History & Culture & Politics (GR)

Quadratic equations, Pythagoras theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi - you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear - bestselling science writer, and your new favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help. In The Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of...

"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and thats that-the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?" In an attempt to...

The "captivating" (The New York Times), definitive biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, detailing the extraordinary rise and political brilliance of the most powerful--and elusive--woman in the world. Angela Merkel has always been an outsider. A pastors daughter raised in Soviet-controlled East Germany, she spent her twenties working as a...

In this, er, unique illustrated potted history of the human race, Twitter icon James Felton uses his inimitable brand of banter to unveil the slyest, creepiest and/or nastiest specimens whove ever lived. Enter the 16th Century Chinese Emperor Zhegende, whose harem was so big some of the women within it...

A CUNNING CHRONICLE OF THE 50 CODES THAT ALTERED THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND CHANGED THE WORLD From the bestselling author of Bletchley Park Brainteasers and The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book. There have been secret codes since before the Old Testament, and there were secret codes in the Old Testament...

First published in 1982, this text is widely regarded as a leading general history of the country. This new and revised edition brings the story of this fascinating country up to date, incorporating the latest scholarship on every period of Malaysian history, including recent research into pre-modern times. This text...

Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang unveil the tech story of our times in this riveting, behind-the-scenes expose that offers the definitive account of Facebooks fall from grace. Once one of Silicon Valleys greatest success stories, for the past five years Facebook has been under constant...

Where does wealth come from? How is it different from money? Does government intervention prevent or create crises? What is the most effective way to protect the environment? In Economics Without the Boring Bits, Oxford-trained economist Tejvan Pettinger takes readers on an enlightening tour of the powerful, counter-intuitive and frequently...

"A journey into the origins of COVID-19 and the discovery of vaccines and potential cures . . . I learned so much that I didnt know before--above all, I met the subtle warriors of the laboratory who are working to save all of us from the horror of new pandemics."--Richard...

Alice Roberts has been travelling the world - from Ethiopian desert to Malay peninsula and from Russian steppes to Amazon basin - in order to understand the challenges that early humans faced as they tried to settle continents. On her travels she has witnessed some of the daunting and brutal...

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? Its Not About the Burqa is an anthology of essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience.In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to...

Over the past century, Malaysia has seen criminal cases that have gripped the attention of the entire nation and beyond. These crimes vary in nature and details, and in some instances, the perpetrators have been caught and punished, while others remain unresolved. What most of them have in common is...

In The Malay Dilemma, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad examines and analyses the make-up of the Malays and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. First published in 1970, the book seeks to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Mahathir sets out his...

Lion City tells the extraordinary story of Singapore - the worlds most successful city state. In 1965, Singapores GDP per capita was on a par with Jordan. Now it has outstripped Japan. After the Second World War and a sudden rupture with newly formed Malaysia, Singapore found itself independent -...

Tunku Abdul Rahman was first the prime minister of Malaya and then of Malaysia (1957-70). In this never-before-published volume, the authora former journalist, newspaper director and political advisor, as well as political prisoner from 1976-81shares many hours of his conversations with the Tunku held over two years in the early...

Dr Mahathir Mohamad governed Malaysia for 22 years (1981–2003), during which he wrote and received many letters from world leaders. The seventy-one letters presented in this volume—by Dr Mahathir, Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher, George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac, among others—argue the contrasting positions on terrorism, globalisation, economic...

Many leaders write memoirs but few risk sharing their official correspondence with the public. This second volume of 73 letters records frank discussions on many issues of great public concern. Those from Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong stand out because they are sharp, business-like, meticulous and detailed. Letters...

This book chronicles Zunar’s fight through cartoons from 2009 to 2018. Peppered within the pages of this book are some of Zunar’s timeless philosophies on cartooning, which have kept him going despite the odds stacked against him – arrests, court charges, banning of books, travel ban. In this book, Zunar...

People within the Malay world hold strong but diverse opinions about the meaning of the word Melayu, which can be loosely translated as Malayness. Questions of whether the Filipinos are properly called ""Malay"", or the Mon-Khmer speaking Orang Asli in Malaysia, can generate heated debates. So too can the question...

In what is today Malaysia, the British established Georgetown on Penang Island in 1786, and encouraged Chinese merchants and labourers to migrate to this vibrant trading port. In the multicultural urban settlement that developed, the Chinese immigrants organized their social life through community temples like the Guanyin Temple (Kong Hok...