Search results for ""Author Bill"

Have you ever thought about what really goes on behind the walls of the White House or the Pentagon? Particularly in times of political upheaval, it often seems that the government and the media work together to keep the voting public confused and distracted. In Warriors of Disinformation, Alvin A. Snyder, a former director of USIA’s Television and Film Service, reveals the various propaganda campaigns sent out by the United States during the Cold War, one of the most strained, uncertain times in American political history. Snyder examines the “shady” billion-dollar dealings dedicated to “an exaggerated version of the truth,” and how President Reagan deceived the Soviets with well-plotted plans of fabrication. Readers will be shocked by the lengths that our government went to in order to hide the truth, and to consistently lie to not only the Soviets, but also to the American people about what was going on in the “land of the free.” Warriors of Disinformation is an incredible look inside the government from someone who was on the front line. Hear stories that were never supposed to leave confidential meeting rooms and find out firsthand what went on behind closed doors. Snyder has a story to tell you, and you’d be crazy not to listen.

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Since the mass production of Henry Ford's Model T, car enthusiasts have been redesigning, rebuilding, and reengineering their vehicles for increased speed and technical efficiency. They purchase aftermarket parts, reconstruct engines, and enhance body designs, all in an effort to personalize and improve their vehicles. Why do these car enthusiasts modify their cars and where do they get their aftermarket parts? Here, David N. Lucsko provides the first scholarly history of America's hot rod business. Lucsko examines the evolution of performance tuning through the lens of the 34-billion speed equipment industry that supports it. As early as 1910, dozens of small shops across the United States designed, manufactured, and sold add-on parts to consumers eager to employ new technologies as they tinkered with their cars. Operating for much of the twentieth century in the shadow of the Big Three automobile manufacturers-General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler-these businesses grew at an impressive rate, supplying young and old hot rodders with thousands of performance-boosting gadgets. Lucsko offers a rich and heretofore untold account of the culture and technology of the high-performance automotive aftermarket in the United States, offering a fresh perspective on the history of the automobile in America.

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This comprehensive analysis deals with the range of issues raised by the rise of transnational corporations from emerging markets. This insightful book shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) from emerging markets has grown from negligible amounts in the early 1980s to $210 billion in 2007, with the stock of investment now being well over $1 trillion. This reflects the rise of firms from these economies to become important players in the world FDI market. The contributors to this book comprehensively analyze the rise of emerging market TNCs, the salient features of the transnational activities of these firms, the relationship of outward FDI and the competitiveness of the firms involved, their impact on host and home countries and implications for the international law and policy system.The subject of this study is both topical and important and poses a number of challenges that will require considerable policy attention in the future. It will appeal to academics interested in FDI as well as emerging markets. Karl P. Sauvant has gathered together a group of leading academics that makes this an informative and valuable read for anyone interested in the subject, including academics, students at all levels and private sector entities, as well as government officials dealing with outward FDI.

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Specialty thermoplastics command a US$3 billion market worldwide. Their use is proliferating in aerospace and transportation, medical applications including implants, electrical and electronics, textiles and general engineering, and the oil and gas industries. This book provides the key details of all specialty thermoplastics in one volume, uncluttered by information on other commodity and engineering plastics. It covers the spectrum of manufacturing methods, major properties, processing, and applications.The extraordinary resistance of specialty thermoplastics to high temperature, oxidation, hydrolysis, other chemicals, and radiation, as well as outstanding mechanical properties at temperatures from -40 to 300 °C make them attractive materials for challenging applications. R&D scientists will appreciate the coverage here of different polymer structures for specialty plastics and why certain structures are technically and commercially preferred. Plastics engineers and product design engineers are empowered to select the right plastic in the right grade for the desired applications.Guidance on processing of specialty plastics using injection and compression molding, extrusion, and coating is provided, together with a wealth of details regarding applications, including aspects that are not readily visible, such as touch and feel.In addition to users in industry and academic research, this work is also applicable as a textbook for special courses on polymer science and engineering for graduate and undergraduate students.

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Back to America is an ethnography of local activist groups within the Tea Party, one of the most important recent political movements to emerge in the United States and one that continues to influence American politics. Though often viewed as the brainchild of conservative billionaires and Fox News, the success of the Tea Party movement was as much, if not more, the result of everyday activists at the grassroots level. William H. Westermeyer traces how local Tea Party groups (LTPGs) create submerged spaces where participants fashion action-oriented collective and personal political identities forged in the context of cultural or figured worlds. These figured worlds allow people to establish meaningful links between their own lives and concerns, on the one hand, and the movement’s goals and narratives, on the other. Collectively, the production and circulation of the figured worlds within LTPGs provide the basis for subjectivities that often nurture political activism. Westermeyer reveals that LTPGs are vibrant and independent local organizations that, while constantly drawing on nationally disseminated cultural images and discourses, are far from simple agents of the larger organizations and the media. Back to America offers a welcome anthropological approach to this important social movement and to our understanding of grassroots political activism writ large.

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The 2017 Home Capital saga represents the shortcomings of a financial system challenged by distinct, siloed regulatory frameworks that fail to communicate with each other. Home Capital is a publicly traded company that acts as a lender through the Home Trust Company, most often providing mortgages to clients rejected by traditional banks. Home Capital’s 2017 announcement that it required $2 billion to sustain a $600-million loss shook customer confidence, and fueled by allegations of corruption, the company suffered a rapid decline in stock price. The Home Capital crisis is the most recent pre-pandemic example of systemic risk in the financial sector in Canada and highlights the invaluable opportunity we have to avoid repeating past mistakes in the nearing post-pandemic economic reality. Using the 2017 Home Capital saga as a starting point, Dangerous Opportunities sheds light on the compartmentalization of regulators and its greater ramifications on board independence and corporate governance, taxation in the competitive housing sector, and the success of non-bank financial institutions in various jurisdictions. A hybrid of law and business, Dangerous Opportunities is a must-read for those interested in the underbelly of financial institutions and is an inspired read in the aftermath of the recent housing crisis, which saw many aspiring homeowners seek dangerous opportunities outside of the traditional banking system.

