The West has always had a difficult time understanding the Soviet Union. For decades Americans have known a Soviet Union clouded by ideological passions and a dearth of information. Today, with the revelations under glasnost and the collapse of the Communist empire, Americans are now able to see the former Soviet Union as a whole, and explore the turbulent tale of a Soviet history that has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
One of the eminent Soviet historians of our time, Ronald Grigor Suny takes us on a journey that examines the complex themes of Soviet history from the last tsar of the Russian empire to the first president of the Russian republic. He examines the legacies left by former Soviet leaders and explores the successor states and the challenges they now face. Combining gripping detail with insightful analysis, Suny focuses on three revolutions: the tumultuous year of 1917 when Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik takeover of the tsarist empire; the 1930s when Joseph Stalin refashioned the economy, the society, and the state; and the 1980s and 1990s when Mikhail Gorbachev's ambitious and catastrophic attempt at sweeping reform and revitalization resulted in the breakup of the Soviet Union led by Boris Yeltsin. He unravels issues, explaining "deeply contradictory" policies toward the various Soviet nationalities, including Moscow's ambivalence over its own New Economic Policy of the 1920s and the attempts at reform that followed Stalin's death. He captures familiar as well as little-known events, including the movement of the crowds on the streets of St. Petersburg in the February revolution; Stalin's collapse into a near-catatonic state after Hitler's much-predicted invasion; and Yeltsin's political maneuvering and public grandstanding as he pushed the disintegration of the Soviet Union and faced down his rivals.
Students and social scientists alike continue to be fascinated by the Soviet experiment and its meaning. The Soviet Experiment recovers the complexities and contradictions of the 70 years of Soviet Power, exploring its real achievements as well as its grotesque failings. Clearly written and well-argued, this narrative is complete with helpful anecdotes and examples that will not only engage students and offer them an opportunity to learn from new material but also afford them the opportunity to form their own opinions by reading the text and looking into the suggested readings. With insight and detail, Suny has constructed a masterful work, providing the fullest account yet of one of the greatest transformations of modern history.

For many Americans, Iran is our most dangerous enemy--part of George W. Bush's "axis of evil" even before the appearance of Ahmadinejad. But what is the reality? How did Ahmadinejad rise to power, and how much power does he really have? What are the chances of normalizing relations with Iran?
In After Khomeini, Sa�d Amir Arjomand paints a subtle and perceptive portrait of contemporary Iran. This work, a sequel to Arjomand's acclaimed The Turban for the Crown, examines Iran under the successors of Ayatollah Khomeini up to the present day. He begins, as the Islamic Republic did, with Khomeini, offering a brilliant capsule biography of the man who masterminded the revolution that overthrew the Shah. Arjomand draws clear distinctions between the moderates of the initial phrase of the revolution, radicals, pragmatists, and hardliners, the latter best exemplified by Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Taking a chronological and thematic approach, he traces the emergence and consolidation of the present system of collective rule by clerical councils and the peaceful transition to dual leadership by the ayatollah as the supreme guide and the subordinate president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He explains the internal political quarrels among Khomeini's heirs as a struggle over his revolutionary legacy. And he outlines how the ruling clerical elite and the nation's security forces are interdependent politically and economically, speculating on the potential future role of the Revolutionary Guards. Bringing the work up to current political events, Arjomand analyzes Iran's foreign policy as well, including the impact of the fall of Communism on Iran and Ahmadinejad's nuclear policy.
Few countries loom larger in American foreign relations than Iran. In this rich and insightful account, an expert on Iranian society and politics untangles the complexities of a nation still riding the turbulent wake of one of history's great revolutions.

This book makes two central claims: first, that mineral-rich states are cursed not by their wealth but, rather, by the ownership structure they chose to manage their mineral wealth and second, that weak institutions are not inevitable in mineral-rich states. Each represents a significant departure from the conventional resource curse literature, which has treated ownership structure as a constant across time and space and has presumed that mineral-rich countries are incapable of either building or sustaining strong institutions - particularly fiscal regimes. The experience of the five petroleum-rich Soviet successor states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) provides a clear challenge to both of these assumptions. Their respective developmental trajectories since independence demonstrate not only that ownership structure can vary even across countries that share the same institutional legacy but also that this variation helps to explain the divergence in their subsequent fiscal regimes.

