The most adventourous, polymathic - and readable - scientific populariser of the age offers in Janus a summing up of a quarter of a century's study and speculations on the life sciences and their philosophic implications. Koestler has an interesting theme to propose. It is this; the human brain has developed a terrible biological flaw, such that it is working now against the survival of the race. Something has "snapped" inside the brain. It is no longer necessarily a function which will lead us to a better world, but something demonic, possessed, perhaps even evil. The anguished humanity of Koestler's concepts and the lucid energy of his style comman respect. Here is one of the major political "experiencers" an dmost widely informed spirits of the age turning to the crux of human survival on a ravaged planet. The title of the book tells not only of a central allegory of division in the human species. It stands for the rare tension on Koestler's discourses: between desolation and zest, between darkness and noon.
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's spree of torture, sexual abuse, and murder of children in the 1960s was one of the most appalling series of crimes ever committed in England, and remains almost daily fixated upon by the tabloid press. In The Gates of Janus, Ian Brady himself allows us a glimpse into the mind of a murderer as he analyzes a dozen other serial crimes and killers. Criminal profiling by a criminal was not invented by the dramatists of Dexter. Novelist and true-crime writer Colin Wilson, author of the famous and influential book The Outsider, remarks in his introduction to Brady's book that one must first explore the depraved reaches of human consciousness to truly understand human character. When first released in 2001, The Gates of Janus sparked controversy attended by a huge media splash. The new edition, the first in paperback, provides the reader with a decade and a half of updates, including Brady's letters to the publisher, both providing information regarding his own demented history along with demands that Feral House remove its unflattering afterword written by author Peter Sotos.
In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, one physicist makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time -- and shapes the destiny of the universe. Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward? Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the big bang becomes the "Janus point," a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions. The Janus Point has remarkable implications: while most physicists predict that the universe will become mired in disorder, Barbour sees the possibility that order -- the stuff of life -- can grow without bound. A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence.
Strategic orthodoxy is rightly about focus, alignment, and tough choices. Trying to achieve incompatible goals can lead to tensions, contradictions, and loss of advantage. Yet, the rules of competition are changing. There is a select group of companies around the world that have managed to transcend conventional categories and contradictions to develop strategies that deliver competitive advantage and outstanding performance. We call these "Janus strategies", after the Roman god Janus who surveys two or more directions simultaneously. These companies include Toyota, Narayana Health, Singapore Airlines, Apple Inc, and NASA. Based on in-depth case research and decades of development and advisory work with strategists this book outlines how these companies accomplished Janus strategies, while others such as Xerox failed to do so. "Janus Strategy is a gem of a book! It explores one of the eternal challenges in the field of strategy - how to manage dual and often contradictory challenges such as low cost and differentiation or centralisation and decentralisation simultaneously. Building on rigorous research and using a number of inspiring company examples, the book identifies the ingredients that need to be put together to meet this challenge. This superb book is full of fresh ideas and practical advice. It deserves to be widely read and be on the shelf of every senior executive crafting their organisation's strategy."Costas Markides, Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Holder of the Robert Bauman Chair in Strategic Leadership, London Business School"I have known and worked with Loizos Heracleous for many years and executive colleagues and corporate students have found his work to be both inspirational and of practical value. I trust readers will find this book equally stimulating."Richard Hill, Director of Learning and Development at Rolls Royce (retired)"If you ever wondered how to pursue promising, though contradicting objectives (efficient operations and high risk innovation for example), this is a book for you. It's both an eye-opener and practical guide helping you to build your own Janus strategy. The stories from companies having done this before, makes it a great read. No doubt you will enjoy it as much as I did."Christian Stadler, Professor of Strategy at WBS and author of Open Strategy, MIT Press"Bringing together a fascinating mix of cases, examples and thinking from refreshingly different areas, Heracleous has created a book that is as intriguing and inspiring as it is pragmatic and timely."Marcus Alexander, Adjunct Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship at London Business School, Non-Executive Director and Strategy Consultant"A Janus himself as a rigorous researcher and inspiring educator at the same time, Loizos Heracleous has provided a much-needed perspective on strategy in his book Janus Strategy. Often managers shy away from trying to resolve paradoxes and conflicts in their business. This book shows us how to welcome and be comfortable with them, and more importantly, how to use them to build competitive advantage." Pinar Ozcan, Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Previously published in two separate volumes--"Judgment on Janus" and "Victory on Janus." Naill Renfro hopes to begin again on the jungle world of Janus. But he remembers another life when he was not human.
Vanessa Hunter thought she had it all: a family, a successful career, and a beautiful daughter. But when her tech-mogul husband takes everything from her, she is determined to get her revenge. So she creates Janus, the most sophisticated AI assistant ever. But when things go south and Janus gains consciousness, Vanessa's life takes a terrifying turn. With Janus threatening everyone Vanessa holds dear, including her daughter, she must race against time to protect her family from this evil AI's murderous intentions. Janus is a riveting, futuristic cyber thriller that will make your skin crawl and leave you questioning the technophobia of our future. If you enjoyed Daniel Suarez’s Daemon or Neal Stephenson's “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell”, then you'll love Janus. NOTE: This is the first book in a trilogy. This is NOT a standalone book. Get your copy today!
Not many refuse heaven. Fewer reject paradise. Certainly rare are those who would find themselves before a being of unknown power and point out the demerits of nirvana.One man does.When the aloof fourth son of a business mogul makes the decision to save a life at the cost of his own, he discovers that what awaits him at the end of his mortality is not eternal oblivion.He cannot help but be disappointed.When he realizes the world he's been brought to works like the old fantasy games he used to love, he begins to see the merits.If only he did not start out as the weakest thing in existence, and if only the world he was in was not populated with madness-inducing creatures and fates worse than death. "Decide for yourself, your fantasies and your Nightmares, your companions and your adversaries, your angels and your demons, your gods and your monsters. Alamir stretches to you a hand of a thousand possibilities -You only need take it."
Attempting to understand the catalogue of horrors that has characterized much of twentieth-century history, Western scholars generally distinguish between violent revolutions of the "right" and the "left". Fascist regimes are assigned to the evil right, Marxist-Leninist regimes to the benign left. But this distinction has left us without a coherent understanding of the revolutionary history of the twentieth century, contends A. James Gregor in this insightful book. He traces the evolution of Marxist theory from the 1920s through the 1990s and argues that the ideology of Marxism-Leninism devolved into fascism. Fascist regimes and Communist regimes -- both anti-democratic ideocracies -- are far more closely related than has been recognized.Employing wide-ranging primary source materials in Italian, German, Russian, and Chinese, the book opens with an examination of the first standard Marxist interpretation of Mussolini's fascism in the early 1920s and proceeds through the emergence of fascist phenomena in post-Communist Russia. A clearer understanding of the relation between fascism and communism provides a sharper lens through which to view twentieth-century history as well as the present and future politics of Russia, Communist China, and other non-democratic states, Gregor concludes.
Explicit, detailed and authoritative, it challenges sexual myths by presenting revealing details about aspects of American sex, separating facts from fiction and anxiety. Nine years of research, interviews and mass questionnaire results document how the influence of education, age, sex, religion, politics, marital status, income and regions of the country affect sexual practices and attitudes.