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An invaluable tool equipping healthcare professionals, auditors, and investigators to detect every kind of healthcare fraud According to private and public estimates, billions of dollars are lost per hour to healthcare waste, fraud, and abuse. A must-have reference for auditors, fraud investigators, and healthcare managers, Healthcare Fraud, Second Edition provides tips and techniques to help you spot—and prevent—the "red flags" of fraudulent activity within your organization. Eminently readable, it is your "go-to" resource, equipping you with the necessary skills to look for and deal with potential fraudulent situations. Includes new chapters on primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, information/data management and privacy, damages/risk management, and transparency Offers comprehensive guidance on auditing and fraud detection for healthcare providers and company healthcare plans Examines the necessary background that internal auditors should have when auditing healthcare activities Managing the risks in healthcare fraud requires an understanding of how the healthcare system works and where the key risk areas are. With health records now all being converted to electronic form, the key risk areas and audit process are changing. Read Healthcare Fraud, Second Edition and get the valuable guidance you need to help combat this critical problem.

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“IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ROBB, THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO START.”—Stephen King“A WITTY, DARK, PAGE-TURNING TALE OF FUTURISTIC CRIME FIGHTING. RAYMOND CHANDLER MEETS BLADE RUNNER MEETS SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.”—Jonathan KellermanNew York City, 2060: Lieutenant Eve Dallas never forgets a corpse. Her new case will resurrect the memories of women she couldn’t save—and the killer who slipped out of her grasp…When the body of a young brunette is found in East River Park, artfully positioned and marked by signs of prolonged and painful torture, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is catapulted back to a case nine years earlier. The city was on edge from a killing spree that took the lives of four women in fifteen days, courtesy of a man the media tagged “The Groom”—because he put silver rings on the fingers of his victims. But this time, it becomes chillingly clear that the killer has made his attack personal. The young woman was employed by Eve’s billionaire husband, Roarke, washed in products from a store Roarke owns, and laid out on a sheet his company manufactures. Chances are, The Groom is working up to the biggest challenge of his illustrious career—abducting a woman who will test his skills and who promises to give him days and days of pleasure before she dies: Eve.

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The story of human civilization can be read most deeply in the materials we have found or created, used or abused. They have dictated how we build, eat, communicate, wage war, create art, travel, and worship. Some, such as stone, iron, and bronze, lend their names to the ages. Others, such as gold, silver, and diamond, contributed to the rise and fall of great empires. How would history have unfolded without glass, paper, steel, cement, or gunpowder?The impulse to master the properties of our material world and to invent new substances has remained unchanged from the dawn of time; it has guided and shaped the course of history. Sass shows us how substances and civilizations have evolved together. In antiquity, iron was considered more precious than gold. The celluloid used in movie film had its origins in the search for a substitute for ivory billiard balls. The same clay used in the pottery of antiquity has its uses in today’s computer chips.Moving from the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon, from the days of prehistoric survival to the cutting edge of nanotechnology, this fascinating and accessible book connects the worlds of minerals and molecules to the sweep of human history, and shows what materials will dominate the century ahead.

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The power and influence of Grace increases with each passing year. Here, Daphne Brooks traces Jeff Buckley's fascinating musical development through the earliest stages of his career, up to the release of the album. With access to rare archival material, Brooks illustrates Buckley's passion for life and hunger for musical knowledge, and shows just why he was such a crucial figure in the American music scene of the 1990s. EXCERPT: Jeff Buckley was piecing together a contemporary popular music history for himself that was steeped in the magic of singing. He was busy hearing how Dylan channeled Billie Holiday in Blonde On Blonde and how Robert Plant was doing his best to sound like Janis Joplin on early Led Zeppelin recordings. He was thinking about doo-wop and opera and Elton John and working at developing a way to harness the power of the voice...In the process, he was re-defining punk and grunge "attitude" itself by rejecting the ambivalent sexual undercurrents of those movements, as well as Led Zeppelin's canonical "cock rock" kingdom that he'd grown up adoring. He was forging a one-man revolution set to the rhythms of New York City and beyond. And he was on the brink of recording his elegant battle in song for the world to hear.

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The Sunday Times bestselling debut novel from global star Millie Bobby Brown Love blooms in the darkest days… London, 1942. Despite the raging war, spirited 18-year-old Nellie Morris lives a quiet life in the tight-knit East End community of Bethnal Green. Her family and friends all tease that she will marry air raid warden Billy, the boy next door who’s always been sweet on her. The arrival of Ray, a handsome American airman stationed nearby, causes Nellie to question everything she thought she knew about her future. Nellie’s new-found happiness is short-lived when a tragic accident occurs during an air raid. Even the closest family can’t escape the devastation of war, and as the secrets and truth about that fateful night become clear, they threaten to tear Nellie – and those dearest to her – apart. ’There is no healing without remembering, and there is no remembering without stories. So thank goodness Brown’s Nanny Ruth, who was a survivor of the crush, told her granddaughter what she remembered. . .You might open Nineteen Steps for the celebrity name, but stick with it for the history of an under-recognized event of World War II.’ New York Times

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While American leaders wage war on extremists in the Middle East, they are dangerously detached from a potentially greater threat closer to home. In Breeding Bin Ladens, Zachary Shore asserts that the growing ambivalence of Europe's Muslims poses risks to national identities, international security, and the transatlantic alliance. Europe's failure to integrate its Muslim millions, combined with America's battered image in the Muslim world, have left too many Western Muslims easy prey for violent dogmas. Until America and Europe adopt new strategies, Shore argues, Europe will increasingly become the incubation ground for breeding new Bin Ladens. The United States continues to spend billions of dollars and lose thousands of its young men and women to combat Islamic extremists, a group estimated to be as small as fifty thousand. What Western leaders have not done, says Shore, is seek to understand the millions of moderate Muslims who live peacefully in the United States and Europe. Many in this extraordinarily diverse group are deeply ambivalent toward perceived Western values. Although they may admire America's economic or technological might, many are appalled by its crass consumerism, sexualization of women, lack of social justice, and foreign policies. Shore taps into this oft-ignored perspective through in-depth interviews with Muslims living across the European Union. He gives voice to people of deep faith who speak of the conflict between their desire to integrate into their adopted societies and the repulsion they feel toward some of what the West represents. Shore offers a deeply nuanced and hopeful consideration of Islam's future in the West. Cautioning Western leaders against an anti-terrorist tunnel vision that could ultimately backfire, Shore proposes bold, creative, and controversial solutions for attracting the hearts and minds of moderate Muslims living in the West.

