Sciences humaines & sociales
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B>#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER /b> b>In Sapiens, he explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked to our future. Now, one of the most innovative thinkers on the planet turns to the present to make sense of todays most pressing issues./b>br>br>b>Fascinating . . . a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the twenty-first century.--Bill Gates, The New York Times Book Review/b>br>br>b>NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FINANCIAL TIMES AND b>PAMELA PAUL, KQED/b> /b>br>br> How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human? How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? Are nations and religions still relevant? What should we teach our children? br>br>Yuval Noah Hararis 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into todays most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.br>br> In twenty-one accessible chapters that are both provocative and profound, Harari builds on the ideas explored in his previous books, untangling political, technological, social, and existential issues and offering advice on how to prepare for a very different future from the world we now live in: How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? How should we deal with the threat of terrorism? Why is liberal democracy in crisis?br>br> Hararis unique ability to make sense of where we have come from and where we are going has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. Here he invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world full of noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged with irrelevant information, clarity is power. Presenting complex contemporary challenges clearly and accessibly, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is essential reading.br>b>br>If there were such a thing as a required instruction manual for politicians and thought leaders, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Hararis 21 Lessons for the 21st Century would deserve serious consideration. In this collection of provocative essays, Harari . . . tackles a daunting array of issues, endeavoring to answer a persistent question: What is happening in the world today, and what is the deep meaning of these events?--BookPage (top pick)/b>
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NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A bold work from the author of The Black Swan that challenges many of our long-held beliefs about risk and reward, politics and religion, finance and personal responsibility In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept ones own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life. As always both accessible and iconoclastic, Taleb challenges long-held beliefs about the values of those who spearhead military interventions, make financial investments, and propagate religious faiths. Among his insights: For social justice, focus on symmetry and risk sharing. You cannot make profits and transfer the risks to others, as bankers and large corporations do. You cannot get rich without owning your own risk and paying for your own losses. Forcing skin in the game corrects this asymmetry better than thousands of laws and regulations. Ethical rules arent universal. Youre part of a group larger than you, but its still smaller than humanity in general. Minorities, not majorities, run the world. The world is not run by consensus but by stubborn minorities imposing their tastes and ethics on others. You can be an intellectual yet still be an idiot. Educated philistines have been wrong on everything from Stalinism to Iraq to low-carb diets. Beware of complicated solutions (that someone was paid to find). A simple barbell can build muscle better than expensive new machines. True religion is commitment, not just faith. How much you believe in something is manifested only by what youre willing to risk for it. The phrase skin in the game is one we have often heard but rarely stopped to truly dissect. It is the backbone of risk management, but its also an astonishingly rich worldview that, as Taleb shows in this book, applies to all aspects of our lives. As Taleb says, The symmetry of skin in the game is a simple rule thats necessary for fairness and justice, and the ultimate BS-buster, and Never trust anyone who doesnt have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit, and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them.
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A brilliant book, wise and nuanced. -- Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely. -- New York Times Book Review Cool and persuasive... How Democracies Die comes at exactly the right moment. -- The Washington Post Donald Trumps presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought wed be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one. Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved.
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SKIN IN THE GAME - HIDDEN ASYMMETRIES IN DAILY LIFE
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Random house usa
- 7 Janvier 2020
- 9780425284643
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A bold work from the author of The Black Swan that challenges many of our long-held beliefs about risk and reward, politics and religion, finance and personal responsibility In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept ones own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life. As always both accessible and iconoclastic, Taleb challenges long-held beliefs about the values of those who spearhead military interventions, make financial investments, and propagate religious faiths. Among his insights: For social justice, focus on symmetry and risk sharing. You cannot make profits and transfer the risks to others, as bankers and large corporations do. You cannot get rich without owning your own risk and paying for your own losses. Forcing skin in the game corrects this asymmetry better than thousands of laws and regulations. Ethical rules arent universal. Youre part of a group larger than you, but its still smaller than humanity in general. Minorities, not majorities, run the world. The world is not run by consensus but by stubborn minorities imposing their tastes and ethics on others. You can be an intellectual yet still be an idiot. Educated philistines have been wrong on everything from Stalinism to Iraq to low-carb diets. Beware of complicated solutions (that someone was paid to find). A simple barbell can build muscle better than expensive new machines. True religion is commitment, not just faith. How much you believe in something is manifested only by what youre willing to risk for it. The phrase skin in the game is one we have often heard but rarely stopped to truly dissect. It is the backbone of risk management, but its also an astonishingly rich worldview that, as Taleb shows in this book, applies to all aspects of our lives. As Taleb says, The symmetry of skin in the game is a simple rule thats necessary for fairness and justice, and the ultimate BS-buster, and Never trust anyone who doesnt have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit, and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them.
