A memoir by a former Vietnamese refugee who became a U.S. Marine, Quang Pham’s A Sense of Duty is an affecting story of fate, hope, and the aftermath of the most divisive war the United States has ever fought. This heartfelt salute to the spirit of America is also the account of the author’s reunion with his long-absent father, Hoa Pham, himself a devoted officer who saw combat firsthand as a South Vietnamese fighter pilot. Hoa’s revelations about his wartime experience leave Quang even more conflicted about his service in the Marines in the first Gulf War, and after years of struggling to reconnect with each other and the homeland they left behind, the two set out on a final, profound quest—to make sense of the war in Vietnam. Tracing Quang Pham’s uniquely spirited yet agonizing journey from his experiences as an uprooted refugee to his becoming a combat aviator, A Sense of Duty reveals the turmoil of a family torn apart and reunited by the fortunes of war. It is an American journey like no other.

In the first of an extraordinary trilogy of love, tragedy, and hope, there’s a high price to pay for happiness, from the author of the Feeney Family Saga. While her brothers and sisters resign themselves to a life of drudgery, Katherine “Kit” Kilmaster yearns for better things. When she is tempted into dangerous situations with young men above her station, the family are scandalized. Kit revels in London Society, until an unexpected consequence of her free-and-easy lifestyle stops her in her tracks. Thrust back into village life, Kit falls prey to malicious gossip. Overwhelmed, she finally heeds her family’s advice and is almost destroyed. But then a chance encounter promises to deliver the husband and children she has always wanted—provided her shameful secret is not revealed . . . Praise for the writing of Sheelagh Kelly “Sheelagh Kelly surely can write.” —Sunderland Echo “Genuinely perceptive portrayals of human relationships.” —Irish Independent

Nili develops a novel conception of 'the people', both as an agent with its own moral integrity, and as an owner of public property. Exploring problems central to present-day politics, this non-technical book will appeal to political theorists, but also to readers in public policy, area studies, law, and across the social sciences.

From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he’d long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

When Lieutenant Ben Keegan leaves the Navy after a decade of training and service as a SEAL, he's depressed, suffering from post-traumatic stress and sleep problems. Leaving the Navy is the most painful event in his life, and he isolates himself to plan a future as a private government contactor--code for black-op.When he shows up on the campus of a university in Maine, he meets the captivating Lara Reagan O'Connell. Ben is drawn to her, and for the first time in his life he experiences real love. Finishing her master's degree in architectural restoration, Lara meets the handsome former Navy SEAL on campus when he shows up as a part time professor. She is twenty-four years old and beautiful, but terrified of the strong feelings Lieutenant Ben Keegan stirs in her. Several other potential suitors attempt to capture her time, but it's Ben that she respects and admires. But, there's one big problem: he is legally married and has a young son. This is a love story - between a man and a woman, but it's also a story about the love of country. A romance and a thriller, the story is filled with suspense and some unexpected turns.

Are human beings naturally endowed with a conscience? Or is morality artificially acquired through social pressure and instruction? Most people assume that modern science proves the latter. Further, most of our current social policies are based upon this “scientific” view of the sources of morality. In this book, however, James Q. Wilson seeks to reconcile traditional ideas with a range of important empirical research into the sources of human behavior over the last fifty years. Marshalling evidence drawn from diverse scientific disciplines, including animal behavior, anthropology, evolutionary theory, biology, endocrinology, brain science, genetics, primatology, education and psychology, Wilson shows that the facts about the origin and development of moral reasoning are not at odds with traditional views predating Freud, Darwin and Marx. Our basic sense of right and wrong actually does have a biological and behavioral origin. This “moral sense” arises from the infant’s innate sociability, though it must also be nurtured by parental influence. Thus, this book revives ancient traditions of moral and ethical argument that go back to Aristotle, and reunifies the separate streams of philosophical and scientific knowledge that for so long were regarded as unbridgeable.

Too often we neglect our own needs while looking after others dependent upon us, such as children, aging parents, or employers. Trained hypnotherapist and psychoanalyst Vera Peiffer explains how our sense of duty to others can be a trap that keeps us from fulfilling our own needs. This unique, inspiring book helps us find our way out of the duty trap without guilt.

The First American edition of a British best-seller In The Principle of Duty