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The Poetry Book Society was founded by T.S. Eliot to share the joy of poetry. It's a unique poetry book club and every quarter our expert selectors choose the very best new books to deliver to our members across the globe. Our lively quarterly magazine is packed full of sneak preview poems and exclusive interviews with all the selected poets, insightful reviews by our Book Selectors Jo Clement, Roy Mcfarlane, Shivanee Ramlochan, Arji Manuelpillai and Nina Mingya Powles. Plus micro reviews by the Ledbury Critics and extensive listings of every book and pamphlet published this quarter. The Winter 2023 Bulletin magazine is full of crossings and re-connections. It features poems, reviews and commentary from the PBS Winter Choice Kwame Dawes whose new collection Sturge Town (Peepal Tree) journeys through memory and geography from Ghana to Jamaica and Nebraska. The Translation Choice, Sea in My Bones (the87press) by Juana Goergen, translated by Silvia Tandeciarz crosses between Spanish, Taino, and Yoruba in a multilingual celebration of indigenous Caribbean peoples. Marjorie Lotfi reveals her refugee experience fleeing Iran as a child in her debut The Wrong Person to Ask (Bloodaxe). Fahad Al-Amoudi uncovers the tale of an exiled Ethiopian prince in his astonishing debut pamphlet When The Flies Come (ignition press). Jasmine Cooray's Inheritance (Bad Betty Press) bequeaths us hopeful and resilient poems for when life and love are unexpectedly cut short. "America's favourite poet" Billy Collins brings some much needed humour to the table and celebrates the short poem in his new collection Musical Tables (Picador). David Wheatley sings of mushrooms, ancient forests and curious toddlers in Child Ballad (Carcanet) and Kostya Tsolakis re-examines Greekness and queer identity in his innovative debut Greekling (Nine Arches Press). You can find out more and join our poetry community today at www.poetrybooks.co.uk.

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The Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been. Success would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members. In this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as £10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success. The alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.

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From Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben to the Jolly Green Giant and Ronald McDonald, corporate icons sell billions of dollars’ worth of products. But only one of them was ever a real person—Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken/KFC. From a 1930s roadside café in Corbin, Kentucky, Harland Sanders launched a fried chicken business that now circles the globe, serving “finger lickin’ good” chicken to more than twelve million people every day. But to get there, he had to give up control of his company and even his own image, becoming a mere symbol to people today who don’t know that Colonel Sanders was a very real human being. This book tells his story—the story of a dirt-poor striver with unlimited ambition who personified the American Dream.Acclaimed cultural historian Josh Ozersky defines the American Dream as being able to transcend your roots and create yourself as you see fit. Harland Sanders did exactly that. Forced at age ten to go to work to help support his widowed mother and sisters, he failed at job after job until he went into business for himself as a gas station/café/motel owner and finally achieved a comfortable, middle-class life. But then the interstate bypassed his business and, at sixty-five, Sanders went broke again. Packing his car with a pressure cooker and his secret blend of eleven herbs and spices, he began peddling the recipe for “Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken” to small-town diners in exchange for a nickel for each chicken they sold. Ozersky traces the rise of Kentucky Fried Chicken from this unlikely beginning, telling the dramatic story of Sanders’ self-transformation into “The Colonel,” his truculent relationship with KFC management as their often-disregarded goodwill ambassador, and his equally turbulent afterlife as the world’s most recognizable commercial icon.

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A new edition of the essential chronicle of disco culture In 1973, Vince Aletti became the first person to write about the emerging disco scene. His engagement with disco nightlife continued throughout the decade as he wrote his weekly column for Record World magazine, which incorporated top ten playlists from DJs across the US (such as Larry Levan, Larry Sanders, Walter Gibbons, Tee Scott and Nicky Siano) alongside Aletti's own writings and interviews. As disco grew from an underground secret to a billion-dollar industry, Aletti was there to document it, and The Disco Files is his personal memoir of those days, containing everything he wrote on the subject (most of it between 1974 and1978) augmented with photography by Peter Hujar and Toby Old. This book is the definitive and essential chronicle of disco, true from-the-trenches reporting that details, week by week, the evolution of the clubs, the DJs, and above all, the music, through magazine articles, beautiful photographs, hundreds of club charts and thousands of record reviews. Photocopies of Aletti's Record World columns circulated for years among DJs and music lovers, until they were finally collected in 2009 into the first edition of The Disco Files, an instant classic that quickly sold out. This new edition of The Disco Files brings Aletti's compulsively readable disco writing back into print, adding an interview with Fran Lebowitz originally published in the Village Voice in 1990. Throughout his career, curator, writer and critic Vince Aletti (born 1945) has been at the forefront of music, culture and the arts. He wrote for Record World and Rolling Stone and covered the club scene in the late 1970s and 1980s for the Village Voice, where he would serve as art editor until 2005. In addition to curating numerous photography exhibitions, Aletti writes about photography for the New Yorker.

