Knowledge = Power

What extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence. A  rising tide of extremist movements threaten to destabilize civil  societies around the globe. It has never been more important to  understand extremism, yet the dictionary definition—a logical starting  point in a search for understanding—tells us only that extremism is “the  quality or state of being extreme.” In this volume in the MIT Press  Essential Knowledge series, J. M. Berger offers a nuanced introduction  to extremist movements, explaining what extremism is, how extremist  ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into  violence. Berger shows that although the ideological content of  extremist movements varies widely, there are common structural elements. Berger, an expert on extremist movements and terrorism, explains  that extremism arises from a perception of “us versus them,”  intensified by the conviction that the success of “us” is inseparable  from hostile acts against “them.” Extremism differs from ordinary  unpleasantness—run-of-the-mill hatred and racism—by its sweeping  rationalization of an insistence on violence. Berger illustrates his  argument with case studies and examples from around the world and  throughout history, from the destruction of Carthage by the Romans—often  called “the first genocide”—to the apocalyptic jihadism of Al Qaeda,  America's new “alt-right,” and the anti-Semitic conspiracy tract The  Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He describes the evolution of identity  movements, individual and group radicalization, and more. If we  understand the causes of extremism, and the common elements of extremist  movements, Berger says, we will be more effective in countering it.

The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes  the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown  and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the  ultimate form of power. What makes “cults” so intriguing and  frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us  binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes  researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a  satisfying explanation for what causes people to join - and more  importantly, stay in - extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could  it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it  already has.... Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy  answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague  talk of “brainwashing”. But the true answer has nothing to do with  freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell  argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and  us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and  shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear - and are influenced  by - every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting  original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide  spectrum of communities “cultish”, revealing how they affect followers  of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our  modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive  and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of  power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish”  everywhere.

“Masterful. . . . Evans demonstrates a fluent style and a sweeping  grasp of the Third Reich’s history and of the enormous historical  literature. . . . Evans’s fellow historians as well as a broader public  will read this work, not quite with pleasure, for there is little joy in  this story, but with admiration for the author’s narrative powers.” ―Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) A New York Times bestseller! An absorbing, revelatory, and definitive account of one of the greatest tragedies in human history Adroitly blending narrative, description, and analysis, Richard J.  Evans portrays a society rushing headlong to self-destruction and taking  much of Europe with it. Interweaving a broad narrative of the war's  progress from a wide range of people, Evans reveals the dynamics of a  society plunged into war at every level. The great battles and events of  the conflict are here, but just as telling is Evans's re- creation of  the daily experience of ordinary Germans in wartime. At the center of  the book is the Nazi extermi­nation of the Jews. The final book in  Richard J. Evan's three-volume history of Hitler's Germany, hailed "a  masterpiece" by The New York Times, The Third Reich at War lays bare the most momentous and tragic years of the Nazi regime.

The second book in his acclaimed trilogy on the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, Richard J. Evans' The Third Reich in Power: How the Nazis Won Over the Hearts and Minds of a Nation explores how Hitler turned Germany from a vibrant democracy into a one-party state. Before Hitler seized power in 1933, Germany had been famous for its  sophistication and complexity. So how was it possible for a group of  ideological obsessives to re-mould it into a one-party state directed at  war and race hate? How did the Nazis win over the hearts and minds of  Germany's citizens, twist science, religion and culture, and transform  the country's politics to achieve total dominance so quickly? From the Nuremberg Laws to the Olympic Games, Kristallnacht to  the Hitler Youth, this gripping account shows how a whole population  became enmeshed in a dictatorship that was consumed by hatred and driven  by war. 'Impressive ... perceptive ... humane'   Ian Kershaw 'Excellent ... powerful ... it makes an indelible impression'   Robert Service, Sunday Times 'Likely to be the standard work for some years to come' Spectator Books of the Year 'A rich and detailed description of just what the Third Reich did in  every compartment of the state and every corner of society ... Evans's  magisterial study should be on our shelves for a long time to come' Economist 'Written with great style and human sympathy' Daily Telegraph Books of the Year 'Evans brilliantly conveys how the Fuhrer reignited Germans' pride as he led them to catastrophe'   Neal Ascherson, Observer Sir Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His previous books include In Defence of History, Telling Lies about Hitler and the companions to this title, The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich at War.

"Brilliant.” —Washington Post "The clearest and most gripping account I've read of German life before and during the rise of the Nazis." —A. S Byatt, Times Literary Supplement “The  generalist reader, it should be emphasized, is well served. . . . The  book reads briskly, covers all important areas—social and cultural—and  succeeds in its aim of giving “voice to the people who lived through the  years with which it deals.” —Denver Post There  is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand  than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi  Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one  of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive  account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly  work integrated with important new research and interpretations,  Evans’s history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of  Hitler and the Nazis, even as it shows how ready Germany was by the  early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian’s art and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged.

