Business, Finance & Law Books

Book SynopsisBeing good at your job is a great way to start your career. But to fulfil your potential and get more senior roles, you need more than technical expertise. Joanna Gaudoin has helped thousands of bright, capable professionals master the essential skills that will take them to the next level of their careers. From making a good impression to dealing with difficult people, from building external relations to acing your online presence, here are all the skills you need to get that promotion - in just 6 minutes!

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Book SynopsisEven if you're used to managing small teams, you'll find the dynamics of a big team very different. As projects scale up in size and complexity, the skills you need to manage effectively change. It's less about the technical aspects of project delivery, more about integrating different sub teams into a cohesive whole. Luckily, team specialist and major projects advisor Tony Llewellyn is here to provide the practical guidance you need to set up and run an effective team of teams in just 6 minutes!

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Book SynopsisWhen your customers succeed, your business succeeds. Customer Success is all about generating revenue growth through customer relationships, outcomes, trust, loyalty, retention and referrals and Kellie Lucas is a pioneer in the discipline. Discover how to maximise customer retention, recurring revenue and growth, build a productive and balanced team and excel as a Customer Success professional - in just 6 minutes!

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Book SynopsisIf no one is paying attention, it doesn't matter what you know or what you can do; to be effective, you must engage first.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe essential guide to conversational selling the mindsets, knowledge and skills that every salesperson needs to master, and which every sales manager needs to be able to teach.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis'Engaging' Money Week'A sharp-eyed account of what makes Sweden modern, resilient and rather different' Professor Jonas HinnforsSWEDENA country that defies the laws of economic gravity. A land with high wages, strong unions and generous welfare. A dream location for business and a bastion of social responsibility, coming out on top for childcare, equality and quality of life.WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT?Having lived in Sweden for six years, journalist David Crouch has a unique perspective as an outsider looking in on one of the world's most successful yet divided countries. Based on more than 70 interviews with leading figures in Swedish industry and politics, Almost Perfekt is a journey through Swedish society and what sets it apart from the world today. Why is Sweden so good for businesses like IKEA, Spotify and Skype?How will the country become zero carbon by 2045?And what can we learn about immigration from its ambitious policies?With political and economic upheaval threatening to pull Europe apart, discover the truth of how Sweden really works.'If you want to know how Sweden works, this is the book for you' Andrew Brown, Guardian journalist and author'A great guide to the much-cited but little examined Swedish model and the challenges it now faces' Richard Milne, Financial TimesTrade ReviewAn entertainingly informative book about Sweden * The Listener (New Zealand) *

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Book SynopsisWe've all had those moments. The ones where you look in the mirror and nothing feels ok. For Anita Bhagwandas, this started when she was a child and it created an enduring internal torment about her looks.We're all told that this is just part of growing up, but it stays with us, evolving as we age. The internet tells us we should love ourselves, whilst bombarding us with images of airbrushed perfection, upholding centuries-old beauty standards which we can't always see. Our beauty rituals are so often based around things we think we need to fix, grow and develop - sometimes tipping into dangerous obsession.So, what seismic shift does it take to break free from this mentality? In Ugly, Anita uncovers where these beauty standards started, unpicks why they've been perpetuated and unmasks the structures that continue to support them. From the ever-growing cosmetic surgery industry, to the hidden pitfalls of 'pretty privilege', it is time to finally break free from those limiting beauty standards, because feeling ugly should have nothing to do with how we look, and everything to do with who wants us to feel lacking.Trade Review'Anita's deep dive into beauty, its history and the pressure to look "perfect" is essential reading' * Caroline Hirons *'A bold, beautiful undertaking - this book unravels what we think we know about beauty, both in how we view ourselves and others. Anita's thorough research, lived in experience and brilliant prose makes it a must read for anyone struggling to find their place in the world.' -- Poorna BellUgly is not only a must read, it's an urgent read. [...] This book is the real deal - taking over from where Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth left off. * Farrah Storr, Things Worth Knowing newsletter *[Ugly is one] of the best releases of 2023 * Glamour *UGLY is provocative, powerful, and will challenge everything you thought you knew about beauty standards. I'm so grateful for Anita Bhagwandas's work * Virigina Sole-Smith, author of THE EATING INSTINCT and FAT TALK *'A brilliant and necessary book. Anita combines memoir with analysis to dissect the ways in which notions of beauty are subverted to subjugate and undermine. Anyone who has ever worried about their looks - and that's pretty much every girl and woman - should read this to understand the mechanisms driving their sense of inferiority and inflicting the worst social, economic and psychological penalties on people furthest from imposed, Barbified ideals.' -- Catherine Mayer, founder of Women's Equality Party

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Book SynopsisAn Uncut Magazine Book of the Year A Telegraph Book of the Year A Financial Times Book of the Year'An adventurer, an entrepreneur, a buccaneer, a visionary' - BONOAs the founder of Island Records, renowned music producer Chris Blackwell has discovered and worked with some of the most legendary artists of the second half of the twentieth century - from Steve Winwood to Cat Stevens, Bob Marley to Grace Jones, U2 to Roxy Music, via Nick Drake, the B-52's and Robert Palmer. A maverick free spirit himself, Blackwell turned Island into a home for groundbreaking musicians and their wildly divergent music styles, playing an instrumental role in bringing reggae to the world stage.Now, as he turns eighty-five, the great raconteur takes us back to the island where it all began: Jamaica - the paradise where his family once partied with the likes of Noël Coward, Ian Fleming and Errol Flynn and where, as local Jamaican sounds began to adopt contemporary American trends, Blackwell's burgeoning musical instincts flourished. It was also the birthplace of the cutting-edge Island Records, founded by Blackwell in 1959. But that was just the start of a truly remarkable career...Winding through the music industry, this fascinating memoir makes for a giddy ride, encountering Island's many esteemed collaborators over the years and unpacking the initiatives, decisions and risks that ultimately brought such enduring success to Blackwell, both in music and beyond.Trade Review'As you're about to find out through the pages in this book, Chris Blackwell - who looms large in U2's life and was in fact our lifeline into the music world - is an adventurer, an entrepreneur, a buccaneer, a visionary and a gentleman. I'm proud to know him.' -- Bono'C.B. had this way of throwing me in the deep end knowing that I would thrive on being challenged. As you'll read in The Islander, he knows how to get the very best out of people - he's a mover and a shaker and a mischief-maker.' -- Grace Jones'I read Chris Blackwell's autobiography in one sitting, unable to tear myself away. From "My Boy Lollipop" and Bob Marley, via Swinging London and punk, all the way to Talking Heads and U2, I felt like I was reading the inside story of the music of my life.' -- Salman Rushdie'A thoroughly quotable autobiography, a book that's hard to put down. 4/5' -- Mojo'Fascinating. 8/10' -- Uncut'Highly readable.' -- The Guardian'A compelling autobiography.' -- The Observer'A story told with disciplined coherence that plunges deep beneath the surface.' -- Daily Telegraph'Highly recommended.' -- Kirkus'If you're even a minor fan of music books ... buy this autobiography. Fascinating.' -- Variety'A page-turner of an autobiography.' -- Record Collector'Fascinating autobiography of the Island Records founder. The Islander is a treasure.' -- Prog'A rip-roaring yarn, the ultimate behind-the-scenes insider look at the coolest label ever on the planet.' -- The Quietus'A compelling, juicy book.' -- Irish Times'An absorbing read.' -- Echoes'An extraordinary story and a wonderful book. It couldn't be more enthusiastically recommended.' -- Mark Ellen'Highly entertaining, rapid-fire, hard-to-put-down memoir.' -- Air Mail'There are amazing insights. If you want to know how it was ... read The Islander.' -- Bob Lefsetz

