Melanie Phillips

A superlative anthology featuring some of the finest science fiction works ever published features stories by such masters as Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, and others, in a collection that features tales selected for their ground-breaking exploration of new worlds.

"The Ascent of Woman sets the high drama of the rise of the suffragettes against the moral and intellectual debates of the age, which fissured the women's movement. It chronicles not just the split between the constitutionally minded suffragists led by Millicent Fawcett and the militant suffragettes led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, but the bitter divisions among the militants as women recoiled from the Pankhursts' despotic style. Phillips describes how the violence both hindered and helped the cause, and how it was the role of women in the First World War, that was crucial in finally securing them the vote." "This, though, is a drama of extraordinary ideas as much as a history of individuals and events. The Ascent of Woman reveals how female suffrage was seen as the way to elevate humanity on to a higher plane of existence through the taming and transformation of men. What emerges is a picture of a political force split on virtually everything: the role women in society; the balance to be struck between sexual freedom and family duties; and the relationship with men - arguments which to a startling extent prefigured contemporary debate over issues that remain unresolved."--BOOK JACKET.

The suicide bombings carried out in London in 2005 by British Muslims revealed an enormous fifth column of Islamist terrorists and their sympathizers. Under the noses of British intelligence, London has become the European hub for the promotion, recruitment and financing of Islamic terror and extremism -- so much so that it has been mockingly dubbed Londonistan. In this ground-breaking book, Melanie Phillips pieces together the story of how Londonistan developed as a result of the collapse of traditional British identity and accommodation of a particularly virulent form of multiculturalism. Londonistan has become a country within the country and not only threatens Britain but its special relationship with the U.S. as well.

The state of intellectual ferment surrounding the reform of the welfare state is described by Professor Alan Deacon in his introduction to this volume as a revolution in thought, comparable with that earlier revolution which led to the creation of cradle-to-grave welfare in the years following World War II. The challenge of thinking the unthinkable is being met by thinkers across the political spectrum and Frank Field, Minister for Welfare Reform, can claim much of the credit for stimulating debate about the future of the welfare state on the left. In Stakeholder Welfare he puts the case for a radical overhaul of the system to harness self-interest by extending the scope of contributory benefits. He calls his proposals 'stakeholder welfare' because individuals will own the welfare capital created by their contributions and those of their employers. In common with some other publications in the Choice in Welfare series, the purpose of Stakeholder Welfare is to make available in an accessible format the main points of view on a given issue. This collection is designed especially for students of social sciences in universities and sixth forms, and to that end Field's proposals are discussed by critics from a variety of standpoints. Frank Fields' response to his critics makes Stakeholder Welfare a valuable indicator of the main intellectual currents in the welfare reform project. "Mr Field...argues that the age of large-scale redistribution of wealth has gone. He says: 'Politicians who argue otherwise are a public menace'" The Times. "...provides an excellent introduction to the most important question of the next century - how to shape the welfare state" Fabian Review. "Frank Field is the only able politician who is prepared to say bold things about [social security]" Community Care. "Does anyone in Britain know more about social security than Frank Field?" The Tablet.