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More Time for Politics: Diaries 2001-2007
by Tony BennWhen Tony Benn left Parliament after 51 years he quoted his wife Caroline's remark that now he would have 'more time for politics'. And so this has proved: in the first seven years of this century he has helped reinvigorate national debate through public meetings, mass campaigns and appearances in the media, passionately bringing moral and political issues to wide audiences. And throughout, as ever, he has been keeping his diaries.Commenting on the demise of the New Labour project from the re-election of Tony Blair in 2001 to the ultimate foreign policy disasters of Afghanistan and Iraq, he gives other prescient accounts of the government's by-passing of Cabinet, parliament and the party, of the 'war on terror', the debate about Islam, globalisation and the changes in British society. Although he is no longer in power or in parliament, Tony Benn remains a figure of enormous respect whose direct views, honestly expressed, have often awakened the national conscience. His latest Diaries, human and challenging in turn, are an enthralling read.
More True Lies: 18 Tales for You to Judge (True Lies Ser. #2)
by George ShannonA man is thrown in jail for picking up a rope. A student earns one hundred points on his math and history tests, yet fails both classes. A spider saves a fugitive from a legion of warriors. A farmer buys a cow, a horse, and a donkey, all with a single ear of corn.... Each of the eighteen stories in this book is true, technically. But each is also a lie.In his second collection of "true lies" from around the world, George Shannon challenges young readers to uncover the whole truth. But be careful: a word with more than one meaning can obscure the facts. And a hidden detail can mean the difference between honesty and a twisted truth that is, in its essence, a lie.Can you tell the difference?Can you discover:"What's the truth,the whole truth?And where's the lie?"
More Wicked Words: A Black Lace Short Story Collection
by VariousWicked Words - a collection of saucy and compelling short storiesThis is the best in contemporary sexy fiction - characters who know what they like and stories that dazzle and delight.The series is a showcase of writing by women at the cutting edge of erotic literature, pushing the boundaries of desire to bring you fantasies of unashamed indulgence. Seductive and daring, imaginative and sensual, Wicked Words collections are the juiciest erotic stories to be found anywhere in the world.
MORI Building: The Making of Vertical Garden Cities
by Minoru MoriFrom building office blocks in the charred ruins of post-war Tokyo to creating Japan's largest ever urban development, Mori Building Co. has revolutionized how cities are made. In the late 1960s, after the success of its early 'number buildings', the company changed its focus from individual sites to whole neighbourhoods as Japan's economic miracle fuelled a building boom. By the 1980s Mori had completed the groundbreaking redevelopment at Ark Hills, home to the country's first 'intelligent building' which became Tokyo's international finance hub. This was the forerunner to the Roppongi Hills project - a cultural quarter which has attracted 40 million visitors a year since it was completed in 2003 and is Japan's biggest private development to date.In this book, Minoru Mori tells the story of the remarkable growth and pioneering vision that made Mori Building Co. Japan's leading developer. He traces the entire history of the company and shows how the unconventional thinking championed by Mori will be vital as Japan faces the challenges of recovering from a devastating tsunami while dealing with a shrinking population and a turbulent global economy.
