Documents on the Laws of War

Armed conflicts and military occupations are the subject of an extensive body of international law that covers a wide variety of issues.  Documents on the Laws of War answers the need for a volume that focuses on the major currently applicable agreements.  It contains the texts of twenty-five formal international agreements, from the 1856 Paris Declaration to the 1981 U.N.  Weapons Convention.  Each document is prefaced by useful notes by the editors explaining the legal and historical context of the agreement.  In addition, each binding international agreement is followed by a complete and authoritative list of all the countries party to it, along with the dates of adherence and details of any reservations or declarations that the countries have made.

Engineering & Transportation

Adam Roberts

Engineering

Oxford University Press

This is a revised and enlarged 2nd edition, which covers the question of defence policies based on the idea, not of long-distance retaliation, but of making a country hard to conquer. It attempts to outline an alternative to the heavy reliance on nuclear deterrence of some countries today. It traces the origins of the idea of territorial defence and its current part in the defence plans of many countries from China to Switzerland. The extent to which such policies can be considered "manifestly defensive"is considered; so are the implications of industrialization and of new precision-guided weapons. As opposed to the debate about defence, cast in terms of unilateral versus multilateral disarmament; or membership versus non-membership of NATO, this book suggests that the debate might focus less on these issues than on one which is more fundamental and also more practical: what kind of defence policy can states or alliances pursue, which give them some control over their destiny, which can command public support and which is compatible with the goal of peace?

Nations in Arms: The Theory and Practice of Territorial Defence

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

The International Institute for Strategic Studies/St. Martin's Press, Inc.

In contrast to the common perception that the United Nations is, or should become, a system of collective security, this paper advances the proposition that the UN Security Council embodies a necessarily selective approach. Analysis of its record since 1945 suggests that the Council cannot address all security threats effectively. The reasons for this include not only the veto power of the five permanent members, but also the selectivity of all UN member states: their unwillingness to provide forces for peacekeeping or other purposes except on a case-by-case basis, and their reluctance to involve the Council in certain conflicts to which they are parties, or which they perceive as distant, complex and resistant to outside involvement. The Council's selectivity is generally seen as a problem, even a threat to its legitimacy. Yet selectivity, which is rooted in prudence and in the UN Charter itself, has some virtues. Acknowledging the necessary limitations within which the Security Council operates, this paper evaluates the Council's achievements in tackling the problem of war since 1945. In doing so, it sheds light on the division of labour among the Council, regional security bodies and states, and offers a pioneering contribution to public and governmental understanding of the UN's past, present and future roles.

Selective Security: War and the United Nations Security Council since 1945 (Adelphi series)

History

Dominik Zaum

Military

Routledge

After 37 years on a brutal and dangerous journey through space, a federation of settlers finally arrives on the planet Salt. Thus begins the colonization of this brave new world--a process that inevitably slips into a tragedy of biblical proportions. The two communities who undertook the voyage originally united in peace and a shared vision of a fresh beginning. Once isolated in a landscape of cruel majesty and minimal resources, however, ancient enmities begin to tear them apart. Related alternately by Petja, from the Alsist people, and Barlei (a Senaarian), their different voices, perspectives, and experiences come together to make an unusually rich and complex story about the fragility of life. A remarkable debut novel. "...in the same vein as Frank Herbert's Dune...accomplished, engaging and fascinating."--Locus. "...brilliantly written."--Starlog.

Salt

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Victor Gollancz

Gradisil (Gollancz)

Gradisil is a multi-generational story of murder, betrayal and revenge. It is told through the eyes of three characters and against a background where mankinds rush into space has faded away leaving individual pioneers to force their way independently into space after the collapse of the big government space agencies. They ride up into space on the lines of electromagnetic force that flower into space from earth like the mighty Yggradisil - the earth tree of Norse myth. Leaving their weight behind they still carry a cargo of enmities and hatreds. Roberts has a unique approach to SF and is one of the genre's premier stylists. This is one of his most original novels yet.

Gradisil

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Gollancz

The Harvard Lampoon's original masterpiece (hem hem) BORED OF THE RINGS now joined together with A.R.R.R. Roberts' equally 'hem hem' worthy THE SODDIT and THE SELLAMILLION. From Wee to the Minty Mountains, from Goddam to Sollum, from Goodgulf to Gandef, two unique comic visions of a masterpiece of 20th century fantasy come together, all for less than 20. Fans of Tolkien's original works are famously completist in their approach to his works, with a proven sales record for the individual titles this box set is the perfect addition to their libraries. And as an added bonus a small guinea pig can easily nest in the empty box.

Cardboard Box of the Rings : The Soddit', 'the Sellamillion', 'Bored of the Rings

The Va Dinci Cod (Gollancz S.F.)

Genre Fiction

Sprung from a prison in the centre of a star, the universe's last criminal is employed to kill the population of a planet. It is a crime that will tear apart an interstellar utopia. Keeping ahead of detection and preparing the crime, the killer voyages to numerous worlds and hones the instincts required for murder. And wonders who is behind the contract. Roberts' new novel is an extraordinary fusing of ideas, exotic locations, personal drama and an enquiry into the nature of crime in a society that thinks it has forgotten how to commit it.

Stone

The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo

Gollancz (London)

1st edition Gollancz hardcover new In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

The Soddit

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

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Books by Adam Roberts