Book Review

Readers of this book cannot fail to reflect on today’s accounts of refugees forced from their homelands by repression and civil war.

In 'How China Escaped the Poverty Trap,' Yuen Yuen Ang turns conventional thinking on its head, exploding myths as to how developing nations can catapult themselves out of poverty.

In 'China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation', George S. Yip and Bruce McKern suggest that China has leapt successfully from being an imitative to an innovative country. As Chinese companies become increasingly innovative and perform better in domestic and international markets, the authors argue that other countries need to learn from China or risk lagging behind. Besides analyzing both Chinese firms and MNCs in China, the book also taps into questions of open innovation and intellectual property protection practices. Yao Han appreciates the use of detailed examples and cases in illustrating the process towards innovation in China.

In 'The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,' Gabriel Zucman makes a provocative argument about the large-scale evasion of taxes as well as how to tackle this global issue. Antonio De Vito highly recommends this concise, nontechnical and clearly argued book to everyone interested in understanding how the international financial system is making illegal use of tax havens.

In 'Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead' Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman reflect on the possibilities and risks posed by the new horizon of automobile technology: the driverless car. This insight into the potential future of transportation is well-researched, sprinkled with interesting anecdotes and accessible for both policymakers and the wider public, finds Joseph Savirimuthu.

In 'The Politics of Islamic Law: Local Elites, Colonial Authority and the Making of the Muslim State' Iza R. Hussin traces a riveting history of Islamic law as it encounters, and is inevitably transformed by, British colonialism in Malaya, Egypt and India. It is a work of unique critical sensibilities, setting the scene for future interdisciplinary research of colonial and postcolonial Islamic law as fruitful analytical categories, finds Vanja Hamzić.

On an average day in the USA, seven children and teenagers will be shot dead. In 'Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives,' journalist Gary Younge tells the stories of ten lives lost on one single day: November 23, 2013. This is a powerful, timely and important contribution to the debate on U.S. gun culture and how US society particularly treats its African American citizens, writes Peter Carrol.

Salim Lamrani aims to explains some of the essential background to the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba: their origins, their provisions, how they contravene international law, and how they affect the lives of Cubans. Although not detailed enough for an academic audience, this book does offer a short chronicle and discussion of some of the key events and consequences of more than 50 years of American economic sanctions against Cuba, writes Paul Wingrove.

If corporate backing for Pride events is one example of queer subcultures becoming increasingly commercialized, does this threaten the capacity to resist or might capitalism be progressive for queer subjects? In 'Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay' David Alderson draws upon the work of Herbert Marcuse and Raymond Williams to examine processes of assimilation and resistance as well as the distinctions between countercultural and subcultural movements. Although she questions the particular focus on gay male culture, Sofia Ropek Hewson welcomes this rich and absorbing text for probing into the present relationship between capitalism, queer culture and political resistance.

In 'The Edge: The War Against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports,' the goal, however, is not to provide answers. The objective is to open a door to a fascinating topic so you can think about sport in new ways. Sports needs more thinking, more debate, and more out-in-the-open discussion.

BOOK REVIEW: Joshua Kurlantzick's 'A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA' (New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017), reviewed by Hunter Marston.

In '1996 and The End of History,' journalist and author David Stubbs examines a year — 1996 — that marked the pinnacle of a decade, not just in politics but across music, entertainment and sport. Tying together the political and cultural landscapes of mid 90s Britain, this is a valuable addition to the current critical reassessment of a period that seemed to promise sunnier times ahead. But, asks Stephen Lee Naish, could it ever last?

In 'Capital Without Borders: Wealth Managers and the One Percent,' Brooke Harrington offers an in-depth look into the work of wealth management professionals who ensure that the ‘one percent’ keep getting richer. Drawing on interviews and Harrington’s own experiences of a wealth management training program, Sin Yee Koh finds this a well-researched and clearly written ethnographic study that focuses attention on a key industry behind the continuation of global inequality.

What makes a small state succeed? In Singapore and Switzerland: Secrets to Small State Success, editors Yvonne Guo and Jun Jie Woo explore this question through two cases that have shown similar economic performance by balancing international forces and domestic demands.

In Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: 15 Contentious Questions, Benjamin J. Sovacool, Marilyn A. Brown and Scott V. Valentine provide an essential guide to the international debate on how to create a more sustainable energy system by probing into some of the key areas of contention. Dr. Robert Falkner highly recommends this volume as a tour de force that will be of utility to students, researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand global energy policy.

Joe Henley talks to Keith Menconi about his new book, 'Bu San Bu Si: A Taiwan Punk Tale.'

Conflict in Myanmar: War, Politics, Religion is a useful ensemble of works that can inform readers and enrich other studies of Myanmar. It

'Dear Hong Kong: An Elegy for a City' spans five decades, two husbands, a dozen other lovers, a handover to the Motherland, the dementia of the author's mother and the death of her father.