Best Selling Books by John King

From their ability to use energy from sunlight to make their own food, to combating attacks from diseases and predators, plants have evolved an amazing range of life-sustaining strategies. Written with the non-specialist in mind, John King''s lively natural history explains how plants function, from how they gain energy and nutrition to how they grow, develop and ultimately die. New to this edition is a section devoted to plants and the environment, exploring how problems created by human activities, such as global warming, pollution of land, water and air, and increasing ocean acidity, are impacting on the lives of plants. King''s narrative provides a simple, highly readable introduction, with boxes in each chapter offering additional or more advanced material for readers seeking more detail. He concludes that despite the challenges posed by growing environmental perils, plants will continue to dominate our planet.

For generations scholars and the general public have looked to John King Fairbank for knowledge and insights about China. In four editions of this work he has provided these. Reviews of this book: "An indispensable book for thoughtful people." DD--New York Times Book Review "Fairbank provides a miraculously concise account of Chinese civilization from its foundations to the present day...Maps, photographs, and an 80-page bibliography make this an invaluable reference work." DD--New Republic "As useful and timely as when it first appeared in 1948. Written by America''s foremost China scholar, John Fairbank, the book addresses a popular, not the academic, audience. It offers a sweeping view of the Chinese polity from ancient times up to the recent, convoluted period of Western contact, spiced by the wit and insight into detail of a geographer who drew the maps himself...Yet the book offers much to the specialist as well as the layman. To the historian, a state-of-the-art review of the latest historical analysis of modern china...To the student, a cogent guide to the field...For the diplomat and businessman, the work explores that most intangible but also most influential area of human feeling between the two countries that has launched ventures and derailed them." DD--China Business Review "The best general introduction to the Chinese political system...A book of love and great learning." DD--Kirkus Reviews "Still flashes with brilliance in its latest (fourth) incarnation...With this latest edition of what is arguably the best guide to China in any language, American and other non-Chinese readers may finally catch a glimpse of the ''very complex'' Chinese way of life." DD--Asiaweek Literary Review "[Fairbank''s] ability to transcend the academic to write a highly readable, authoritative, information-packed, perceptive and analytical account of the Chinese is unsurpassed. This is must reading for all Asiaphiles." DD--Asia Mail

America’s top China–watcher, the renowned pandit of modern Chinese history, here provides an unrivaled overview of revolutionary China and Chinese–American relations. His reviews and critical commentary scrutinize our always fascinated, often puzzled attitude toward this newly emergent superpower. John Fairbank distinguishes two major motifs in recent Chinese–American connections: the American expectation of highly profitable trade and investment, which so far have not materialized, and the deep–rooted missionary impulse to give the Chinese the best of our culture, which includes our efforts to promote human rights. The possibility of grafting our ideas of individual endeavor and God–given prerogatives onto two thousand years of Confucianism with its emphasis on duty and collective harmony seems remote. In contrast, the outlook for mutually enriching economic dealings is much brighter. Yet Fairbank cautions that we are dealing with a huge and disoriented nation struggling to enter the modern world with its own cultural identity intact, and (at least in the current period) with its Communist Party in power. Confucian tenets still prevail: theory and practice are a unity policies are a form of conduct manifesting one’s character, and attacks on policy equal attacks on the ruling party. These writings concern China in the mind’s eye of America—as it is interpreted though the works of American merchants, diplomats, missionaries, and reporters observing China’s travail of revolution. For generalist, scholar, and sage alike, China Watch offers many insights.

"[...]the wishes of the gods be made known to mortals, through the medium of the priests of Mercury, Thoth, or Nebo. The intimate connection of the triple god is no fanciful suggestion, but is acknowledged by all students. Nebo, of the Babylonians (mentioned in the Bible), Thoth, of the Egyptians, and Hermes, of the Greeks, were all worshipped as gods of speech and inventors of transmitted ideas. It is not credible that in Asia or Africa, even as early as the twelfth dynasty, that voice language or speech was a gift newly granted to mankind, so there must have been some reason for the belief that “these gods gave speech to mankind.” This is one of the superstitions puzzling many modern students who have tried to investigate the mysteries of the Temple of Thoth. It is now believed that one of the priests who was connected with the cult conceived the bright idea of communicating[...]".

