After regaining independence in 1947, India immediately adopted a firmly democratic political system. The famines of the British era disappeared, along with economic stagnation; despite a recent dip, India`s growth remains among the fastest in the world. Yet, Dreze & Sen argue, there have been failures both to foster participatory growth & to make good use of the public resources generated by economic growth to enhance people`s living conditions. This book presents a powerful analysis not only of India`s deprivations & inequalities, but also of the restraints on addressing them
- & of the possibility of change through democratic practice.
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Elliot first visited the country as a teenager during the war with the Soviet Union. On this visit he travelled with the mujaheddin, on later visits he travelled independently. Afghanistan is a country not often in the news for its spectacular beauty, kind people & ancient history, & until now the picture we had of it was far from complete. This spectacular & compelling book goes a long way towards completing this picture. ...

An original story by Michael Rosen, inspired by the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist. Shona & her dad are moving house, & at Shona`s new school, the rules are pretty confusing; she keeps getting into trouble without realizing! After Shona is unexpectedly given a mobile phone, she begins to suspect there`s something fishy about the new boys she`s met. Some gifts, she comes to learn, aren`t exactly free... ...

Why are geese in a gaggle? Are crows really murderous? & what makes lions so proud? Collective nouns are one of the most charming oddities of the English language, often with seemingly bizarre connections to the groups they identify. But have you ever stopped to wonder where these peculiar terms actually came from? Most of those found in this book have their origins in the Medieval Books of Courtesy, among the earliest works to be published in this country. Despite originating as a form of social etiquette reserved for the gentry, many of these collective nouns have survived to become a curious feature of today`s everyday language. This absorbing book tells the stories of these evocative phrases, many of which have stood the test of time & are still in use today. Entertaining, informative & fascinating, An Unkindness of Ravens is perfect for any history or language buff. ...

Aaliya Saleh lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, & divorced, Aaliya is her family`s `unnecessary appendage`. Every year, she translates a new favourite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read
- by anyone. This breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman follows Aaliya`s digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past & present Beirut. Colourful musings on literature, philosophy, & art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War & Aaliya`s own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her ageing body & spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left. A love letter to literature & its power to define who we are, the prodigiously gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a magnificent rendering of one woman`s life in the Middle East.
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` Captivating.. . There`s a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon & of what is unique & precious about the Arab world` Helen Dunmore Set in contemporary Beirut, a rich, illuminating & deeply moving novel about a group of friends whose lives are shaped & affected daily by the war in Syria. Imagine trying to live a normal life in a world which changes daily & where nothing is certain.. . Hannah has deep roots in Beirut, the city of her birth & of her family. Her American husb&, Peter, has certainty only in her. They thought that they were used to the upheavals in Lebanon, but as the war in neighbouring Syria enters its fifth year, the region`s increasingly fragile state begins to impact on their lives in wholly different ways. An incident in a busy street brings them into direct contact with a Syrian refugee & her son. As they work to reunite Fatima with her family, her story forces Hannah to face the crisis of the expanding refugee camps, & to question the very future of her homel&. And when their close friend Anas, an artist, arrives to open his exhibition, shocking news from his home in Damascus raises uncomfortable questions about his loyalty to his family & his country. Heartrending & beautifully written, An Unsafe Haven is a universal story of people whose lives are tested & transformed, as they wrestle with the anguish of war, displacement & loss, but also with the vital need for hope. ...

` Captivating.. . There`s a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon & of what is unique & precious about the Arab world` Helen Dunmore Nada Awar Jarrar paints an intimate portrait of modern-day Beirut where everyone has a story to tell... Journalist Hannah is deeply rooted in the city of her birth, reporting first-hand on growing unrest in the region. Her American husband Peter is uncertain about their future in Lebanon & increasingly worried for his friend Anas, a Syrian artist estranged from his wife & children. Maysoun, an immigrant from Iraq, works with refugees, secretly dreaming of a more tranquil life in the West.A chance encounter in a busy street with a young refugee & his mother draws the four characters into a startling chain of events that will both test & alter each of them irrevocably. An Unsafe Haven is a vital & beautiful novel about facing up to the future in a world where conflict & loss have become the fabric of everyday life. ...

Meet Cordelia Gray: twenty-two, tough, intelligent & now sole inheritor of the Pryde Detective Agency. Her first assignment finds her hired by Sir Ronald Callender to investigate the death of his son Mark, a young Cambridge student found hanged in mysterious circumstances. Cordelia is required to delve into the hidden secrets of the Callender family & soon realizes it is not a case of suicide, & that the truth is entirely more sinister. PD James is the bestselling author of Death Comes To Pemberley, Children of Men & The Murder Room. Her first Cordelia Gray novel An Unsuitable Job For a Woman is a brilliant work of crime fiction packed with secrets & suspense. This novel has been adapted for television twice, the second adaptation in 1997 starred Helen Baxendale as Cordelia Gray. ...

Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti`s richest sons, she has an adoring husb&, a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life. The fairy tale ends one day when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, in front of her father`s Port au Prince estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear her father intends to resist the kidnappers, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents. An Untamed State is a novel of privilege in the face of crushing poverty, & of the lawless anger that corrupt governments produce. It is the story of a wilful woman attempting to find her way back to the person she once was, & of how redemption is found in the most unexpected of places. An Untamed State establishes Roxane Gay as a writer of prodigious, arresting talent. ...

A partisan fighting with the Red Army in Germany comes across a gr&, abandoned house, seemingly untouched by the devastation sweeping the country. Exhausted, he falls asleep in the living room, but wakes to find a German patrol marching up the garden path. His only hope is to pose as the house`s owner, but how will he keep up the pretence when the real owner returns? Dazzling, dark & scorchingly violent, with the breakneck pace of a thriller, this timeless classic is a vivid depiction of what happens when the mask of decency is cast aside in the savagery of war. ...