Morito
by Samantha Clark Samuel ClarkAs the little sister of Moro, Morito has been serving delicious and innovative tapas and mezze in the heart of London’s Exmouth Market for over three years. Morito’s cracked plaster walls and striking bright orange Formica bar create a space that is relaxed and welcoming but also edgy and cool, described by Times critic Giles Coren as, “simultaneously supercool and modest, and as much like a brilliant little backstreet place in Spain as you’ll find in this country.”Sam and Sam Clark’s little gem of a tapas bar packs a big culinary punch, attracting critical acclaim and constant queues. Now, with the publication of the cookbook of this hugely successful restaurant, Morito’s small plates can be cooked, eaten and shared at home. Photographed over the course of two years often by members of the Morito team – the pages of the book invite you in to celebrate and share the special character and atmosphere of Morito, which people often say 'hits you like a wall of joy'. There are over 150 simple and seasonal recipes arranged in 10 chapters. Choose from (Breads) Za’atar Flatbreads, (Pinchos) Anchovy, Pickled Chilli and Olive Gilda, (Montaditos) Crab Toasts with Oloroso Sherry, (Eggs and Dairy) Huevos Rotos – Broken Eggs with Chorizo and Potato, (Vegetables) Beetroot Borani with Feta, Dill and Walnuts or Crispy Chickpeas with Chopped Salad, (Fish) Sea bass Ceviche with Seville Orange, or Black Rice with Preserved Lemon, (Meat) Lamb Chops Mechoui with Cumin or Smoked Aubergine with Spiced Lamb and Chilli Butter, as well as a handful of classic Morito puddings and Drinks.‘You’ll want to graze your way around chef Marianna Leivaditaki’s food, which takespainstakingly sought-out ingredients (try the pistachios from Gaziantep in Turkey to taste whatyou’ve really been missing) and incorporates them into sharing plates you really won’t want toshare.’- Foodism, June 2016‘Eating at Morito is like a journey of discovery – of flavours, textures and combinations ofingredients.’- Blanche Vaughan, June 2016'Morito’s menu reads like an exotic dream and doesn’t disappoint.’- Restaurant Magazine June 2016
Moritz Hoernes: Pionier der Urgeschichtsforschung
by Andreas LippertDer Band ist eine Biografie des ersten Lehrkanzelinhabers für Prähistorische Archäologie im deutschen Sprachraum. Nach einer längeren Zeit von Forschungen in Bosnien und der Herzegowina fand Hoernes eine Anstellung in der Prähistorischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums in Wien. Hier erst entschied er sich für urgeschichtliche Forschungen. Er habilitierte sich für das Fach 1892 und wurde bereits 1899 zum außerordentlichen Univ.-Professor an der Universität Wien ernannt. 1911 erfolgte dann seine Berufung als ordentlicher Univ.-Professor an dieser Universität. Hoernes verfasste einige bedeutende Übersichtswerke zur Urgeschichte in Europa, die noch heute Geltung haben, und zahlreiche Fachbeiträge.
Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History
by Nellie BowlesFrom former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles, a look at how some of the most educated people in America lost their minds—and how she almost did, too.As a Hillary voter, a New York Times reporter, and frequent attendee at her local gay bars, Nellie Bowles fit right in with her San Francisco neighbors and friends—until she started questioning whether the progressive movement she knew and loved was actually helping people. When her colleagues suggested that asking such questions meant she was &“on the wrong side of history,&” Bowles did what any reporter worth her salt would do: she started investigating for herself. The answers she found were stranger—and funnier—than she expected.In Morning After the Revolution, Bowles gives readers a front-row seat to the absurd drama of a political movement gone mad. With irreverent accounts of attending a multiday course on &“The Toxic Trends of Whiteness,&” following the social justice activists who run &“Abolitionist Entertainment LLC,&” and trying to please the New York Times&’s &“disinformation czar,&” she deftly exposes the more comic excesses of a movement that went from a sideshow to the very center of American life.Deliciously funny and painfully insightful, Morning After the Revolution is a moment of collective psychosis preserved in amber. This is an unmissable debut by one of America&’s sharpest journalists.
Morning Pages
by Kate FeifferWhen her professional and family life collide, a playwright starts journaling every morning to push through her writer&’s block in this laugh-out-loud and fresh take on family, friendship, and the chaos of midlife. &“[A] winning adult debut…&” –Publishers WeeklyElise Hellman was once heralded by audiences and critics as a &“playwright to watch.&” Then they forgot all about her. When a prestigious theater company unexpectedly offers her a generous commission to write a new play, she has an opportunity to turn her career around. With sixty-five days left until her deadline, Elise starts scribbling a few pages of stream-of-consciousness first thing every morning as a way to get over her writer&’s block—a technique called Morning Pages, popularized in Julia Cameron&’s The Artist&’s Way. What emerges is a witty confessional in which Elise chronicles her life with her teenage stoner son and her overbearing and eccentric mother, who is losing her memory but not her profanity. She writes about her lingering feelings for her ex-husband, her best friend who is acting oddly, and the confusing encounters she has with a handsome stranger in an elevator. As she writes, the marked-up scenes from her play, Deja New, are revealed, as a story within the story. Morning Pages is about what life throws at you when you&’re trying to write. It is both a humorous exploration of the creative process and a relatable coming-of-age tale for the generation sandwiched between caring for their parents and caring for their kids.