For those adventurous souls yearning to visit Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turkestan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as China''s western Xinjiang region and the northern Karakoram Highway, Lonely Planet provides expert guidance on every aspect of safe and creative travel as well as offering solid historical and cultural information, maps, and thrilling color photos. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

You know what would really fuck them off? If you went out there and found the least suitable, most inappropriate, most outrageous hunk of a man that this fine city has to offer, and the pair of you rock up to that church service in May, arm in arm. Seán is feeling wronged because his boyfriend Tim has been excluded from a family wedding back home in Ireland. What does it matter that they''ve just broken up? The problem for his family is that Tim is femme, fabulous and worst of all, English. Spurred on by righteous anger, Seán is determined to do something about it. As Greek myths, hook-up apps, and the musical stylings of Sinéad O''Connor collide, Seán launches into his hunt for the most disruptive plus-one possible.

Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) sailed to China in 1874, and for the next thirty-five years he labored loyally in the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service, becoming one of its most able commissioners and acquiring a deep knowledge of China''s economy and foreign relations. After his retirement in 1909, Morse devoted himself to scholarship. He pioneered in the Western study of China''s foreign relations, weaving from the tangled threads of the Ch''ing dynasty''s foreign affairs several seminal interpretive histories, most notably his three-volume magnum opus, The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (1910-18). At the time of his death, Morse was considered the major historian of modern China in the English-speaking world, and his works played a profound role in shaping the contours of Western scholarship on China. Begun as a labor of love by his protégé, John King Fairbank, this lively biography based primarily on Morse''s vast collection of personal papers sheds light on many crucial events in modern Chinese history, as well as on the multifaceted Western role in late imperial China, and provides new insights into the beginnings of modern China studies in this country. Half-finished when Fairbank died, the project was completed by his colleagues, Martha Henderson Coolidge and Richard J. Smith.

This book describes the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, with a pretense of a new government in Kuwait, and less than a week later Saddam Hussein announces that Kuwait is annexed to Iraq.

Following on from his bestselling study of violence, The Football Factory, John King considers Britain''s other obsession - sex. Formed in the chemical mists of New Year''s Eve, The Sex Division sees the once sacred act of procreation at its most material, as five men devise a system based on the sexual act. In this lager-soaked league, the most that women can offer a man is 4 points - unless, that is, she leaves her handbag unattended... From its base in the asset-stripped, emotionally castrated 90s, Headhunters shows the dreams of The Sex Division members breaking through the heavy media cloud of anorexic pin-ups and paedophile fashion. A missing brother, prophetic visions, a love affair, and tit-for-tat confrontation draw the characters out into the open - revealing the men behind the machismo, their need for mutual respect, and their recognition of the hidden or suppressed affinities.

The debate over literal, six-day creation within the “conservative” camp is surely not a tempest in a teapot. While it is fair to acknowledge that sincere Christians appear on both sides of the debate, it is not correct to deduce from that literal, six-day creation is an issue on which there can be a reasonable, brotherly disagreement. Latitudinarians who point out that these has been no consensus on this issue in the orthodox Christian church should realize that there has been no consensus in the orthodox church on the doctrine of justification either, but that fact does not suggest we may hold a latitudinarian view of it. We unswerving advocates of literal, six-day creation are not contending that those who disagree with us are not Christians. We are, however, contending that they do not believe in a Christian manner on this issue. Subtitled A Presuppositional Defense of Literal Six-Day Creation, this symposium by thirteen authors is a direct frontal assault on all latitudinarian and otherwise waffling views of Biblical Creation. It explodes the "Framework Hypothesis," so dear to the hearts of many respectability-hungry Calvinists, and it throws down the gauntlet to all who believe they can maintain a consistent view of Biblical infallibility while abandoning literal, six-day creation. It is a must reading for all who are observing closely the gradual defection of many allegedly conservative churches and denominations, or who simply want a greater grasp of an orthodox, God-honoring view of the Bible.

Visitors gazing out over the Highlands of coastal New Jersey might never guess that these rolling hills have been a stage for mankind''s darkest deeds. Author John King shines a spotlight on the region''s violent history of kidnapping, murder, smuggling, and extortion. From axe-wielding lunatics to killers who leave calling cards, King presents each case with the care of a criminal investigator, including details from coroners'' reports and witness testimonies. In this sensational and gripping read, uncover the gritty history of the Highlands, where suspicious death typically meant foul play and staying in a hotel might cost you your life.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A history of modern China recounting the gains, struggles and failures of the Chinese people since 1800.

Israel and Palestine lie at the heart of today''s conflicts in the Middle East. This book answers key questions, such as: When and how did the modern conflict begin? Are the arguments between Israelis and Palestinians close to being settled? How does the conflict affect the rest of the Middle East and the world?