An enthralling journey into the shadowy republic of Haiti. In the land of Vodou, zombies and the Tontons Macoute. In this classic account, history jostles with adventure, high comedy is touched with danger; and Haiti glows like a magic charm. Now updated and with a new foreword by the author for the post-earthquake edition.
Italian writer Primo Levi's account of Auschwitz "If This Is A Man" is recognised as one of the essential books of mankind. No other work interrogates our moral history so incisively or conveys more profoundly the horror of the Nazi genocide. On 11 April 1987, Levi fell to his death in the house where he was born. This book presents his biography.
Primo Levi wrote books that have been called "the essential works of humankind," including Survival in Auschwitz and The Periodic Table. Yet he lived an unremarkable existence, remaining to his death in the house in which he'd been born; managing a paint and varnish factory for thirty years; and tending his invalid mother to the end. Now, in a matchless account, Ian Thomson unravels the strands of an influential life.
Jamaica used to be the source of much of Britain's wealth, a tropical paradise for the planters, a Babylonian exile for the Africans shipped to the Caribbean. It became independent in 1962.Jamaica is now a country in despair. It has become a cockpit of gang warfare, drug crime and poverty. Haunted by the legacy of imperialism, its social and racial divisions seem entrenched. Its extraordinary musical tradition and physical beauty are shadowed by casual murder, police brutality and political corruption.Ian Thomson shows a side of Jamaica that tourists rarely see.He met ordinary Jamaicans in their homes and workplaces; and his encounters with the white elite, who still own most of Jamaica's businesses and newspapers, are unforgettable. Thomson brings alive the country's unique racial and ethnic mix; the all-pervading influence of the USA; and the increasing disillusionment felt by its people, who can't rely on the state for their most basic security. At the heart of the book is Jamaica's tense, uneasy relationship with Britain, to whom it remains politically and culturally bound.
On July 30, 1966, nine million American viewers tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup Final on the NBC channel. It was the first stand-alone broadcast of a soccer game on U.S. network television, and England's pulsating extra-time win over West Germany left the audience enthralled.Within weeks, two groups of North American sports promoters were seeking to tap into soccer's newfound popularity by launching rival professional leagues - the National Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association.The inaugural USA tournament featured 10 European teams and two from South America jetting across the continent from the end of May to mid-July. Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibernian arrived from Scotland. Stoke City, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers represented England. Top Serie A side Cagliari came from Italy boasting Italian national team forwards Roberto Boninsegna and Luigi Riva. ADO Den Haag traveled from the Netherlands, Rio state champions Bangu from Brazil and Cerro from Uruguay. Glentoran and Shamrock Rovers, two semi-professional clubs from north and south of the Irish border, completed the line-up.Legendary Wolves striker Derek Dougan led his team to the Western Division crown under the guise of the Los Angeles Wolves. Aberdeen, representing the Washington Whips and boasting U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson as a season ticket holder, won the Eastern Division with a young team including future Manchester United captain Martin Buchan and American college soccer coaching guru Bobby Clark.The Wolves and the Whips produced an epic encounter at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 14, 1967 to determine who would become the first, and ultimately only, United Soccer Association champions. It was the greatest soccer final played on American soil."Summer Of '67" charts the story of the tournament's creation and demise, and recalls the experiences of its participants including Buchan, Clark, former Hibernian and Liverpool midfielder Peter Cormack, Stoke legend Terry Conroy and ex-Wolves winger Terry Wharton.Sixteen players from eight clubs share their memories of the capers, the gimmicks, the celebrity brushes and the games that combined to provide them with the trip of a lifetime.
Named the Dolman Travel Book of the Year, The Dead Yard paints an unforgettable portrait of modern Jamaica. Since independence, Jamaica has gradually become associated with twin images- a resort-style travel Eden for foreigners and a new kind of hell for Jamaicans, a society where gangs control the areas where most Jamaicans live and drug lords like Christopher Coke rule elites and the poor alike. Ian Thomson's brave book explores a country of lost promise, where America's hunger for drugs fuels a dependent economy and shadowy politics. The lauded birthplace of reggae and Bob Marley, Jamaica is now sunk in corruption and hopelessness. A synthesis of vital history and unflinching reportage, The Dead Yard is "a fascinating account of a beautiful, treacherous country" ( Irish Times ).