The Morning Tide
by Audrey HowardLiverpool, 1921. It was the year lively Kate Fowler rebelled against working in her hated father's chip shop and, with her gentle sister Jenny, left his brutal house forever. For this was the Jazz Age - and Kate and Jenny revelled in their freedom and in dancing until dawn, until romance changed the tempo of their lives. For Kate, it was Charlie, a man as strong and warm-hearted as herself. For Jenny, it was Nils, the Norwegian navigator, who shared a brief, bittersweet affair with her before tragically disappearing from her life. And while Kate and Charlie together face the bad times that are coming, Jenny looks set to repeat the tragic pattern of her mother's life.
The Moro Cookbook
by Samantha Clark Samuel ClarkSince it was first published in 2001, Moro: The Cookbook has been one of the most talked about, praised and cherished cookbooks of its time. Sam & Sam Clark share a passion for the food of Spain, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean and their London restaurant, Moro, was born out of a desire to cook within these wonderful traditions and to explore exotic flavours little known in the UK. Both the recipe book and restaurant have been showered with awards, accolades and endorsements and the Clarks have built up a legion of devoted fans. In their first book, Sam and Sam have distilled the restaurant's most accomplished and delicious recipes, those that have ensured its extraordinary success. Authenticity is key and their food remains true to the origins of the dishes - heady fusions of warm spices and fiery sauces, slow-cooked earthy stews and delicate flavourings. This is a must-have book for every cook's shelves, written and designed with palpable passion and insight.
Moro Easy
by Samantha Clark Samuel Clark"This is a beautiful book, its inspiring, greed-inducing recipes full of big flavour but requiring little effort. Just gorgeous!" - Nigella Lawson"This will stay by my cooker. It's brimful of great uncomplicated ideas, intense flavours and loads of colour. And the recipes really are easy." - Diana Henry"I love every recipe. They're glorious - delicious, exciting, inspiring, and really easy." - Claudia Roden"Another beautiful Moro book, full of mouth-watering, beautiful recipes to pull us greedily into the kitchen. What a treat!" - Thomasina Miers-Moro is the highly acclaimed home of bold, flavour-centered cooking using few ingredients, perfectly combined. Trailblazing chefs Sam and Sam Clark bring the evocative flavours of Southern Spain and North Africa to everyday cooking. Discover outstanding simple recipes such as Roasted aubergines with pomegranates and pistachios, one-pot Monkfish stew with green beans, potatoes and alioli, and Chicken with preserved lemon labneh - on the table in minutes with the laidback, no-fuss attitude of the countries that inspire them.
Morocco: 2024 Article IV Consultation, Review Under the Flexible Credit Line Arrangement, First Review Under the Resilience and Sustainability Arrangement, and Rephasing of Access Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Morocco
by International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.A report from the International Monetary Fund.
Mort - Playtext
by Stephen Briggs Terry PratchettDeath comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.But when Mort is left in charge for an evening, he allows his heart to rule his head and soon the whole of causality and the future of the Discworld itself, are at risk. Along the way, Mort encounters not only Death's adopted daughter, Ysabell - who has been 16 for 35 years - and his mysterious manservant Albert - whose cooking can harden an artery at ten paces - but also an incompetent wizard with a talking doorknocker and a beautiful, but rather bad-tempered and dead, princess. He also, of course, meets Death.On Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Death really is a 7 foot skeleton in a black hooded robe and wielding a scythe. He is also fond of cats, enjoys a good curry, and rides around the skies on a magnificent white horse called Binky.
