Originally published in 1987, The Creation of Local Authority Sector of Higher Education is a macro-analysis of the creation and development of the local authority sector of higher education from the early 1960s to the 1980s. It is a political/administrative study of educational policy-making and decision-taking at the national level. This book surveys the influence on the policy of various groups such as the Department of Education and Science, the local authority associations, a...

This book provides an introduction to the theory and practice of diplomacy and its vital role in an era of increasing international uncertainty.The work employs a distinctive "diplomatic perspective" on international relations and argues that the experience of conducting diplomacy gives rise to a set of priorities: first, the peaceful resolution of disputes; second, the avoidance of unwanted conflict; and, third, the minimization of the intensity of violent conflict where it has be...

This exciting new textbook provides an accessible and lively introduction to international relations for students encountering the subject for the first time.Presenting complex ideas, concepts and arguments in a straightforward and conversational way, the textbook explains international relations from a diplomatic perspective, emphasizing co-existence in the absence of agreement, and developing students’ ability to make sense of the current conditions of international uncertainty.

Diplomacy does not take place simply between states but wherever people live in different groups. Paul Sharp argues that the demand for diplomacy, and the need for the insights of diplomatic theory, are on the rise. In contrast to conventional texts which use international relations theories to make sense of what diplomacy and diplomats do, this book explores what diplomacy and diplomats can contribute to the big theoretical and practical debates in international relations today. Sharp ide...

Too often we let the little moments slip by and miss out on the deep importance of sharing meaningful notes with those close to us. Little Notes, Big Heart was inspired as a result of losing loved ones in our lives.Every day without them is a loving reminder that we should never pass up an opportunity to share love and kindness with others. Giving meaningful notes to others fills their heart with happiness while growing our own sense of joy.Let Little Notes, Big Heart make ...

“A planet-stomping space opera that bursts off the page like a tactical nuke.”—John Birmingham, author of Weapons of ChoiceThe Hammer Worlds—the most brutal and oppressive interstellar government in the universe—have hijacked the Federated Worlds cruise ship Mumtaz, seizing its valuable terraforming cargo and damning its passengers to mining the moons of the prison planet known as Hell.For Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort and the crew aboard deep ...

If he survives, hell just may freeze over.The savage Hammer Worlds are not only near invincible but almost certain to win their war to crush the Federated Worlds and control humanspace–unless the Feds can find and destroy their secret antimatter warhead facility.Only dreadnoughts, the lone Federated ships able to withstand antimatter missile attacks, can do the job, and only Lieutenant Michael Helfort has the skill to lead them. But skill may not be enough, because Helfort ...

The Mendozan Guild. A criminal cartel. Ruthless and violent, it has killed almost everyone Samira Anders has ever loved. But she fought back, ripping the life out of the Guild's boss of bosses in a storm of 40-mm cannon fire. Now, humiliated and angry, the Guild knows it must kill her too. It has to. Not to would be show weakness, and the Guild has too many enemies waiting to tear it apart. And Samira knows it.Samira's choices are not good. Running is a really bad option; the Guild...

Some call it revenge; she calls it justice . . .Samira Anders is young and out of control; drugs, alcohol, and a prison sentence are just the start.But when Samira's mercenary father is murdered, she has to change, and change she does, starting her new life with two promises: to take over from her father as command pilot of the family's antiquated assault lander and to track down his killers.Samira discovers that promises are easy to make and hard to keep. Worse, they ...

He thought Hell was the worst they could throw at him.He was wrong.Back from tangling with the Hammer of Kraa, the most brutal, trigger-happy tyrants in humanspace, Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort is assigned to the Federated Worlds heavy cruiser Ishaq, which is struggling to rise to the threat posed by a newly resurgent Hammer. Aboard the floundering ship, Helfort is coming to grips with a painful injury and the unpleasant truth that nobody likes a young hero–least of all...

A death machine . . .Thousands of light-years from humanspace, an ancient culture has created the Shield, a malignant, mindless machine with one task: to annihilate every sentient being it encounters.The Shield has already slaughtered billions.And now it is the turn of humanity to die.

America is drowning in debt, its leadership of the Free World compromised, its allies isolated and weakened, its position as the globe's most powerful nation under attack from a relentless China.A China that sees the 21st Century as its century. A China determined to become the world's only superpower. A China whose manifest destiny is to stand astride a humbled America.But what so many accept as inevitable, a group of ultra-nationalist Americans refuse to accept. If the Unit...