A TLS Book of the Year. 'Erudite and urgent, Ian Thomson's Dante's Divine Comedy is another book that everyone ought to read' Spectator. 'Succinct but wide-ranging, Ian Thomson's richly illustrated exploration of Dante's masterpiece is... fun... ingenious... fascinating' Observer. 'A book worth savouring as a chunky, chatty, richly illustrated guide that brings Dante and his world within our reach' Evening Standard. A lively and wide-ranging exploration of a literary masterwork and its influence on writers, poets, artists and film-makers up to our own time. Dante has no equal as he sings of other-worldly horror and celestial beatitude alike. Yet for all our distance from medieval theology, the Florentine poet's allegorical journey through hell, purgatory and paradise remains one of the essential works of world literature. At least fifty English language versions of the Inferno – the first part of Dante's poem – appeared in the twentieth century alone. If Dante's Divine Comedy speaks to our present condition, it is because it tells the story of Everyman who sets out in search of salvation in this world. Dante composed his great poem in the spoken Italian of his time. He wrote about suffering bodies and human weakness, and about divine ecstasy, in words that have resonated with readers and writers for the last seven hundred years.
Getting business on board is essential if we want to achieve the United Nations’ goal of building a better future for people and planet by 2030. But much of the sustainable business agenda falls woefully short of what is needed, with some practices even accelerating the problems they’re trying to solve. In Urgent Business Ian Thomson and Dominic Bates, a business school professor and a former journalist, combine their expert insight to challenge five common myths that trap businesses in an unsustainable black-hole and offer a manifesto for change. Combining cutting-edge research – from AI and systems theory to climate science and behavioural economics – with fascinating real-world examples, the authors highlight the practical and holistic steps all businesses can take to play their part in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. .
This unique book combines a colourful history of Bolivian politics with some of the most advanced quantitative techniques yet developed for socio-political risk analysis. This is the story of how a foreign-owned private sector mining company (Minera San Cristobal - MSC) earned, lost, and regained its social licence to operate. Robert G. Boutilier and Ian Thomson, leading experts in stakeholder management theory and practice, transform the concept of the SLO from a metaphor to a management tool. The book traces the development of new concepts and measures in the field of stakeholder engagement while following the narrative of a community struggling with a fundamental change in its identity from a declining, malnourished llama-herding village to one of the richest towns in Bolivia.This remarkable story will inspire practitioners in the field of stakeholder management; it will provide an invaluable roadmap for professionals working on land re-use projects in the energy, mining, and conservation sectors; it will make stakeholder relations concepts and techniques accessible to students through an engaging and in-depth case study; and it will open your eyes to one of the most fascinating accounts of how two different cultures collided and then came together to address different but aligned goals.
This unique book combines a colourful history of Bolivian politics with some of the most advanced quantitative techniques yet developed for socio-political risk analysis. This is the story of how a foreign-owned private sector mining company (Minera San Cristobal - MSC) earned, lost, and regained its social licence to operate. Robert G. Boutilier and Ian Thomson, leading experts in stakeholder management theory and practice, transform the concept of the SLO from a metaphor to a management tool. The book traces the development of new concepts and measures in the field of stakeholder engagement while following the narrative of a community struggling with a fundamental change in its identity from a declining, malnourished llama-herding village to one of the richest towns in Bolivia.This remarkable story will inspire practitioners in the field of stakeholder management; it will provide an invaluable roadmap for professionals working on land re-use projects in the energy, mining, and conservation sectors; it will make stakeholder relations concepts and techniques accessible to students through an engaging and in-depth case study; and it will open your eyes to one of the most fascinating accounts of how two different cultures collided and then came together to address different but aligned goals.
Hinterland is a new quarterly magazine showcasing the best in creative non-fiction writing. Each issue features a stellar line-up of writing talent from around the globe: stories by established, best-selling authors as well as a host of exciting new writers making their publishing debut. Our launch issue stars (among others) Costa Biography Award-winner Rebecca Stott (In the Days of Rain), celebrated journalist Ian Thomson (Dante’s Divine Comedy, The Dead Yard, Primo Levi), an interview with Damian Le Bas (The Stopping Places) a coming of age story by Michael Kineman, a journey across India by Saloni Prasad, photographer Helen James and a glimpse into the world of Tokyo's Western hostesses by Susan K Burton (shortlisted for the 2018 Tony Lothian Prize).