Mortal Gods: (antigoddess, Mortal Gods, Ungodly) (The Goddess War #2)
by Kendare BlakeAs ancient immortals are left reeling, a modern Athena and Hermes search the world for answers in Mortal Gods, the second Goddess War novel by Kendare Blake, acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood.Ares, god of war, is leading the other dying gods into battle. Which is just fine with Athena. She's ready to wage a war of her own, and she's never liked him anyway. If Athena is lucky, the winning gods will have their immortality restored. If not, at least she'll have killed the bloody lot of them, and she and Hermes can die in peace.Cassandra Weaver is a weapon of fate. The girl who kills gods. But all she wants is for the god she loved and lost to return to life. If she can't have that, then the other gods will burn, starting with his murderer, Aphrodite.The alliance between Cassandra and Athena is fragile. Cassandra suspects Athena lacks the will to truly kill her own family. And Athena fears that Cassandra's hate will get them all killed.The war takes them across the globe, searching for lost gods, old enemies, and Achilles, the greatest warrior the world has ever seen. As the struggle escalates, Athena and Cassandra must find a way to work together. Because if they can't, fates far worse than death await.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic
by David NadelbergShare the shame. In the days before blogs, teenagers recorded their lives with a pen in top-secret notebooks, usually emblazoned with an earnest, underlined plea to parents to keep away. Since 2002, David Nadelberg has tapped that vast wellspring of adolescent anguish in the stage show Mortified, in which grown men and women confront their past with firsthand tales of their first kiss, first puff, worst prom, fights with mom, life at bible camp, worst hand job, best mall job, and reasons they deserved to marry Simon LeBon. Following the same formula that has made the live show a beloved cult hit, Mortified the book takes real childhood journals and documents and edits the entries into captivating, comedic, and cathartic stories, introduced by their now older (and allegedly wiser) authors. From letters begging rescue from a hellish summer camp to catty locker notes about stuck-up classmates to obsessive love that borders on stalking, Mortified gives voice to the real -- and really pathetic -- hopes, fears, desires, and creative urgings that have united adolescents for generations.
The Mosaic Of Shadows: (The Crusade Trilogy: I): a thrilling epic of murder, betrayal, bloodshed and intrigue in the age of the Crusades
by Tom HarperPerfect for fans of Conn Iggulden, Lindsey Davis, Steven Pressfield, this breathtaking and captivating novel brings the Crusades to life in all their triumphant and tragic glory.'Gripping from the first page, the reader is swept up in this colourful and convincing portrayal of an Emperor and his realm under siege.' - Ink'Superb read. Thoroughly enjoyed it' -- ***** Reader review'Highly enjoyable read' -- ***** Reader review'Brilliant.' -- ***** Reader review'Holds your interest from [the first] to the last page' -- ***** Reader review********************************************************************AN ASSASSIN IS ON THE LOOSE...AND AN EMPIRE STANDS IN PERILByzantium, 1096: When a mysterious assassin fires his arrow at the Emperor, he has more than a man in his sights; as the keystone of a crumbling empire, if he falls, then the mightiest power in Christendom will be torn apart. Aware of the stakes, the Emperor hires Demetrios Askiates, the unveiler of mysteries, to catch the would-be-killer.But Demetrios is entering an unknown and mysterious world and must edge his way through a glittering maze of treachery and deceit before time runs out. Nor are all enemies within the city walls. With the Turks rampant across Asia, the Emperor has sent to the west for mercenaries to reinforce his position.When a great army, tens of thousands strong, appears before the gates, he gets more than he bargained for. The first crusaders have arrived, intent on making their fortunes in war, and they have no allegiance to an empire they eye with jealousy and suspicion.As the armies of east and west confront each other, and the assassin creeps ever closer to his prey, Demetrios must untangle the golden web of intrigue which surrounds the Emperor before the city - and the empire - are drowned in blood.