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The master geopolitical forecaster and New York Times bestselling author of The Next 100 Years focuses on the United States, predicting how the 2020s will bring dramatic upheaval and reshaping of American government, foreign policy, economics, and culture. In his riveting new book, noted forecaster and bestselling author George Friedman turns to the future of the United States. Examining the clear cycles through which the United States has developed, upheaved, matured, and solidified, Friedman breaks down the coming years and decades in thrilling detail. American history must be viewed in cycles--particularly, an eighty-year "institutional cycle" that has defined us (there are three such examples--the Revolutionary War/founding, the Civil War, and World War II), and a fifty-year "socio-economic cycle" that has seen the formation of the industrial classes, baby boomers, and the middle classes. These two major cycles are both converging on the late 2020s--a time in which many of these foundations will change. The United States will have to endure upheaval and possible conflict, but also, ultimately, increased strength, stability, and power in the world. Friedman's analysis is detailed and fascinating, and covers issues such as the size and scope of the federal government, the future of marriage and the social contract, shifts in corporate structures, and new cultural trends that will react to longer life expectancies. This new book is both provocative and entertaining.
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MINDF*CK - INSIDE CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA''S PLOT TO BREAK THE WORLD
Christopher Wylie
- Random house usa
- 8 Octobre 2019
- 9780593229149
An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.
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THE SECOND MOUNTAIN - THE QUEST FOR A MORAL LIFE
David Brooks
- Random house usa
- 26 Mai 2020
- 9780812983425
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Everybody tells you to live for a cause larger than yourself, but how exactly do you do it? The author of The Road to Character explores what it takes to lead a meaningful life in a self-centered world. Deeply moving, frequently eloquent and extraordinarily incisive.-- The Washington Post Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy--who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. They get out of school, they start a career, and they begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view . . . unsatisfying. They realize: This wasnt my mountain after all. Theres another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. And so they embark on a new journey. On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment. In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose. In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But its also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extreme--and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.
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RISE AND KILL FIRST - THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISRAEL''S TARGETED ASSASSINATIONS
Ronen Bergman
- Random house usa
- 9 Juillet 2019
- 9780812982114
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The first definitive history of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the IDFs targeted killing programs, hailed by The New York Times as an exceptional work, a humane book about an incendiary subject. WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD IN HISTORY NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY JENNIFER SZALAI, THE NEW YORK TIMES NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Economist The New York Times Book Review BBC History Magazine Mother Jones Kirkus Reviews The Talmud says: If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first. This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israels DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small, sometimes in response to attacks against the Israeli people and sometimes preemptively. In this page-turning, eye-opening book, journalist and military analyst Ronen Bergman--praised by David Remnick as arguably [Israels] best investigative reporter--offers a riveting inside account of the targeted killing programs: their successes, their failures, and the moral and political price exacted on the men and women who approved and carried out the missions. Bergman has gained the exceedingly rare cooperation of many current and former members of the Israeli government, including Prime Ministers Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as high-level figures in the countrys military and intelligence services: the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the Mossad (the worlds most feared intelligence agency), Caesarea (a Mossad within the Mossad that carries out attacks on the highest-value targets), and the Shin Bet (an internal security service that implemented the largest targeted assassination campaign ever, in order to stop what had once appeared to be unstoppable: suicide terrorism). Including never-before-reported, behind-the-curtain accounts of key operations, and based on hundreds of on-the-record interviews and thousands of files to which Bergman has gotten exclusive access over his decades of reporting, Rise and Kill First brings us deep into the heart of Israels most secret activities. Bergman traces, from statehood to the present, the gripping events and thorny ethical questions underlying Israels targeted killing campaign, which has shaped the Israeli nation, the Middle East, and the entire world. A remarkable feat of fearless and responsible reporting . . . important, timely, and informative.--John le Carré
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W. G. Sebald completed this extraordinary, important and controversial book before his untimely death in December 2001. It is a harrowing study of the devastation of German cities by Allied bombardment in World War II, and an examination of the silence in German literature and culture about this unprecedented trauma. On the Natural History of Destruction is an essential and deeply relevant study of war and society, suffering and amnesia. Like Sebald';s novels, it is studded with meticulous observation, moments of black humour, and throughout, the author';s unmatched intelligence and humanity.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Slave narratives
Frederick Douglass, Harriet A Jacobs
- Random house usa
- 30 Novembre 2000
- 9780679783282
Presents an autobiography of the famous abolitionist and statesman who escaped to the North after twenty-one years of enslavement, and reveals the exploitation of American American female slaves through first-person narrative.
