When burglar Luther Whitney breaks into a Virginia mansion, he witnesses a brutal crime involving the president -- a man who believes he can get away with anything -- and now, Luther may be the only one who can stop him in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller. In a heavily guarded mansion in the Virginia countryside, professional burglar and break-in artist Luther Whitney is trapped behind a two-way mirror. What he witnesses destroys his faith not only in justice, but in all he holds dear. What follows is an unthinkable abuse of power and criminal conspiracy, as a breathtaking cover-up is set in motion by those appointed to work for one of the most important people in the world -- the President of the United States.
ABSOLUTE POWER can transform every one of your problems into an opportunity for success. ABSOLUTE POWER will birth a new dawn of hope to help you realize your goals and dreams with confidence, personal potential, wealth, and communication. ABSOLUTE POWER will make the impossible possible: sorrow becomes joy, defeat becomes victory, stress becomes peace, and doubt becomes faith in God.
The sensational story of the last two centuries of the papacy, its most influential pontiffs, troubling doctrines, and rise in global authority In 1799, the papacy was at rock bottom: The Papal States had been swept away and Rome seized by the revolutionary French armies. With cardinals scattered across Europe and the next papal election uncertain, even if Catholicism survived, it seemed the papacy was finished. In this gripping narrative of religious and political history, Paul Collins tells the improbable success story of the last 220 years of the papacy, from the unexalted death of Pope Pius VI in 1799 to the celebrity of Pope Francis today. In a strange contradiction, as the papacy has lost its physical power -- its armies and states -- and remained stubbornly opposed to the currents of social and scientific consensus, it has only increased its influence and political authority in the world.
Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin were three tyrants, and the effects of their brutal regimes are still with us. Each attained absolute power, and misused it in a gargantuan fashion, leaving in his wake a trail of hatred, devastation, and death.In A Brotherhood of Tyrants, D. Jablow Hershman and Julian Lieb uncover manic depression as a hidden cause of dictatorship, war, and mass killing. In comparing these three tyrants, they describe a number of behavioral similarities supporting the contention that a specific psychiatric disorder - manic depression - can be one of the key factors in such political pathologies as tyranny and terrorism.Manic depressive disorder has also produced the great destroyers in history - when in addition to ambition and egotism have been added large measures of ruthlessness, willfulness, utter intolerance of criticism, a consuming need to dominate others, paranoia, and megalomania.Focusing on these three dictators, A Brotherhood of Tyrants argues that manic depression has always been, and continues to be, a critical factor in compelling some individuals to seek political power and to become tyrants. It powerfully demonstrates how this disorder is the source of many of the typical characteristics - including grandiosity and megalomania - of a tyrannical personality and provides a manual for the identification of the psychotic tyrant.In their epilogue, the authors outline the clinical signs of manic depression as described in the classic studies of the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926). They apply these clinical signs and symptoms to the pathologies of four notorious mass killers of recent times: David Koresh, Jeffrey Dahmer, Jim Jones, and Colin Ferguson. They argue that if these individuals had been identified in time as manic depressives, they could have been successfully treated, and hundreds of innocent lives could have been saved.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power" -Abraham Lincoln Throughout history, all monarchs have lived with the strange dichotomy of simultaneously being human and more than human. In our time, when monarchies seem little more than tourist curiosities and democracy is taken for granted, it is easy to forget just how much power pre-democratic rulers once wielded. The rulers and holders of political power in this book were all possessed of vast - in many cases, absolute - power: power which was often exercised arbitrarily and unjustly. What unites the figures in this book is that they all, in one way or another, failed to live up to the extravagantly high hopes invested in them and, as a consequence, have been judged harshly by history. A few, such as George III, might have been remembered more kindly were it not for mental illness changing their status from that of hero to villain. Some, like Louis XVI, were unfairly transformed into monsters by hostile propaganda, while others, such as Peter the Great, have been both celebrated as heroes and denounced as tyrants, often in the same breath. Finally, there are those rulers who, like Caligula or Ivan the Terrible, may well fully deserve their evil reputations. Absolute Power is a study in how often rulers were carried away or overwhelmed by their exalted status, while a few were even driven over the edge into madness.
Written in the tradition of historians like Mary Beard and Stacy Schiff who find modern lessons in ancient history, this provocative narrative explores the lives of five remarkable pharaohs who ruled Egypt with absolute power, shining a new light on the country's 3,000-year empire and its meaning today. In a new era when democracies around the world are threatened or crumbling, best-selling author Kara Cooney turns to five ancient Egyptian pharaohs--Khufu, Senwosret III, Akenhaten, Ramses II, and Taharqa--to understand why many so often give up power to the few, and what it can mean for our future. As the first centralized political power on earth, the pharaohs and their process of divine kingship can tell us a lot about the world's politics, past and present. Every animal-headed god, every monumental temple, every pyramid, every tomb, offers extraordinary insight into a culture that combined deeply held religious beliefs with uniquely human schemes to justify a system in which one ruled over many. From Khufu, the man who built the Great Pyramid at Giza as testament to his authoritarian reign, and Taharqa, the last true pharaoh who worked to make Egypt great again, we discover a clear lens into understanding how power was earned, controlled, and manipulated in ancient times. And in mining the past, Cooney uncovers the reason why societies have so willingly chosen a dictator over democracy, time and time again.
Profiles the lives and deeds of fifty dictators from around the world who have ruled at times throughout the past 2500 years, including Julius Caesar, Herod, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
In this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller, a burglar, Luther Whitney, breaks into a Virginia mansion, and witnesses a brutal crime involving the president—​a man who believes he can get away with anything. In a heavily guarded mansion in the Virginia countryside, professional burglar and break-in artist Luther Whitney is trapped behind a two-way mirror. What he witnesses destroys his faith not only in justice, but in all he holds dear. What follows is an unthinkable abuse of power and criminal conspiracy, as a breathtaking cover-up is set in motion by those appointed to work for one of the most important people in the world -- the President of the United States.
This is the true story of an innocent man's suffering at the hands of a ruthless regime. The title records events before and after the killing of Dr Ouko, a distinguished Kenyan politician. It is an account of the author's dramatic experiences during his arrest and imprisonment.
Written by Jeph Loeb Art and cover by Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino A new softcover collecting the blockbuster story "Absolute Power," originally presented in SUPERMAN/BATMAN #14-18! In this reality-bending tale, Superman and Batman rule Earth with an iron fist. Before long, the World's Finest Duo is sent careening through a series of bizarre alternate earths, facing an assortment of classic DC characters including Kamandi, Sgt. Rock, Haunted Tank, and many more! Advance-solicited; on sale November 8 - 128 pg, FC, $12.99 US