Moscow Mule
by James YoungA marvellously funny and sharply observed account of a journey to Russia by one of Britain's most talented young writers. Moscow - a labyrinth where the humans try to keep one step ahead of the roaches. Everyone on the move, some in search of the quick buck, and others just trying to survive. All dazzled by the neon glare of the western dream. The soviet monolith has broken down in tribalism, tribes who go to war not just on the streets but in overheated rooms, with drugs, vodka and Cindy Crawford carrier bags. James Young gives an unparalleled account of today's Moscow from the bottom side up. He takes us on a odyssey through this strange no man's land where East meets West, where the old certainties have gone, the KGB men wear Italian suits, the Mafia tycoonskis style themselves on the Godfather flicks and the rest are queuing to change dollars.
Moskva: 'The new Le Carre' BBC Radio 2 The Sara Cox Show (Tom Fox Trilogy #1)
by Jack Grimwood*Longlisted for the 2017 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller*'Even better than Child 44' Daily Telegraph'Given that the definitive thriller in 1980's Moscow already exists (Gorky Park), Moskva looks like a crazy gamble. But it's one that comes off' Sunday Times'A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma . . .' January, 1986. A week after disgraced Intelligence Officer Tom Fox is stationed to Moscow the British Ambassador's fifteen-year-old daughter goes missing. Fox is ordered to find her, and fast. But the last thing the Soviets want is a foreign agent snooping about on their turf. Not when a killer they can't even acknowledge let alone catch is preparing to kill again . . .A Cold War thriller haunted by an evil legacy from the Second World War, Moskva is a journey into the dark heart of another time and place.'Mesmerising, surefooted, vividly realised . . . something special in the arena of international thrillers' Financial Times'A compulsive and supremely intelligent thriller from a master stylist' Michael Marshall, author of The Straw Men'A blizzard of exciting set pieces, superbly realized' Daily Telegraph
A Most Agreeable Murder: A Novel
by Julia SealesNATIONAL BESTSELLER • &“A delightful cocktail that mixes elements of the Bridgerton series, Jane Austen&’s Pride & Prejudice and Agatha Christie&’s Miss Marple mysteries . . . The payoff is a wealth of wit, hilarity and suspense.&”—People (Book of the Week)When a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball, a young lady takes on the decidedly improper role of detective in this action-packed debut comedy of manners and murder.A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEARFeisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township: She is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with true crime. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she&’d be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.For her family&’s sake, she&’s vowed to put her obsession behind her. Eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that younger daughter Louisa will steal his heart. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior—a difficult challenge when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear that the guests are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire&’s infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires—before anyone else is murdered.
The Most Arrogant Man in France: Gustave Courbet and the Nineteenth-Century Media Culture
by Petra ten-Doesschate ChuA comprehensive reinterpretation of the pioneering and media-savvy artistThe modern artist strives to be independent of the public's taste—and yet depends on the public for a living. Petra Chu argues that the French Realist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) understood this dilemma perhaps better than any painter before him. In The Most Arrogant Man in France, Chu tells the fascinating story of how, in the initial age of mass media and popular high art, this important artist managed to achieve an unprecedented measure of artistic and financial independence by promoting his work and himself through the popular press.The Courbet who emerges in Chu's account is a sophisticated artist and entrepreneur who understood that the modern artist must sell—and not only make—his art. Responding to this reality, Courbet found new ways to "package," exhibit, and publicize his work and himself. Chu shows that Courbet was one of the first artists to recognize and take advantage of the publicity potential of newspapers, using them to create acceptance of his work and to spread an image of himself as a radical outsider. Courbet introduced the independent show by displaying his art in popular venues outside the Salon, and he courted new audiences, including women.And for a time Courbet succeeded, achieving a rare freedom for a nineteenth-century French artist. If his strategy eventually backfired and he was forced into exile, his pioneering vision of the artist's career in the modern world nevertheless makes him an intriguing forerunner to all later media-savvy artists.
