This is the long and difficult story of an American investment group's purchase of the bankrupt Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. Through this true story you will learn about the difficulties that foreign investors can encounter when doing business in Japan. Despite all of the difficulties the investment group succeeds in calling forth a new type of Japanese financial institution from the ashes of the old LTCB.

James Lilley tells of his life, which has been intimately connected with the Middle Kingdom. He was raised in pre-World War II China, where his father worked for Standard Oil. After a career with the CIA, Lilley eventually returns as the U.S. Ambassador to China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. This is a great choice for anyone wanting to increase their understanding of China.

Strobe Talbot, Deputy Secretary of State during the Clinton administration, tells his story of diplomacy with India and Pakistan after both nations tested nuclear weapons in 1998. He developed a close relationship with his Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh. He describes how this relationship helped to develop a much closer relationship between India and the United States. The book is published by The Brookings Institute, and can also be found at http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/engagingindia.htm.

On January 20th 2005, George W. Bush gave his second inaugural address. In his speech, President Bush stated: "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." It was also reported that President Bush recently read "The Case for Democracy," and that it served as inspiration for his inaugural address.  Natan Sharansky is a former soviet dissident, who knows first hand the horrors of living in a "Fear Society." He makes a compelling case for the spread of democracy as the only way to create a safer world.

Rita Katz grew up Jewish in Saddam's Iraq. After the execution of her father her family escaped to Iran, and then Israel. As a adult, she move to the United States with her family where she obtained a job in a think tank specializing in topics related to the Middle East. From this point she embarked on a journey or undercover investigation of Islamic charities being used to launder and smuggle funds to terrorist organizations. Today, Rita Katz heads the Site Institute. http://www.siteinstitute.org