They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of a George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of a Hunter Thompson.

An incisive look into the lives, politics, and horrible deeds of fifty-six of history’s most notorious world leaders—and how they shaped our world for the worst. For the most notorious leaders in the history of the world, evil is more than just a moment of weakness—it’s a way of life. For every noble king, righteous emperor, and peace-loving president, history seems to serve up a double portion of murderous pharaohs, deranged dictators, or corrupt czars. Thugs probes this dark and twisted side of raw human power—from France’s King Louis XIV to China’s Mao Tse-Tung and everywhere in between. It’s a fascinating peek into the lives of the rich and infamous, the sour crème de la crème. Some, like Herod the Great, earned villainous reputations for slaughtering their own family members and countrymen. Others, like Egypt’s King Farouk, were almost laughable in their misdeeds, amassing the world’s largest collection of pornography. Then there are those leaders, such as Hitler, who committed acts of such unspeakable evil that their names are uttered as curses. From Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos’s bullet-proof bras to African strongman Ide Amin’s bizarre fixation with all things Scottish, Micah D. Halpern turns the yellowed pages of history and contemporary news accounts to profile the bewildering, outrageous, horrific, gut-wrenching, zany, and tragicomic behavior of the world’s worst leaders. Praise for Thugs “Written in short, easy-to-digest sentences, columnist and historian Halpern fills his brief sketches with colorful, terrible details in the manner of that rare, beloved history teacher whose lectures stir rapture in a nap-prone student body.” —Publishers Weekly

Things are getting heated: A son has been murdered and bonds have been shattered. Forbidden affairs are coming to light and lovers are forced to choose the one they want the most. Everyone is lost in a sea of blackmail, hate, lust, love, corruption and deception. Four friends are torn apart by treachery, facing the threat of going up against one of the most sophisticated and deadliest Chinese crime organizations. When there's nothing left except a choice between war and death, there's really no choice at all.

A subversive, macabre novel of a young Indian man’s misadventures in Victorian London as the city is racked by a series of murders In a small Bihari village, Captain William T. Meadows finds just the man to further his phrenological research back home: Amir Ali, confessed member of the infamous Thugee cult. With tales of a murderous youth redeemed, Ali gains passage to England, his villainously shaped skull there to be studied. Only Ali knows just how embroidered his story is, so when a killer begins depriving London’s underclass of their heads, suspicion naturally falls on the “thug.” With help from fellow immigrants led by a shrewd Punjabi woman, Ali journeys deep into a hostile city in an attempt to save himself and end the gruesome murders. Ranging from skull-lined mansions to underground tunnels a ghostly people call home, The Thing about Thugs is a feat of imagination to rival Wilkie Collins or Michael Chabon. Short-listed for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, this sly Victorian role reversal marks the arrival of a compelling new Indian novelist to North America.

For ex-offender Titus Stevenson, a return to college should've been a breakthrough in the transition back to society. But he arrives at a campus hardly in the mood for healing--it's on the verge of tearing itself apart. A string of racial scandals have battered the school's reputation. Every weekend bad blood between partygoers, athletes, and townies erupts into all-out brawls. A booming drug trade spurs aggressive police crackdowns. And just as tensions with law enforcement have reached their peak, a serial rapist re-emerges after years of inactivity. Determined to graduate at year's end and enter a top law school, Titus wants nothing more than to put the past behind him. But the details of his violent conviction surface, and his quiet life as a student crumbles. Now a powerful dean wants him gone. A feud with the football team has him cooped up in his apartment. Maybe an old love will work out this time around, but something doesn't feel quite right. He's got one year left to set things straight. When progress doesn't come fast enough, old demons return, threatening to derail his life forever--and it just might push the campus over the edge. University Thugs is a story of redemption and reinvention in an unforgiving world. On one level, it poses broad questions about the transformative power of higher education. Yet University Thugs is undoubtedly a book with heart. It offers a frank, deeply-felt portrait of young people throwing themselves headlong into dreams, and their loyalties to one another when things don't go as planned. Told in a kinetic style across multiple perspectives, the novel takes the reader on an emotional journey--through hope, despair, tenderness, rage, and all points in between.

Justify My Thug is a story of intersecting lives, featuring familiar characters from Wahida Clark's Thug series. Trae and Tasha Macklin's marriage is on thin ice. Jaz and Faheem were living the American Dream until a haunting part of their past threatens their marriage, and ultimately their lives. In the meantime, Marvin is trapped in a living nightmare desperately trying to escape the mistakes of his thug past. Back in New York, Kaylin has to face the toughest decision of his life, while his girl Angel has to answer for herself as well.