A new and dangerous computer bug is sweeping the internet. But this bug is different. Smart, quick, sophisticated, and developed by elite hackers working for a cybercrime syndicate, it can break through an unknown flaw in the world's most secure computer chips and cripple any system within seconds-the ultimate cyber weapon. Reluctant American cyber sleuth Chuck Drayton unwittingly finds himself caught in the deadly crossfire of an unfolding cyber war, with no idea what lies ahead. Chuck and his small team of investigators join a desperate race against the great cyber powers, and an unscrupulous tech entrepreneur, to stop the zero-day, before it's too late.
From Ian Williams, author of Reproduction, winner of the Giller Prize and a June 2020 Indie Next Great Read Frustrated by how tough the issues of our time are to solve – racial inequality, our pernicious depression, the troubled relationships we have with other people – Ian Williams revisits the seemingly simple questions of grade school for inspiration: if Billy has five nickels and Jane has three dimes, how many Black men will be murdered by police? He finds no satisfaction, realizing that maybe there are no easy answers to ineffable questions. Williams uses his characteristic inventiveness to find not just new answers but new questions, reconsidering what poetry can be, using math and grammar lessons to shape poems that invite us to participate. Two long poems cut through the text like vibrating basenotes, curiosities circle endlessly, and microaggressions spin into lyric. And all done with a light touch and a joyful sense of humour.
“With subtlety and wit, [a] prizewinning debut” novel set in 1970s Toronto “explores a liaison across race and class divisions in Canada” (The Guardian, UK). Felicia and Edgar come from different worlds. She’s a nineteen-year-old student and Caribbean immigrant while he is the impetuous heir to his German family’s fortune. When their ailing mothers are assigned the same Toronto hospital room, their chance encounter leads to an unlikely relationship full miscommunications, misunderstandings, and very surprising results. Years later, Felicia’s son Armistice—“Army” for short—is a teenager fixated on get-rich-quick schemes, each one more absurd than the next. The. Edgar finally re-enters Felicia’s life, at yet another inopportune moment, putting this “witty, playful and disarmingly offbeat” saga on the path to its heartfelt conclusion (The Toronto Star, CA). Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2021: “Lyrical, closely observed” essays on being Black in the US, Canada, and Trinidad, and how those experiences differed (Kirkus Reviews). Finalist for the 2021 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction With that one eloquent word, disorientation, Scotiabank Giller Award winner Ian Williams captures the impact of racial encounters on racialized people—the whiplash of race that occurs while minding one’s own business. Sometimes the consequences are only irritating, but sometimes they are deadly. Spurred by the police killings and street protests of 2020, Williams offers a perspective that is distinct from that of US writers addressing similar themes. Williams has lived in Trinidad (where he was never the only Black person in the room), in Canada (where he often was), and in the United States (where as a Black man from the Caribbean, he was a different kind of “only”). He brings these formative experiences fruitfully to bear on his theme in Disorientation. Inspired by the essays of James Baldwin, in which the personal becomes the gateway to larger ideas, Williams explores such matters as the unmistakable moment when a child realizes they are Black; the ten characteristics of institutional whiteness; how friendship forms a bulwark against being a target of racism; the meaning and uses of a Black person’s smile; and blame culture—or how do we make meaningful change when no one feels responsible for the systemic structures of the past. Disorientation is a book for all readers who believe that civil conversation on even the most charged subjects is possible. Employing his wit, his empathy for all, and his vast and astonishing gift for language, Ian Williams gives readers an open, candid, and personal perspective on an undeniably important subject. “Honest, vulnerable, courageous and funny.” —Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes
Rum arguably shaped the modern world. It was to the eighteenth century what oil is to the present, but its significance has been diminished by a misguided sense of old-fashioned morality dating back to Prohibition. In fact, Rum shows that even the Puritans took a shot now and then. Rum, too, was one of the major engines of the American Revolution, a fact often missing from histories of the era. Ian Williams's book -- as biting and multilayered as the drink itself -- triumphantly restores rum's rightful place in history, taking us across space and time, from the slave plantations of seventeenth-century Barbados (the undisputed birthplace of rum) through Puritan and revolutionary New England, to voodoo rites in modern Haiti, where to mix rum with Coke risks invoking the wrath of the gods. He also depicts the showdown between the Bacardi family and Fidel Castro over the control of the lucrative rights to the Havana Club label. Telling photographs are also featured in this barnstorming history of the real "Spirit of 1776.
