Showing results by author "The Times" in All Categories

The world economy defies comprehension. A continuously changing system of immense complexity, it offers over 10 billion distinct products and services, doubles in size every 15 years, and links almost every one of the planet's seven billion people. How can we make sense of this bewildering system on which our lives depend? From the tally stick to Bitcoin, the canal lock to the jumbo jet, each invention in Tim Harford's fascinating new book has its own curious, surprising and memorable story, a vignette against a grand backdrop.

Bringing together the most influential scholars in the field, the fifth edition of this best-selling book provides unrivaled coverage of international relations theories and arguments.

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of 20 to 30 enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country's original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.

He was the Western convert who would plunge deep inside al-Qaeda. He named his first son Osama after 9/11 and became a Jihadist. But then - after a sudden loss of faith - Morten Storm made a life-changing decision. He became a double agent and joined the CIA, MI6 and MI5. Filled with hair-raising close calls and deception, Storm's story builds to the climactic finale when he must betray his friend and mentor al-Awlaki - al-Qaeda's biggest threat to the West.

Mal wins an old map in a card game. Ancient and written in impenetrable symbols, the former owner insists it's worthless. Yet River Tam can read it, and says it leads to one of the Arks - legendary ships that brought humans from Earth-that-was to the 'Verse. The salvage potential alone is staggering. But the closer they get to the ancient ship, the more agitated River becomes.

From the autumn harvest festival to the summer sports day, the academic year is a non-stop frenzy of planning, preparation and potential chaos, whichever side of the school gates you find yourself. But now Britain’s best-loved teachers and podcast hosts Lee and Adam Parkinson are here to make it all that little bit easier as they share the hilarious trials, tribulations and tomfoolery going on inside our primary schools.

When was the last time you read a grand statement, accompanied by a large number and wondered whether it could really be true? Statistics are vital in helping us tell stories - we see them in the papers, on social media and we hear them used in everyday conversation - and yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers - in the right hands - have the power to change the world for the better. Contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic.

For millions of Londoners, the morning of 17 December is just like any other. But not for Sam Wren. An hour after leaving home, he gets onto a tube train - and never gets off again. No eyewitnesses. No trace of him on security cameras. Six months later, he's still missing. Out of options and desperate for answers, Sam's wife, Julia, hires David Raker to track him down. Raker has made a career out of finding the lost. He knows how they think. And, in missing person cases, the only certainty is that everyone has something to hide.

Tim Vine and the Great British public are the stars of this side-splitting radio chat show, featuring his trademark wonderful wordplay, quickfire gags and silly songs. Internationally acclaimed master of the one-liner, Tim Vine, travels the length and breadth of Britain on a quest to hear the funny, strange and surprising life stories of his live audience – while simultaneously taking the opportunity to showcase his world-famous jokes and preposterous songs.

The urge to be tidy seems to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Many of us feel threatened by anything that is vague, unplanned, scattered around or hard to describe. We find comfort in having a script to rely on, a system to follow, in being able to categorise and file away. We all benefit from tidy organisation - up to a point. A large library needs a reference system. Global trade needs the shipping container. Scientific collaboration needs measurement units. But the forces of tidiness have marched too far.

All five series of Simon Evans’ BBC Radio 4 show explaining economics through comedy. How do you make money funny? How do you put the comedy in commodity? In this BBC radio show, Simon Evans sets himself the challenge of making economics entertaining through comedic lectures, with the help of special guests including investment gurus, financial journalists and economists.

The Ruck is the Rugby Podcast from The Times & The Sunday Times. Join Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and a selection of guests every week as they provide insight and reports throughout the season, including big name interviews and forthright analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that criss-crosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes.

Fast Minds is an acronym for common symptoms that are often seen in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Millions of adults have ADHD or some of its traits, but they are under-recognized, under-treated, and often under-supported. This book empowers people with ADHD, or some of its characteristics, to adapt and thrive. By working through the program in this book, you will develop personalized strategies to take control of your life.

By the best-selling author of All Out War, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2017. The unmissable account of politics covering Theresa May's time as PM through to the end of the election campaign. Stuffed to the brim with revelation and explanation of political debates and arguments and a superb follow-up to All Out War.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver, read by Joe Coen and Hannah Arterton as well as Tim Weaver. A serial killer more terrifying than you could ever imagine... Seventeen-year-old Megan Carver was an unlikely runaway. A straight-A student from a happy home, she studied hard and rarely got into trouble. Six months on, she's never been found. Missing persons investigator David Raker knows what it's like to grieve. He knows the shadowy world of the lost, too.

2017 marked a record-breaking year for Lewis Hamilton as he became only the fifth driver in history to win more than three World Championships, joining the motor racing greats. Through in-depth race reports and analysis from The Times writers Rebecca Clancy and Mark Hughes, this unauthorised account edited by Clancy, and available exclusively in audiobook, will relive that achievement.

On Halloween night, the residents of Black Gale gather for a dinner party. As the only nine people living there, they've become close friends as well as neighbours. They eat, drink and laugh. They play games and take photographs. Except those photographs will be the last record of any of them. By the next morning, the whole village has vanished. With no bodies, no evidence and no clues, the mystery of what happened at Black Gale remains unsolved two and a half years on. But then the families of the missing turn to investigator David Raker - and their obsession becomes his.

Two rural families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet, where they begin their lives from scratch. For 20 years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts.

The 2016 election was a watershed for the United States. But, as Tim Alberta explains in American Carnage, to understand Trump’s victory is to view him not as the creator of this era of polarization and bruising partisanship, but rather as its most manifest consequence. American Carnage is the story of a president’s rise based on a country’s evolution and a party’s collapse. As George W. Bush left office with record-low approval ratings and Barack Obama led a Democratic takeover of Washington, Republicans faced a moment of reckoning.