Most Buxom
by Aishling MorganOne thing rules Daniel's life: voyeurism. A desire far too strong to be denied, despite all the guilt it brings him. He knows the risks and is determined to give up his filthy habits. But when he finds himself as landlord to four voluptuous young female students the opportunities for peeping are far too good to resist. Unfortunately he has bitten off far more than he can chew.Most Buxom should be a delight for all those who enjoy the female body in its full, oppulent glory, while there is also plenty of the sort of kinky sex we have come to expect from Aishling Morgan, and even a splash of male submission. A kinky tale of voyeurism from one of our bestselling authors.
The Most Dammed Country in the World (Green Ideas)
by Dai QingIn twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.The courageous, unflinching speeches and writings collected in The Most Dammed Country in the World detail the devastating human and environmental cost of China's economic rise.Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.
The Most Fun We Ever Had: Now a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
by Claire LombardoAPRIL 2024 REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICKLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'A literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler . . . outstanding and highly enjoyable' Observer'The Most Fun We Ever Had is as good as books come' Telegraph'I loved this book' Bryony Gordon'The perfect, engrossing holiday read' RED'A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory' Madeline Miller'A moving, immersive, often very funny study of family and sisterhood' Sunday Times'Like Meg Wolitzer. A forensic dissection of family past and present, I loved it. If you like reading about relationships, this one is for you.' Pandora SykesMEET THE SORENSON FAMILY.MARILYN has somehow fallen into motherhood and spent four decades married toDAVID, who's pretty certain he loves her more than anyone has ever loved another person.WENDY, their eldest, a cause for concern, soothes herself with drink after being widowed young,while VIOLET, lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mother, is disturbed by the reappearance of a son placed for adoption fifteen years earlier.LIZA, a professor, is pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she lovesand GRACE, their dawdling youngest daughter, lives a lie that no one in her family suspects.
Most Marshmallows
by Rowboat WatkinsMost marshmallows are born into marshmallow families, play with marshmallow friends, and go to marshmallow school where they learn to be squishy. Most marshmallows read a book before bed and then fall asleep to dream ordinary marshmallow dreams. Is this book about most marshmallows? It isn't. Because Rowboat Watkins knows that just like you, some marshmallows have big dreams, and just like you, these marshmallows can do anything they set their minds to. This sweet and silly book is an inspiring reminder that by being true to ourselves each of us can be truly extraordinary.
The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and How America Helped Rebuild Europe
by Greg BehrmanIn this landmark, character-driven history, Greg Behrman tells the story of the Marshall Plan, the unprecedented and audacious policy through which America helped rebuild World War II-ravaged Western Europe. With nuanced, vivid prose, Behrman recreates the story of a unique American enterprise that was at once strategic, altruistic and stunningly effective, and of a time when America stood as a beacon of generosity and moral leadership. When World War II ended in Europe, the continent lay in tatters. Tens of millions of people had been killed. Ancient cities had been demolished. The economic, financial and commercial foundations of Europe were in shambles. Western Europe's Communist parties -- feeding off people's want and despair -- were flourishing as, to the east, Stalin's Soviet Union emerged as the sole superpower on the continent. The Marshall Plan was a four-year, $13 billion (more than $100 billion in today's dollars) plan to provide assistance for Europe's economic recovery. More than an aid program, it sought to modernize Western Europe's economies and launch them on a path to prosperity and integration; to restore Western Europe's faith in democracy and capitalism; to enmesh the region firmly in a Western economic association and eventually a military alliance. It was the linchpin of America's strategy to meet the Soviet threat. It helped to trigger the Cold War and, eventually, to win it. Through detailed and exhaustive research, Behrman brings this vital and dramatic epoch to life and animates the personalities that shaped it. The narrative follows the six extraordinary American statesmen -- George Marshall, Will Clayton, Arthur Vandenberg, Richard Bissell, Paul Hoffman and W. Averell Harriman -- who devised and implemented the Plan, as well as some of the century's most important personalities -- Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, Joseph McCarthy -- who are also central players in the drama told here. More than a humanitarian endeavor, the Marshall Plan was one of the most effective foreign policies in all of American history, in large part because, as Behrman writes, it was born and executed in a time when American "foreign policy was defined by its national interests and the very best of ideals."