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Monsoon: the indian ocean and the future of american power
Robert D. Kaplan
- Random house usa
- 13 Septembre 2011
- 9780812979206
On the world maps common in America, the Western Hemisphere lies front and center, while the Indian Ocean region all but disappears. This convention reveals the geopolitical focus of the now-departed twentieth century, but in the twenty-first century that focus will fundamentally change. In this pivotal examination of the countries known as Monsoon Asia--which include India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania--bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan shows how crucial this dynamic area has become to American power. It is here that the fight for democracy, energy independence, and religious freedom will be lost or won, and it is here that American foreign policy must concentrate if the United States is to remain relevant in an ever-changing world. From the Horn of Africa to the Indonesian archipelago and beyond, Kaplan exposes the effects of population growth, climate change, and extremist politics on this unstable region, demonstrating why Americans can no longer afford to ignore this important area of the world.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER that first revealed the Russia connection The culmination of nearly 30 years of reporting on Donald Trump, this in-depth report by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston takes a revealingly close look at the mogul's rise to prominence --- and, now, ultimate power Covering the long arc of Trumps career, Johnston tells the full story of how a boy from a quiet section of Queens, NY would become an entirely new, and complex, breed of public figure. Trump is a man of great media savvy, entrepreneurial spirit, and political clout. Yet his career has been plagued by legal troubles and mounting controversy. From the origins of his familys fortune, to his own too-big-to-fail business empire; from his education and early career, to his whirlwind and ultimately successful presidential bid, The Making of Donald Trump provides the fullest picture yet of Trumps extraordinary ascendency. Love him or hate him, Trumps massive influence is undeniable, and figures as diverse as Woody Guthrie (who wrote a scathing song about Trumps father) and Red Scare prosecutor Roy Cohn, mob bosses and high rollers, as well as the average American voter, have all been pulled into his orbit. Drawing on decades of interviews, financial records, court documents, and public statements, David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump longer and more closely than any other journalist working today, gives us the most in-depth look yet at the man who has shocked the world. Provides useful, vigorously reported overviews of Mr. Trumps life and career ... Mr. Johnston, who has followed the real estate impresario for nearly three decades, offers a searing indictment of his business practices and creative accounting. -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times David Cay Johnston has given us this years must-read Trump book. -- Lawrence ODonnell, MSNBCs The Last Word Johnston devastatingly covers ground he broke open as a reporter on the Trump beat in Philadelphia and at The New York Time s...The best of investigative reporting is brought to bear on a man who could potentially lead the free world.-- USA Today Carefully fleshes out the details of Trump's known biography...with solid documentation. -- Tampa Bay Times
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A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Shortlisted for the 2018 FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award A brilliantly reported, global look at universal basic income--a stipend given to every citizen--and why it might be necessary in an age of rising inequality, persistent poverty, and dazzling technology. Imagine if every month the government deposited $1,000 into your bank account, with nothing expected in return. It sounds crazy. But it has become one of the most influential and hotly debated policy ideas of our time. Futurists, radicals, libertarians, socialists, union representatives, feminists, conservatives, Bernie supporters, development economists, child-care workers, welfare recipients, and politicians from India to Finland to Canada to Mexico--all are talking about UBI. In this sparkling and provocative book, economics writer Annie Lowrey examines the UBI movement from many angles. She travels to Kenya to see how a UBI is lifting the poorest people on earth out of destitution, India to see how inefficient government programs are failing the poor, South Korea to interrogate UBIs intellectual pedigree, and Silicon Valley to meet the tech titans financing UBI pilots in expectation of a world with advanced artificial intelligence and little need for human labor. Lowrey explores the potential of such a sweeping policy and the challenges the movement faces, among them contradictory aims, uncomfortable costs, and, most powerfully, the entrenched belief that no one should get something for nothing. In the end, she shows how this arcane policy has the potential to solve some of our most intractable economic problems, while offering a new vision of citizenship and a firmer foundation for our society in this age of turbulence and marvels.
