Set in Kabul under the rule of the Taliban, the novel follows two couples from different social backgrounds. Mohsen comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers who the Taliban destroyed. His wife, Zunaira, was a teacher, but now she cannot leave her home without an escort or without covering her face.
The other couple involved in the novel is Atiq and Musarrat. Atiq is a prison keeper who adopts the Taliban ideology and struggles to keep his faith. Musarrat rescues Atiq, who is dying of sickness and despair.
A crowd of people about to stone an adulterous woman surrounds Mohsen. Mohsen is caught up in the atmosphere and starts to throw stones at the face of the women who is buried up to her waist. All four individuals struggle to hold onto their humanity during a time when pleasure is a sin and death is routine.

The text focuses on the relationships between two women and the value placed on females in Afghanistan. Mariam's and Laila's lives intersect when Laila requires care after she is wounded when her home is bombed in Kabul.
Mariam is physically abused by her husband, Rasheed, and is unable to carry a child to full term. Believing her lover Tariq is dead, Laila is alone and agrees to marry Rasheed. This arrangement is not welcomed by Mariam. After giving birth to two children, Laila is abused by Rasheed, just as he mistreats Mariam. The two women slowly establish a friendship while living under the strict rules of the Taliban.
Several themes run throughout the text: Afghan politics, women's rights, oppression, war and the importance of family.

In 1866, six men from Pulaski, Tennessee decide to "get up a club or society" and the Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) is formed. The men dress in white robes and cover their faces with pointed hats and masks. Initially, they ride about town pretending to be the ghosts of the Confederate dead and play pranks. But once the young men understand the power of anonymity to bring fear to former slaves, the K.K.K. becomes much more sinister.
In the ensuing decades, the K.K.K. attempts to restore white supremacy using threats and violence against African-Americans and the American federal government.
The text includes a table of contents, a civil rights timeline, quote attributions, a bibliography, source notes and an index.

In 1981, Anwar al-Sadat is president and his open-door economic policy wreaks havoc on Egyptian lives. Elwan is engaged to Randa, however, her father will not permit the marriage. Elwan does not earn enough money to purchase and furnish an apartment. Their engagement is called off and Randa becomes engaged to her boss. On the same date that Sadat is assassinated, Elwan kills his boss.
The text alternates between Elwan's voice and his grandfather, Muhtashimi Zayed. Grandfather reflects on the generation gap in Egypt.

In occupied France during World War II, Marie-Laure, a blind girl from Paris, and Werner, an orphan from Germany, take refuge in the walled citadel of Saint-Malo. Marie-Laure and her father are working for the French Resistance and hiding a valuable jewel from the Paris Museum of Natural History; Werner has been trained as a Hitler Youth and is an expert at building and fixing radios. As the young people's paths converge, Werner discovers the radio of Marie-Laure's Uncle Etienne and he is drawn to her. When Saint-Malo is bombed, Werner finds Marie-Laure and helps her escape.

Briscoe guides the reader through one family's experience as Aborigines in Australia. He uses oral and documentary source materials to tell his story. Prior to 1972, Aborigine peoples were wards of the state or federal governments and subject to government race laws; therefore, records were kept of their movements. Briscoe interweaves what it is like to be a half-caste person who gains liberty from the race laws with a glimpse into Aboriginal political and social history.
The text is available for download at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/titles/aboriginal-history-monographs/racial_citation

In this tragedy, Othello is a highly respected general in Venice. Iago is ambitious and resentful when Othello promotes Cassio to the position of personal assistant. Iago starts a spiteful campaign against Othello. After Othello elopes with Desdemona, Iago plots against both. Othello, suspicious of Desdemona, suffocates her. Upon hearing the truth of Iago, Othello stabs himself with a concealed knife.
The Cambridge School Shakespeare series continues to make Shakespeare's plays accessible to students. This edition of the play includes learning opportunities and a selection of notes including information on the characters, performances, history and language. The book includes a table of contents.