In the past thirty years, China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them. In By All Means Necessary, Elizabeth C. Economy and Michael Levi explore the unrivaled expansion of the Chinese economy and the global effects of its meteoric growth. China is now engaged in a far-flung quest, hunting around the world for fuel, ores, water, and land for farming, and deploying whatever it needs in the economic, political, and military spheres to secure the resources it requires. Chinese traders and investors buy commodities, with consequences for economies, people, and the environment around the world. Meanwhile the Chinese military aspires to secure sea lanes, and Chinese diplomats struggle to protect the country's interests abroad. And just as surely as China's pursuit of natural resources is changing the world-restructuring markets, pushing up commodity prices, transforming resource-rich economies through investment and trade-it is also changing China itself. As Chinese corporations increasingly venture abroad, they must navigate various political regimes, participate in international markets, and adopt foreign standards and practices, which can lead to wide-reaching social and political ramifications at home. Clear, authoritative, and provocative, By All Means Necessary is a sweeping account of where China's pursuit of raw materials may take the country in the coming years and what the consequences will be-not just for China, but for the whole world.

There has been a paradigm shift as to how professional knowledge is passed on. It no longer happens naturally through traditional corporate grooming and succession rituals. With less time, lower budgets, and more uncertainty, traditional mentorship models don't work in today's economy. The recent dramatic upheaval in the professional landscape has radically altered how 21st century professionals can most effectively cultivate career success. Creative Mentorship brings the most advanced mentoring methods out of the Fortune 500 boardroom and into your classroom, conference room, or even your living room, giving everyone access to groundbreaking and innovative mentoring methods utilized by today's most powerful and influential professionals. Mary Pender Greene draws upon more than 20 years of experience as a therapist, career coach, and successful executive to codify her personal system for career development, the Virtual Personal Board of Directors (VPBOD). Creative Mentorship features engaging exercises and worksheets as well as practical methods and strategies that will transform the way you approach career development. Creative Mentorship guides you, step-by-step, through the process of building your own Virtual Personal Board of Directors. Creative Mentorship will show you how to select specialized mentors who will accompany and assist you on your path to career success. A toolbox of tactics, strategies, and rules of engagement will ensure that you fully assimilate the VPBOD networking strategy, learn how to best leverage its innovative tactics, and ultimately integrate this revolutionary mentoring methodology into every aspect of your professional life. Creative Mentorship will enable you to achieve your most ambitious dreams and make your ultimate professional goals a reality.

This unique and authoritative dictionary contains over 1,100 of the most widely used proverbs in English, utilizing the latest research from Oxford Dictionaries to source them. This edition has been thoroughly revised and updated, broadening the cultural range of the proverbs selected, and covering sayings of international origins. With a strong emphasis on concisely explaining the meaning of the proverbs described, the dictionary also provides additional examples of usage, and includes a fascinating history for many entries. Arranged in A-Z order and with a useful thematic index, A Dictionary of Proverbs is ideal for browsing and perfectly suited for quick reference. Look up your old favourites, learn punchy new expressions to get your point across, and find the answer to that crossword clue. It is never too late to learn: find proverbs relevant to every aspect of life in this entertaining and informative collection.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Computing is a complete six year primary computing course that takes a real-life, project based approach to teaching young learners the vital computing skills they will need for the digital world. Each unit builds a series of skills towards the creation of a final project, with topics ranging from designing your own robot to programming simple games. Within each stage, six key concepts are covered to give learners not only the skills they need to use technology effectively, but also the knowledge in how to do so creatively, safely and collaboratively: Control the computer — exploring the vital skills of logic and programming Working with text — from editing simple text to creating engaging outputs Handling Data — turning numbers in to useful and easy to understand data The Internet — how can we use the internet safely, and how can we trust what we read? Multimedia — harnessing technology creatively for graphics, animations, movies and more Computing in society — asking big questions about real life applications of technology, from social media safety to the history of the world wide web For the teacher, the Teacher's Guides provide step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as comprehensive information on the knowledge, software and skills required to provide reassurance for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Geography is a