Literary Fiction Political

Three unusual men are at the heart of Parallel Stories: Hans von Wolkenstein, whose German mother is linked to secrets of fascist-Nazi collaboration during the 1940s; Ágost Lippay Lehr, whose influential father has served Hungary’s different political regimes for decades; and András Rott, who has his own dark record of mysterious activities abroad. The web of extended and interconnected dramas reaches from 1989 back to the spring of 1939, when Europe trembled on the edge of war.

Written during the English Civil War, of which Hobbes had first-hand experience, Leviathan argues for political rule by an absolute authority. Hobbes claimed that human nature was, at its core, ruthless and brutal: people were selfish, self-interested and likely to cause conflict for one another. In order to combat this chaos, individuals ought to submit to a sovereign – a ‘Leviathan’ – in exchange for order, security and peace.

Saeed is the comic hero, the luckless fool, whose tale tells of the aggression and resistance, terror and heroism, reason and loyalty, that typify the hardships and struggles of Arabs in Israel. An informer for the Zionist state, his stupidity, candor, and cowardice make him more of a victim than a villain; but in a series of tragicomic episodes, he is gradually transformed from a disaster-haunted, gullible collaborator into a Palestinian—no hero still, but a simple man intent on survival and, perhaps, happiness.

En 2001, à la mort de son ancien professeur, l'éditeur-poète Chevalier Branlequeue (un nom de plume!), l'écrivain Samuel Nihilo décide de poursuivre les recherches de ce dernier sur la crise d'octobre 1970. Chevalier y a toujours vu l'aboutissement d'une conspiration politique. De Montréal, où commence son enquête, jusqu'au village mexicain de Zopilote, où les chemins de Nihilo et d'un ex-felquiste se croiseront....

Numero Zero is the feverish and delightfully readable tale of a ghostwriter in Milan whose work pulls him into an underworld of media politics and murderous conspiracies (involving the cadaver of Mussolini's double, naturally). This novel is vintage Eco - corrupt newspapers, clandestine plots, imaginary histories - and will appeal to his many readers and earn him legions of new ones.

Moses longs for something outside the grim existence he has known. He and his friend Kioso hitch a ride out of the city on the back of a truck, only to find themselves in the wilderness where their street wisdom no longer helps them as they encounter poisonous snakes, cruel jungle travelers, and a brutal shoot-out with elephant poachers.

While America struggles to define its destiny, beautiful and ambitious Caroline Sanford fights to control her own fate. One of Vidal’s most inspired creations, she is an embodiment of the complex, vigorous young nation. From the back offices of her Washington newspaper, Caroline confronts the two men who threaten to thwart her ambition: William Randolph Hearst and his protégé, Blaise Sanford, Caroline’s half brother.

George Washington Hayduke III was last seen clinging to a rock face in the wilds of Utah as an armed posse hunted him down for his eco-radicalist crimes. Now he is back with a fiery need for vengeance. In this sequel to the enormously popular and entertaining The Monkey Wrench Gang, Hayduke teams up with his old pals Doc Sarvis, Seldom Seen Smith, and Bonnie Abbzug in a battle against the world's biggest earth-moving machine.

It's one of the stealthiest, most dangerous underwater warships ever built—and it's about to set off World War III. Silent at less than five knots and capable of a massive nuclear warhead punch, it's the 240-foot Russian Kilo Class submarine. Strapped for hard cash, the Russians have produced...

The Committee pits friends against friends and threatens careers and lives in a struggle for the soul of a town, a university, and an ideal. Based on actual historical events and set against the backdrop of political, cultural, and class turmoil, this is a story of love - both licit and hidden - war, friendship, betrayal, compromise, and finally the necessity to stand firm against the encroachments upon freedom by men who believe they are doing God’s and the government’s righteous work.

De Prague à Alger, en passant par Paris, de 1910 à 2010, ce roman évoque la traversée d'un siècle par Joseph Kaplan, médecin juif praguois, qui débarque à Paris en 1936. Il écoute les chansons de Carlos Gardel et écume les bars parisiens, insensible à la montée des fascismes européens. Dans les tourmentes de l'Histoire, de la Seconde Guerre mondiale jusqu'à la chute du mur de Berlin, Joseph Kaplan va traverser le siècle en trébuchant puis se relevant.

When Robert Walter, popular mayor of Amsterdam, sees his wife toss her head back with laughter while chatting to one of his aldermen at a New Year's reception, he immediately suspects the worst. Despite their long and happy marriage, Robert is convinced that Sylvia is cheating on him - with the respectable alderman who is dedicated to the environment, no less. The man who wants to spoil the capital's skyline with wind turbines.

"Une journée d'Ivan Denissovitch", c'est celle du bagnard Ivan Denissovitch Choukhov, condamné à dix ans de camp de travail pour avoir été fait prisonnier au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le récit nous montre sa journée depuis le coup sur le rail suspendu dans la cour qui marque le lever, jusqu'au court répit du soir et au coucher, en passant par les longues procédures de comptage, la peur des fouilles, les bousculades au réfectoire, les travaux de maçonnerie par un froid terrible dans l'hiver kazakhe, les menues chances et malchances de la journée.

A group of outcasts with extraordinary abilities must save a crumbling world from annihilation in this gripping follow-up to The Nobody People. Fahima Deeb changed everything seven years ago when she triggered the Pulse, imbuing millions of people with otherworldly gifts like flight...

When a group of outcasts with extraordinary abilities comes out of hiding, their clash with a violent society will spark a revolution—or an apocalypse. “Much like the X-Men comics, Proehl masterfully uses science fiction as a lens to examine social inequality and human evil...

1979. Jaded Edinburgh journalist Neil Bannerman is sent to Europe, intent on digging up dirt. Yet it is danger he discovers, when two British men are found murdered. One victim is a journalist, the other a Cabinet Minister: the double-assassination witnessed by the former's autistic daughter. This girl recalls every detail about her father's killer - except for one.

While trailing a Chinese nuclear attack sub, Jerry Mitchell, the captain of USS North Dakota, is shocked to see the Chinese boat torpedo a Vietnamese merchant ship. This blatant act of aggression is the opening gambit in a war that has blindsided the U.S. and quickly embroiled all nations in the western Pacific. These nations, bound together in the newly formed Littoral Alliance, have begun a covert submarine campaign aimed at crippling China’s economy.

The third volume of Gore Vidal's magnificent series of historical novels aimed at demythologizing the American past, 1876 chronicles the political scandals and dark intrigues that rocked the United States in its centennial year.

Lionel Asbo, a terrifying yet weirdly loyal thug (self-named after England's notorious "Anti-Social Behaviour Order"), has always looked out for his ward and nephew, the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine. He provides him with fatherly career advice (always carry a knife, for example) and is determined they should share the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), Internet porn, and all manner of more serious criminality. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love .

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, first published in 1915, is a feminist utopian novel that describes an isolated society composed entirely of women---a progressive, environmentally conscious land where peace and rationality reign and poverty is unknown.