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A harrowing journey through the past, present, and future of mining, this expertly-researched account ends on a vision for how industry can better serve the needs of humanity.A race is on to exploit the last bonanzas of gold, silver, and industrial metals left on Earth. These metals are not only essential for all material comfort and need, but for the transition to clean energy: in the coming decades, billions of tons of copper, nickel, silver, and other metals will be required to build electric vehicles, solar and wind installations, and green infrastructure. We need more metals than ever before, yet the qualities and quantities are diminishing, making the extraction process more polluting to land, air and water. And most of these metals will be mined from the global south, where social conflict will only grow, led by Indigenous peoples demanding a greater say in how their wealth is used.The stakes couldn't be higher: How can we mine the metals we need without replicating the environmental and human rights abuses of the past?Pitfall is the compelling story of the quest to exploit the metals our civilization needs—and at what cost to local people and their environments. Beginning with the first waves of big, foreign-owned mines in the 1960s, investigative journalist Christopher Pollon shows how transnational companies rose to dominate copper, precious metals, and lithium in Latin America, made inroads into war-torn countries in Africa, and exploited nickel, industrial metals, and rare earth metals across Asia and Oceania.If we cannot change our course, Pollon argues, we are condemned to mine deeper and darker places, including the depths of the ocean, sacrifice zones, and near-earth asteroids. This disturbing vision of the future also includes robotic mines without workers and social license—unless we act now.Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

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An illuminating follow-up to Kathleen Barry's powerful landmark book, Female Sexual Slavery, that assesses the landscape of abuse prostitution 15 years later In 1979, Kathleen Barry's landmark book, Female Sexual Slavery, pulled back the curtain on a world of abuse prostitution that shocked the world. Documenting in devastating detail the lives of street prostitutes and the international traffic in women, Barry's work was called "powerful and compassionate" by Adrienne Rich and "a courageous and crusading book that should be read everywhere" by Gloria Steinem. The Los Angeles Times found it "a powerful work filled with disbelief, outrage, and documentation...sexual bondage shackles women as much today as it has for centuries." In The Prostitution of Sexuality, Barry assesses where we are 15 years later, how far we've come and, more importantly, how far we have still to go. Shifting her focus from the sexuality of prostitution to the prostitution of sexuality, Barry exposes the practice of teenage sexual exploitation and the flourishing Asian sex tour industry, emphasizing the world-wide role of the expanding multi-billion dollar pornography industry. The work identifies the global conditions of sexual exploitation, from sex industrialization in developing countries to the normalization of prostitution in the West. The Prostitution of Sexuality considers sexual exploitation a political condition and thus the foundation of women's subordination and the base from which discrimination against women is constructed and enacted. Breaking new ground, Barry convincingly argues for the need to integrate the struggle against sexual exploitation in prostitution into broader feminist struggles and to place it, as one of several connected issues, in the forefront of the feminist agenda. Barry concludes the book with a sampling of strategies—international, regional, local, and personal--that feminist activists have employed successfully since the early 1980s, highlighting new international legal strategies for human rights resulting from her work.

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*A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER!*In this gripping rags-to-riches instant classic—a must-read for starting your own business—Matt Higgins provides the blueprint he used to go from a desperate sixteen-year-old high school dropout caring for his sick mother in Queens, New York, to a shark on Shark Tank and the faculty of Harvard Business School. Told with raw emotion and radical transparency, Higgins writes the definitive tome on the oldest life hack in history: burn the boats. From Sun Tzu to Julius Caesar, the ancient Israelites to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, there’s a bold and highly effective tactic seen throughout history—when leaders want to motivate their troops for success, they destroy all opportunities for retreat, and fully commit to the mission. They burn their boats; it’s win or perish, and the clarity of sheer desperation propels them to victory.But the conviction of crisis decision-making can also be harnessed in peacetime to achieve unfathomable success. Higgins draws upon extensive research, historical precedent, and dozens of firsthand case studies—from actress-turned-entrepreneur Scarlett Johansson to NFL Coach Rex Ryan—that prove merely contemplating Plan B diminishes the probability of ever achieving Plan A. Now a self-made serial entrepreneur with a $1 billion consumer portfolio of some of America’s most iconic brands, Higgins explains how to burn the metaphorical boats that undermine total commitment, ranging from imposter syndrome to paralyzing anxiety to toxic leadership.Burn the Boats is the manifesto for anyone looking to level up their life while navigating risk. Each chapter includes clear, actionable advice that readers can immediately start applying to their own lives, along with inspiration drawn from dozens of real-life success stories.This book will give you the courage to confidently go all in on your life’s true purpose.

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***Winner of the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award*** ***Selected as one of Barack Obama's Favourite Books of 2023*** 'Pulse quickening. A nonfiction thriller - equal parts The China Syndrome and Mission Impossible' New York Times An epic account of the decades-long battle to control the world's most critical resource—microchip technology Power in the modern world - military, economic, geopolitical - is built on a foundation of computer chips. America has maintained its lead as a superpower because it has dominated advances in computer chips and all the technology that chips have enabled. (Virtually everything runs on chips: cars, phones, the stock market, even the electric grid.) Now that edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by the naïve assumption that globalising the chip industry and letting players in Taiwan, Korea and Europe take over manufacturing serves America's interests. Currently, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more on chips than any other product, is pouring billions into a chip-building Manhattan Project to catch up to the US. In Chip War economic historian Chris Miller recounts the fascinating sequence of events that led to the United States perfecting chip design, and how faster chips helped defeat the Soviet Union (by rendering the Russians’ arsenal of precision-guided weapons obsolete). The battle to control this industry will shape our future. China spends more money importing chips than buying oil, and they are China's greatest external vulnerability as they are fundamentally reliant on foreign chips. But with 37 per cent of the global supply of chips being made in Taiwan, within easy range of Chinese missiles, the West's fear is that a solution may be close at hand. 'A riveting history. Features vivid accounts and colourful characters' Financial Times'Fascinating…A historian by training, Miller walks the reader through decades of semiconductor history – a subject that comes to life thanks to [his] use of colorful anecdotes' Forbes 'Indispensable' Niall Ferguson