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Book Synopsis'An adventurer, an entrepreneur, a buccaneer, a visionary' - BONOAs the founder of Island Records, fabled music producer Chris Blackwell has discovered and worked with some of the most important musicians of the second half of the twentieth century - from Steve Winwood to Cat Stevens, Bob Marley to Grace Jones, U2 to Roxy Music, plus countless others. He is also widely credited with having brought reggae music to the world stage.Now, as reflects on his life, Blackwell takes us back to the island where it all began: Jamaica - the place where his family once partied with the likes of Noël Coward, Ian Fleming and Errol Flynn and where, as Jamaican local music began to adopt contemporary American trends, Blackwell's burgeoning musical instincts flourished. It was also the birthplace of the now-legendary Island Records, founded by Blackwell in 1959.Five years later, while living in London selling Jamaican records to Caribbean immigrants, Blackwell came across the vocal talents of teenager Millie Small, who he paired with the song 'My Boy Lollipop'. The producer added a ska beat and released what would be a worldwide hit.But this was just the beginning of a truly remarkable career. In this fascinating memoir, including up to fifty photos supplied by Blackwell's team, the music icon will discuss the many artists he's worked with over the years, as well as unpicking the initiatives, decisions and risks that ultimately brought such success to both Blackwell and his esteemed musical collaborators.Trade Review'As you're about to find out through the pages in this book, Chris Blackwell - who looms large in U2's life and was in fact our lifeline into the music world - is an adventurer, an entrepreneur, a buccaneer, a visionary and a gentleman. I'm proud to know him.' -- BONO'C.B. had this way of throwing me in the deep end knowing that I would thrive on being challenged. As you'll read in The Islander, he knows how to get the very best out of people - he's a mover and a shaker and a mischief-maker.' -- GRACE JONES'I read Chris Blackwell's autobiography in one sitting, unable to tear myself away. From "My Boy Lollipop" and Bob Marley, via Swinging London and punk, all the way to Talking Heads and U2, I felt like I was reading the inside story of the music of my life.' -- SALMAN RUSHDIE'A thoroughly quotable autobiography, a book that's hard to put down. ****' * MOJO *'Fascinating. 8/10' * UNCUT *'A rip-roaring yarn, the ultimate behind-the-scenes insider look at the coolest label ever on the planet.' * THE QUIETUS *'Fascinating autobiography of the Island Records founder. The Islander is a treasure.' * PROG *'Highly recommended.' * KIRKUS *'There are amazing insights. If you want to know how it was...read The Islander.' -- BOB LEFSETZ'Highly readable' * The Guardian *'Highly entertaining, rapid fire, hard to put down memoir' * Air Mail *'If you're even a minor fan of music books....buy this autobiography. Fascinating' * Variety *'A compelling autobiography' * The Observer *'A compelling juicy book' * The Irish Times *'An absorbing read' * Echoes *'An extraordinary story and a wonderful book. It couldn't be more enthusiastically recommended' -- Mark Ellen * Word in Your Ear *

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Book Synopsis*NEW EDITION FEATURING UPDATED MATERIAL*'Erudite, interesting and, above all, entertaining' ALAN JOHNSON, FORMER UK HOME SECRETARY'A racy, engrossing read' PROFESSOR IAN ROBERTSON'Incredibly absorbing, leaving even the most confident orator with food for thought' PSYCHOLOGIES Communication can make the difference between failure and success. When communication goes badly, it's a nightmare. When it goes well, it's the stuff of dreams. In this revelatory and entertaining guide, top speechwriter Simon Lancaster reveals that the secret to great communication lies not in logic alone, but in skilfully connecting with people's deepest instincts and emotions. Through the power of connections, it is possible to transform people's perceptions about almost anything, making the scary safe, the unfamiliar familiar, and even turning a 'no' into a 'yes'. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and ancient rhetoric, Lancaster examines ten powerful connections you can instantly make to change how people think, feel and act. Forget incomprehensible acronyms, mixed metaphors and jumbled jargon; with these connections, you can literally get people's mouths watering, make their hearts race and leave them addicted to your presence. Packed with wisdom, humour and actionable methods, Connect is the ultimate guide to great communication, giving you the power to inspire, influence and energise anyone, anywhere, anytime.Trade ReviewLike everything the incredible Simon Lancaster does - whether it's in speech-writing, books or music - this is erudite, interesting and, above all, entertaining. * Alan Johnson, author and Former Home Secretary of the United Kingdom *In a world filled with division and anxiety, Simon Lancaster unlocks a treasure trove of advice on how we achieve meaningful and lasting connections with others through our written and spoken communications. And he makes it all sound fun and easy - which is exactly how it should be * Viv Groskop, author of How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking *One of the world's best speechwriters unveils the arts of persuasion with the help of some brain science. A racy, engrossing read. * Professor Ian Robertson, author of How Confidence Works: The New Science of Self-Belief *'I really enjoyed Connect! Highly recommend it to anyone looking to connect more deeply with their audience, whether it's one person or a thousand.' * Terry Szuplat, President Obama's speechwriter, 2009–2017 *A rollicking read, jammed full of inspiring insights and examples, showing how we can all use humour and playfulness to become better communicators. Great fun! * Neil Mullarkey, comedian and author of Seven Steps to Improve Your People Skills *In this highly entertaining guide to communication, Simon Lancaster provides rich insight into how to instantly connect with audiences. His anecdotes and familiar cultural reference points ensure that he always practises what he preaches, and so his ideas connect with readers * Jonathan Charteris-Black, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University of the West of England *Simon Lancaster dives into the language that dominates public debate to argue that the opinions many of us assume to be instinctive are actually the product of others manipulating words and phrases to provoke the reaction they desire. A thoroughly entertaining and highly relevant read. * Sir Peter Wanless, Chief Executive, NSPCC *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR BEST SPECIALIST BUSINESS BOOK AT THE BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2021Have you ever relied on your hand to remember your pin rather than your memory?Or acted out a golf stroke before going for it?Or listened to your gut on a big decision?In this insightful new book, leading business anthropologist Simon Roberts breaks down the revolutionary idea of embodied knowledge: the information that is unconsciously picked up by our body for use in every area of our lives.Drawing on his own experience working with some of the world's leading industry experts and looking at a range of real-life examples and cutting-edge science, Roberts explains the various ways in which our body acquires, retains and employs information and why we should learn to trust the instincts that inform the most crucial decisions and actions in our lives.The Power of Not Thinking shows why humans are capable of far more than we are currently led to believe.We just have to stop thinking and start trusting our bodies.Trade ReviewEmbodied habits matter deeply, as illustrated powerfully in Roberts' timely new book. * Financial Times *A humanistic perspective on tech * Maria Bezaitis, Intel *An incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking book about the power of not over-thinking * Charles Leadbeater, social innovator and author *'Has the potential to change the way you think about understanding people' * Martha Cotton, Fjord/Accenture *Roberts shows us that our bodies, as well as our minds, have a vital role to play in the contribution that human beings make * Stefan Stern, author of How To Be A Better Leader *An excellent and delightfully readable book * Christian Madsbjerg, Professor of Applied Humanities *This book is as timely as it is important. Bodies have always mattered but it takes a voice as clear as Simon Roberts to remind us of just how very much, and why embodiment should be a critical part of all our conversations about the future. * Genevieve Bell *A lovely account that explains why executives, financiers, policy makers (and everybody else) needs to embrace walking in someone else's shoes * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisFrom CIA to CEO is an ops manual for entrepreneurs that reveals how the esoteric techniques of the CIA can help anyone find their voice, discover their potential, and thrive in the world of business.Agent-turned-entrepreneur Rupal Patel shares the unique skills she developed as a woman and as a field agent in the high-octane, alpha-male world of the CIA, and combines those clandestine insights with her experience as a business leader and mentor. She reveals how methods such as Profiling and Situational Awareness help amplify strengths and build resilience. How game-changing new frameworks like Identity Driven Leadership and Personal Energy Mapping instil drive, purpose and conviction. And how the CIA mindset encourages you to remake the rules to find your own path and reach your goals.Full of motivating stories and unique exercises, From CIA to CEO will equip you with the all the tools you'll need for achieving Mission Success

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Book Synopsis'Hilarious, heart-wrenching and packed with British music history.' - COLDPLAY A Virgin Radio Book of the Year It's a life-and-near-death story. But whose life? And whose near-death?As a one-time NME journalist, former Xfm radio presenter, toilet-circuit promoter and the founder of enduring homespun British record label Fierce Panda, Simon Williams has been at the cutting, cutting, cutting edge of all things 'indie' for over thirty years. During his tenure as managing director of Fierce Panda (a role he holds to this day), Simon was responsible for tripping over bands such as Coldplay, Keane, Placebo and countless other acts of independent hue - some of whom have gone on to achieve earth-shattering musical superstardom, while others have merely baffled the crowd at the Bull & Gate in north London on a wet Wednesday evening.Unfiltered and unflinching, Pandamonium! is the story of Simon's time at the indie coalface, filled with insider anecdotes to entertain music enthusiasts everywhere - from the origins of a bootlegged Oasis release to Chris Martin's delight at reaching number ninety-two in the charts. But it is also the story of how Simon tried to bring a premature end to proceedings, documenting in blunt, matter-of-fact detail his longstanding mental-health struggles.Yet, despite his raw and often poignant honesty, Simon writes with the warmth, wit, self-deprecation and wide-eyed good fortune of someone who has stared into the abyss and survived, bounding down a few indie rabbit holes along the way.Trade Review'Coldplay wouldn't exist without Simon Williams. He was the first journalist to write about our band and released our first single on his legendary label, Fierce Panda. His memoir is hilarious, heart-wrenching and packed with British music history.' -- Coldplay'Remarkable tales from both the frontline of rock journalism and behind the scenes at one of our greatest underplayed British indie labels; open, entertaining and extraordinarily poignant.' -- Steve Lamacq'Williams is a towering colossus of indie. Pandamonium! is filled with autobiographical honesty, engaging humour and some really awful puns.' -- David Quantick'A brilliant memoir: funny, thrilling, but also as moving as any book about music I've ever read. It's full of the same stuff as the best records and gigs - entertainment, but also a sense of life at its most profound.' -- John Harris'Jaw dropping ... really moving. Highly recommend it.' -- Ted Kessler'A truly shocking episode from the recent past helps turn an entertaining romp into something much more moving. 8/10' -- Classic Rock'A dryly self-deprecating and desperately poignant picture of heartfelt endeavour and harsh reality. 4/5' -- Record Collector'Hilariously funny and deeply moving.' * Variety *'A sweet natured romp.' * 4/5 Mojo *'A fascinating book for any lover of indie music and those wanting an insight into the machinations of the unforgiving, cut-throat music industry. It is also a salutary reminder of the fragility of the human condition. Most of all, it is a most entertaining and, ironically, life-affirming read written with Williams' trademark wit, gentle humour and, let's be honest, silliness.' * Louder Than War *'Incredible... beautifully written.' -- Huw Stephens'What a book; Simon perfectly captures the joy, excitement and sheer buzz of so many sides of the music industry. It's written with warmth, love and with just the right amount of humour that keeps you going during the darkest passages of his story.' -- Rick McMurray, Ash'A thoroughly entertaining, emotional and frank look into one of the most underestimated indie labels and the most overly modest man behind it. Simon and Fierce Panda were a huge part of the band's history and we are eternally grateful.' -- Rod Jones, Idlewild'Simon Williams was there from the very start. Like a lot of bands we wouldn't be where we are today without his initial enthusiasm. One of the true music aficionados.' -- Danny McNamara, Embrace

