Almost Heaven

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR**Alev Scott’s odyssey began when she looked beyond Turkey’s borders for contemporary traces of the Ottoman Empire. Their 800-year rule ended a century ago – and yet, travelling through twelve countries from Kosovo to Greece to Palestine, she uncovers a legacy that’s vital and relevant; where medieval ethnic diversity meets 21st century nationalism, and displaced people seek new identities.It’s a story of surprises. An acolyte of Erdogan in Christian-majority Serbia confirms the wide-reaching appeal of his authoritarian leadership. A Druze warlord explains the secretive religious faction in the heart of the Middle East. The palimpsest-like streets of Jerusalem’s Old Town hint at the Ottoman co-existence of Muslims and Jews. And in Turkish Cyprus Alev Scott rediscovers a childhood home. In every community, history is present as a dynamic force.Faced by questions of exile, diaspora and collective memory, Alev Scott searches for answers from the cafes of Beirut to the refugee camps of Lesbos. She uncovers in Erdogan’s nouveau-Ottoman Turkey a version of the nostalgic utopias sold to disillusioned voters in Europe and the U.S. And yet – as she relates with compassion, insight and humour – diversity is the enduring, endangered heart of this fascinating region.

Drawing on his knowledge and long practice of Buddhism, the author reflects on four lines representing fundamental principles of the Zen or Ch’an school of Buddhism: “A special transmission outside the scriptures”, “No dependence on words and letters”, “Direct pointing to the mind”, and “Seeing into one’s own nature and realizing Buddhahood”. He sets out to communicate the essence of each, and to indicate how its meaning can be applied to Western conditions.

For all that?s been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. Instead of buying the myths these compa?nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they?re almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world?s first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal?lenge them? In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world?s most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can?t match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career. Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.

A brand new book from the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling author of The Silk Roads’Masterly mapping out of a new world order’ – Evening Standard Revised and updated editionThe New Silk Roads takes a fresh look at the relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the ancient trade routes today. The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties are being strengthened and mutual cooperation established.This prescient contemporary history provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of continual shifts in the centre of power – all too often absent from headlines in the west. The New Silk Roads asks us to re-examine who we are and where we stand in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend. The Silk Roads, a major reassessment of world history, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.