Gulf Weekly Book Club

BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. World Order, Henry Kissinger, ISBN 9780241004265 (Penguin) BD14 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
World Order is the summation of Henry Kissinger’s thinking about history, strategy and statecraft. As if taking a perspective from far above the globe, it examines the great tectonic plates of history and the motivations of nations, explaining the attitudes that states and empires have taken to the rest of the world from the formation of Europe to our own times.

Kissinger identifies four great ‘world orders’ in history – the European, Islamic, Chinese and American.

Since the end of Charlemagne’s empire, and especially since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Europeans have striven for balance in international affairs, first in their own continent and then globally.

Islamic states have looked to their destined expansion over regions populated by unbelievers, a position exemplified today by Iran under the ayatollahs.
For over 2,000 years the Chinese have seen ‘all under heaven’ as being tributary to the Chinese Emperor.

America views itself as a ‘city on a hill’, a beacon to the world, whose values have universal validity.

How have these attitudes evolved and how have they shaped the histories of their nations, regions, and the rest of the world? What has happened when they have come into contact with each other? How have they balanced legitimacy and power at different times? What is the condition of each in our contemporary world, and how are they shaping relations between states now?

To answer these questions Henry Kissinger draws upon a lifetime’s historical study and unmatched experience as a world statesman.

His account is shot through with observations about how historical change takes place, how some leaders shape their times and others fail to do so, and how far states can stray from the ideas which define them.

World Order is a masterpiece of narrative, analysis and portraits of great historical actors that only Henry Kissinger could have written.

* Read it now in paperback

Alex Ferguson, Alex Ferguson, ISBN 9780340919408 (Hodder) BD5 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

Sir Alex Ferguson’s compelling story is always honest and revealing as he reflects on his managerial career that embraced unprecedented European success for Aberdeen and 26 triumphant seasons with Manchester United.

This best-selling autobiography has now been updated and published in paperback so it is now the perfect size to stuff inside husbands, fathers and sons’ Christmas stockings.

Offering reflections on events at United since his retirement as well as his teachings at the Harvard Business School, a night at the Oscars and a boat tour round the Hebrides (where he passed unrecognised) there are enough tales in this book to keep even the most reluctant but football-mad fan engrossed. In addition, the extra material added to this updated edition adds fresh insights and detail on his final years as United’s manager.

Both the psychology of management and the detail of football strategy at the top level can be complex matters but no-one has explained them in a more interesting and accessible way for the general reader than Sir Alex does here.
 
My Autobiography is revealing, endlessly entertaining and above all inspirational.

* My favourite read-of-the-week

How To Be A Parisian Wherever You Are, Various, ISBN 9780091958091 (Ebury) BD9.600 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
Forget Sex in the City – we now have four French bohemian free-thinkers and iconoclasts cutting through the myths in this gorgeous, witty guide to Parisienne savoir faire.

Personally, I love all the ‘do it as the French do’ books, eg French Women Don’t Get Fat, and have a shelf of them in the shop (being a totally committed Francophile) and this book  is a delightful addition to that collection.

These modern Parisiennes say what you don’t expect to hear, just the way you want to hear it. They are not against smoking in bed, and all for art, politics and culture, making everything look easy, and going against the grain.

They will take you on a first date, to a party and through a hangover. They will tell you how to be mysterious and sensual, make your boyfriend jealous, the right way to approach weddings and the gym, and they will share their address book in Paris.

Full of wit and self-deprecating humour, the book explains those confusing subjects of clothes, make-up, men, culture and lifestyle as only a true Parisienne can; Vive La France!