Alfred A. Knopf

On empire; America, war, and global supremacy.

Prominent British historian Hobsbawm turns his eye towards the American grasp for world hegemony and related issues of war and peace in four essays written between 2000 and 2006. Over the course of the volume he discusses the end of empires, the nature of war and peace in the 20th century and the prospects for the 21st, responses to American military unilateralism, and the differences between British and American imperialisms. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The open road; the global journey of the fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Iyer, who has previously written about Buddhism and globalism, now offers this account of the travels of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and his effort to inform the world about current conditions in Tibet under Chinese rule. Equal time is spent on observing the day-to-day routines of this icon, both in public and in private, and providing a broader explanation of the man's philosophies and goals. Anyone who has expressed an interest in knowing more about the Dalai Lama will enjoy this revealing study. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Retribution; the battle for Japan, 1944-45.

Having written Armageddon about the closing year of the Second World War in Europe, veteran British journalist Hastings here turns his attention east for a similar project about the Pacific theater. His integrated military history of the final year of war before Japan's surrender attempts to treat all the campaigns of the Eastern theater of a piece, including such neglected aspects as the Chinese experience and the Russian assault on Manchuria, with the exception of indigenous anti-colonial resistance movements, which were too large a topic to include. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)