Best Selling Books by Peter John

"Examines Sir Olaf Caroe's role in Britain's withdrawal from South Asia, the geopolitics behind India's independence in 1947, and the historical precedents of South Asian strategy"--Provided by publisher.

Why has Myanmar (Burma), a country rich in resources - rice, timber, minerals - descended to 'least developed country' status? Is the explanation to be found inside Burma or beyond? Is the failure of development due to political authoritarianism and conflict? Or perhaps the drugs trade is partly to blame? This book contends that all these factors have contributed. But it also maintains that the mismanagement of the country's resources is of equal, or even greater, importance. A clear answer to the question of Burma's developmental failure is sought by focussing upon the misuse of resources in concert with those factors that are more usually emphasized.

How can governments persuade their citizens to act in socially beneficial ways? This ground-breaking book builds on the idea of 'light touch interventions' or 'nudges' proposed in Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's highly influential Nudge (2008). While recognising the power of this approach, it argues that an alternative also needs to be considered: a 'think' strategy that calls on citizens to decide their own priorities as part of a process of civic and democratic renewal. As well as setting out these divergent approaches in theory, the book provides evidence from a number of experiments to show how using 'nudge' or 'think' techniques works in practice. Updated and rewritten, this second edition features a new epilogue that reflects on recent developments in nudge theory and practice, introducing a radical version of nudge, 'nudge plus'. There is also a substantial prologue by Cass Sunstein.

Study of the educational system in Bulgaria, with particular reference to the social implications thereof in a communist society - covers historical aspects, administrative aspects, primary education, secondary education, higher education, teacher training, the role of the communist political party, leadership training, teaching methods, teaching and training materials, the role of youth social movements in promoting social integration, traditional and cultural factors, etc. Bibliography.

Concerned with the development of practices and attitudes to several categories of severely disabled subjects, their use as sources of tissues and organs for transplantation as well as an assessment of the ethical and social implications. Considers the topic of brain death and the changes in approach over three decades. Discusses the current status regarding the use of fetal brain tissue.

This gentle fantasy about Olivia’s visits to her ‘New World’ of Avalon, accessed through her grandfather’s picture of a robin which hangs on her bedroom wall, is a children’s story. Yet, it is much more than what is normally implied by that description. The robin comes to life and calls her through the picture frame into Avalon where she is crowned queen over the forest birds and animals. Olivia explores their world and helps save them from various disasters. But she also grows up. In the first Avalon adventure she is a child, but by the final one she is sixteen, a teenager tracing her individual path as the slightly lonely, youngest child in her real-life family. More than that, she is a teenager dealing with the loss of the beloved granddad who was the person who understood her best. Avalon’s lesson about the continuation of their relationship, beyond death, is the theme of Olivia’s last adventure. Avalon Days has overtones of the writing of the Austrian novelist, poet, and painter Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868). Stifter’s concern for conservation and environmental issues is increasingly relevant today.

Following Stalin's death in 1953, students at Soviet conservatories were able to use various channels to acquire and hear music that had previously been forbidden. This book traces the changing compositional styles and politically charged reception of the music.