With its unique aroma and heady buzz—the perfect accompaniment to even the spiciest tacos—tequila has won its way into drinkers’ hearts worldwide. There are few places on earth besides Mexico that have the climate and terrain to evolve the agave plant that makes tequila—and there are even fewer people who have the patience to wait the seven years or more that it takes “the tree of marvels” to grow. In this book, Ian Williams presents a lively history of this potent and popular drink. Beginning with pulque, the drink fermented by the Mayans, Olmecs, and Aztecs and reserved for pregnant women and priests—and their sacrifices—he traces how the Mexicans distilled tequila and mezcal (mescal) and began its heady surge into global popularity. From twenty-year añejos to giggle-inducing margaritas to the bravado—and regret—of that round of shots, he offers a history as gripping as the drink itself. Williams visits countless tequila producers, distributors, and connoisseurs to tell the story of how tequila started in the agave lands of Mexico, became an icon of youthful inebriation, and developed, today, into a truly artisanal product drawing the most discerning drinkers. Peppered throughout are illustrations that capture tequila’s Mexican heritage and commercial image. Including recipes for tequila-based cocktails, as well as advice on the buying, storing, tasting, and serving of tequila, this history will delight any beverage aficionado or anyone interested in the history of Mexico and its culinary riches.
Cartoonist and doctor Ian Williams introduces us to the troubled life of Dr Iwan James, as all humanity, it seems, passes through his surgery door. Incontinent old ladies, men with eagle tattoos, traumatized widowers – Iwan's patients cause him both empathy and dismay, as he tries to do his best in a world of limited time and budgetary constraints, and in which there are no easy answers. His feelings for his partners also cause him grief: something more than friendship for the sympathetic Dr Lois Pritchard, and not a little frustration at the prankish and obstructive Dr Robert Smith. Iwan's cycling trips with his friend Arthur provide some welcome relief, but even the landscape is imbued with his patients' distress. As we explore the phantoms from Iwan's past, we too begin to feel compassion for The Bad Doctor, and ask what is the dividing line between patient and provider? Wry, comic, graphic, from the humdrum to the tragic, his patients' stories are the spokes that make Iwan's wheels go round in this humane and eloquently drawn account of a doctor's life.
An image goes viral in China It threatens the ruling Communist Party... Internet rumours take on a life of their own and online revenge becomes a weapon of dissent in a city where truth and reality are as clear as the thick smog around them in this gripping cyber thriller. When a young blogger who lives his life behind a screen posts an image online, he has no idea of the impact it will have on the nation – or that his life will collide with a delusional British businessman trying to sell the crumbling China miracle, and an American diplomat tasked to chase cyber spies. When the image takes on a life of its own, it threatens them all – but most terrifyingly, the Communist Party. The power of online ridicule and rumour in a society where fake news clouds reality is revealed; the veil beneath which corrupt politicians struggle for power, spies stalk cyberspace, and a bubble economy is at bursting point. From Beijing’s smoggy streets to Shanghai’s historic Bund, from the casinos of Macau to the grim factories of southern China, this novel captures the madness, corruption and dangers of the People’s Republic and sheds light on the Westerners who have grown rich by looking the other way…
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2023 As seen in The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, and on Tonight with Andrew Marr (LBC) Under President Xi Jinping, China's global ambitions have taken a dangerous new turn. Bullying and intimidation have replaced diplomacy, and trade, investment, even big-spending tourists and students have been weaponised. Beijing has strengthened its alliance with Vladimir Putin, supporting Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and brooks no criticism of its own flagrant human rights violations against the Uyghur population in western China. Western leaders say they don't want a cold war with China, but it's a little too late for that. Beijing is already waging a more complex, broader and more dangerous cold war than the old one with the Soviet Union. And it is intensifying. This thought-provoking and alarming book examines this new cold war's many fronts – from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the Indian frontier, the Arctic and cyberspace. In doing so it proclaims the clear and sobering message that we must open our eyes to the reality of China's rise and its ruthless bid for global dominance.
Great Stories Written Badly by Ian Williams At times funny and poignant, this is an evocative exploration of how art connects us with the world and how it can help heal a fractured society.
This inaugural volume in the Graphic Medicine series establishes the principles of graphic medicine and begins to map the field. The volume combines scholarly essays by members of the editorial team with previously unpublished visual narratives by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, and it includes arresting visual work from a wide range of graphic medicine practitioners. The book’s first section, featuring essays by Scott Smith and Susan Squier, argues that as a new area of scholarship, research on graphic medicine has the potential to challenge the conventional boundaries of academic disciplines, raise questions about their foundations, and reinvigorate literary scholarship—and the notion of the literary text—for a broader audience. The second section, incorporating essays by Michael Green and Kimberly Myers, demonstrates that graphic medicine narratives can engage members of the health professions with literary and visual representations and symbolic practices that offer patients, family members, physicians, and other caregivers new ways to experience and work with the complex challenges of the medical experience. The final section, by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, focuses on the practice of creating graphic narratives, iconography, drawing as a social practice, and the nature of comics as visual rhetoric. A conclusion (in comics form) testifies to the diverse and growing graphic medicine community. Two valuable bibliographies guide readers to comics and scholarly works relevant to the field.
