Ancient Persia

Of all the great civilizations of the ancient world, that of Persia is one of the least understood. Josef Wiesehöfer's comprehensive survey of the Persian Empire under the Achaeminids, the Parthians, and the Sasanians focuses on the primary Persian sources--written, archaeological, and numismatic. He avoids the traditional Western approach which has tended to rely heavily on inaccurate Greek and Roman accounts. Part of the freshness of this book comes from its Near Eastern perspective.

PULSE by Julian Barnes

Pulse is a collection of 14 short stories by the masterly Julian Barnes, celebrating the human condition with skill, with and precision.

Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Harms the Planet and Threatens Our Lives

Although denialists, according to Specter, come from both ends of the political spectrum, they have one important trait in common: their willingness to replace the rigorous and open-minded skepticism of science with the inflexible certainty of ideological commitment. Specter analyzes the consequences of this inflexibility and draws some startling and uncomfortable conclusions for the health of both individuals and society.

Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Fail - and Why We Believe Them Anyway

In Future Babble, award-winning journalist Dan Gardner presents landmark research debunking the whole expert prediction industry and explores our obsession with the future. In 2008, as the price of oil surged above $140 a barrel, experts said it would soon hit $200; it then plunged to $30. In 1967, they said the USSR would be the world's fastest-growing economy by 2000; by 2000, the USSR no longer existed. In 1911, it was pronounced that there would be no more wars in Europe - we all know how that turned out.

The Future of Power: Its Changing Nature and Use in the Twenty-first Century

In the 16th century, control of colonies and gold bullion gave Spain the edge; 17th-century Netherlands profited from trade and finance; 18th-century France gained from its larger population, while 19th-century British power rested on its primacy in the Industrial Revolution and its navy. In the era of Kennedy and Khrushchev, power resources were measured in terms of nuclear missiles, industrial capacity, and numbers of men under arms and tanks lined up ready to cross the plains of Eastern Europe. But the global information age of the 21st century is quickly rendering these traditional markers of power obsolete, remapping power relationships.