Social Sciences Books - Page 15

There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

Claire Berlinski

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> British -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> British -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Political

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline—ungovernable, an economic train wreck, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Three decades later, it is the richest and most influential country in Europe, and Margaret Thatcher is the reason. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, seized control of Britain’s Conservative party, and took a sledgehammer to the nation’s postwar socialist consensus. She proved that socialism could be reversed, inspiring a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously exploiting every politically useful aspect of her femininity and defying every conventional expectation of women in power, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public and without doubt caused immense collateral damage.

Ultimately, however, Claire Berlinski agrees with Thatcher: There was no alternative. Berlinski explains what Thatcher did, why it matters, and how she got away with it in this vivid and immensely readable portrait of one of the towering figures of the twentieth century.

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It

Paul Collier

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Development & Growth
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Economic Policy & Development
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> Policy & Current Events

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the universally acclaimed and award-winning The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier reveals that fifty failed states--home to the poorest one billion people on Earth--pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. The book shines much-needed light on this group of small nations, largely unnoticed by the industrialized West, that are dropping further and further behind the majority of the world's people, often falling into an absolute decline in living standards. A struggle rages within each of these nations between reformers and corrupt leaders--and the corrupt are winning. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that ensnare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work, he writes; aid is often ineffective, and globalization can actually make matters worse, driving development to more stable nations. What the bottom billion need, Collier argues, is a bold new plan supported by the Group of Eight industrialized nations. If failed states are ever to be helped, the G8 will have to adopt preferential trade policies, new laws against corruption, new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. Collier has spent a lifetime working to end global poverty. In The Bottom Billion, he offers real hope for solving one of the great humanitarian crises facing the world today.
"Terrifically readable."
--Time.com
"Set to become a classic. Crammed with statistical nuggets and common sense, his book should be compulsory reading."
--The Economist
"If Sachs seems too saintly and Easterly too cynical, then Collier is the authentic old Africa hand: he knows the terrain and has a keen ear.... If you've ever found yourself on one side or the other of those arguments--and who hasn't?--then you simply must read this book."
--Niall Ferguson, The New York Times Book Review
"Rich in both analysis and recommendations.... Read this book. You will learn much you do not know. It will also change the way you look at the tragedy of persistent poverty in a world of plenty."
--Financial Times

Yes We Can: A Biography of Barack Obama

Garen Thomas

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I loved reading this book with my 10-year-old son 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 20 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for one of my child therapy clients at work and we read it together. We couldn't put it down. I am speaking for the both of us when I say that the book "Yes We Can" was enlightening and inspiring. Not only did it do a great job of explaining the American political system to young readers, but it also detailed Barack Obama's life in a way that offers youth the inspiration to achieve great things in life.

Editorial Review:

In third grade, Barack Obama wrote an essay titled, “I Want to Become President”—and he is, to this day, determined to show the world that, yes, he can.

Born in the U.S.A., the son of an African father and an American mother, a boy who spent his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii, Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world. His campaign for the presidency is powered by a fierce optimism, an exuberant sense of purpose and determination, and, above all, a belief that change can happen.

Garen Thomas takes us through the life of Barack Obama, from his struggle to fit in with his classmates and concern about not knowing his biological father, through his term as Illinois senator, to his historic and momentum-building run for president of the United States.

Barack Obama is a man who uses his words to inspire us. We can have a better future. We can be whatever we want to be. Yes. We. Can.

1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)

Seymour Resnick

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Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> Spanish
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> Spanish
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 99 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Outstanding value 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Particularly useful for intermediate-level speakers of the Spanish language. This book very concisely presents a wealth of vocabulary and demonstrates the grammar of each palabra introduced. For a very small price, it represents a terrific value.

Why Is This Book Useful? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After learning German from scratch, I realized about eight months later that my unwieldy and large German-English dictionaries were a drag. They were slow and clunky. When I decided to learn Spanish, the first thought I had was to find the right reference book for starting out with the basic vocabulary. This book has the perfect form and function for the beginning student. When I'm doing exercises, I can find the word I need in this book without skipping a beat or losing my train of thought. Buy this book if you're looking for efficiency. It has, for the most part, all the vocabulary a beginning student needs without the clutter of word entries a student doesn't need. It's easy to work with because I know from the moment I need it whether it will have the word I need or not. It's a two dollar workhorse that's a pleasure to use.

Editorial Review:

Indispensable learning aid includes definitions of common Spanish words arranged by such categories as foods, numbers, days of the week, months, colors, seasons and family. At the book's heart is a dictionary, from a to zapato, where each word is used in a Spanish sentence (with English translation) demonstrating its proper use.

