Varia

We are entering an age of energy crises and food shortages. This book reveals why. Meet the swashbuckling traders who supply the world with energy, food and metal.Their goal: To make billions by buying and selling raw materials - flogging Russian gas to Europe, Saudi oil to America and Congolese metals to Silicon Valley.Their methods: Subverting strict sanctions to funnel cash to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, schmoozing Russian metal oligarchs following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and striking deals with the Libyan rebels at the height of the Arab Spring. These are the commodity traders. You've probably never heard of them.But, like it or not, you're one of their customers.

THE BESTSELLING TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED THE MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES FBI Special Agent and expert in criminal profiling and behavioural science, John Douglas, is a man who has looked evil in the eye and made a vocation of understanding it. Now retired, Douglas can let us inside the FBI elite serial crime unit and into the disturbed minds of some of the most savage serial killers in the world. The man who was the inspiration for Special Agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs and who lent the film's makers his expertise explains how he invented and established the practice of criminal profiling; what it was like to submerge himself mentally in the world of serial killers to the point of 'becoming' both perpetrator and victim; and individual case histories including those of Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and the Atlanta child murders.With the fierce page-turning power of a bestselling novel, yet terrifyingly true, Mindhunter is a true crime classic. John Douglas knows more about serial killers than anybody in the world - Jonathan Demme, Director of The Silence of the Lambs A cracker of a book - Esquire

'This is the Star Wars of every horror fan's dreams-gory, funny, and brimming with a blood-spattered cast of swashbucklers and space-zombies.' Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies When the Imperial prison barge Purge-temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy's most ruthless killers, Rebels, scoundrels, and thieves-breaks down in a distant part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back-bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours, nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine. And death is only the beginning. The Purge's half-dozen survivors will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting aboard the Star Destroyer. For the dead are rising: soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.

AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW'This book is a jailbreak and a miracle' NAOMI KLEIN'Essential . . .A project that insists on liberation' TA-NEHISI COATES'You'll carry [it] in your heart for a long time' KAMILA SHAMSIE'Wondrous, devastating and vibrant' BRYAN WASHINGTON'Impossible to put down or forget' RIZ AHMEDA teenage girl stares at her roof, hoping it won’t collapse over her head. A young student searches the Internet for photos of libraries around the world, hoping he’ll be able to visit them one day. Another walks around the city, taking notes of all the buildings she dreams of repairing.These are the stories of young people from Gaza, born under Israeli occupation and blockade. They are people who have endured unspeakable struggles and losses, who keep fighting to be recognised not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams and lives worth living. We Are Not Numbers was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza.In this collection, vital, urgent and full of heart, spanning over ten years to the present moment, we gain an unparalleled insight into the past, as well as the current and next generation of Palestinian leaders, artists, scientists and scholars and imagine where we might go from here. 'A vital book . . . a profoundly important literary event' CHINA MIEVILLE'A brilliant collection of voices that lays bare the struggles and suffering of ordinary young Palestinians' MONICA ALI'We Are Not Numbers is not just a book — it's my life, their life, and our shared story . . . This is Gaza as it truly is, written by those who live it every day' MOTAZ AZIZA'A rebellion against the singular story. An insightful, multifaceted glimpse into the besieged Gaza Strip, where millions of people continue to confront a genocide waged by an Israeli regime' MOHAMMED EL-KURD

An explosive account of one of the most hubristic mistakes in American political history: Joe Biden's decision to run for reelection despite mounting evidence of his decline, and his team's increasingly desperate efforts to hide it.In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy.Joe Biden launched his successful 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump term. He, his family and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again that they lied to themselves, allies and the public about his condition and limitations. At his debate with Trump on 28 June 2024, the consequences of that deception were exposed - all but dooming the Democrats to defeat later that year.Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time. Here, two of America's best-respected political journalists take us behind closed doors to reveal the extent of Biden's decline and who knew about it, from White House staffers to senators to Hollywood celebrities. They paint President Biden's decision to run for re-election as shockingly narcissistic, delusional and reckless - and the wider cover-up as an act of unprecedented public deception. Rarely has hubris met nemesis so explosively.The story the authors tell raises fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will endure for decades. In the name of defeating what they called an existential threat to democracy, Biden and his inner circle ensured it, marking the beginning of a remarkable campaign of denial and gaslighting against the American public. His decision to run again was the original sin of his precedency - the moment that led directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has come since.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe author of The Talent Code unlocks the secrets of highly successful groups and provides tomorrow’s leaders with the tools to build a cohesive, motivated culture.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG AND LIBRARY JOURNALWhere does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group, or strengthen a culture that needs fixing?In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle goes inside some of the world’s most successful organizations—including the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six, IDEO, and the San Antonio Spurs—and reveals what makes them tick. He demystifies the culture-building process by identifying three key skills that generate cohesion and cooperation, and explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind. Drawing on examples that range from Internet retailer Zappos to the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade to a daring gang of jewel thieves, Coyle offers specific strategies that trigger learning, spark collaboration, build trust, and drive positive change. Coyle unearths helpful stories of failure that illustrate what not to do, troubleshoots common pitfalls, and shares advice about reforming a toxic culture. Combining leading-edge science, on-the-ground insights from world-class leaders, and practical ideas for action, The Culture Code offers a roadmap for creating an environment where innovation flourishes, problems get solved, and expectations are exceeded.Culture is not something you are—it’s something you do. The Culture Code puts the power in your hands. No matter the size of your group or your goal, this book can teach you the principles of cultural chemistry that transform individuals into teams that can accomplish amazing things together.Praise for The Culture Code"I’ve been waiting years for someone to write this book—I’ve built it up in my mind into something extraordinary. But it is even better than I imagined. Daniel Coyle has produced a truly brilliant, mesmerizing read that demystifies the magic of great groups. It blows all other books on culture right out of the water.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Option B, Originals, and Give and Take"If you want to understand how successful groups work—the signals they transmit, the language they speak, the cues that foster creativity—you won’t find a more essential guide than The Culture Code.”—Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better

Twenty years have passed since the Sith and their endless rivalries were eradicated and replaced with the Rule of Two. Darth Bane now reigns alongside his young acolyte, Zannah, who must study and train in the dark side of the Force until the time comes to strike down her master and claim the mantle for herself. But Bane's brutal new regime has one potential fatal flaw-how will their legacy continue if an apprentice fails to raise their blade in combat? The only solution must be for the Dark Lord of the Sith to rediscover a long-forgotten secret of the order-the key to immortality. Bane's doubt spurs his young apprentice into action, and Zannah vows to destroy her master at any cost. After he mysteriously vanishes, she tracks him across the galaxy to a desolate desert outpost, where the fate of the dark side will be forged by a final fight to the death.

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.