Who was Friedrich Nietzsche? This lonely and chronically ill, yet passionate, daring, and complex man is perhaps the most mysterious and least understood of all contemporary philosophers. Why are his brilliant insights so relevant for today? How did he become the most misinterpreted and unfairly maligned intellectual figure of the last two centuries? To provide shape to Nietzsche's thought, each of these 24 lectures focuses on specific ideas that preoccupied Nietzsche while tracing the profound themes that give meaning to his work. You'll get a chance to put Nietzsche's life and work in a larger historical and philosophical context. You'll explore the controversial philosopher's subtle, complex critique of both religious belief and Greek rationalism. You'll also spend a wealth of time focusing on Nietzsche's famous writing style, which deftly combines the majesty of the prophet, the force of the Homeric warrior, and the lyricism of the poet - but which nonetheless is rife with inconsistencies, exaggerations, and personal attacks. And you'll get a better understanding of Nietzsche's complaints and criticisms of the intellectual currents of his time: Christian moralism, evolution, socialism, democracy, and nationalism. As you make your way through these lectures, you'll discover that Nietzsche, even at his most polemical and offensive, exudes an unmistakable enthusiasm and love of life. In fact, you'll see that his exhortation to learn to love and accept one's own life, to make it better by becoming who one really is, forms the project that is the true core of his work.

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The 48 Laws of Power comes the definitive new audiobook on decoding the behavior of the people around you. Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of listeners, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding, and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all - understanding people's drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people. Knowing why people do what they do is the most important tool we can possess, without which our other talents can only take us so far. Drawing from the ideas and examples of Pericles, Queen Elizabeth I, Martin Luther King Jr, and many others, Greene teaches us how to detach ourselves from our own emotions and master self-control, how to develop the empathy that leads to insight, how to look behind people's masks, and how to resist conformity to develop your singular sense of purpose. Whether at work, in relationships, or in shaping the world around you, The Laws of Human Nature offers brilliant tactics for success, self-improvement, and self-defense.

The product of 11 years of research, The Story of Philosophy is an endlessly inspiring and instructive chronicle of the world’s greatest thinkers, from Socrates to Santayana. Written with exacting and scrupulous scholarship, it was designed both to command the respect of educators and to capture the interest of the layman. Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit. Will Durant (1885-1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He spent over 50 years writing his critically acclaimed 11-volume series The Story of Civilization. A champion of human-rights issues such as social reform and the brotherhood of man long before they were popular, he continues to educate and entertain readers and listeners worldwide through his writings.

Previously unpublished talks from the Father of Modern Management. Throughout his professional life, Peter F. Drucker inspired millions of business leaders not only through his famous writings, but also through his lectures and keynotes. These speeches contained some of his most valuable insights but had never been published in book form - until now. The Drucker Lectures features more than 30 talks from one of management's most important figures. Drawn from the Drucker Archives at the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, the lectures showcase Drucker's wisdom, wit, profundity, and prescience on such topics as: Politics and economics of the environment Knowledge workers and the Knowledge Society Computer and information literacy Managing nonprofit organizations Globalization During his life, Drucker well understood that over the last 150 years the world had become a society of large institutions - and that they would only become larger and more powerful. He contended that unless these institutions were effectively managed and ethically led, the good health of society as a whole would be in peril. His prediction is unfolding before our eyes. The Drucker Lectures is a timely, instructive book proving that responsible behavior and good business can, in fact, exist hand in hand.

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about someone committing a violent, reprehensible, even evil, act. And each time it happens, before we know anything about the circumstances, we are already sure of one thing: We are nothing like that perpetrator. But how can we be so sure? After all, we are all human. In Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature, Professor Daniel Breyer takes us on a fascinating philosophical journey into many of the deepest and darkest questions that have engaged humanity for millennia. The dark side of our nature is our mysterious and fragile underbelly - our negative, but all too human, side. For many of us, it may be easier to simply avoid looking into the darker aspects of ourselves and our world - the suffering we see everywhere around us, from real world events to the entertainment we consume. But the truth is, if we don’t face the totality of what it means to be human, we can never fully understand ourselves or fully appreciate our deep desire for meaning and purpose in our lives. Thinkers from across the world and in many different eras have considered the dark side of human nature, and that’s why this course will adopt a cross-cultural approach, investigating perspectives from many different traditions - Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and secular. This cross-cultural approach will help you see humanity as fully as possible from many perspectives, better allowing for progress toward finding answers that can apply across cultures and times. This course is fueled by the power of questions, one of philosophy’s most potent tools. Some are questions we have all asked ourselves: Why do so many people commit violence against others, why is there so much suffering in the world? Professor Breyer provides some fascinating potential answers to many of our darkest questions.