David Marples

Recent events have thrust Belarus into the international spotlight, but for years after declaring independence in1991, Belarus remained a little-known republic in the West, despite its important geostrategic position between Poland and Russia, and as a conduit for Russian energy supplies to central Europe. In the late Soviet period, it was best known as a victim of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, which covered its territory in dangerous radionuclides of cesium, strontium, and iodine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; the unprecedented mass demonstrations after President Alexander Lukashenka declared himself the victor in his 2020 presidential race against challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the ensuing mass repression, imprisonment, and torture of civilians thrust the country into international attention. This book probes the deep background to these tumultuous events even long before the collapse of the Soviet Union and Lukashenka''s merciless dictatorship. Belarus: What Everyone Needs to Know® explains Belarus to outsiders, tracing its development, history, and formation of a modern identity. Marples and Laputska look at its place in contemporary Europe and its relations with Russia, Ukraine, China, and other states; and argue that the image of Belarus as a Soviet theme park or offshoot of Putin''s Russian World are far-fetched and misguided.

The History Boys Part Two celebrates more iconic goals in the illustrious history of Nottingham Forest. Starting in 1880 with Sam Widdowson and ending with the remarkable 2024/25 season, it tells the stories behind the famous goals and some of the more unusual and overlooked efforts. All types of goals are here. Those remarkable strikes from distance that blew our minds. The ones shrouded in controversy. Some secured titles or promotions, others ensured survival. The late ones, the stunning solo efforts and the end products of carefully crafted team moves. Some scored by heroes, others by villains. Goals make us feel delight, despair and everything in between. This is the story of the goals that shaped the trajectory of Nottingham Forest across Victorian beginnings, between the wars, the glorious late 1970s, the giddy days of Frank Clark, the doldrums of the 2000s, right through to the meteoric resurrection of the last four years. Goals are the reason the game is played. Relive those memories.