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This new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt's Outer Hebrides: The Western Isles of Scotland, from Lewis to Barra by experienced writer and journalist Mark Rowe is the only full-size guide to focus solely on the islands of Lewis, Harris, St Kilda, Berneray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay. Masses of background information is included, from geography and geology to art and architecture, with significant coverage of wildlife, too, as well as all the practical details you could need: when to visit, suggested itineraries, public holidays and festivals, local culture, plus accommodation and where to eat and drink. Walkers, birdwatchers, wildlife photographers, beach lovers and genealogists are all catered for, and this is an ideal guide for those who travel simply with curious minds to discover far-flung places of great cultural, historical and wildlife interest. The Outer Hebrides is an archipelago of 14 inhabited islands and more than 50 others that are free of human footprint. Huge variations in landscape are found across the islands, from Lewisian gneiss, which dates back almost three billion years, to rugged Harris with its magnificent sands running down its western flanks and the windswept, undulating flatness and jagged sea lochs of the Uists. This is a land where Gaelic is increasingly spoken and ancient monuments abound, where stunning seabird colonies and birds of prey can be watched, and where the grassy coastal zones known as the machair are transformed into glorious carpets of wildflowers in late spring and summer. Whether visiting the Standing Stones of Callanish, the Uig peninsula, Barra's Castlebay, or historic St Kilda, or if you just want to experience the romance of the Sound of Harris, one of the most beautiful ferry journeys in the world, Bradt's Outer Hebrides: The Western Isles of Scotland, from Lewis to Barra has all the information you need.

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Midnight. A call out to an isolated farm on the outskirts of Oxford. A body shot at point-blank range in the kitchen. -------- 'One of the finest crime writers we have' Mark Billingham 'Fawley is back and better than ever' Shari Lapena 'Emotionally riveting, taut, and suspenseful' Karin Slaughter It looks like a burglary gone wrong, but DI Adam Fawley suspects there's something more to it. When the police discover a connection to a high-profile case from years ago, involving a child's murder and an alleged miscarriage of justice, the press go wild. Suddenly Fawley's team are under more scrutiny than ever before. And when you dig up the past, you're sure to find a few skeletons... The sixth twisty, up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling Cara Hunter. For fans of Shari Lapena, Claire Douglas and Lisa Jewell. -------- Everyone loves Cara Hunter 'An intelligent and immersive thriller with a gritty human story' Janice Hallett, The Twyford Code'If you have not sampled Adam Fawley before, now is certainly the time' Daily Mail'A mystery that is both satisfying and surprising' Sunday Times Crime Club 'A great premise, tight plotting, and characters who live beyond the page' JP Delaney, Playing Nice 'A clever, fascinating book' Araminta Hall, Hidden Depths 'If you start, you won't be able to stop' Nicci French, The Unheard 'A masterclass in how to write crime fiction' John Marrs, The Vacation 'The DI Adam Fawley series just keeps getting better and better' Victoria Selman, Truly, Darkly, Deeply 'Twist follows twist at a breathtaking pace' Daily Mail And readers are loving this series, too 'All hail the new queen of all things crime' Penny, Netgalley 'Mind-bending brilliance' Kath, Netgalley 'Definitely for fans of Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter and the like' Fiona, Netgalley 'This series just gets better and better' Tina, Netgalley

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Combining frontline investigation with startling new data, Tristram Stuart's Waste shows how the way we live now has created a global food crisis - and what we can do to fix it. With shortages, volatile prices and nearly one billion people hungry, the world has a food problem - or thinks it does. Yet farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets and consumers in North America and Europe discard up to half of their food - enough to feed all the world's hungry at least three times over. Forests are destroyed and nearly one tenth of the West's greenhouse gas emissions are released growing food that will never be eaten. While affluent nations throw away food through neglect, in the developing world crops rot because farmers lack the means to process, store and transport them to market. But there could be surprisingly painless remedies for what has become one of the world's most pressing environmental and social problems. Travelling from Yorkshire to China, from Pakistan to Japan, and introducing us to foraging pigs, potato farmers, freegans and food industry directors, Stuart encounters grotesque examples of profligacy, but also inspiring innovations and ways of making the most of what we have. 'Tristram Stuart lifts the lid on the obscene levels of produce ending up in landfill ... read it and weep' The Sun 'Passionate, closely argued and guaranteed to make the most manic consumer peer guiltily into the recesses of their fridge' Sunday Telegraph 'An extremely thought-provoking, passionate study' Scotland on Sunday Tristram Stuart has been a freelance writer for Indian newspapers, a project manager in Kosovo and a prominent critic of the food industry. He has made regular contributions to television documentaries, radio and newspaper debates on the social and environmental aspects of food. His first book, The Bloodless Revolution, was published in 2006.

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Meet Caroline Auden. The closer she gets to justice, the further she gets from the law. When Caroline Auden lands a job at a top Los Angeles law firm, she’s excited for the challenge—and grateful for the chance to put her dark past as a computer hacker behind her. Right away, her new boss asks her to find out whether a popular GMO causes healthy people to fall ill. Caroline is only supposed to dig in the trenches and report up the ladder, but her tech background and intuition take her further than planned. When she suspects a link between the death of a prominent scientist and the shadowy biotech giant, she cries foul and soon finds herself in the crosshairs. The clock is ticking and thousands of lives are on the line…including her own. Now this rookie lawyer with a troubled past and a penchant for hacking must prove a billion-dollar company is responsible for thousands of deaths…before they come after her.