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Book Synopsis'Hilarious, heart-wrenching and packed with British music history.' - COLDPLAY A Virgin Radio Book of the Year It's a life-and-near-death story. But whose life? And whose near-death?As a one-time NME journalist, former Xfm radio presenter, toilet-circuit promoter and the founder of enduring homespun British record label Fierce Panda, Simon Williams has been at the cutting, cutting, cutting edge of all things 'indie' for over thirty years. During his tenure as managing director of Fierce Panda (a role he holds to this day), Simon was responsible for tripping over bands such as Coldplay, Keane, Placebo and countless other acts of independent hue - some of whom have gone on to achieve earth-shattering musical superstardom, while others have merely baffled the crowd at the Bull & Gate in north London on a wet Wednesday evening.Unfiltered and unflinching, Pandamonium! is the story of Simon's time at the indie coalface, filled with insider anecdotes to entertain music enthusiasts everywhere - from the origins of a bootlegged Oasis release to Chris Martin's delight at reaching number ninety-two in the charts. But it is also the story of how Simon tried to bring a premature end to proceedings, documenting in blunt, matter-of-fact detail his longstanding mental-health struggles.Yet, despite his raw and often poignant honesty, Simon writes with the warmth, wit, self-deprecation and wide-eyed good fortune of someone who has stared into the abyss and survived, bounding down a few indie rabbit holes along the way.Trade Review'Coldplay wouldn't exist without Simon Williams. He was the first journalist to write about our band and released our first single on his legendary label, Fierce Panda. His memoir is hilarious, heart-wrenching and packed with British music history.' -- Coldplay'Remarkable tales from both the frontline of rock journalism and behind the scenes at one of our greatest underplayed British indie labels; open, entertaining and extraordinarily poignant.' -- Steve Lamacq'Williams is a towering colossus of indie. Pandamonium! is filled with autobiographical honesty, engaging humour and some really awful puns.' -- David Quantick'A brilliant memoir: funny, thrilling, but also as moving as any book about music I've ever read. It's full of the same stuff as the best records and gigs - entertainment, but also a sense of life at its most profound.' -- John Harris'Jaw dropping ... really moving. Highly recommend it.' -- Ted Kessler'A truly shocking episode from the recent past helps turn an entertaining romp into something much more moving. 8/10' -- Classic Rock'A dryly self-deprecating and desperately poignant picture of heartfelt endeavour and harsh reality. 4/5' -- Record Collector'Hilariously funny and deeply moving.' * Variety *'A sweet natured romp.' * 4/5 Mojo *'A fascinating book for any lover of indie music and those wanting an insight into the machinations of the unforgiving, cut-throat music industry. It is also a salutary reminder of the fragility of the human condition. Most of all, it is a most entertaining and, ironically, life-affirming read written with Williams' trademark wit, gentle humour and, let's be honest, silliness.' * Louder Than War *'Incredible... beautifully written.' -- Huw Stephens

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Book SynopsisMAKE YOUR BUSINESS BETTER FOR THE PLANETThe Green Start-Up is an essential toolkit for the modern-day entrepreneur. As issues around climate change and environmental impact become more urgent, businesses and start-ups must work harder then every before to operate in a greener, more sustainable way, for the benefit of both themselves and the planet. Environmental trailblazer Juliet Davenport OBE leads us through the most pressing questions facing any company so that we can do just that. From how to fuel the business to how to hire ethically; from how to marketing sustainably to delivering your product in an environmentally friendly way. The Green Start-Up not only finds answers to these questions, but showcases experts and brilliant business innovators who are doing things differently: who are showing that green businesses can even be beneficial for the planet.The very first book of its kind that blends environmentalism with entrepreneurship, The Green Start-Up will help turn the dial on the most pressing questions facing founders today, and demonstrate that businesses can still make a profit while also looking after the planet.'AN ESSENTIAL, FACT- AND FUN-PACKED GUIDE FOR ALL INNOVATORS' - MELISSA HEMSLEY'AN EXCELLENT PRIMER FOR ALL THOSE PLANNING TO SET UP THEIR OWN BUSINESSES' - CHRIS GOODALL

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Book SynopsisIs dread the first thing you feel when you wake up in the morning? Are you working in the evenings and on weekends to catch up? Have you already beat burnout once, only to find it creeping back? If you answered yes to any of these, you're in need of a cure for burnout.Burnout management coach Emily Ballesteros combines scientific and cultural research and the tried-and-true strategies she's successfully implemented with clients around the globe to demystify burnout - and set you on a path towards a life of personal and professional balance.Ballesteros outlines five areas in which you can build healthy habits - mindset, personal care, time management, boundaries, and stress management. She offers clear and simple tools to help you find greater balance, energy and fulfilment, showing you how to:· Break burnout habits that keep you in a pattern of chronic overwhelm· Create sustainable work/life balance through predictable personal care· Get more done in less time while creating forward momentum towards a meaningful life· Identify and set your personal and professional limits, guilt-free· Master your stress and detach from your stressorsThe Cure for Burnout provides a holistic method for burnout management, empowering us to reclaim control of our own lives once and for all.Trade Review'Emily Ballesteros's advice is useful and practical, especially for young workers eager to reclaim their time and energy. This is an empowering guidebook to combatting burnout.' * Charles Duhigg, author of bestsellers The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better *'The Cure for Burnout is full of clear, actionable tools to help you find greater balance, energy, and fulfillment in today's overstressed world. Ballesteros's relatable, necessary book will revolutionise your work/life balance.' * Marie Forleo, author of Everything is Figureoutable *'A liberating guide to letting go of your guilt and putting yourself first, The Cure for Burnout shows you how to create a healthier, more rewarding life. With warmth, wit, and wisdom, Ballesteros challenges the pressures we feel to be the best colleagues and friends to others in favour of being our happiest, freest selves.' * Elise Loehnen, author of On Our Best Behaviour *'This is not the kind of book you read and then decide if you want to change; reading this book changes you. You'll learn how to set limits, honour yourself, and build a life you enjoy waking up to. You'll also learn how to create real-life, actual spare time. Spare time! Funny, wise, and full of apply-today knowledge, I loved this total reset of a book.' * Katherine Morgan Schafler, author of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control *'Insightful, eye-opening, and lovingly direct, The Cure for Burnout gives you the tools and strategies you need to reclaim your time and energy to start enjoying your life. It should be required reading for anyone in the workplace today.' * Tara Schuster, author of Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies *'In a world where burnout feels like a constant threat, Emily Ballesteros' The Cure for Burnout arrives just in time. This book is not just another self-help guide; it's a lifeline for anyone feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and disconnected. The tools are practical, actionable, and most importantly, sustainable.' * Jessica Baum, author of Anxiously Attached *"This deep-dive into the topic is compassionate, honest, and also empowering, helping you to shake off afflictions such as 'resting guilt', and learn to embrace 'bare-minimum days' when you most need them." * Psychologies Magazine *

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Book SynopsisWhy is democracy so broken and how might it be fixed? In The Master's Tools, award-winning author Michael A. McCarthy argues the answer can be found in the flows of credit and investment bound up with finance capital.Today, finance guides and constrains our politics, but there is no reason why this must be so. In this groundbreaking work, McCarthy develops a political and social theory of institutional transformation rooted in the interconnectedness of finance and democracy.Inspired by ancient Athens, where small groups chosen by lottery were used to ensure democratic participation, he shows how democracy and working-class power can be strengthened by introducing new forms of financial governance, focusing on the inclusion of historically excluded groups.His proposals for democratic financial institutions point the way to imbuing finance with a socio-environmental purpose and the funding of a just green transition, social housing, and other necessary public goods. And these financial institutions might be the first step toward a whole new kind of economy.

