightening insurgents and security forces accused of horrifying brutality. It includes the voices of a forgotten police o? cer left paralysed by an attack, women whose husbands have been murdered and a sword-wielding vigilante using charms to fend o? insurgent bullets. It journeys through the sleaze and corruption that has robbed Africa's biggest oil producer of its potential, making it such fertile ground for extremism. Along the way it questions whether there can be any end to the violence and the ways in which this might be achieved. Interspersed with history, this book delves into the roots of this unholy war being waged by a virtually unknown organisation, which is set to shape the destiny of Africa's biggest economy and most populous state – and perhaps aff ect the future of Africa.

Sectarian disturbances have been a constant feature of Belfast's history, but probably the most concentrated outburst of violence occurred in the 1920s. Explanations of the conflict centre on its alleged 'pogrom' nature & the suggestion of state collusion in several atrocities. This text challenges these views.

In war, nothing is holy. Emperor Constant's crusade is teetering on the edge of disaster. In the wake of a devastating battle, everything has changed: the East is rising, bringing equal measures of hope and despair to Urte. For Elena and Kazim, the victory is a call to arms against the renegade spymaster Gurvon Gyle. For the Queen of Javon, it is a beacon as she seeks new ways to overthrow her usurper husband and reclaim the country for her brother. For Ramon, trapped behind enemy lines, it is one more obstacle in his desperate attempt to get his men safely home. And while the armies of East and West clash in ever-more-bloody conflict, emperors, inquisitors and assassins hunt the Scytale of Corineus, the key to ultimate power, which is in the hands of the most unlikely guardians: failed mage Alaron and market-girl Ramita, pregnant widow of the world's greatest mage. What they choose to do with the Scytale could change Urte forever. The third in David Hair's epic Moontide Quartet, perfect for fans of Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan.