Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in War & Crisis

In his earlier best sellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final audiobook in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma.

Two defense experts explore the collision of war, politics, and social media, where the most important battles are now only a click away. Through the weaponization of social media, the Internet is changing war and politics, just as war and politics are changing the Internet. Terrorists livestream their attacks, “Twitter wars” produce real world casualties, and viral misinformation alters not just the result of battles, but the very fate of nations. The result is that war, tech, and politics have blurred into a new kind of battlespace that plays out on our smartphones.

Noted author, war correspondent, and award-winning writer for the Atlantic Monthly, William Langewiesche furnishes a riveting firsthand account of the excavation of the World Trade Center ruins following its destruction on September 11, 2001. American Ground is an inspiring look at the often contentious mixture of personalities, politics, and emotions that fueled this massive effort. It is also a testament to American ingenuity in the aftermath of a great tragedy.

A former adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains how government's oldest problem is its greatest destabilizing force. Thieves of State argues that corruption is not just a nuisance; it is a major source of geopolitical turmoil. Since the late 1990s, corruption has grown such that some governments now resemble criminal gangs, provoking extreme reactions ranging from revolution to militant puritanical religion.

A gripping work of reportage that, for the first time, tells the story of "Chucky" Taylor, a young American who lost his soul in Liberia, the country where his African father was a ruthless warlord and dictator.

Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Mazzetti examines secret wars over the past decade, tracking key characters from the intelligence and military communities across the world. Among the characters we meet in The Way of the Knife are a young CIA officer dropped into the tribal areas to learn the hard way how the spy games in Pakistan are played; an Air Force test pilot who fired the first drone missile in the Nevada desert; and a chain-smoking Pentagon official who ran an off-the-books spying operation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s “Secret Apparatus” is a clandestine incubator for Islamic terrorism, and it exports its “industry of death” to destroy the world through infiltration, disinformation, and jihad. The world’s most dangerous terrorist group is not hiding in the caves of the Hindu Kush or in the Saharan wilderness—it operates inside the United States, and its members have sworn to fight eternal jihad. The Muslim Brotherhood is a fraternal cult inspired by the Order of the Assassins and modeled after Joseph Stalin’s Secret Apparatus.

The Osama bin Laden I Know is the definitive history of the world's most wanted man. Author Peter Bergen is CNN's terrorism analyst and an acclaimed journalist who actually spent time with bin Laden prior to the events of September 11, 2001. The book features interviews with people from each stage of bin Laden's life, from childhood to the present day, and reveals both formative moments and intimate details that reveal his character and personality.

Al Qaeda did not stop after 9/11. Its reign of terror continued with bombings and mayhem across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. But its frustration grew as the group failed to fundamentally undermine America and its allies. Five years later the time was ripe for another spectacular mega-plot. Fresh from masterminding the London Underground carnage, one veteran operative set in motion a new operation to destroy passenger aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean - and kill thousands of people in the process.

The Islamic State has stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. What explains the rise of ISIS, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world's leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions as he provides a unique history of the rise and growth of ISIS. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling account of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS.

New York Times best-selling author Richard Miniter is an award-winning investigative journalist whose insights have shed light on many of today¹s most vital issues. With Disinformation he takes the popular media to task for the myths they spread about the War on Terror. Miniter has spoken to high-profile sources, sifted through countless information, and traveled the globe to learn that 22 of the most common beliefs about the War on Terror are nothing more than urban legends.

As an embedded journalist in Iraq, North got a soldier's-eye view, often while under fire, of what the mainstream media failed to report. A decorated combat veteran, North watched Operation Iraqi Freedom with trained eyes unmatched by other journalists. What he witnessed compelled him to challenge post-war critics of the operation for their uninformed and deceptive views.

If we are to correctly assess the root causes of terrorism and successfully address the threat, we must think more like economists do. This is the argument of Alan Krueger's What Makes a Terrorist, a book that explains why our tactics in the fight against terrorism must be based on more than anecdote, intuition, and speculation. Many popular ideas about terrorists and why they seek to harm us are fueled by falsehoods, misinformation, and fearmongering. Many believe that poverty and lack of education breed terrorism, despite the wealth of evidence showing that most terrorists come from middle-class, and often college-educated, backgrounds.

Rogue Justice connects the dots for the first time - from the Patriot Act to today's military commissions, from terrorism prosecutions to intelligence priorities, from the ACLU's activism to Edward Snowden's revelations. And it poses a stark question: Will the American justice system ever recover from the compromises it made for the war on terror?

While the Boko Haram conflict has reached a certain level of culturation saturation, what is known about the conflict remains patchy. This collection, featuring interviews with 47 people of all genders, ages and a variety of religious backgrounds, foregrounds the realities of those who are living through the conflict and presenting the humanity of all concerned. Even as they discuss the conflict, their narratives also reflect realities beyond violence, making this an essential cultural archive.

In this sweeping, authoritative account, Daniel Byman traces the key moments in the white power movement’s evolution in the United States and around the world and then details its many facets today. Using a wide range of sources, Byman explodes several myths about white power terrorism and identifies dangerous gaps in current policies. Spreading Hate will be essential listening for anyone worried about this increasingly networked movement that threatens to grow more dangerous in the years to come.