Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Timeto help non-scientists understand fundamental questions of physics and our existence: where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to deal with these questions (and where we might look for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; the concepts are so vast (or so tiny) that they cause mental vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking for as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God". —Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

Intelligence services form an important but controversial part of the modern state. Drawing mainly on British and American examples, this book provides an analytic framework for understanding the "intelligence community" and assessing its value. Michael Herman, a former senior British Intelligence officer, describes the various components of intelligence; discusses what intelligence is for; considers issues of accuracy, evaluation and efficiency; and makes recommendations for the future of intelligence in the post-Cold War world.

Clausewitz's "On War", first published in 1832, remains the classic study of the nature and conditions of warfare. Best remembered for his pronouncement that war is a continuation of politics by other means and for his observations on total war, he gave a new philosophical foundation to the art of war. Compex and often misunderstood, Clausewitz has fascinated and influenced generations of politicians and strategic thinkers. This is a comprehensive study on how to read Clausewitz and how others have read him - from the military commanders in World War I through Lenin and Mao Zedung to strategists in the nuclear age.

The thesis of the provocative and potentially important Clash of Civilizationsis that the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures—Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu and African—in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs. —Christine Buttery