When a totalitarian group seizes power, one of the first institutions it creates is a secret political police. Since the birth of modern totalitarianism, in country after country, secret political police have been the predominant instruments of power, used to consolidate power, neutralize the opposition, and erect a one-party state. Yet, when these same totalitarian regimes have liberalized or collapsed, the secret political police have often managed to survive and even remain relevant. Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes provides a groundbreaking exploration of this survival tendency in seven formerly communist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Latin America - and the lessons these transformations hold for future democratic revolutions. But Dismantling Tyranny is also much more: it is a guidebook designed to empower, inform, and guide future transitions toward democracy for those political leaders with the initiative, and courage, to embark upon such a visionary path. Published in cooperation with the American Foreign Policy Council.

A series of violent murders sweeps the Oceanfront of Virginia Beach during the height of the tourist season. The victims are beautiful Russian maids working at oceanfront hotels, employed by Nikolai Ivanov's Tsarina Enterprises. The VBPD SVU team sets out to take down the killer, at whatever cost. This is a thriller with unexpected turns and a strong finish.

Billy Blue Sky is the story of a 10-year-old boy named Billy Pearlman, nicknamed Billy Blue Sky by his mother, Linda. Billy is smart, charming and intuitive beyond his years. He also happens to have Down syndrome, which can cause certain types of heart abnormalities.
After open heart surgery, Billy seems to possess a new power that has profound effects on other people, changing their lives completely. Linda is not a religious person, but even she has a hard time understanding or explaining what is going on with her son. Soon their lives spin out of control. Billy attracts a following of people, many who do not have his best interests at heart, and are willing to do anything to obtain his gift.
This is a story of true love, and how a little boy can change hearts and the world. It is the story of evil forces who try to take what is not theirs, and about the mother who will give her all to save her son.

Before that day he was a weak and worthless cripple, a "sinful man" according to his father. Afterwards he was completely healed of his physical disabilities at the hands of the rabbi from Nazareth. Destined for the dungeons of society, suddenly a world without limits was open to him. This is the story of Benjamin, a man who was given a new body, a new life, and a new chance to live life the way he had always dreamed.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Already infamous for the arbitrary, paranoid persecution of its own citizens throughout much of the twentieth century, the Soviet Union-as is revealed in John Koeher's revelatory, eye-opening expose-also waged a vicious espionage campaign against the Catholic Church and its followers. From the persecution of local priests to an assassination order against Pope John Paul II, the KGB viewed Catholicism as a threat to stability in Eastern Europe and treated the church as an enemy of the State. Lifetime journalist and former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer John Koehler has written the definitive book on this startling history. Using never before seen documents and transcripts, including an order against the Pope that was signed by Gorbachev and nine other Politburo members, Koehler paints a vivid picture of the network of spies and double agents who were working to infiltrate the Church's infrastructure, from the Vatican down to local parishes. But what is most impressive is the overwhelming evidence of the extreme courage of everyday believers who offered shelter and protection to the persecuted, despite the danger of their own arrest or execution. The KGB's efforts to purge the Soviet Union of the church's "conspiratorial influence" would eventually backfire. The shared sense of unity that developed as a result of these attacks, compounded with the myriad of grievances brought on by decades of brutal Soviet rule, would culminate in the birth of the Solidarity movement after a visit by the Pope in the late 1980s. This unprecedented chronicle of the Soviet Union's cold war against the Catholic Church is a vital and important contribution to the works of twentieth century history.