Why are some autocrats more effective than others at retaining popular support even when their governments perform poorly? To develop insights into popular politics and governance across authoritarian regimes, this book stresses the importance of understanding autocratic blame games. Scott Williamson argues that how autocrats share power affects their ability to shift blame, so that they are less vulnerable to the public's grievances when they delegate decision-making powers to other polit...

Beautiful Australian birdlife is disappearing one by one as an international smuggling operation robs our rainforest. The thieves are after the exotic birds including the master prize ....... The black cockatoo.Can five local heroes band together to battle a quad bike pursuit, a deadly snake and a surprise traitor to release the birds and restore order to the forest!

Have you ever wanted to catch a thief? An international mastermind has made his way to Australia to steal the latest plans for the BEST SMARTWATCH ever! The thief will stop at nothing to complete his goal. He will break and enter, kidnap and take on the police and the military to achieve world domination!Standing in the way are five curious kids, who team together to investigate and create a plan to outsmart the evil thief. Can 5 ordinary kids bring this thief to justice?

The Metal Man by Jack Williamson delivers one of the most unforgettable descent-into-the-unknown narratives in early science fiction. When Professor Thomas Kelvin’s search for radium reveals far more than rare minerals, he finds himself trapped inside a hidden crater world where gravity behaves strangely, metallic transformations creep through living flesh, and luminous entities drift through a toxic green mist. What begins as a scientific mission becomes a desperate strug...

A commercial flight over California becomes something far worse when George Cleland and a handful of passengers pass through a strange violet phenomenon hanging in the sky. Moments later, they crash into a dead world beneath a crimson heaven, surrounded by colossal black cliffs and a landscape where nothing should be able to live. Cut off from Earth, injured, starving, and desperate for water, the survivors struggle to understand the terrifying rules of this alien place before exhaustion d...

The Meteor Girl is an early science fiction story by Jack Williamson, first published in 1931. It follows a young telegraph operator whose ordinary night shift is disrupted when a meteor crashes nearby — bringing with it something far stranger than stone. The encounter pulls him into a mystery that blends young love, cosmic possibility, and the unknown forces that move between worlds. Williamson uses simple, direct prose to create a sense of widening wonder as the familiar gives w...

Out in the asteroid belt, Thad Allen survives on grit, welding arcs, and the faint hope that one rich strike will change his life. When he intercepts a drifting Earth rocket called the Red Dragon, he expects salvage law, maybe a disabled crew, maybe a broken drive. Instead he finds dried blood, abandoned cabins, and a dog trembling at shadows no human eye can see.The ship carries treasure beyond calculation—ingots of rare metals, mountains of cut gems, and a crystal chest ...

In a glass-roofed New York of 2432, where climate is controlled and breakfast arrives at the push of a button, Eric Stokes-Harding makes his living writing about savage jungles and fearless men. His readers crave danger from a safe distance. He and his new wife crave something more. They are tired of comfort. Tired of safety. Tired of living under glass.When a revolutionary device called the Cosmic Express offers the impossible—instant transport by converting matter into radiant en...

Other than food, shelter, and clothing, reading is the very next best thing that you can do for your children to prepare them for their future. Not only does reading enrich the mind but it helps young personalities grow and bloom into a sense of purpose with an understanding of what life is about.Readers are leaders in all walks of life, and the gift of reading is a legacy for a lifetime. There is a void between young people of today and those from decades ago. Rea...

Lost Sci-Fi Books 236 thru 240 brings together five vintage science fiction adventures from Clifford D. Simak, Alan E. Nourse, Bryce Walton, Ray Cummings, and Jack Williamson. Strange creatures wait beyond Earth, abandoned vessels conceal their secrets, and distant worlds prove far more dangerous than they first appear.The Space Beasts by Clifford D. Simak ventures into the unknown with a story from one of science fiction’s most beloved storyteller...

Moved by the Spirit: Religion and the Movement for Black Lives explores the religious and theological significance of the Black Lives Matter Movement. The volume argues for engaging the complex ways religion is present in the movement as well as how the movement is changing religion. The contributors analyze this relationship from a variety of religious and theological perspectives on public protest, the meaning of freedom, Black humanity, the arts and practices of Black religious culture,...

Science Fiction Grand Masters 2 - The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have voted since 1975 to name the best science fiction writers and recognize them as, the best of the best, Grand Masters. This vintage sci-fi anthology contains 17 short stories by the greatest writers in the history of science fiction. All of these short stories are written by Science Fiction Grand Masters.The Black Ewe by Fritz LeiberThe Foxholes of Mars...