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Now with a chapter on the chaos in the Trump administration, the New York Times bestselling, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions--and inactions--have defined the course of our country. What do Dick Cheney and Rahm Emanuel have in common? Aside from polarizing personalities, both served as chief of staff to the president of the United States--as did Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, and a relative handful of others. The chiefs of staff, often referred to as "the gatekeepers," wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS's agenda, and--most crucially--enjoy unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. Each chief can make or break an administration, and each president reveals himself by the chief he picks. Through extensive, intimate interviews with eighteen living chiefs (including Reince Priebus) and two former presidents, award-winning journalist and producer Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history, showing us how James Bakers expert managing of the White House, the press, and Capitol Hill paved the way for the Reagan Revolution--and, conversely, how Watergate, the Iraq War, and even the bungled Obamacare rollout might have been prevented by a more effective chief. Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported details, The Gatekeepers offers an essential portrait of the toughest job in Washington.
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CRACKING THE GMAT PREMIUM EDITION - 2019 EDITION
Collectif
- Random house usa
- 22 Mai 2018
- 9781524757885
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THE ROAD TO UNFREEDOM - RUSSIA, EUROPE, AMERICA
Timothy Snyder
- Random house usa
- 10 Avril 2018
- 9780525575405
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of On Tyranny comes a stunning new chronicle of the rise of authoritarianism from Russia to Europe and America. A brilliant analysis of our time.--Karl Ove Knausgaard, The New Yorker With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy seemed final. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. This faith was misplaced. Authoritarianism returned to Russia, as Putin found fascist ideas that could be used to justify rule by the wealthy. In the 2010s, it has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States. Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. The rise of populism, the British vote against the EU, and the election of Donald Trump were all Russian goals, but their achievement reveals the vulnerability of Western societies. In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law. To understand the challenge is to see, and perhaps renew, the fundamental political virtues offered by tradition and demanded by the future. By revealing the stark choices before us--between equality or oligarchy, individuality or totality, truth and falsehood--Snyder restores our understanding of the basis of our way of life, offering a way forward in a time of terrible uncertainty.
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THE DEATH OF TRUTH - NOTES ON FALSEHOOD IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
Michiko Kakutani
- Random house usa
- 17 Juillet 2018
- 9780525574828
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES Editors' Choice From the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic comes an impassioned critique of Americas retreat from reason We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? This decline began decades ago, and in The Death of Truth , former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and politics, Kakutani identifies the trends--originating on both the right and the left--that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant. With remarkable erudition and insight, Kakutani offers a provocative diagnosis of our current condition and points toward a new path for our truth-challenged times.
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Wealth and power - china's long march to the twenty-first century
Orville Schell, John Delury
- Random house usa
- 16 Juillet 2013
- 9780553841169
"Two leading experts on China outline a thought-provoking history that offers insight into the nation's future by evaluating its rise throughout the past 150 years, sharing lively portraits of key intellectual and political leaders to explain how China transformed from a country under foreign assault to a world giant."
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"The consequential age we are living in will be remembered as one of the great turning points in civilization. Once we turn, though, where will we be? That is the compelling question Al Gore sets out to answer by examining the drivers of global change, connecting the dots among the social, economic, and political forces shaping our present and future. A rising global consciousness is forcing people around the world, but especially Americans, to rethink their basic assumptions about how the world works, and, even more fundamentally, how it should and can work. Borders matter less than ever. Technology is constantly reordering the way we live, think, work, learn, love, pray, and play"--
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@00000327@From the @00000373@New York Times@00000155@ bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan, named one of the world@00000065@s Top 100 Global Thinkers by @00000373@Foreign Policy@00000155@ magazine, comes a riveting journey through one of Europe@00000065@s frontier countries--and a potent examination of the forces that will determine Europe@00000065@s fate in the postmodern age. @00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ Robert Kaplan first visited Romania in the 1970s, when he was a young journalist and the country was a bleak Communist backwater. It was one of the darkest corners of Europe, but few Westerners were paying attention. What ensued was a lifelong obsession with a critical, often overlooked country--a country that, today, is key to understanding the current threat that Russia poses to Europe. @00000373@In Europe@00000065@s Shadow@00000155@ is a vivid blend of memoir, travelogue, journalism, and history, a masterly work thirty years in the making--the story of a journalist coming of age, and a country struggling to do the same. Through the lens of one country, Kaplan examines larger questions of geography, imperialism, the role of fate in international relations, the Cold War, the Holocaust, and more.