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18902023Christ's Church will continue. Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus promised his followers I am with you always, to the end of the age. In recent years, those words have become very a precious and a secure hope for Christians across the world. Jesus' Church is a family that must endure onward. Within these pages, we find Christians who will do just that across a range of spheres and in various struggles: including Dietrich Bonhoffer,C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Elizabeth Elliot, Eta Linnemann, and Benjamin Kwashi. Whether they seek to make new followers of Jesus, combat evil and injustice,defend the truth of the Bible, or endure intense persecution, these men and women exhibit a faith of deep resolve. The Risen Hope series is a narrativedriven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Live

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In The Race of Sound Nina Sun Eidsheim traces the ways in which sonic attributes that might seem natural, such as the voice and its qualities, are socially produced. Eidsheim illustrates how listeners measure race through sound and locate racial subjectivities in vocal timbre—the color or tone of a voice. Eidsheim examines singers Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, and Jimmy Scott as well as the vocal synthesis technology Vocaloid to show how listeners carry a series of assumptions about the nature of the voice and to whom it belongs. Outlining how the voice is linked to ideas of racial essentialism and authenticity, Eidsheim untangles the relationship between race, gender, vocal technique, and timbre while addressing an undertheorized space of racial and ethnic performance. In so doing, she advances our knowledge of the cultural-historical formation of the timbral politics of difference and the ways that comprehending voice remains central to understanding human experience, all the while advocating for a form of listening that would allow us to hear singers in a self-reflexive, denaturalized way.

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Play with fire, and you’re going to get burned. The unputdownable new Ridpath crime thrillerIn Manchester, a block of flats is burning. The only victim is a middle-aged man, sat watching TV. Are the fire and the man's death an accident or is something more frightening at work?Meanwhile, DI Ridpath is back with his wife and enjoying work at the Coroner's Office, his myeloma still in remission. But the quiet life is soon shattered by a new threat.More corpses start appearing; charred, burnt, silent bodies, strewn in the streets and lodged in buildings. Next to each one is a chilling message sprayed in orange ink.Fighting on all fronts, Ridpath will be drawn into the dark past of his city and the youth football clubs of the 1990s. He must find the link before any more people die. Before the flames come close to home...An absolutely gripping, nerve-shredding crime thriller from master storyteller M J Lee, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Robert Bryndza and Patricia Gibney.

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Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, the price of genome sequencing has dropped at a staggering rate. It's as if the price of a Ferrari went from $350,000 to a mere $0.40. Through breakthroughs by Dr. Ashley's team at Stanford, along with other impressive groups around the world, analyzing the human genome has decreased from an almost impossible, multi-billion dollar cost to one test for under $1,000. For the first time, due to this affordable capability, we have within our grasp the ability to predict our genetic future, to diagnose and prevent disease before it begins, and to decode what it really means to be human. In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Ashley details the medicine behind genome sequencing with clarity and accessibility. He shares compelling stories of the brave patients who were the first to undergo this analysis for their own benefit, as well as that of humankind. And then he traces the path from genome data to scientific knowledge to real medical action. He describes how he led the team that was the first to analyze and interpret a complete human genome, how they broke genome speed records to diagnose and treat a newborn baby girl whose heart stopped five times on the first day of her young life, how they found a boy with tumors growing inside his heart and traced the cause to a missing piece of his genome. These stories are the waymarkers for a journey through the science behind genome discoveries and genetic diseases. Dr. Ashley envisions a future where genome sequencing is available for all, where medicine can be tailored to treat specific diseases at the DNA level, and where our medical system as we know it has been completely revolutionized.

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We're losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year on broken software, and great new ideas such as agile development and Scrum don't always pay off. But there's hope. The nine software development practices in Beyond Legacy Code are designed to solve the problems facing our industry. Discover why these practices work, not just how they work, and dramatically increase the quality and maintainability of any software project. These nine practices could save the software industry. Beyond Legacy Code is filled with practical, hands-on advice and a common-sense exploration of why technical practices such as refactoring and test-first development are critical to building maintainable software. Discover how to avoid the pitfalls teams encounter when adopting these practices, and how to dramatically reduce the risk associated with building software--realizing significant savings in both the short and long term. With a deeper understanding of the principles behind the practices, you'll build software that's easier and less costly to maintain and extend.By adopting these nine key technical practices, you'll learn to say what, why, and for whom before how; build in small batches; integrate continuously; collaborate; create CLEAN code; write the test first; specify behaviors with tests; implement the design last; and refactor legacy code. Software developers will find hands-on, pragmatic advice for writing higher quality, more maintainable, and bug-free code. Managers, customers, and product owners will gain deeper insight into vital processes. By moving beyond the old-fashioned procedural thinking of the Industrial Revolution, and working together to embrace standards and practices that will advance software development, we can turn the legacy code crisis into a true Information Revolution.

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Why has the chicken become the meat par excellence, the most plentifully eaten and popular animal protein in the world, consumed from Beijing to Barcelona? As renowned historian Paul Josephson shows, the story of the chicken's rise involves a whole host of factors; from art, to nineteenth-century migration patterns to cold-war geopolitics. And whereas sheep needed too much space, or the cow was difficult to transport, these compact, lightweight birds produced relatively little waste, were easy to transport and could happily peck away in any urban back garden. Josephson tells this story from all sides: the transformation of the chicken from backyard scratcher to hyper-efficient industrial meat-product has been achieved due to the skill of entrepreneurs who first recognized the possibilities of chicken meat and the gene scientists who bred the plumpest and most fertile birds. But it has also been forced through by ruthless capitalists and lobbyists for “big farmer”, at the expense of animal welfare and the environment. With no sign of our lust for chicken abating, we're now reaching a crisis point: billions of birds are slaughtered every year, after having lived lives that are nasty, brutish and short. The waste from these victims is polluting rivers and poisoning animals. We’re now plunging “egg-first” into environmental disaster. Alongside this story Josephson tells another, of an animal with endearing characteristics who, arguably, can lay claim to being man’s best friend long before the dog reared its snout or the cat came in from the cold. Lionized in medieval romances and modern cartoons, the chicken’s relationship to humanity runs deep; by treating these animals as mere food products, we become less than human.