complete six year primary geography course that provides an engaging introduction to the subject. Using real life examples from around the globe, the course covers key aspects of both human and physical geography, from the basics of mapping to more complex topics such as the pros and cons of ecotourism and how to meet the resource needs of the world's growing population. Additional Workbooks provide students with the opportunity for further study in the classroom or at home, including suggested research topics and cross-curricular projects. For the teacher, the Teacher's Guide provides step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as background knowledge and geographical information for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Geography is a complete six year primary geography course that provides an engaging introduction to the subject. Using real life examples from around the globe, the course covers key aspects of both human and physical geography, from the basics of mapping to more complex topics such as the pros and cons of ecotourism and how to meet the resource needs of the world's growing population. Additional Workbooks provide students with the opportunity for further study in the classroom or at home, including suggested research topics and cross-curricular projects. For the teacher, the Teacher's Guide provides step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as background knowledge and geographical information for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Oxford International Primary Geography is a complete six year primary geography course that provides an engaging introduction to the subject. Using real life examples from around the globe, the course covers key aspects of both human and physical geography, from the basics of mapping to more complex topics such as the pros and cons of ecotourism and how to meet the resource needs of the world's growing population. Additional Workbooks provide students with the opportunity for further study in the classroom or at home, including suggested research topics and cross-curricular projects. For the teacher, the Teacher's Guide provides step-by-step guidance for each lesson, as well as background knowledge and geographical information for specialist and non-specialist teachers alike.

Taxation is crucial to the functioning of the modern state. Tax revenues pay for public services — roads, the courts, defence, welfare assistance to the poor and elderly, and in many countries much of health care and education too. More than one third of national income in the industrialized (OECD) countries is on average taken in taxation. Taxes affect individuals in many ways. Taxes paid on income and spending directly reduce taxpayer disposable income, taxpayers face the hassle of tax returns and making payments, and they may be anxious about the possibility of investigation and enforcement action. People also adapt their activities in various ways to reduce the impact of taxation — putting money into tax-free savings accounts, or making shopping trips to other countries where taxes are lower. Taxation is therefore central to politics and public debate. Politicians that make reckless campaign promises about taxation then have to live with the uncomfortable consequences if elected. Businesses lobby for tax breaks that they claim will create jobs and prosperity. In this Very Short Introduction Stephen Smith shows how taxes have real effects on citizens and the economy that tax policy-makers have to balance. Although tax policy will always be a highly political issue, he argues that public decisions about taxation would be improved by a better understanding of the role of taxation, and of the nature and effects of different taxes. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this Very Short Introduction, Karen Radner sketches the history of Assyria from city state to empire, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 7th century BC. Since the archaeological rediscovery of Assyria in the mid-19th century, its cities have been excavated extensively in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Israel, with further sites in Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan providing important information. The Assyrian Empire was one of the most geographically vast, socially diverse, multicultural, and multi-ethnic states of the early first millennium BC.Using archaeological records, Radner provides insights into the lives of the inhabitants of the kingdom, highlighting the diversity of human experiences in the Assyrian Empire. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The 1960s revealed a new and revolutionary idea in geological thought: that the continents drift with respect to one another. After having been dismissed for decades as absurd, the concept gradually became part of geology's basic principles. We now know that the Earth's crust and upper mantle consist of a small number of rigid plates that move, and there are significant boundaries between pairs of plates, usually known as earthquake belts. Plate tectonics now explains much of the structure and phenomena we see today: how oceans form, widen, and disappear; why earthquakes and volcanoes are found in distinct zones which follow plate boundaries; how the great mountain ranges of the world were built. The impact of plate tectonics is studied closely as these processes continue: the Himalaya continues to grow, the Atlantic is widening, and new oceans are forming. In this Very Short Introduction Peter Molnar provides a succinct and authoritative account of the nature and mechanisms of plate tectonics and its impact on our understanding of Earth. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A vast subject that includes a strange vocabulary and an apparent mass of facts, human anatomy can at first appear confusing and off-putting. But the basic construction of the human body — the skeleton, the organs of the chest and abdomen, the nervous system, the head and neck with its sensory systems and anatomy for breathing and swallowing — is vital for anyone studying medicine, biology, and health studies. In this Very Short Introduction Leslie Klenerman provides a clear, concise, and accessible introduction to the structure, function, and main systems of the human body, including a number of clear and simple illustrations to explain the key areas. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Ritual is part of what it means to be human. Like sports, music, and drama, ritual defines and enriches culture, putting those who practice it in touch with sources of value and meaning larger than themselves. Ritual is unavoidable, yet it holds a place in modern life that is decidedly ambiguous. What is ritual? What does it do? Is it useful? What are the various kinds of ritual? Is ritual tradition bound and conservative or innovative and transformational? Alongside description of a number of specific rites, this Very Short Introduction explores ritual from both theoretical and historical perspectives. Barry Stephenson focuses on the places where ritual touches everyday life: in politics and power; moments of transformation in the life cycle; as performance and embodiment. He also discusses the boundaries of ritual, and how and why certain behaviors have been studied as ritual while others have not. Stephenson shows how ritual is an important vehicle for group and identity formation; how it generates and transmits beliefs and values; how it can be used to exploit and oppress; and how it has served as a touchstone for thinking about cultural origins and historical change. Encompassing the breadth and depth of modern ritual studies, Barry Stephenson's Very Short Introduction also develops a narrative of ritual's place in social and cultural life. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Although there are many kinds of love, erotic love has been celebrated in art and poetry as life's most rewarding and exalting experience, worth living and dying for and bringing out the best in ourselves. And yet it has excused, and even been thought to justify, the most reprehensible crimes. Why should this be? This Very Short Introduction explores this and other puzzling questions. Do we love someone for their virtue, their beauty, or their moral or other qualities? Are love's characteristic desires altruistic or selfish? Are there duties of love? What do the sciences — neuroscience, evolutionary and social psychology, and anthropology — tell us about love? Many of the answers we give to such questions are determined not so much by the facts of human nature as by the ideology of love. Ronald de Sousa considers some of the many paradoxes raised by love, looking at the different kinds of love — affections, affiliation, philia, storage, agape, but focusses on eros, or romantic love. He considers whether our conventional beliefs about love and sex are deeply irrational and argues that alternative conceptions of love and sex, although hard to formulate and live by, may be worth striving for. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Corruption is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of extreme poverty, unemployment, the rising cost of food and energy, climate change, and terrorism. It is thought to be one of the principal causes of poverty around the globe. Its significance in the contemporary world cannot be undervalued. In this Very Short Introduction, Leslie Holmes looks the history of corruption across the millennia and considers why the international community has only highlighted it as a problem in the past two decades. Holmes explores the phenomenon from several different perspectives, from the cultural differences affecting how corruption is defined, its impact, its various causes, and the possible remedies. Providing evidence of corruption and considering ways to address it around the world, this is an important introduction to a significant and serious global issue. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

'Intellectual freedom depends on material things. Poetry depends on intellectual freedom. And women have always been poor...' In these two classic essays of feminist literature, Woolf argues passionately for women's intellectual freedom and their role in challenging the drive towards fascism and conflict. In A Room of One's Own she explores centuries of limitations placed on women, as well as celebrating the creative achievements of the women writers who overcame these obstacles. In this first history of women's writing, she describes the importance of education, financial independence, and equality of opportunity to creative freedom. Three Guineas was written under the threat of fascism and impending war. A radical articulation of Woolf's pacifist politics, it investigates the causes of gender inequalities and the ways in which women's historic outsider position make them crucial in the prevention of war. Both these works started life as talks to groups of young women, and their engaging wit and informality establish Woolf as one of the twentieth-century's greatest essayists. Their arguments continue to reverberate in feminist discourse to this day. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.