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Book SynopsisNow a classic of Marxian economics, The Limits to Capital provides one of the best theoretical guides to the history and geography of capitalist development. In this edition, Harvey updates his classic text with a substantial discussion of the turmoil in world markets today.In his analyses of 'fictitious capital' and 'uneven geographical development' Harvey takes the reader step by step through layers of crisis formation, beginning with Marx's controversial argument concerning the falling rate of profit, moving through crises of credit and finance, and closing with a timely analysis geopolitical and geographical considerations.Trade ReviewA thoroughgoing critique, synthesis and extension of the several varieties of crisis theory underwritten by Marx's thought. -- Benjamin Kunkel * London Review of Books *A unique and insightful theory of capital. * Monthly Review *A magnificent achievement, [one of] the most complete, readable, lucid and least partisan exegesis, critique and extension of Marx's mature political economy available. * Environment and Planning *A magisterial work. -- Fredric JamesonDavid Harvey provoked a revolution in his field and has inspired a generation of radical intellectuals. -- Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough and This Changes Everything

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Book SynopsisWe've all been tourists at some point in our lives. How is it we look so condescendingly at people taking selfies in front of the Tower of Pisa? Is there really much to distinguish the package holiday from hipster city-breaks to Berlin or Brooklyn? Why do we engage our free time in an activity we profess to despise?The World in a Selfie dissects a global cultural phenomenon. For Marco D'Eramo, tourism is not just the most important industry of the century, generating huge waves of people and capital, calling forth a dedicated infrastructure, and upsetting and repurposing the architecture and topography of our cities. It also encapsulates the problem of modernity: the search for authenticity in a world of ersatz pleasures.D'Eramo retraces the grand tours of the first globetrotters - from Francis Bacon and Samuel Johnson to Arthur de Gobineau and Mark Twain - before assessing the cultural meaning of the beach holiday and the 'UNESCO-cide' of major heritage sites. The tourist selfie will never look the same again.Trade ReviewA sophisticated, engaging, clever book -- Sabine Peters * Berliner Zeitung *Provocative and entertaining -- Andrea Dernbach * Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin *A work of intelligence and wit: the history and phenomenology of the tourist, from Hegel to Tripadvisor * La Repubblica *Accumulates surprising and unsettling data, interpretations and testimonies, putting certainties we take for granted into crisis: the distinction between material and immaterial values, between commodities and fetishes, between modernity and post-modernity -- Giuliano Milani * Internazionale, Rome *Chicago, America's megalopolis-as-metaphor, has found its leftward de Toqueville in Marco d'Eramo. His book is as rare as an Indian Head penny and as hard as truth. It is a book that Algren, Dreiser, Altgeld and Darrow would have acclaimed as 'on the button' -- Studs Terkel * for The Pig and the Skyscraper *Fun and challenging, The World in a Selfie mixes the flavors of Mark Twain, Karl Marx, and theme parks to result in a real and welcome trip elsewhere. -- Meredith Grahl Counts * Foreword Reviews *Marco D'Eramo deconstructs the politics of sightseeing, and the search for authenticity within it. * New York Times Book Review *A sophisticated, engaging, clever book * Berliner Zeitung *Surprising and unsettling, putting certainties we take for granted into crisis * Internazionale *Provocative and entertaining * Der Tagesspiegel *A work of intelligence and wit * la Repubblica *The World in a Selfie is digressive, the chapters like a series of meditations that touch on various aspects of travel and tourism. -- Sophie Haigney * The New Republic *Readable, well-researched and well-written. -- Mik Sabiers * Morning Star *Thought-provoking . This is an intriguing book for sociologists and economists, as well as for serious travelers wishing to understand their impact as they once again move about the globe. -- Cindy Pauldine * Shelf Awareness (Starred Review) *A bracing, provocative examination of an all-too-human pastime. -- Benjamin Shull * Wall Street Journal *A fascinating journalistic approach to one the biggest influences on our economy and imaginations, The World in a Selfie spellbinds. A wonderful read for travelers and non-travelers in the new world of a pandemic. * Champagne Living *The truth is that tourists have always been unpopular ... The root of the stigmatisation, argues Marco D'Eramo, is the resentment of rattrapage, one social class catching up with another. -- Tom Robbins * Financial Times *A provocative take on the meanings of contemporary travel. -- Jim Gladstone * Passport Magazine *In a summer when all our assumptions about travel and tourism are being called into question, this engrossing book, newly translated from Italian, is the ideal guide. -- Tom Robbins * Financial Times: Summer books of 2021 *Andras's novel reaches for imaginative inner connections and syntheses across scale and time. He is no stranger to sociological contradiction, nor to psychological complexity. -- Jeffery R. Webber * Spectre *

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Book SynopsisOne day in the spring of 2013, a box appeared outside a fourth-floor apartment door in Brooklyn, New York. The recipient, who didn't know the sender, only knew she was supposed to bring this box to a friend, who would ferry it to another friend. This was Edward Snowden's box-printouts of documents proving that the US government had built a massive surveillance apparatus and used it to spy on its own people-and the friend on the end of this chain was filmmaker Laura Poitras.Thus the biggest national security leak of the digital era was launched via a remarkably analog network, the US Postal Service. This is just one of the odd, ironic details that emerges from the story of how Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge, two experienced journalists but security novices (and the friends who received and ferried the box) got drawn into the Snowden story as behind-the-scenes players. Their initially stumbling, increasingly paranoid, and sometimes comic efforts to help bring Snowden's leaks to light, and ultimately, to understand their significance, unfold in an engrossing narrative that includes emails and diary entries from Poitras. This is an illuminating essay on the status of transparency, privacy, and trust in the age of surveillance.Trade ReviewI've read virtually all of the books about the Snowden leaks, but this one stands apart.A beautifully written, gripping new book. -- Cory Doctorow * Boing Boing *A short, yet fluent and well-researched, work from a duo of US-based investigative journalists...despite the title, 'Snowden's Box' is essentially not about the box as such, but, as the authors themselves, acknowledge, about some of the most powerful analogue technology in the world: human relationships. -- Vitali Vitaliev * Engineering & Technology *The story of Edward Snowden's disclosure of NSA secrets to the press has been told and retold in books, films, and countless articles. Left unreported has been the quiet role of [Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge] who literally had Snowden material mailed to them in a cardboard box.[In Snowden's Box], the duo finally tells their story of beginners' encryption, convoluted codewords, and extreme paranoia. -- Sam Biddle * The Intercept *A gonzo story, told with a sense of humour...Bruder and Maharidge tell a good yarn and make a strong case against government surveillance. They argue that everybody should have something to hide. * Morning Star *The simplest human connections are sometimes vitally important for journalists to carry out their work beyond the gaze of the spying agencies. Bruder and Maharige's book is a timely reminder of this fact. * Counterfire *

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Book SynopsisAdam Smith and Karl Marx recognized that the best way to understand the economy is to study the most advanced practice of production. Today that practice is no longer conventional manufacturing: it is the radically innovative vanguard known as the knowledge economy. This book explores the hidden nature of the knowledge economy and its possible futures.In every part of the production system, the knowledge economy remains a fringe excluding the vast majority of workers and businesses. This confinement has become a driver of economic stagnation and inequality throughout the world. Traditional mass production has stopped working as a shortcut to economic growth. But the alternative-a deepened and socially inclusive form of the knowledge economy-continues to lie beyond reach in even the richest countries. Unger sets out the route to a knowledge economy for the many: changes not just in economic institutions but also in education, culture, and politics. Just as Smith and Marx did in their time, he uses an understanding of the most advanced practice of production to rethink both economics and the economy as a whole.Trade ReviewA restless visionary. * New York Times *The visionary program this new book sets out for universalizing the knowledge economy is not just a nice-to-have, but necessary. The Knowledge Economy is indispensable as a study of how to remedy the political polarization inequality has brought. -- Martin Sandbu * Financial Times *One of the few living philosophers whose thinking has the range of the great philosophers of the past. * Times Higher Education Supplement *Unger's work can offer progressives key resources for exposing the false necessity of the American liberal status quo and thinking constructively about a different progressive vision for the United States. -- Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins * The Nation *A philosophical mind out of the Third World turning the tables, to become a synoptist and seer of the First. -- Perry AndersonBrazil's answer to John Stuart Mill ... a political philosopher extraordinaire. * Chronicle of Higher Education *His work may someday make possible a new national romance, and a hitherto undreamt-of national future. -- Richard Rorty

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Book SynopsisKarl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism, he was also a superb journalist, politician and historian. For the first time ever, this book brings together all of his essential political and historical writings in one volume. These writings allow us to see the depth and range of Marx's mature work from the tumultuous revolutions of 1848 that rocked European society through to the end of his life. Including The Communist Manifesto, The Class Struggles in France and The Critique of the Gotha Programme, this volume shows Marx at his most astute, analysing the forces of global capitalism as they played out in actual events.

