How the West's greatest spy in Asia tried to stop the new American way of war--and the steep price he paid for failing

Jim Thompson landed in Thailand at the end of World War II, a former American society dilettante who became an Asian legend as a spy and silk magnate with access to Thai worlds outsiders never saw. As the Cold War reached Thailand, America had a choice: Should it, as Thompson believed, help other nations build democracies

Montreal, Monday (6.00 a.m.) April 15, 1912

TITANIC STRUCK AN ICEBERG. SENDS MARCONIGRAM ASKING FOR ASSISTANCE. VIRGINIAN GOING TO HER RESCUE.

From New York, Monday. April 15, 1912

"VESSEL SINKING"

STEAMERS ARE TOWING THE TITANIC. AND ENDEAVOURING TO GET HER INTO THE SHOAL WATER NEAR CAPE RACE. FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEACHING HER.

From New York, Monday night. April 15, 1912

THE WHITE STAR OFFICIALS NOW ADMIT THAT

In this book, Jay Nordlinger gives a history of what the subtitle claims is the "world's most famous and problematic award." The Nobel Peace Prize, like the other Nobel prizes, began in 1901. So we have a neat, sweeping history of the 20th century, and about a decade beyond. The Nobel prize involves a first world war, a second world war, a cold war, a terror war, and more. It contends with many of the key issues of modern times, and of life itself.
It