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Capitalism and slavery stand as the two economic phenomena that have most clearly defined the United States. Yet, despite African Americans' nearly $500 billion annual spending power, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to the ways U.S. businesses have courted black dollars in post-slavery America. Robert E. Weems, Jr., presents the first fully integrated history of black consumerism over the course of the last century. The World War I era Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to northern and southern cities stimulated initial corporate interest in blacks as consumers. A generation later, as black urbanization intensified during World War II and its aftermath, the notion of a distinct, profitable African American consumer market gained greater currency. Moreover, black socioeconomic gains resulting from the Civil Rights movement which itself featured such consumer justice protests as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, further enhanced the status and influence of African American shoppers. Unwilling to settle for facile answers, Weems explores the role of black entrepreneurs who promoted the importance of the African American consumer market to U.S. corporations. Their actions, ironically, set the stage for the ongoing destruction of black-owned business. While the extent of educational, employment, and residential desegregation remains debatable, African American consumer dollars have, by any standard, been fully incorporated into the U.S. economy. Desegregating the Dollar takes us through the "blaxploitation" film industry, the vast market for black personal care products, and the insidious exploitation of black urban misery by liquor and cigarette advertisers. Robert E. Weems, Jr., has given us the definitive account of the complicated relationship between African Americans, capitalism, and consumerism.

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In the US, there is a wide-ranging network of at least 370 food banks, and more than 60,000 hunger-relief organisations such as food pantries and meal programmes. These groups provide billions of meals a year to people in need. And yet hunger still affects one in nine Americans. Where are they going wrong? In Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries, Katie Martin argues that if handing out more and more food was the answer, we would have solved the problem of hunger decades ago. Martin instead presents a new model for charitable food, one where success is measured not by pounds of food distributed but by lives changed. The key is to focus on the root causes of hunger. When we shift our attention to strategies that build empathy, equity, and political will, we can implement real solutions. Martin shares those solutions in a warm, engaging style, with simple steps that anyone working or volunteering at a food bank or pantry can take today. Some are short-term strategies to create a more dignified experience for food pantry clients: providing client choice, where individuals select their own food, or redesigning a waiting room with better seating and a designated greeter. Some are longer-term: increasing the supply of healthy food, offering job training programs, or connecting clients to other social services. And some are big picture: joining the fight for living wages and a stronger social safety net. These strategies are illustrated through inspiring success stories and backed up by scientific research. Throughout, readers will find a wealth of proven ideas to make their charitable food organizations more empathetic and more effective. As Martin writes, it takes more than food to end hunger. Picking up this insightful, lively book is a great first step.

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'No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists' DAILY MAILA routine assignment transporting two death-row prisoners to their executions goes fatally wrong, leaving Dave Robicheaux brutally wounded and his partner dead.Obsessed with revenge, Dave is persuaded by the DEA to go undercover into the torrid sleepy depths of New Orleans, a volatile world of Mafia drug-running and Cajun voodoo magic. He becomes irrevocably snarled in the nightmarish web surrounding Mafia don Tony Cardo and must put himself against his own worst fears in order to survive.Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:'James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.' Michael Connelly'A gorgeous prose stylist.' Stephen King'Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.' Daily MailFans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux Series1. The Neon Rain 2. Heaven's Prisoners 3. Black Cherry Blues 4. A Morning for Flamingos 5. A Stained White Radiance 6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead 7. Dixie City Jam 8. Burning Angel 9. Cadillac Jukebox 10. Sunset Limited 11. Purple Cane Road 12. Jolie Blon's Bounce 13. Last Car to Elysian Fields 14. Crusader's Cross 15. Pegasus Descending 16. The Tin Roof Blowdown 17. Swan Peak 18. The Glass Rainbow 19. Creole Belle 20. Light of the World 21. Robicheaux Hackberry Holland Series1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield 2. Rain Gods 3. Feast Day of Fools 4. House of the Rising SunBilly Bob Holland Series1. Cimarron Rose 2. Heartwood 3. Bitterroot 4. In The Moon of Red Ponies * Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *

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Why violence in the Congo has continued despite decades of international intervention Well into its third decade, the military conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been dubbed a “forever war”—a perpetual cycle of war, civil unrest, and local feuds over power and identity. Millions have died in one of the worst humanitarian calamities of our time. The War That Doesn’t Say Its Name investigates the most recent phase of this conflict, asking why the peace deal of 2003—accompanied by the largest United Nations peacekeeping mission in the world and tens of billions in international aid—has failed to stop the violence. Jason Stearns argues that the fighting has become an end in itself, carried forward in substantial part through the apathy and complicity of local and international actors.Stearns shows that regardless of the suffering, there has emerged a narrow military bourgeoisie of commanders and politicians for whom the conflict is a source of survival, dignity, and profit. Foreign donors provide food and urgent health care for millions, preventing the Congolese state from collapsing, but this involvement has not yielded transformational change. Stearns gives a detailed historical account of this period, focusing on the main players—Congolese and Rwandan states and the main armed groups. He extrapolates from these dynamics to other conflicts across Africa and presents a theory of conflict that highlights the interests of the belligerents and the social structures from which they arise.Exploring how violence in the Congo has become preoccupied with its own reproduction, The War That Doesn't Say Its Name sheds light on why certain military feuds persist without resolution.

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Most real estate agents fail in their first five years on the job—but 40 Days of Farming gives you the skills to not only beat those odds, but also to build a thriving and successful real estate career.Eighty-seven percent of real estate agents fail within their first five years in the industry. John McMonigle, founder of Agentinc.—named the Top Real Estate Team five years in a row by The Wall Street Journal—has made history by selling properties totaling more than $7.5 billion. He’s written 40 Days of Farming to share with you how geographic farming, a proven system of generating lead productivity based on love and community stewardship, has been the key to his success and can unlock your full potential. The secret to successful geographic farming—and, indeed, to succeeding in today’s highly competitive real estate industry—is having spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial, and vocational health. John leads you on a guided, forty-day journey to cultivate each of those areas in your life to make way for exponential growth. Utilizing a combination of experience, networking, faith, and scripture, John has transformed the art of geographic real estate farming into a lucrative and time-tested system designed to generate personal and financial success. To that end, in 40 Days of Farming, John applies the over 7,000 promises of Scripture to your career and includes a life-plan handed down by God, along with a proven business plan culled from his decades-long career as a leader in the industry. As a real estate agent, you’re in the business of changing lives for the better. The journey you take in 40 Days of Farming will lead you closer to career success and deeper fulfillment in your spiritual life.