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Book SynopsisConservation needs a revolution. This is the only way it can contribute to the drastic transformations needed to come to a truly sustainable model of development. The good news is that conservation is ready for revolution. Heated debates about the rise of the Anthropocene and the current 'sixth extinction' crisis demonstrate an urgent need and desire to move beyond mainstream approaches. Yet the conservation community is deeply divided over where to go from here. Some want to place 'half earth' into protected areas. Others want to move away from parks to focus on unexpected and 'new' natures. Many believe conservation requires full integration into capitalist production processes.Building a razor-sharp critique of current conservation proposals and their contradictions, Büscher and Fletcher argue that the Anthropocene challenge demands something bigger, better and bolder. Something truly revolutionary. They propose convivial conservation as the way forward. This approach goes beyond protected areas and faith in markets to incorporate the needs of humans and nonhumans within integrated and just landscapes. Theoretically astute and practically relevant, The Conservation Revolution offers a manifesto for conservation in the twenty-first century-a clarion call that cannot be ignored.Trade ReviewIn our era of unprecedented conservation needs and challenges, this hard-hitting, clear-sighted book offers a radical and timely way forward. Two eminent and committed political ecologists cut a path through old and new conservation debates and dichotomies - people vs. nature, capitalism vs. post-capitalism - to offer a new paradigm and politics around conviviality. Vital reading, and a vital manifesto for all concerned with how people and non-human natures can live well together -- Professor Melissa Leach, Director, Institute of Development Studies, University of SussexBuscher and Fletcher significantly advance radical alternatives to mainstream conservation, especially by locating them within the need for systemic alternatives to capitalism (and hopefully by implication, though not explicitly stated, patriarchy). Their notion of convivial conservation, building on innovative traditions that have broken away from dominant notions of progress and development, helps envisage an end to the human domination of the earth, so desperately needed. -- Ashish Kothari, co-author with A. Shrivastava of Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India (2012)This book is a remarkable intellectual and political achievement, demonstrating nothing less than how to organize and practice revolutionary conservation beyond the Anthropocene, but within the ruins of uneven socio-ecological capitalist development. A razor-sharp analysis of conservation and how to politicize its futures. -- Erik SwyngedouwThe debate over the conservation of creation is necessarily deep and contentious--this new approach deserves a careful reading from everyone who cares about human and more-than-human nature! -- Bill McKibbenA thoughtful, gentle and comprehensive overview...will become a mandatory read in political ecology, environmental history and conservation courses everywhere. * Journal of Political Ecology *Both a theoretical and practical guide for anyone looking to reevaluate their relationship with capitalism-and the future of life on earth. ... As the world experiences the catastrophic effects of political and economic systems that prioritize profits over people, The Conservation Revolution provides an essential foundation for reconsidering the status quo and prompts us to move toward a more equitable, sustainable future. -- Amelia Rina * BOMB Magazine *Both rigorous and accessible...an important addition to revolutionary thought in political ecology. -- Jordan Teicher * Uneven Earth *Highly recommend reading this book - it forces you to closer think about what is really needed in order to move from treating only symptoms to the much-needed real, efficient, sweeping change towards a sustainable society. -- Tina Heger * Basic and Applied Ecology *The Conservation Revolution was, for me, a refreshing read in bleak times. It struck the right balance between realism and hopeful optimism by putting forward ideas for conserving nature that do not simply imagine ways of being outside of capitalism, but that recognize the need to remedy capitalist conservation's cumulative negative effects -- Y. Ariadne Collins * Antipode *

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Book SynopsisIn this short and accessible book, Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Unite the Union, presents the case for joining a trade union. Drawing on anecdotes from his own long involvement in unions, he looks at the history of trade unions, what they do and how they give a voice to working people, as democratic organisations.He considers the changing world of work, the challenges and opportunities of automation and why being trade unionists can enable us to help shape the future. He sets out why being a trade unionist is as much a political role as it is an industrial one and why the historic links between the labour movement and the Labour Party matter.Ultimately, McCluskey explains how being a trade unionist means putting equality at work and in society front and centre, fighting for an end to discrimination, and to inequality in wages and power.Trade ReviewLen McCluskey is Britain's best known, and arguably most powerful, trade union leader for good reason. He engagingly mixes personal experiences with unflinching conviction to present a compelling argument for the value of organised labour - whichever political party is Government. * Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror *A brilliant, accessible and thought-provoking book - and a reminder that unions will always be the best way for working-class people to win justice. Featuring a wealth of historical material, this lively and personal account shows how organised labour can thrive in the future. A must-read for trade unionists, activists and anybody who wants to build a more equal society. -- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary TUCAn absolute pleasure to read: it's part Len's personal history, part argument for an active, participatory trade union movement. In drawing out the lessons of recent trade union disputes and campaigns, such as the Gate Gourmet strike, the British Airways dispute and the various battles round precarious work, this book will be a vital resource for young activists in particular. I think it should be on everyone's reading list, in the Labour Party and beyond. * Laura Pidcock, Former Labour MP *Len McCluskey's little red book -- Niall Paterson * Sky News *Excellent, clear, contemporary in its examples and historically informed. * Manchester Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisWho owns London? In recent decades, it has fallen into the hands of the super-rich. It is today the essential 'World City' for High-Net-Worth Individuals and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals. Compared to New York or Tokyo, it has the largest number of wealthy people per head of population. Taken as a whole, London is the epicentre of the world's finance markets, an elite cultural hub, and a place to hide one's wealth.Alpha City moves from gated communities and the mega-houses of the super-rich to the disturbing rise of evictions and displacements from the city. It shows how the consequences of widening inequality have an impact on the urban landscape. Rowland Atkinson presents a history of the property boom economy, going back to the end of Empire. It tells the story of eager developers, sovereign wealth and grasping politicians, all paving the way for the wealthy colonisation of the cityscape. The consequences of this transformation of the capital for capital is the brutal expulsion of the urban poor, austerity, cuts, demolitions, and a catalogue of social injustices.Trade ReviewAlpha City is the heart-breaking, carefully-told, story of how London - its heart, mind and soul - was stolen from the people by the plutocrats and their minions. When, the book asks, will the greed of the super-rich end up strangling the city, whose body sustains them? Rowland Atkinson has delved deep to uncover the extent of the super-rich's grip on London. A masterpiece. -- Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and 1%London, Alpha City, tops the global power city index, but rankings aside what does this really mean? In this superb book Atkinson tells us - it means hyper-activity, hyper-consumption, and hyper-gentrification. The fall out is eviction and dispossession of the poor, even the middle classes, the city and its spaces territorialised by the super-wealthy, the collapse of any ethics of care. This is the shady, corrupt world of money destroying the city. And Atkinson tells the story so well through his vivid descriptions of London's neighbourhoods, streets, and buildings as captured, even stolen. This engaging and provocative book is a must read for Londoners, urbanists, and those interested in social, economic and political justice. -- Loretta Lees, King’s College, LondonIn Alpha Cities, Rowland Atkinson lays bare how London has been geared up as the world's monument to inequality. It exposes the tactics of gilded elites alongside their legions of enablers and hangers on, and the ways in which they have turned an already tough city into a 21st century dystopia, where the ultra-rich glide through pristine, soulless environments while the infrastructure we all need decays around us. This fast-paced guide to the new gilded age is a timely warning of how much damage inequality can do. -- Douglas Murphy, author of NincompoopolisA great book which provides vital insights into a strangely under researched group - the wealthiest people on the planet. -- Anna Minton, author of Big CapitalRowland Atkinson's excellent, lively and deeply researched book opens the lid on a can of dangerous worms. While Britain's policies to tempt the world's mobile hot money and its owners have blessed a small section of the population, Atkinson reveals how this has cursed far larger numbers of people, as the super rich have sucked away wealth, talent, investment, culture, government attention, and opportunities from the majority. As he puts it, "the rich kill the cities built to attract them." A welcome and urgently important corrective to the dominant British narrative that the super-rich benefit London and the wider nation. -- Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure IslandsTurning large swathes of London over to the Super-Rich was meant to generate a sloshing pool of wealth that would 'trickle down' to the rest of us. In practice, the detailed, informed and devastating trawl through the global capital of the ruling class in Alpha City proves the only thing that has trickled down is contempt -- Owen Hatherley, author of The Ministry of NostalgiaAtkinson writes with beautiful elegance. Almost every page has a sentence I wish I'd written myself! But his fundamental argument is hard-hitting and could not be more relevant for our troubled times. His analysis of London's 'alphahoods' is a reminder, if we need it, of how unequal cities-not just London-have become. -- Glyn Robbins * City *