As seen in The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, and on Tonight with Andrew Marr (LBC) Join journalist Ian Williams as he examines China like never before. He begins with the extraordinary rise of the Chinese surveillance state, how information is controlled and how it affects the population, before moving his gaze outward to examine China's aggressive foreign policy in relation to Taiwan and the wider world. Thought-provoking and alarming, these books are crucial to understanding China as a nation and global competitor. Ian Williams brings his years of expertise as a foreign correspondent to bear, having reported on China across the last 25 years, providing unmatched insight into a country that many do not fully understand. Titles included in this eBook bundle are: Every Breath You Take The Fire of the Dragon
The Lady Doctor is the follow-up companion graphic novel to Ian Williams's critically acclaimed debut, The Bad Doctor (Myriad, 2014). Dr Lois Pritchard is a salaried partner at Llangandida Health Centre with Drs Iwan James (subject of The Bad Doctor) and Robert Smith. She also works two days a week in the local Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinic. She is 40, currently single, despite the attentions of her many admirers, and is, by her own admission, 'not very good with relationships'. When her estranged mother makes a dramatic appearance on the scene, demanding a liver transplant, Lois has to confront her loyalties and make some hard decisions. From the moment we see Dr Lois nipping out behind the surgery for a fag, we know we are in for a behind-the-scenes warts-and-all comedy drama. We meet a patient who regrets the Pinocchio face he had tattooed on his genitals; a man who resorts to desperate measures after being driven mad by his neighbours' cats, and a prescription drug addict who plans to sue his previous doctors for failing to refuse him the drugs he demanded. Drugs – prescription, recreational, legal (coffee, alcohol, tobacco) – and behaviours and attitudes surrounding them – are a hot topic at Llangandida Health Centre. Hardening government attitudes towards drugs and addiction, and patients' demands to benefit from the re emergence of psychedelic therapeutic research, don't make a doctor's life any easier, but Williams explores current medical issues and ethics with his trademark lightness of touch and wonderfully sly sense of humour, using his own experience as a practising GP to recreate the lives of both patients and health service practitioners.
Any individual seeking change and growth through personal coaching will embrace this book as a fresh approach to a market that is arguably overcrowded in self help material. Ian Williams has cleverly taken the four areas of Passion, Potential, Power and Performance, and broken each one into 13 sections (linked for easy reference and memory to the standard playing cards suits which in turn throughout the ages have been linked with the elements of air, water, fire and earth). At every page turn you are presented with a new topic within these four areas, exploring in detail subjects such as values, balance, character, persistence, vocation and so on. 52 subjects are covered in detail questioning and explaining how they impact on us as individuals, with well researched and relevant quotes provided throughout the book to further enhance the teaching contained within. The photos, full colour pages and exquisite sentiments throughout this book make it an ideal gift for any one at any time of life, or as a personal treat when searching for fresh perspectives on life and living well.
This book analyzes George Orwell’s politics and their reception across both sides of the Atlantic. It considers Orwell’s place in the politics of his native Britain and his reception in the USA, where he has had some of his most fervent emulators, exegetists, and detractors. Written by an ex “teenage Maoist” from Liverpool, UK, who now lives and writes in New York, the book points out how often the different strands of opinion derive from “ancestral” ideological struggles within the Communist/Trotskyist movement in the 30’s, and how these often overlook or indeed consciously ignore the indigenous British politics and sociology that did so much to influence Orwell’s political and literary development. It examines in the modern era what Orwell did in his–the seductions of simplistic and absolutist ideologies for some intellectuals, especially in their reactions to Orwell himself.
Fast electric model power boats have long outclassed other boat types in terms of speed, and racing them is becoming an ever-more popular pastime. Success in this exciting hobby relies not just on the skill of the boat's handler, but on the design and build of the boat as well. Illustrated with numerous photographs and diagrams showing technical details, this book looks at all aspects of building a model electric power boat, including How to choose a model and spot design flaws, especially in moulded hulls, and how to repair many of those faults, Brushed and brushless motors, and their speed controllers, drive systems and propellers, Guidance on rechargeable cells and the correct chargers, and safety tips for lithium polymer cells, Tips on construction and how to set up a boat for racing, Detailed instructions for building a wooden three-point outrigger hydroplane and Radio systems, wiring and connectors. While the emphasis of this book is on performance for competition use, beginners and recreational boaters are well catered for as many of the chapters start from first principles, rather than assuming a high level of initial competence. It covers all aspects of fast electric boating, from hull design right through to racing at world championships and setting speed records. Therefore, whether you are looking to compete or operate fast electric power boats as a hobby, it is a must-have addition to your library.
Discover a host of watercolour sketches by Ian Williams that honestly capture the wildlife of Skye as seen whilst out in the field gathering inspiration.
