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From the 16th century, the mines of Potosí, perched high in the Andes, bankrolled the Spanish empire. During those years immense wealth allowed the city to grow larger than London at the time and the mountain was quickly given the epithet Cerro Rico – the 'rich mountain'. But today, Potosí’s inhabitants are some of the poorest in South America while the mountain itself has been so greedily plundered that its summit is on the verge of collapsing. So many people have died in the mines that the Cerro Rico is now called the 'mountain that eats men’. In this captivating, moving tale of harrowing bravery and wistful beauty Ander Izagirre tells the story of the mountain and those who risk their lives in its shadow through the eyes of Alicia – a 14-year-old girl working in the dark, dangerous mines to support her family. Through her eyes we can come to know the story of postcolonial Bolivia.
From the 16th century, the mines of Potosí, perched high in the Andes, bankrolled the Spanish empire. During those years immense wealth allowed the city to grow larger than London at the time and the mountain was quickly given the epithet Cerro Rico – the 'rich mountain'. But today, Potosí's inhabitants are some of the poorest in South America while the mountain itself has been so greedily plundered that its summit is on the verge of collapsing. So many people have died in the mines that the Cerro Rico is now called the 'mountain that eats men'. In this captivating, moving tale of harrowing bravery and wistful beauty Ander Izagirre tells the story of the mountain and those who risk their lives in its shadow through the eyes of Alicia – a 14-year-old girl working in the dark, dangerous mines to support her family. Through her eyes we can come to know the story of postcolonial Bolivia.
A Mexican-American lawyer exposes corruption in the US asylum procedure and despotism in the Mexican government From a storefront law office in the US border city of El Paso, Texas, one man set out to tear down the great wall of indifference raised between the US and Mexico. Carlos Spector has filed hundreds of political asylum cases on behalf of human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents. Though his legal activism has only inched the process forward—98 percent of refugees from Mexico are still denied asylum—his myriad legal cases and the resultant media fallout has increasingly put US immigration policy, the corrupt state of Mexico, and the political basis of immigrat...
*ONE OF 40 BOOKS FOR SUMMER* 'gripping'- iNews 'A panoramic thriller ...chockful of vivid characters' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'An intriguing, timely and unsettling new thriller' SAM BOURNE 'Catapults you from first word to last... pacy, sinister and timely read' ALAN JUDD 'Another page-turner from a writer who can take you into gripping worlds, real and virtual.' MISHAL HUSAIN 'The dark world of private cyber-surveillance crackles off the page - full of jeopardy and suspense.' ALLAN LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. AND THEY KNOW EVERYTHING. The tech company Public Square believes in 'doing well by doing good'. It's built a multi-billion dollar business on this philosophy and by getting to know what peopl...
Crónicas publicadas en el diario Levante. Las columnas de Barraca y Tangana (publicadas en el diario Levante) se han convertido en una contraseña de culto entre los ojeadores más exigentes. Ballester escribe, aparentemente, de fútbol. Pero no te fíes: utiliza el regate de la ironía para despistar al lector. En verdad, escribe sobre lo que de verdad importa. Descubre un libro que habla de fútbol. O cualquie otra cosa... EXTRACTO DE La memoria Ramón lo estaba pasando bien. Celebrando un cumpleaños, una victoria o lo que aquello realmente fuera, lo estaba pasando bien. Quizá no tan bien como aquel amigo suyo que había dejado de ver hacía un buen rato, pero lo estaba pasando bien. Ca...
Hace quinientos años, la expedición de Magallanes y Elkano dio la primera vuelta al mundo. Ahora Ander Izagirre sale de Getaria y vuelve a Getaria, el pueblo natal de Elkano, para darle una vuelta geográfica, histórica y mental al país de los vascos. Viaja en bicicleta y va encontrando historias asombrosas: las de hace quinientos años (navegantes, exploradores, esclavos, revolucionarios, emperadores, desterrados, balleneros, espíritus locales, dioses remotos) y las actuales (exploradoras, pescadores, mineras, inmigrantes, carpinteros, arqueólogas, cocineros, escultores, poetas, chocolateros). Sus relatos muestran los contrastes y las similitudes entre la sociedad vasca que participó...
Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was is the first biography of Jan Ullrich, arguably the most naturally talented cyclist of his generation, and also one of the most controversial champions of the Tour de France. 'Magnificent' – Matt Dickinson, The Times 'A superlative biography as well as social and sporting history' – Observer In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world by obliterating his rivals at the Tour de France and becoming Germany’s first ever winner. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich would dominate the future of cycling. But he never quite managed it. This is a gripping account of how unbearable expectation, mental and physical fragility, the effects of a complicated childhood, a morally corrupt sport and one individual – Lance Armstrong – can conspire to reroute destiny. Acclaimed journalist Daniel Friebe takes us from the legacy of East Germany’s drugs programme to the pinnacle of pro cycling and asks: what price are you willing to pay for immortality?
A young girl must find a way to help her family survive in a desolate and impoverished Bolivian silver mining community in this eye-opening tale of resilience. Twelve-year-old Ana wants nothing more than to escape the future set for her and her classmates in her small mining village. Boys her age are beginning to leave school to become silver miners and girls her age are destined to one day be the wives of miners. But when her often ill eleven-year-old brother is forced by their demanding father to start work in the mines, Ana gives up her dreams of school to volunteer in his place. The world of silver mining though is dark and dangerous and the men who work there don't want a girl in their way. Ana must find the courage to not only survive but save her family after the worst happens and a mining accident kills her father and leaves her brother missing.
Jedes Jahr liefern die Pensionskassen-Versicherten in der Schweiz 20 Milliarden Franken an die Finanzindustrie ab. Bloß merkt das niemand. Denn Banken und Versicherungen haben das Sozialwerk der zweiten Säule in ein intransparentes Gebührensystem verwandelt, das ihnen satte Gewinne abwirft. Seit dem Obligatorium für die berufliche Vorsorge von 1985 unterstützt der Staat sie dabei: Er zwingt die Versicherten zur Einzahlung – und überlässt der Finanzbranche die Verwaltung des Geldes. Die Gesetze sind lasch, die Aufsicht ist schwach. Auch, weil viele Politiker am System mitverdienen. Die Folge sind Skandale wie das Debakel der Pensionskasse Phoenix, in dem die Schwyzer Kantonalbank ein...