Sheng nü shi dai

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Marilyn Waring

In a world where half the population is likely to be excluded from international human rights guarantees, where unpaid work is given no economic value, where parliamentary process denies women a voice - in such a world truths masquerade as lies. Marilyn Waring writes, in these three essays, of the pretences that create and sustain inequality. Three Masquerades identifies some central myths that promote inequality, and explodes them with an accuracy that is at once devastating and humane.

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Zoya with John Follain and Rita Cristofari

Zoya grew up during the wars that ravaged Afghanistan and lost both her parents in a bombing raid on Kabul. Zoya's story is one of a young woman fighting a clandestine war of resistance against the Taliban at the risk of her own life.

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Stephen Lovell

Almost twenty years after the Soviet Union's end, what are we to make of its existence? Was it a heroic experiment, an unmitigated disaster, or a viable if flawed response to the modern world? What was the Soviet Union like? How did it evolve over seven decades? What was the relationship between the regime and the general population? This introduction blends political history with an investigation into the society and culture at the time. The author examines aspects of patriotism, mass culture, political violence, poverty, and ideology; and provides answers to some of the big questions about the Soviet experience.

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Jabari Asim

"Asim disrupts what Toni Morrison [calls] the 'master narrative' and replaces it with a story of black survival and persistence through art and community in the face of centuries of racism. In eight ... essays, he explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body"--Front flap.