Enter the Dragon


Book Description

China has experienced a remarkable transformation since the 1990s. It now boasts the second-largest — some would argue the largest — economy in the world, having evolved from a closed economy into the leading goods-trading nation. China’s economic rise has given it increasing prominence in international monetary and financial governance, but it also exposes China to new risks associated with its integration into the global financial system. Drawing insights from economics and political science, Enter the Dragon: China in the International Financial System takes a broad conceptual approach and tackles the questions that accompany China’s ascendance in international finance: What are the motivations and consequences of China’s effort to internationalize the renminbi? What is the political logic underlying China’s foreign financial policy? What forces have shaped China’s preferences and capacities in global financial governance? Enter the Dragon contributes to the ongoing debate over China’s political interests, its agenda for economic and financial cooperation, and the domestic and international implications of its economic rise. Bringing together experts from both inside and outside of China, this volume argues that China’s rise in the international financial system is a highly complex and political process, and can only be understood by incorporating analysis of domestic and international political economy.




When Women Were Dragons


Book Description

A GOODREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A fiery feminist fantasy tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are. "Ferociously imagined…and as exhilarating as a ride on dragonback." —Lev Grossman, bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy "Completely fierce, unmistakably feminist, and subversively funny." —Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry In the first adult novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Ogress and The Orphans, Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of. Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden. In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.




Dragon's Gate


Book Description

‘In rural China in 1865, 14-year-old Otter eagerly sails to California to join his father and legendary uncle on the transcontinental railroad. On a freezing, snow-filled mountain in the Sierras, Otter begins his harrowing journey toward self-knowledge. An engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.’—BL. ‘Told with humanity and compassion… a tribute to the survival and courage of these immigrants.’—1994 Newbery Committee. 1994 Newbery Honor Book Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) 1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA) 1994 John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association) 1994 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of America)




Revelation


Book Description

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.




Bea's Witch


Book Description

The future can be rewritten. On the eve of her twelfth birthday, Beatrice Crosse runs away from her adoptive home only to encounter the ghost of England's most famous prophetess. The witch offers her treasure, but can she be trusted? Bea must wrestle her past to discover the witch's secret and find her way home.




Operation Black Dragon


Book Description

COVID-19. For months, the coronavirus has been holding the world in a death grip. By now, it's dawning on people that nothing will ever be the same. It's the liberal societies of the West that are feeling the merciless impact the most. Besides the immense, spiraling costs, they must also cope with the reality that their freedom-orientated societal models are beginning to unravel because of this disaster. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the West is faltering. The West as a colossus with feet of clay- that’s what’s impelling the men around Chinese intelligence agent Yue Fei. Author Klaus Mewes has written a gripping thriller, a sophisticated mixture weaving together geostrategy, the history of the virus pandemic, and the research behind it. Klaus also expertly uses China’s breathtaking development and eventful history over the past thirty years to infuse his story with realism. The author sheds light on the - fictitious, to be sure - events leading up to the outbreak of the pandemic. Meanwhile, a young woman physician, Shenmi, lives through the 1989 events that occurred on Tiananmen Square. Traumatized, she withdraws emotionally. That is, until the death of a boy during the 1997 H5N1 flu epidemic changes her life yet again, and she resolves to dedicate herself to researching viruses - specifically, coronaviruses. Yue Fei, however, the cunning intelligence agent, is playing his own game. Failing in his hunt for dissidents and professionally exiled as a consequence, he contemplates revenge and the opportunity to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of his superiors. One day, by random chance, he stumbles across an old acquaintance - whereupon he hatches a plan that will change the world. Now begins a breathless race against time.










African Agency in International Politics


Book Description

This book analyses the rapidly increasing role of African states, leaders and other political actors in international politics in the 21st Century. In contrast to the conventional approach of studying how external actors impacted on Africa’s international relations, this book seeks to open up a new approach, focusing on the impact of African political actors on international politics. It does this by analysing African agency – the degree to which African political actors have room to manoeuvre within the international system and exert influence internationally, and the uses they make of that room for manoeuvre. Bringing together leading scholars from Africa and Europe to explore the role and conception of African Agency, this book addresses a wide range of issues, from relations with western and non-western donors, Africa’s role in the UN and World Trade Organisation, negotiations over climate change, trade agreements with the European Union, regional diplomatic strategies, the character and extent of African state agency, and agency within corporate social responsibility initiatives. African Agency in International Politics will be of interest to scholars and students of Africa’s international relations, African politics, development, geography, diplomacy, trade, the environment, political science and security studies.