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Book SynopsisThe GND has the potential of becoming one of the largest global campaigns of our times, and it started in Ann Pettifor's flat. In 2008, the first Green New Deal was devised by Pettifor and a group of English economist and thinkers, but was ignored within the tumults of the financial crash. A decade later, the ideas was revived within the democratic socialists in the US, forefront by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. The Green New Deal demands a radical and urgent reversal of the current state of the global economy: including total de-carbonisation and a commitment to fairness and social justice. Critics on all sides have been quick to observe that the GND is a pipe dream that could never be implemented, and would cost the earth. But, as Ann Pettifor shows, we need to rethink the function of money, and how it works within the global system. How can we bail out the banks but not the planet? We have to stop thinking about the imperative of economic growth-nothing grows for ever. The program will be a long term project but it needs to start immediately.Trade ReviewThe Case for the Green New Deal succinctly explains what the GND is, where the idea came from, why it's necessary, and how to make it happen. As an economist and expert in monetary theory, Pettifor is uniquely well placed to describe how the GND can be funded * Morning Star *Demanding drastic, even impossible change - as...Pettifor [does] - may just be a way to ensure that something is done. -- Jonathan Ford * Financial Times *Clear, concise, and well put...a crash course in the economics and history of the policy bundle, as well as a roadmap to implementing it. * Bright Green *Concise, erudite and thought-provoking * Quietus *This awareness-raising contribution to an important debate should expand our understanding of what's possible and encourage us to take action. * Labour Briefing *What still distinguishes Pettifor's thinking about the Green New Deal is the way that it tackles not only the climate crisis but also the financial system that helped create it. * Sierra Magazine *Pettifor has a rare approach, both radical and intricate -- Zoe Williams * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of How Will Capitalism End? comes an omnibus of long-form critical essays engaging with leading economists and thinkers. Critical Encounters draws on Wolfgang Streeck's inimitable writing for the London Review of Books and New Left Review, among other publications. It opens with treatments of two contrasting historical eras - factory capitalism and financialization - and three of the world's major economies: the United States, France and Germany. Delving into the world of ideas, Streeck discusses the work of Quinn Slobodian, Mark Blyth, Jürgen Habermas and Perry Anderson. Finally, he zooms out to compare his home discipline of sociology to natural history, giving a remarkable and non-deterministic reading of Charles Darwin. In the preface, Streeck reflects on the art (or craft) of book reviewing and the continuing merits of the book form. Critical Encounters also includes a series of 'Letters from Europe', penned as the coronavirus descended upon the Continent.Trade ReviewSynthesises the various strands of left crisis theory into a convincing proposal, as strong psychologically as it is on economics. -- Paul Mason * Guardian, Books of the Year 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *A must-read. * Financial Times, Best Books of 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck sees a destructive convergence of three fixed trends in late capitalism: a declining rate of economic growth, soaring overall indebtedness, and rising economic inequality in both income and wealth. His work interlocks with recent dark conclusions by Robert J. Gordon, Thomas Piketty, and Wendy Brown, among others. -- Norman Rush * New York Review of Books [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck's sweeping and empirically founded inquiry reminds one of Karl Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. -- Jürgen Habermas [on Buying Time]A superbly provocative work of political economy. -- Aditya Chakrabortty * Guardian [on Buying Time] *A compelling and distinctive analysis of the current political moment. -- Hans Kundnani * The World Today *

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Book SynopsisThe Internet once promised to be a place of extraordinary freedom beyond the control of money or politics, but today corporations and platforms exercise more control over our ability to access information and share knowledge to a greater extent than any state. In Silicon Values, leading campaigner Jillian York, looks at how our rights have become increasingly undermined by the major corporations desire to harvest our personal data and turn it into profit. She also looks at how governments have used the same technology to monitor citizens and threatened our ability to communicate. As a result our daily lives, and private thoughts, are being policed in an unprecedented manner. Who decides the difference between political debate and hate speech? How does this impact on our identity, our ability to create communities and to protest? Who regulates the censors? In response to this threat to our democracy, York proposes a user-powered movement against the platforms that demands change and a new form of ownership over our own data.Trade Reviewone of the leading scholars on Internet control and censorship. * Boston Globe *The Internet has never been the utopia of free and equal expression its ideologues would have us believe it is. Jillian York's vivid reportage shows us that the power to determine who gets to use it to speak, and under what circumstances, is now more concentrated - and less accountable - than ever before. -- Adam Greenfield, author of Radical TechnologiesFor years, Jillian York has been at the forefront of defending freedom of expression online. Her new book unpacks how Silicon Valley corporations have gained more control over speech than the most ambitious of governments and how ill-prepared they often are to use that power in ways that are just and fair. Entertaining, deeply informative and often very personal, Jillian's journey into the world of online speech reflects on deep questions about how we should treat one another and who makes rules for societies in our digital world. -- Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor, UMass Amherst and co-founder Global VoicesJillian C. York gives us a personal, relevant, and accessible reflection on how our world has become governed by Silicon Valley. She takes us on an enjoyable journey from San Francisco to Tunis to Cairo to Berlin to trace the change from the early belief in maximizing free speech shared by the big tech platforms and we, the people, alike to the increasing policies of surveillance and control exercised by the platforms (and encouraged by most governments) that makes the struggle for free expression a much more demanding battle. Her conclusions offer hope and guidance as to what we need to do, not just for the sake of free speech but for the freedom to shape our very identity and agency." -- Rasha Abdulla, Professor of Mass Communication at The American University in Cairo, and author of The Internet in the Arab World: Egypt and Beyond.An incisive and compelling read that places Silicon Valley'splatforms and policies in a global context. York knows this terrain intimately,and she takes us to the key battlegrounds that have shaped content moderation,internet governance, and the political economies of online expression. -- Kate Crawford, author of Atlas of AI[Silicon Values] casts a wide-enough net over relevant topics and examples to be richly informative, while still managing to be straightforward in its style. York offers a solid entry point for those who have been following ongoing issues relating to the intersection of politics and technology." -- Jesse A. Lambertson * Library Journal *

