New Release Books by Justin Wintle

One of the quickest ways to understand a people or a culture is to learn their proverbs. This anthology, first published in 1984, compiles in dictionary form proverbs from the Islamic world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. The Arabs were the first to gather and annotate their own proverbs – the earliest collections date from the n

Aung San Suu Kyi, the current state counselor of Myanmar, is one of the world''s foremost inspirational revolutionary leaders and political reformers. For many years, she waged a war of steadfast nonviolent opposition to her country''s vicious militant regime. Because of her resistance to the brutality of the Burmese government, she was placed under house arrest from 1989 to 2010. She endured failing health, vilification through the Burmese media, and cruel imprisonment in one of the world''s most dreadful and inhumane jails. Suu Kyi fought every hardship the junta could put her through, yet she has never once wavered from her position, never once advocated violence, and persevered in her message of peaceful resistance at all costs, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, placing her among the likes of such renowned champions of peace as Gandhi, King, and Mandela. She is a truly heroic revolutionary. In Perfect Hostage, the most thorough biography of Suu Kyi to date, Justin Wintle tells both the story of the Burmese people and the story of an ordinary person who became a hero.

When the Vietnam War finally ended in April 1975 with the communist capture of Saigon, Vietnam itself became a closed country, out of bounds to western travellers and journalists. By 1989, however, such was Vietnams economic plight that the government decided the time had come to open its doors again, albeit most gingerly. By a stroke of good fortune Justin Wintle became the first writer from the West to be allowed to journey around the whole of Vietnam. This is Justin Wintles classic account of what he found in postwar Vietnam, and how, for three months, he played cat and mouse with those charged with keeping him in line, while developing a profound love for more ordinary Vietnamese and the astonishing landscapes they inhabit.

Home to a quarter of the world''s population, China is the rising super-power of the 21st century. The Rough Guide Chronicle gives you the country''s core history in accessible style and handy format, covering more than four thousand years from the earliest kingdoms to today''s communist republic. Featuring a continuous time-line, sidebars on Confucius, the Terracotta Army, the invention of printing, Mao Zedong and a host of other topics, plus dozens of illustrations and quotations, The Rough Guide Chronicle is a vital reference for travellers and students alike. Book jacket.

''The Rough Guide History of Islam'' is a concise history of Islam''s fourteen-hundred year evolution, beginning with the Prophet Mohammed and continuing right to the present day. It traces the emergence of a succession of empires in the wake of the Arab conquests, continuing right through to modern-day fundamentalism. Featuring a continuous time-line, in-depth side-bars on Islam''s ideas, leaders and other topics, plus dozens of illustrations and quotations, the Rough Guide History is a vital reference source.

Spain is one of the great nations of Europe, and the Rough Guide History provides an essential overview of its often turbulent development, from its early incarnation as one of Rome''s most important colonies, through the Islamic conquest and the creation of the New World empire, to the aftermath of the 20th century Civil War. Featuring a continuous time-line, sidebars on the Spanish Inquisition, Cervantes, Goya, General Franco and a host of other topics, plus dozens of illustrations and quotations, the Rough Guide History is a vital companion for travellers and students alike.

Examines the wars fought in Vietnam since 1945--the anti-colonial war against the French, the war of national reunification between the north and south, and the war against American forces