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? (Caldecott Honor Book)

Robin Page, Steve Jenkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Small wonder this book has received so much attention! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

One of the loveliest and most thought out books to hit children's bookshelves in years! The information is so interesting and presented together with such unusual paper art the book just captivates its reader. Ann Clarke, author of People Are So Different! based on tolerance and understanding.

What DO you do with a tail like this? 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A very beautifully illustrated smart book, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS helps kids think outside the box. My 3 year old daughter found it interesting the some creature have ears, mouth, etc. in other place then us humans. The book that starts with a question ends with wanting to ask more questions like the one my daughter asked, "Why do flies have 6 legs and spiders have 8?" I really couldn't answer why but I think this book helped her be more observant.

Interestingly beautiful illustrations help grab attention too, that was the reason I purchased this book in first place. The artist captures every necessary detail with his unique, almost surreal style which permeates throughout the book.

Editorial Review:

A nose for digging? Ears for seeing? Eyes that squirt blood? Explore the many amazing things animals can do with their ears, eyes, mouths, noses, feet, and tails in this beautifully illustrated interactive guessing book by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.

Capitalism and freedom

Milton Friedman

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Freedom & Security -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 124 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the classic bestseller, Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman presents his view of the proper role of competitive capitalism—the organization of economic activity through private enterprise operating in a free market—as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. Beginning with a discussion of principles of a liberal society, Friedman applies them to such constantly pressing problems as monetary policy, discrimination, education, income distribution, welfare, and poverty.

"Milton Friedman is one of the nation's outstanding economists, distinguished for remarkable analytical powers and technical virtuosity. He is unfailingly enlightening, independent, courageous, penetrating, and above all, stimulating."-Henry Hazlitt, Newsweek

"It is a rare professor who greatly alters the thinking of his professional colleagues. It's an even rarer one who helps transform the world. Friedman has done both."-Stephen Chapman, Chicago Tribune

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Anne Fadiman

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Asian -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 216 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionWhen three-month-old Lia Lee Arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos. The Hmong, traditionally a close-knit and fiercely people, have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia's pediatricians, Neil Ernst and his wife, Peggy Philip, cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee Entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.Parents and doctors both wanted the best for Lia, but their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment could hardly have been more different. The Hmong see illness aand healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, while medical community marks a division between body and soul, and concerns itself almost exclusively with the former. Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices.

Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years

Jim Fay, Charles Fay

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Women's Health -> Pregnancy & Childbirth -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Relationships -> General AAS
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 100 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

AWESOME 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great book lots of great advice!! things that I've actually put to use and to my great surprise it worked!! I do recommend this product!!

Great Parenting Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Teaches how to parent with love. Teaches how train your children to make decisions and build relationships that strengthen and not hinder.

Solid parenting advice...after you slog through the first 40 pages 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is sensible advice that has worked with my 27-month-old son. It reminds you to let your child make mistakes, let him make decisions, let him be responsible. Drawbacks: it tends to be repetitive (probably because the precepts are so simple, if they didn't repeat it they would only have five or six pages' worth...) and the authors cheer themselves on quite a bit. The first forty pages are dedicated to offering examples of just how great Love and Logic is and why you should use it, and had me doubting whether they were going to get around to sharing any valuable information.

The principles in this book are a good foundation for child training. It is an important part of our repertoire and is effective. I'm glad we read this book while our oldest child is still in toddlerhood. I recommend it to my friends.

Editorial Review:

Parenting little ones can be exhausting...until you discover Love and Logic. Take the exhaustion out and put the fun into parenting your little one. If you want help with: Potty training; Temper tantrums; Bedtime; Whining; time-out or hassle-free mornings and many other everyday challenges then this book is for you! The book is the tool parents of little ones have been waiting for. The authors help you to start your child off on the right foot. The tools in the book will give you the building blocks you need to create children who grow up to be responsible, successful teens and adults. And as a bonus you will enjoy every stage of your child's life and look forward to sharing a lifetime of joy with them.

The Federalist Papers (Signet Classics)

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, Clinton Rossiter

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General -> Classics

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another vote for must read 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The details have already been well covered so let me just add another five star vote for must read(or for many of us reread). Whatever your political views you simply cannot understand the basis of our countries principles without working through the Federalist Papers. Step away from the bloggers and bar stool pundits(same thing really-just different delivery) and do your own homework on the founding of this great country. I am not a flag waving, rah, rah patriot type but it is hard to come away from a reading of the Federalist papers without a profound respect, admiration and in my case awe of the principles which form our government.

Lastly, this is a review of the Signet series which is very good but frankly I suggest not spending too much time worrying about which edition, publisher etc. The main point is to get a copy and start studying.

Editorial Review:

The documents thatshaped a nation.

Three of the founding fathers brilliantly defend their revolutionary charter: the Constitution of the United States, a milestone in political science and a classic of American history.

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

Scott McClellan

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> People, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Bush, George
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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 202 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.