@00000341@@00000341@ Here Kaplan illuminates the fusion of the Latin West and the Greek East that created Romania, the country that gave rise to Ion Antonescu, Hitler@00000065@s chief foreign accomplice during World War II, and the country that was home to the most brutal strain of Communism under Nicolae Ceau@00000041@#537;escu. Romania past and present are rendered in cinematic prose: the ashen faces of citizens waiting in bread lines in Cold War@00000062@era Bucharest; the B@00000041@#259;r@00000041@#259;gan Steppe, laid bare by centuries of foreign invasion; the grim labor camps of the Black Sea Canal; the majestic Gothic church spires of Transylvania and Maramure@00000041@#351;. Kaplan finds himself in dialogue with the great thinkers of the past, and with the Romanians of today, the philosophers, priests, and politicians--those who struggle to keep the flame of humanism alive in the era of a resurgent Russia.@00000341@@00000341@ Upon his return to Romania in 2013 and 2014, Kaplan found the country transformed yet again--now a traveler@00000065@s destination shaped by Western tastes, yet still emerging from the long shadows of Hitler and Stalin. @00000373@In Europe@00000065@s Shadow@00000155@ is the story of an ideological and geographic frontier--and the book you must read in order to truly understand the crisis Europe faces, from Russia and from within.@00000341@@00000341@ @00000327@Praise for @00000373@In Europe@00000065@s Shadow@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;[A] haunting yet ultimately optimistic examination of the human condition as found in Romania . . . Kaplan@00000065@s account of the centuries leading up to the most turbulent of all--the twentieth--is both sweeping and replete with alluring detail.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--Alison Smale, @00000373@The New York Times Book Review@00000341@@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000041@ldquo;This book reveals the confident, poetical Kaplan . . . but also a reflective, political Kaplan, seeking at times to submerge his gift for romantic generalization in respectful attention to the ideas of others.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--Timothy Snyder, @00000373@The Washington Post@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;A serious yet impassioned survey of Romania . . . Kaplan is a regional geographer par excellence.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--@00000373@The Christian Science Monitor@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@@00000041@ldquo;Kaplan is one of America@00000065@s foremost writers on the region. . . . In a series of deep dives into the region@00000065@s past--Byzantine, Ottoman, Habsburg and Soviet--he finds parallels and echoes that help us understand the present.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--@00000373@The Wall Street Journal@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;Kaplan moves seamlessly from sights, sounds, and conversations to the resonance of history.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--@00000373@Foreign Affairs@00000155@@00000133@
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The revenge of geography - what the map tells us about coming conflicts and battle against fate
Robert D. Kaplan
- Random house usa
- 15 Septembre 2012
- 9781400069835
The best-selling author of Balkan Ghosts presents a timely and provocative response to The World Is Flat that draws on the insights of leading geographers and geopolitical thinkers to present a holistic interpretation of the next cycle of conflict throughout Eurasia that considers such topics as European debt, Chinese power and the role of Iran.
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The bed of procrustes - philosophical and practical aphorisms
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Random house usa
- 27 Novembre 2010
- 9781400069972
Presents the author's aphorism that touch on the ideas about the hubris of modern society presented in such earlier works as "The Black Swan" and "Fooled by Randomness."
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THE BLACK SWAN - THE IMPACT OF THE HIGHLY IMPROBABLE
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Random house usa
- 11 Mai 2010
- 9780812973815
The Black Swan is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Talebs landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we dont understand. The other books in the series are Fooled by Randomness, Antifragile, Skin in the Game, and The Bed of Procrustes . A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we dont know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the impossible. For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. In this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we dont know, and this second edition features a new philosophical and empirical essay, On Robustness and Fragility, which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. The Black Swan is a landmark book--itself a black swan. Praise for Nassim Nicholas Taleb The most prophetic voice of all. --GQ Praise for The Black Swan [A book] that altered modern thinking. -- The Times (London) A masterpiece. --Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired, author of The Long Tail Idiosyncratically brilliant. --Niall Ferguson, Los Angeles Times The Black Swan changed my view of how the world works. --Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate [Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne. . . . We eagerly romp with him through the follies of confirmation bias [and] narrative fallacy. --The Wall Street Journal Hugely enjoyable--compelling . . . easy to dip into. -- Financial Times Engaging . . . The Black Swan has appealing cheek and admirable ambition. --The New York Times Book Review