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Book SynopsisWith the concept of the Imperial Mode of Living, Brand and Wissen highlight the fact that capitalism implies uneven development as well as a constant and accelerating universalisation of a Western mode of production and living. The logic of liberal markets since the 19thCentury, and especially since World War II, has been inscribed into everyday practices that are usually unconsciously reproduced. The authors show that they are a main driver of the ecological crisis and economic and political instability.The Imperial Mode of Living implies that people's everyday practices, including individual and societal orientations, as well as identities, rely heavily on the unlimited appropriation of resources; a disproportionate claim on global and local ecosystems and sinks; and cheap labour from elsewhere. This availability of commodities is largely organised through the world market, backed by military force and/or the asymmetric relations of forces as they have been inscribed in international institutions. Moreover, the Imperial Mode of Living implies asymmetrical social relations along class, gender and race within the respective countries. Here too, it is driven by the capitalist accumulation imperative, growth-oriented state policies and status consumption. The concrete production conditions of commodities are rendered invisible in the places where the commodities are consumed. The imperialist world order is normalized through the mode of production and living.Trade ReviewThe highly readable book by Brand and Wissen exposes an internal contradiction fraught with consequences: the imperial mode of living undermines its own operating conditions. Currently, the dominant reaction to this fact consists of desperate attempts to secure the exclusivity of this mode of living even under altered conditions. -- Stephan Lessenich * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *The facts of the "imperial mode of living" are nothing new. The merit of the authors lies in showing its related problems broadly, well founded in theory and substantiated by empirical material. -- Joachim Hirsch * Frankfurter Rundschau *To fight the ecological crisis, the realm of political economics ought to be included as well, because it would clearly show the problems with the global North's globalised norms of production and consumption. -- Jutta Bichl, Paolo Freire Zentrum, AustriaDeveloping a counter-hegemony to the imperial mode of living would mean articulating both structural and everyday alternatives. Brand and Wissen call for seeking out confrontation with the elites in contested societal (nature) relations and countering the imperial mode of living with a solidary one. -- Evelyn Linde * analyse & kritik *Empathy for the worries of people who are situated well above average on a global scale, but are increasingly unsettled in their sphere of life, would be needed for the transformation-oriented left, if it were to take a hegemonic project seriously. -- Andreas Novy * Austrian Journal of Political Science *An explosive book that not only helps in understanding the multiple crises of our times, but also shows approaches for overcoming them. -- Knut Henkel * die tageszeitung *The book shows that a sound analysis of society is not an academic end it itself but has a high relevance for the political discourse. -- Bernd Sommer * GAIA *Using the term "mode of living", the authors succeed in defining the embedding of global power relations in the everyday actions of people in the North without raising moral accusations. [.] The imperial mode of living has the hallmarks of compulsion, but at the same time enables, creates conveniences and expands scopes of action. While it can be sustained only for the price of intensifying economic and ecological crises, it contributes to the stabilization of the societies of the North, including their injustices, and remains attractive for those excluded, whose hope is not pinned on overcoming the imperial conditions, but on participating in the exclusive privileges. -- Gerd Schoppengerd * express *Brand/Wissen conceive the term "mode of living" [...] as a category of systematic connections between action and structure. The term connects the analysis of the everyday practices people use to reproduce social conditions to a critique of social structures that make just these practices appear to be the conditions for a good life [...]. Norms for modes of production and consumption are embedded in these practices just as much as are forms of state regulation that arose from social conflicts. In other words, the imperial mode of living forms part of a hegemonic combination that does not confront the social actors as something external but constitutes them as subjects and conveys a capacity for action to them, which they adopt and reproduce in their everyday practices. -- Jörg Reitzig * Politikum *With their effort to start with the daily normality of the imperial mode of living, Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen managed an important strike, especially in the political realm. -- Klaus Dörre * Sozialismus *If you want to understand the multiple crises of our times and are searching for answers, you must read this book. It is an exceptional proof of the practical value of political science. -- Gerhard Klas * Südwestrundfunk. Die Buchkritik *An essential political read for our times. Spelling out the brutal contradictions of the 'imperial mode of living' and its 'green economy', Brand and Wissen invite the reader to consider a 'solidary mode of living'. Here, sociability and sustainability can be joined, and hopefully celebrate the rich plurality of global cultures. -- Ariel SallehThis lucid articulation of 'the imperial mode of living' as a pathbreaking concept, helps us to better understand the continuing neo-colonial relations of production and consumption between the Global North and South. It shows their devastating social and ecological consequences, and why 'green economy' like approaches will not save us and the planet. Rather, systemic, fundamental alternatives are needed, and this book brilliantly demonstrates why. -- Ashish KothariProudly wearing the cloaks of what they call revolutionary Realpolitik and radical reformism, Brand and Wissen offer both a bracing and radical assessment of the current ecological crisis and a roadmap of the pathways from fossil capitalism. The imperial model of living saturates everyday life resting upon the unlimited appropriation of resources, a disproportionate claim to global and local ecosystems and sinks and cheap labor from elsewhere. Yet the concrete production conditions of consumed commodities and their environmental destructiveness in the Global North and South alike are typically invisible, rarely crossing into critical reflection. The Imperial Mode of Living offers a brilliant analysis of how and why this sense of normality is produced in a time of multiple and overlapping crises, and how such a mode of living simultaneously creates these crises and stabilizes social relations in the countries where its benefits are concentrated. A tour de force. -- Michael Watts, University of California, BerkeleyThe Imperial Mode of Living introduces a much needed addition to our understanding of imperialism by looking at the ways in which global structures of imperial domination, extraction, and production have created consuming classes with imperial lifestyles that threaten the ecological survival of the planet. It also helps make sense of the new phase of imperial domination and extraction of the global South through engendering consuming classes in both the global North and South. By making visible the taken-for-granted daily practices of consumption and production and linking them to imperial structures, Brand and Wissen have produced an indispensable contribution. -- Michelle Williams, Professor of Sociology and Chairperson of the Global Labour University Programme, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South AfricaBrand and Wissen assert that it will only be possible to overcome the destructive global imperial mode of living by changing the current ways of working and of consumption, and by putting solidarity into practice across society. The German-language publication of the book garnered a discussion that was both broad and intensive, precisely because the authors insist on the need to rethink social transformation beyond hitherto concepts of reform or revolution. -- Joachim Hirsch, Goethe University, Frankfurt/M.The Imperial Mode of Living is a very enlightening and also useful conceptual tool to connect the mainstream essentialist criticism of capitalism and a critical analysis of the everyday life of people within it. With the help of it, we can have a better understanding of the political and economic dynamics of contemporary capitalism, a globalized as well as 'universalized' system or hegemonic mode of living, which constitutes a great challenge for the emerging global Green-left politics. -- Qingzhi Huan, Beijing UniversityThis book vividly illuminates what imperialism means today, elucidating the deep structures of social and ecological injustice on which prosperity is currently premised. Eschewing simple moral appeals, the book superbly threads together the cultural and economic forces that make the richer parts of the world feel comfortable with the status quo. Brand and Wissen lay the groundwork for a much-needed shift in the cross-border conversation over alternatives. -- Emma Dowling, author of The Care Crisis (2021)The Imperial Mode of Living is a powerful contribution to the Left's strategic debates worldwide. Its bold and controversial thesis on the everyday implications of global economic and ecological inequality deserves to be discussed widely. -- Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, AmsterdamA pathbreaking thesis - and a truly essential reading for making sense of the 'global constellations of power' that shape the world we live in. Looking at the socio-ecological contradictions of Western societies from the perspective of their manufactured elsewhere, and the normalized violence of extractive relations - this book magisterially complements the tradition of anti-imperialist, 'revolutionary Realpolitik' (Rosa Luxemburg). -- Stefania Barca, Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, PortugalComing out of the Corona virus crisis, there has to be a radical transformation in the way that we live. This book is an excellent way into the discussion of the mode of living that is destroying the earth. A solidary mode of living or authoritarian neo-liberal corona capitalism: that, the authors suggest, is the choice we face. No debate could be more important. -- John HollowayIn the tradition of debates about imperialism, this book emphasizes its effects on the crucial level of everyday life and, more broadly, interrogates what constitutes our modes of living today. Bringing together consumption, extractivism and production, Brand and Wissen provide an updated reading and multilevel map not only of capitalist exploitation, but also of the underlying political elements behind migration, the rise of the right and the urgent need to rethink class and ecology from the point of view of social reproduction. Through the notion of themode of living as a constellation of elements, this book is a renewal of anti-imperialist theory. -- Verónica Gago, Universidad de Buenos AiresAn accessible and deep examination of imperialism's historical and present construction of a global economy designed to not only dominate the peoples and nations outside the capitalist core, but also to keep that economy's ecological destructiveness in those nations, too. -- Ron Jacobs * CounterPunch *In her great work of 1913, Rosa Luxemburg had shown that the accumulation of capital is only possible if there is an outside that enables the preservation and development of the inner core of the capitalist mode of production. Inevitably capitalism is an imperial order. Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen link this insight of Luxemburg to the fact that the mode of living, including desires, everyday production and consumption patterns such as mobility in the centers of modern capitalism are also imperial. They describe the strategy for an alternative of a solidary mode of living, the emergence of which requires nothing less than a new Great Transformation beyond capitalism. -- Michael Brie, Head of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Rosa-Luxemburg-StiftungThis book is a must read, particularly poignant for scholar working on consumption and sustainability. The concept of an 'imperial mode of living' captures the idea that power relations permeate both everyday life, and political as well as economic spheres. Mundane and routine practices, performed without much reflexivity - such as driving a car or preparing a meal - reveal broader social inequalities and forms of environmental deterioration that become normalized, accepted, even respected, and thus difficult to change. From describing the problem and introducing the concept, the authors then lead us down a promising avenue: that of solidarity and social learning. Such measures are not the sole remit of heroic individuals, however, they require multiple and perhaps messy collective action. Because...Ya basta! -- Marlyne Sahakian, University of GenevaA book for these times ... The Imperial Mode of Living not only offers a novel grasp of the links of everyday life to crises and inequalities on a global scale, but it also takes a stand for the necessity of politics from below. -- Stefan Schoppengerd * LSE Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisHow can we reduce inequalities? How can we make work get better recognition and better pay?Philippe Askenazy in this new book shows that the current share of wealth is far from natural; it results from rising rents and their capture by the actors best endowed in the economic game. In this race for rents, the world of work is the big loser: while many workers feed capital rents by increased productivity and worsened working conditions, they are stigmatized as unproductive and their earnings stagnate. By proposing a new description of the capital-work relationship, calling for a remobilization of the world of work, and particularly poorly paid employees, Askenazy shows that there is a more radical alternative to neoliberalism beyond simply redistribution.Trade ReviewThe latest book by Philippe Askenazy is extraordinarily refreshing and innovative and deserves a wide international readership. Askenazy shows convincingly that is above all the relationship of forces and the legal and institutional system in which these relations are expressed that determine the share of wealth. The descriptions of the possible emergence of a new, participatory trade unionism are particularly successful: by describing the innovative mobilisations of subway drivers in New York, London or Paris, of American nurses, not to speak of cleaning workers in the luxury hotels in Paris's 'golden triangle' or bus drivers in Silicon Valley, Askenazy gives one hope again and shows that several futures are possible in the framework of the existing globalisation that is underway. -- Thomas Piketty

