Deadly Worlds offers an original analysis of one of the unsolved questions of the current age: what are the emotional costs and possibilities of globalization? Lemert and Elliott challenge the dominant interpretations of the late modern world by delving below the surface of cultural and economic theories to explore theories of the new individualism. Against European ideas that the individual is either a manipulated artifact of mass culture or a reflexive self facing global risks, they pose the possibility that the new worlds are actually deadly. Against the American tradition of viewing the individual as having abandoned her moral center, they suggest the necessity of rediscovered aggression as a proper moral quality. Deadly Worlds is controversial, but also plain spoken and intriguing. It dares to rework the case method by telling the stories of real individuals: Kelly struggling to find herself by plastic surgery; Norman responding to a positive HIV status by remaking his community; Larry desperately seeking to control the world's demands by therapy; Phyllis using her natural gift for aggression to heal and build institutions. The life stories root the book's themes in worlds all can recognize, while the presentation of the prevailing theories of globalization and its effects expand the reader's social imagination to new possibilities.

From the Russian spetsnaz to U.S. Navy SEALs, Crawford records some of the most dangerous and fantastic exploits and examines the skills and weaponry used by these legendary warriors. 100 illustrations. 80 photos.

The Huautla in Mexico is the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere, possibly the world. Shafts reach skyscraper-depths, caverns are stadium-sized, and sudden floods can drown divers in an instant. With a two-decade obsession, William Stone and his 44-member team entered the sinkhole at Sotano de San Augustin. The first camp settled 2,328 feet below ground in a cavern where headlamps couldn't even illuminate the walls and ceiling. The second camp teetered precariously above an underground canyon where two subterranean rivers collided. But beyond that lay the unknown territory -- a flooded corridor that had blocked all previous comers, claimed a diver's life, and drove the rest of the team back. Except for William Stone and Barbara am Ende, who forged on for 18 more days, with no hope of rescue, to set the record for the deepest cave dive in the Western Hemisphere.

Lions and scorpions and lethal little jellyfish, oh my! Kids will sink their teeth into this fascinating look at nature's fiercest creatures.

All over the world, there are animals that use their venom, claws, jaws, and more to take down prey. From ambush killers like crocodiles to lions who stalk and pounce to kill their prey, this book has it all. Up-close photographs of deadly animals readers likely would never see in person, like the terrifying Brazilian wandering spider, accompany detailed facts about how dangerous each animal is as well as their size, body adaptations, and habitat. The relative danger to people is covered, particularly for animals, like hippos, that are known to harm many people.

“A merry, idiosyncratic guide, charmingly illustrated.”—Eugenia Bone, The Wall Street Journal An illustrated guide to over 100 types of mushrooms, offering insights and stories about these mysterious organisms An incredible diversity of fungi is flourishing all around us, not just in the forest but in parks, markets, and even museums. Once you know how to look, you can find mushrooms named after fairies and demons, mushrooms that look so much like woodland birds they are shot at by hunters, mushrooms that glow in the dark . . . and so much more. Beyond serving as a guide for identification, Mushrooming explores how “the quiet hunt” can radically expand our perspectives, connect us to nature, and enrich our lives. Whether you’re a beginner forager or an expert mycophile, this is the perfect handbook to spark your curiosity and deepen your appreciation for the fantastic, delicious, deadly, and strange world of fungi.

The most violent places in the world today are not at war. More people have died in Mexico in recent years than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. These parts of the world are instead buckling under a maelstrom of gangs, organized crime, political conflict, corruption, and state brutality. Such devastating violence can feel hopeless, yet some places—from Colombia to the Republic of Georgia—have been able to recover. In this powerfully argued and urgent book, Rachel Kleinfeld examines why some democracies, including our own, are crippled by extreme violence and how they can regain security. Drawing on fifteen years of study and firsthand field research—interviewing generals, former guerrillas, activists, politicians, mobsters, and law enforcement in countries around the world—Kleinfeld tells the stories of societies that successfully fought seemingly ingrained violence and offers penetrating conclusions about what must be done to build governments that are able to protect the lives of their citizens. Taking on existing literature and popular theories about war, crime, and foreign intervention, A Savage Order is a blistering yet inspiring investigation into what makes some countries peaceful and others war zones, and a blueprint for what we can do to help.

From bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis comes a fascinating account of the Spanish influenza pandemic 100 years after it first swept the world in 1918. "Davis deftly juggles compelling storytelling, gruesome details, and historical context. More Deadly Than War reads like a terrifying dystopian novel--that happens to be true." --Steve Sheinkin, author of Bomb and Undefeated A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Month With 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the worst disease outbreak in modern history, the story of the Spanish flu is more relevant today than ever. This dramatic narrative, told through the stories and voices of the people caught in the deadly maelstrom, explores how this vast, global epidemic was intertwined with the horrors of World War I--and how it could happen again. Complete with photographs, period documents, modern research, and firsthand reports by medical professionals and survivors, this book provides captivating insight into a catastrophe that transformed America in the early twentieth century. Praise for More Deadly Than War A Junior Library Guild Selection "More Deadly Than War is a riveting story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918, packed with unforgettable examples of the power of a virus gone rogue. Kenneth C. Davis's book serves as an important history--and an important reminder that we could very well face such a threat again." --Deborah Blum, New York Times bestselling author of The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. "With eye-popping details, Kenneth C. Davis tracks the deadly flu that shifted the powers in World War I and changed the course of world history. In an age of Ebola and Zika, this vivid account is a cautionary tale that will have you rushing to wash your hands for protection." --Karen Blumenthal, award-winning author of Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different * "Davis once again makes history accessible for students from the middle grades through high school." --VOYA, STARRED review

When a team of researchers from Canada’s Arctic Institute travel to York Factory to disinter a grave, they unwittingly stumble upon more than they bargained for buried in the permafrost. Their research is focused on the old Hudson Bay Company fort cemetery, where they are attempting to find a definitive cause of the famed “York Factory Complaint” of 1833 – 1836. But alongside the now-opened grave of Joseph Charles, a “company man” who had succumbed to the “complaint” in 1836, they find a Hudson’s Bay point blanket, an artifact of particular significance to the archeologist of the team, Rachel Thompson, and an indication that Chipewyan people were likely buried there as well. Upon their return from York Factory, Thompson, another member of her team, and the bush pilot who ferried them to their research site, fall gravely ill. When infectious disease interns have the good fortune to be on hand in the remote north as part of a study, they examine the ailing pilot and are horrified to confirm that he suffers from smallpox, a disease thought eradicated worldwide in 1977. A simultaneous smallpox outbreak occurs in Russia, and suddenly the world must ask the question: how could a disease surviving only within the vault-like security of the world’s two level four containment labs have been unleashed to ravage millions? Could the melting permafrost be releasing this deadly contagion? Deadly Thaw is a richly imagined story that could be ripped from news headlines emerging from a planet struggling with the impacts of global climate change. Meticulously researched, steeped in history, and offering a touching lament for the fate of many First Nations people killed by smallpox infections carried from the “old world”, the story will have readers racing to reach its end and sleepless at imagining potential terrors that might await them.

The daily robbing, bashing, drugging, extortion and murder of foreign tourists on Thai soil, along with numerous scandals involving unsafe facilities and well established scams, has led to frequent predictions that Thailand's multi-billion dollar tourist industry will self-destruct. Instead tourist numbers more than doubled in the decade to 2014. The world might not have come to the hometowns of the many visitors fascinated by Thailand, but it certainly came to the Land of Smiles. While the Thai media is heavily censored, and bad news stories about tourists suppressed, nonetheless there is more than enough evidence to demonstrate that something has gone seriously awry with the nation's tourist industry. In 2014, just as in the years preceding it, there were train, bus, ferry, speedboat, motorbike and car accidents, murders, knifings, unexplained deaths, numerous suicides, diving accidents, robberies gone wrong, anonymous bodies washing up on the shores and a string of alcohol and drug related incidents. Thailand had a dying king and serious succession problems, weak democratic institutions, an economy slipping into recession, faced issues of corruption across many of its key services and was host to international crime syndicates, awash with despised foreigners and drifting perilously towards civil war. Tourists choose one destination over another for a number of reasons, most of which Thailand scores highly on. But on the core issue of tourist safety, Thailand scores very badly indeed.