The Free press – Knjiga.hr

Between Silk and Cyanide

Sat, 13 May 2023 12:27:27 +0000

A Codemaker s War 1941-1945. Hardcover with Dust Sleeve, Condition: Very Good. In 1942, Leo Marks left his father’s famous bookshop, 84 Charing Cross Road, and went off to fight the war. He was twenty-two. Soon recognized as a cryptographer of genius, he became head of communications at the Special Operations Executive (SOE), where he revolutionized the codemaking techniques of the Allies and trained some of the most famous agents dropped into occupied Europe, including the White Rabbit and Violette Szabo. As a top codemaker, Marks had a unique perspective on one of the most fascinating and, until now, little-known aspects of the Second World War. Writing with the narrative flair and vivid characterization of his famous screenplays, Marks gives free rein to his keen sense of the absurd and his wry wit, resulting in a thrilling and poignant memoir that celebrates individual courage and endeavor, without losing sight of the human cost and horror of war.

The End of History and the Last Man

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 09:48:51 +0000

This quote from political scientist and philosopher Francis Fukuyama (1952-) refers to his 1989 article that formed the basis for the book he wrote three years later, which introduce the central thesis of The End of History and the Last Man. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Fukuyama proclaims the victory of Western democracy over communism and all other ideologies. Since the 1990s, Fukuyama’s triumphalist image has often been adopted by politicians from centrist parties in the West. Fukuyama looks back at the history of the past centuries and sees a continuous clash of ideologies, driven by the logic of modern science on the one hand and the struggle for human recognition on the other. To underpin his reasoning, Fukuyama starts from Immanuel Kant’s idea of a universal history; Georg Wilhelm Hegel’s notion of the end of history (as interpreted by Alexandre Kojeve); and Karl Marx’s concept of a history driven by class struggle. On the last pages of the book, Fukuyama uses the metaphor of ‘a long wagon train out along a road’ to clarify his vision of history. Every wagon is on its way to the same destination, but some are already further than others; some have completely given up on the journey; and the wagons trying out alternative routes discover that they all have to go through the same mountain pass to reach the final goal. Thus, according to Fukuyama, human history is universal, progressive, and going in one direction. He sees an evolution that started under the impulse of the European Enlightenment, and that evolves towards a global monoculture of liberal capitalism.

Logic Without Metaphysics

Mon, 24 May 2021 18:15:56 +0000

And Other Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Hardcover, Condition: Very Good. Ernest Nagel (1901-1985) was an American philosopher of science. Along with Rudolf Carnap, Hans Reichenbach, and Carl Hempel, he is sometimes seen as one of the major figures of the logical positivist movement. His work concerned the philosophy of mathematical fields such as geometry and probability, quantum mechanics, and the status of reductive and inductive theories of science. His book The Structure of Science (1961) practically inaugurated the field of analytic philosophy of science. He expounded the different kinds of explanation in different fields, and was sceptical about attempts to unify the nature of scientific laws or explanations. He was the first to propose that by positing analytic equivalencies (or ‘bridge laws’) between the terms of different sciences, one could eliminate all ontological commitments except those required by the most basic science. He also upheld the view that social sciences are scientific, and should adopt the same standards as natural sciences.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 17:22:01 +0000

An extraordinarily impressive achievement and must reading for all serious students of law, economics, and organization.–Paul L. Joskow, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts of Technology.

Look Away: History of Confederate States

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 01:42:19 +0000

A History of the Confederate States of America. Hardcover, Condition: Very Good. Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, ranging from the 800-odd newspapers in operation during the war to the personal writings of more than 100 leaders and common citizens, Davis reveals the Confederacy through the words of the Confederates themselves. Look Away! recounts all the epic sagas — as well as those little-known and long-forgotten — about a desperate government that socialized the salt industry, rangers and marauders who preyed on their fellow Confederates, and the systematic breakdown of law and order in some states. A dramatic, definitive account of one of our nation’s most searing episodes, Look Away! shows us a South divided against itself, unable to stand.

The Great Disruption

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 22:36:26 +0000

Human Nature and the Reconstitution. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. In the past thirty years, the United States has undergone a profound transformation in its social structure: Crime has increased, trust has declined, families have broken down, and individualism has triumphed over community. Has the Great Disruption of recent decades rent the fabric of American society irreparably? In this brilliant and sweeping work of social, economic, and moral analysis, Francis Fukuyama shows that even as the old order has broken apart, a new social order is already taking its place. The Great Disruption forges a new model for understanding the Great Reconstruction that is under way.