This CSIS report looks at Russia’s evolving missile campaign against Ukraine from the opening days of the invasion to present day, the sources of Russian underperformance, and the specific missile systems Russia has deployed.
Riding in Africa captures the escapades of more than twelve journeys to Africa. Author Ian Williams offers sage-if somewhat tongue-in-cheek-advice on how to get from one end of an African horse safari to the other without killing yourself. Read about African flora and fauna, evolution, history, language, the eccentricities of human character, and above all, the perspectives of a scientist-adventurer who puts himself on life's edge. Williams tells of succumbing to pneumonia in the foothills of Mount Kenya, his experiences in a small African cottage hospital and later in the Nairobi Hospital, part of which he spends in morphine-induced delirium and part in the hospital room reserved for former Kenyan strong man, Daniel arap Moi. Williams also shares stories of adventures with horses and people while riding through the savannahs of Kenya, the mountains of Malawi, the swamps of Botswana, the deserts of Namibia, and the Lapalala Wilderness, home to the fearsome black rhino. Riding in Africa is about middle passages: the leap from one side of fifty to the other and the fine line between life and death.
Mental Health and the Christian takes a look at the brain, mind, and soul as interchangeable entities and the effects of external and internal stimuli on homeostatic functions. Human beings are consumers. We consume through three gates: eyes, ears, and mouth. How everything we ingest affects what genes are turned on and off in the mind and body is called epigenetics. Achieving homeostasis or balance is the ultimate goal. For Christians, the health, growth, and development of the spirit man calls for a healthy thought process together with a diet beneficial to achieving homeostasis in our lifestyle. This book attempts to broach the subject by removing some of the misconceptions about mental health as it pertains to the lifestyle of Christians, eliminating some of the taboos and erasing the shame. This is nothing more than a rudimentary tool to be used to open dialogue about how we as Christians perceive mental health, thereby equipping us to approach and understand ministering to those among us who may be suffering in secret. The aim is to bring them out of the shadows and into the light, delivering them.
For decades, the United States has led the effort to stem the spread of nuclear weapons, both among potential adversaries and among its allies and partners. The current state of deterrence and of the nonproliferation regime, however, is open to many doubts. What happens if the nonproliferation regime should break down altogether? What happens if extended deterrence should fail, and allies no longer believe in the credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella? What happens when the world has not 9 but 11, 15, 18, or even more nuclear powers? This study explores how such a world might function and what it would mean for our present conceptions of deterrence, for the place of the United States in the international order, and for international order itself.
In July 2018, CSIS embarked on a major analytical assessment that centered on the following research question: What will be the strategic consequences for the United States by 2050 if America’s two near-peer military competitors, China and Russia, continue to develop their long-term economic and security interests in the Arctic, but the United States does not? Russia’s growing economic and military ambitions in the Arctic, as well as China’s increased physical presence in the region, underscore that both nations have long-term strategic designs for the Arctic region. Data analysis, satellite imagery, and scenario development all demonstrate the continued growth of Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic and heighten the sense of stasis in the U.S. military and economic presence. Unless the United States wishes to lose access to portions of the Arctic and have increasingly diminished capabilities to defend and deter attack against the homeland, the United States must return to the Arctic.
This established textbook offers a one-stop, comprehensive coverage of air pollution, all in an easy-reading and accessible style. The fourth edition, broadly updated and developed throughout, includes a brand-new chapter providing a broader overview to the topic for general reading, and presents fresh materials on air pollution modelling, mitigation and control, tailored to the needs of both amateur and specialist users. Retaining a quantitative perspective, the covered topics include: gaseous and particulate air pollutants, measurement techniques, meteorology and modelling, area sources, mobile sources, indoor air, effects on plants, materials, humans and animals, impact on climate change and ozone profiles and air quality legislations. This edition also includes a final chapter covering a suite of sampling and laboratory practical experiments that can be used for either classroom teachings, or as part of research projects. As with previous editions, the book is aimed to serve as a useful reading resource for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses specialising in air pollution, with dedicated case studies at the end of each chapter, as well as a list of revision questions provided at the end as a complementary section.
University graduation, the reality of working life, thwarted love and the terrifying prospect of growing up - the traditional breeding ground for many amazing adventures and ideas. So when, in this atmosphere of anxiety and dread, two strangers, Ian and Alan, started playing a simple game of pool in the local pub, it was almost inevitable that a life changing idea would be born. In a desperate effort to hide the fact that he was losing badly, Alan tried to distract Ian from the table: "Did you see the football last night? Have you found a job ? Do you fancy cycling to Africa?" It only took a second, but that was it. Ian's eyes lit up and EyeOnAfrica was born. (Alan still lost the game). So, despite never having done anything quite like it before, the two students start to plan what would undoubtedly become the greatest road trip of their lives, a 12,000-mile bicycle ride from London to Cape Town. EyeOnAfrica is their fascinating story.
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