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Book SynopsisIn this landmark book, Alexander Zevin looks at the development of modern liberalism by examining the long history of the Economist newspaper, which, since 1843, has been the most tireless - and internationally influential - champion of the liberal cause anywhere in the world.But what exactly is liberalism, and how has its message evolved?Liberalism at Large examines a political ideology on the move as it confronts the challenges that classical doctrine left unresolved: the rise of democracy, the expansion of empire, the ascendancy of high finance. Contact with such momentous forces was never going to leave the proponents of liberal values unchanged. Zevin holds a mirror to the politics - and personalities - of Economist editors past and present, from Victorian banker-essayists James Wilson and Walter Bagehot to latter-day eminences Bill Emmott and Zanny Minton Beddoes.Today, neither economic crisis at home nor permanent warfare abroad has dimmed the Economist's belief in unfettered markets, limited government, and a free hand for the West. Confidante to the powerful, emissary for the financial sector, portal onto international affairs, the bestselling newsweekly shapes the world its readers - as well as everyone else - inhabit. This is the first critical biography of one of the architects of a liberal world order now under increasing strain.Trade ReviewA highly-readable history of one of the world's most influential publications - and an important contribution to the history of political thought -- Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator * Financial Times *The Economist has vigorously claimed to be advancing the liberal cause since its founding. Zevin takes it at its word, telling the story not only of the magazine itself but also of its impact on world affairs. Having evidently mastered the magazine's archives, he commands a deep knowledge of its inner workings. The Economist emerges as a force that - thanks to the military, cultural and economic power of Britain and, later, America - can truly be said to have made the modern world, if not in the way that many liberals would suppose -- Pankaj Mishra * New Yorker *Sharp, engaging and deeply researched, Liberalism at Large reveals the profound contradictions at the heart of one of themost influential strands of liberalism - its supposed aversion to state power and consistent embrace of imperial might -- Jennifer Pitts, Professor of Political Science, University of ChicagoWritten with analytical rigour, narrative flair and formidably marshalled scepticism, Liberalism at Large is by some way the most ambitious and compelling history of a newspaper or magazine that I have read -- David Kynaston, author of The City of London and Modernity BritainLiberalism at Large has to be the most fascinating, and the best-written, engagement with the idea-that-nobody-ever-defines. Our understanding of liberalism, and of its historical and ideological power, is permanently changed, and immeasurably for the better -- Geoff Mann, author of In the Long Run We Are All DeadMuch more than a history of a single journal, Liberalism at Large gives us a compelling counter-history of key globalplayers, events and ideologies from imperialism and free trade to liberalism and neoliberalism. Absorbing and informative -- Priyamvada Gopal, author of Insurgent EmpireWhat a brilliant idea and what a brilliant book. Zevin offers a critical and nuanced account of the ever-changing liberalism promoted by the Economist -- Donald Sassoon, author of The Anxious TriumphMeticulous and beautifully written, Liberalism at Large should be read by anyone interested in "actually existing liberalism", in other words liberalism as it was conceived by the people who defined and promoted it, and not an idealized version based on some pre-determined canon of "great thinkers". Fascinating and often disturbing -- Helena Rosenblatt, author of The Lost History of LiberalismLiberalism at Large is...well-paced and engagingly written all the way through. The particular lens acts as a rather inspired way of looking at the history of Anglo-American capitalism. Zevin...is able to tell a fascinating story of [the Economist] and its relationship to the system it has championed for close to two hundred years now. * Counterfire *Well-written and well-organized, Zevin's book gives us fresh insight into the evolution of the doctrine of liberalism * Journal of European Economic History *

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Book SynopsisExploring Politeness in Business Emails explores the contextual complexities of workplace emails by comparing British English and Peninsular Spanish directive speech events and systematically assessing the impact of contextual factors. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis, and the inclusion of metapragmatic insights in the interpretation of the results, the book offers an innovative approach to the study of politeness. The book partially contradicts previous assumptions about English and Spanish directives and provides new insights into the role of politeness in the workplace. By offering a meticulous account of the linguistic choices made by the English and Spanish first language users and the contextual factors influencing these choices, the book suggests far-reaching implications for future research in cross-cultural pragmatics and business discourse, as well as practical implications relevant for academics, postgraduate students and practitioners interested in these fields.Trade ReviewThis book is a timely and welcome contribution to the field. It rests on solid interdisciplinary theoretical grounds and employs an innovative, carefully designed methodological framework to examine two comparable data sets of naturally-occurring, socially-situated emails in British English and Peninsular Spanish. Its ethnographically-informed interpretation of the texts sheds fresh light on our understanding of language variation vis-à-vis a number of relevant social factors. * Patricia Bou-Franch, Universitat de València, Spain *Politeness is like oil that allows the cogs of human interaction to run smoothly. However, not everybody uses the same oil and the cogs may grind to a halt when the 'wrong oil' is applied. This highly innovative book shows how the cogs function in cross-cultural business communication. * Jean-Marc Dewaele, Birkbeck, University of London, UK *This book by Vera Freytag is an important contribution to such diverse fields as cross-cultural pragmatics, institutional discourse, and politeness research. In her analysis of directive speech events in English and Spanish (L1) emails, she employs an innovative mixed-method analysis to reveal the interactive dynamics of computer-mediated communication (CMC). * Ronald Geluykens, University of Oldenburg, Germany *[This] is a well-written book that provides valuable insights into the choice of head act strategies, request modification in business directive emails and how these are determined by the interpersonal parameters of the interaction. -- Nicolas Ruytenbeek, Ghent University, Belgium * LINGUIST List 31.1983 *A key advantage of Freytag's book is that it brings together politeness research and fully fledged cross-cultural pragmatics [...] The book makes an excellent contribution to the field in this respect, as it incorporates various notions that have been widely used in recent politeness theory, such as 'emic evaluations' into analytical repertoire of contrastive cross-cultural analysis. -- Dániel Z Kádár, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, China * Pragmatics and Society 11:4 *Table of ContentsChapter 1. Directive Speech Events in Business Emails Chapter 2. A Mixed-Method Approach to the Analysis of Speech Events Chapter 3. A Cross-Cultural Analysis of English and Spanish Email Directives Chapter 4. The Contextual Complexity of Email Directives Chapter 5. The Study of Politeness in Business Emails: Concluding Observations

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Book Synopsis“In the face of disruptive change, how do we become more agile? More resilient? More open to change?” “How can we grow big and still act small?” As the relentless pace of change forces established organisations to re-think their cultures, these are the questions keeping leaders up at night. In Start-Up Forever, Sahar Hashemi throws out the excuses that have previously stifled entrepreneurial behaviour in big companies. She believes big companies acting like start-ups is neither unattainable, nor complicated. Its simple, intuitive and in fact very human. This revolutionary new manifesto distils the author’s decades of experience as an entrepreneur and top thought leader into a simple actionable toolkit that breaks through out-dated habits and shifts organisations – whatever their sector, industry or size – towards a more entrepreneurial mindset, one person and one behaviour at a time.

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Book SynopsisMikil Taylor presents first-time managers with a how-to guide for adjusting to their new leadership roles so they can become successful managers without learning exclusively from mistakes. Few managers are adequately prepared and trained, which has a severely negative effect on the newly-promoted manager, their team, and the quality of the team's work. After reading this book, new managers will be able to successfully run their new teams without falling flat on their faces.

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Book SynopsisHenryk Grossman is a name most socialists or students of political and social theory - let alone the mass of working people around the world - have probably never heard of. Yet Grossman, a Polish Jew born in 1881, deserves recognition as the most sophisticated defender of Karl Marx's theory of capitalism's inevitable collapse. With capitalism sinking into its deepest ever crisis, Grossman's neglected work must be revisited and popularised. Is capitalism entering its final breakdown?

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Book SynopsisIn an advanced digital era, with data available on almost everyone and everything, knowing how to bring these different technologies together into a cost-effective integrated marketing strategy that works to create new business sales is paramount to the success of any firm. Understanding what needs to be done to get good results, without spending a king’s ransom or burning the midnight oil to generate those sales, is at the very heart of what Integrated Business to Business Marketing is about. Whether you run an established enterprise or business start-up, Philip Allott will provide you with a blueprint for success.

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Book SynopsisThis book serves as a presentation resource for everyone from interns to executives in the private sector. It centers around a proprietary presentation framework and outlines the complete formula to preparing, designing and delivering an effective professional presentation. The Effective Presenter combines information, research and first-hand experiences to offer unique insights and outline common misconceptions of professional presentations. It provides a blend of practical skills and advice to supplement the optimal presentation formula and build confidence.

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Book SynopsisMarty Strong's direct and compelling message is focused on business but in truth, its leadership tenets are agnostic as to industry, marketplace, private or public setting. This is not a textbook. It is a personal conversation between a high-performance business leader and professionals searching for actionable insights that deliver results. Be Nimble provides mentorship, tips, tools, and useful examples to help drive home its valuable leadership insights. Marty Strong has an accomplished leadership career spanning four decades. He worked his way from enlisted SEAL Team member to the SEAL Officer corps, retiring with twenty years’ service in that highly-decorated and esteemed military unit. He is the author of the Time Warrior Sagas and the SEAL Strike Series.

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