Extrajudicial Collection Devices; Judicial Debt Collection; Creditors with Special Rights; Debtor's State Law Remedies A/K/A Collective Creditor Action; Bankruptcy: An Overview; Commencement, Conversion and Dismissal of a Bankruptcy Case; Stay of Collection Actions and Acts; Property of the Estate; Exemptions; Avoidance of Pre-Bankruptcy Transfers; Post-Bankruptcy Transfers; Effect of Bankruptcy on Secured Claims; Chapter 7 and Unsecured Claims; Leases and Executory Contracts; Discharge; Chapter 11; Chapter 13; Allocation of Judicial Power Over Bankruptcy Matters.

Principles of Legal Research will be published in June and available for fall 2009 class adoptions. Principles of Legal Research is the long-awaited successor to the venerable How to Find the Law, 9th edition, thoroughly updated for the electronic age. The text provides encyclopedic yet concise coverage of research methods and resources using both free and commercial websites as well as printed publications. An introductory survey of research strategies is followed by chapters on the sources of U.S. law created by each branch of government, discussion of major secondary sources, and an overview of international and comparative law. Sample illustrations are included, and an appendix lists nearly 500 major treatises and looseleaf services by subject.

• ISBN13: 9781421516547
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

It's all-out shinobi war as Naruto, Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune take on Orochimaru and Kabuto in battle...with the final fate of Tsunade hanging on the outcome! Will her darkest fears finally become reality?!

Make-or-break decisions involving millions of dollars are all in a day’s work for Christian Gillette, chairman of Everest Capital, New York’s most renowned private equity firm. He’s taken on the toughest, most powerful, and often most dangerous adversaries and prevailed–all the while honing his skill for being cool under fire, literally. But now Gillette will be put to the ultimate test. He’s offered the chance to seal a deal unlike any other, one that goes beyond boardrooms, balance sheets, and even Everest itself–one that will leave its mark on history.

Gillette is no stranger to Jesse Wood, the first African American president of the United States, having been Wood’s chosen running mate in his historic bid for the White House. Though still slightly upset over being dropped from the ticket at the eleventh hour, Gillette’s not about to ignore the chief executive’s summons to a top-secret meeting at Camp David. There, Wood drops a bombshell: The president of Cuba is dead. Cuba’s communist regime has kept the dictator’s demise hush while it races to fill the power vacuum. And the United States is poised to support a cabal of Cuban professionals plotting a coup. The President wants Gillette to meet with the conspirators and size up the chances for a successful capitalist revolution. But by no means can his mission be traced back to the White House. If anything goes wrong, Gillette is on his own.

And if certain people have their way, something will go wrong. For the conspiracy to liberate Cuba isn’t the only one afoot. Enemies in high places, who will go to any lengths to wreak revenge on Gillette and to unseat President Wood, have set in motion a campaign of deception, sabotage, and murder whose shockwaves will resonate from the streets of Havana to the Oval Office. But for Gillette, who has just named his alluring and ambitious protégé, Allison Wallace, as his successor at Everest, the greatest peril may lie much closer to home.

The Successor is blue-chip Stephen Frey, marshaling his flawless instincts for edgy, provocative, breathtaking suspense with a master’s touch.


From the Hardcover edition.

John Fletcher's theology of Pentecost is generally unknown today, and this book is the first comprehensive treatise on this subject. His writings were in large part responsible for shaping the theology of early American Methodism, especially his treatise on Christian Perfection, which highlighted a theology of Pentecostal sanctification.

Wood recounts the decisive influence Fletcher had on early Methodism, and shows that his writings were able to "control the opinions of the largest and most effective body of evangelical clergymen of the earth." Fletcher's views on the Holy Spirit were also relevant in the ecumenical movement, specifically with reference to the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order held in Lima, Peru, in 1982. This group recommended the introduction of a liturgy of the Spirit in Christian baptism.

For students and scholars or general readers interested in Methodist history and theology. Also a resource for pastors-helpful in developing a theology of Pentecost that will preach in a relevant way in the contemporary world.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

A powerful political novel based on the sudden, mysterious death of the man who had been handpicked to succeed the hated Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? That is the burning question. The man who died by his own hand, or another's, was Mehmet Shehu, the presumed heir to the ailing dictator, Enver Hoxha. So sure was the world that he was next in line, he was known as The Successor. And then, shortly before he was to assume power, he was found dead. THE SUCCESSOR is simultaneously a mystery novel, a historical novel-based on actual events and buttressed by the author's private conversations with the son of the real-life Mehmet Shehu-and a psychological novel (How do you live when nothing is sure?). Vintage Kadare, THE SUCCESSOR seamlessly blends dream and reality, legendary past, and contemporary history.