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- Este título es el único libro de referencia definitivo y oficial sobre este tema aprobado por DC.- Muchos de los más de 80 acontecimientos que se incluyen en el libro han inspirado tramas clave del universo cinemático de DC (DCEU), incluídas las películas 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'Man of Steel', 'Aquaman', 'Wonder Woman', 'Justice League', 'Flash' y la más reciente 'Black Adam' (2022), con Dwayne Johnson.- El DCEU ha recaudado más de $5.200 millones en taquilla a nivel mundial.Explora los acontecimientos clave que han dado forma al Multiverso de DC. 'DC Grandes eventos' explora en profundidad las crisis épicas, batallas icónicas y hitos inolvidables que han reinventado y renovado los cómics de DC.Textos redactados por expertos revelan el contexto, las conexiones y las consecuencias de más de 80 acontecimientos fundamentales, mostrando series que se entrecruzan y cronologías que cobran vida gracias a impresionantes obras de arte, presentadas en espectacular gran formato. Todos los personajes y elementos de DC © & ™ DC Comics. (S23)—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the only definitive, DC-approved reference book on the subject.- Many of the more than 80 events showcased in the book have inspired key storylines featured in DC’s cinematic/TV Extended Universe (DCEU) including The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Justice League, and The Flash.- The DCEU has grossed over US$5.2 billion worldwide at the box office.Explore the main events that have shaped and reshaped the DC Multiverse. DC Greatest Events delves into the epic crises, iconic battles, and unforgettable milestones that have reinvented and refreshed DC Comics.Expert essays reveal the context, connections, and consequences of more than 80 pivotal events, showcasing crossover series and timelines, brought to vivid life through stunning artwork and presented in a sumptuous coffee-table format. All DC characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. (s23)

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A comprehensive, richly illustrated introduction to the fascinating natural history of the pig, from prehistory to the present At any given time, there are around one billion pigs in the world; that's one for every seven of us. And where would we be without them? Prolific, ubiquitous, smart, adaptable, and providers of high-quality protein, pigs have been our companions since neolithic times, when they obligingly domesticated themselves, coming in from the wild to root around our waste pits. But it's not all about the bacon; today, bred in micro sizes, the resourceful pig has developed a whole new career as a popular pet. And thanks to genome mapping, we now know that the pig shares many common physiological features with humans, spurring the use of pig tissue and organs in medical research and surgery. Beautifully designed and illustrated, The Pig provides a snout-to-tail natural history of this important species, from the prehistoric "hell pig" to today's placid porker, covering the pig's evolution and domestication, anatomy and biology, behavior, role in human life and culture, and breeds. The book also features an engrossing and visually stunning photographic gallery of some thirty popular breeds from around the world, with essential information about each. Filled with surprising facts and insights, The Pig will delight anyone who loves these animals and wants to understand them better. Provides a comprehensive, richly illustrated introduction to the pig's evolution and domestication, anatomy and biology, behavior, role in human life and culture, and breeds Features infographics, diagrams, and 250 stunning color photographs Includes a beautiful photographic directory to some 30 popular breeds from around the world, with essential information about each

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With punk tunes to die for, raucous gigs to get the world jumping and lyrics that resonate with a generation, All Time Low are putting the power back into power-pop and owning stages across the globe. In 2003, four best friends, Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Rian Dawson and Zack Merrick, got together in high school, bonding over their love of Blink-182 and soon set off on a path that would emulate their heroes. The group was signed before graduating and soon found they were breaking out as Vans Warped Tour favourites. Songs like 'Dear Maria, Count Me In' brought the band firmly onto the world stage as the group established itself as one of the most exciting on the circuit, touring as headliners in their own right as well as supporting seminal genre acts Green Day and Blink-182. The group's status as serious pop-punk heroes was further strengthened by the superbly-received 2012 album, Don't Panic, packed to the edges with blistering skate-punk riffs, infectious vocal harmonies and sparkling guitar play. With their 2015 album Future Hearts having debuted at No. 2 in the US Billboard 200 and topping the UK album charts, All Time Low have proved they're here to stay. Affectionate, in-depth and packed with more inside stories than you can shake a drumstick at, Don't Party, Let's Panic tells the unofficial story behind four boys who were destined to become the greatest thing to come out of Towson, Baltimore. The time for superstardom is nigh for a quartet whose party-loving ways and instant rapport with their fanbase are as strong as those irresistible riffs and melodies. The future is theirs.

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When Reynold Levy became the new president of Lincoln centre in 2002, New York Magazine described the situation he walked in to as a community in deep distress, riven by conflict." Ideas for the redevelopment of Lincoln centre's artistic facilities and public spaces required spending more than 1.2 billion, but there was no clear pathway for how to raise that kind of unprecedented sum. The individual resident organizations that were the key constituents of Lincoln centre,the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard School, and eight others,could not agree on a common capital plan or fundraising course of action. Instead, intramural rivalries and disputes filled the vacuum.Besides, some of those organizations had daunting problems of their own. Levy tells the inside story of the demise of the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera's need to use as collateral its iconic Chagall tapestries in the face of mounting operating losses, and the New York Philharmonic's dalliance with Carnegie Hall.Yet despite these and other challenges, Levy and the extraordinary civic leaders at his side were able to shape a consensus for the physical modernization of the sixteen-acre campus and raise the money necessary to maintain Lincoln centre as the country's most vibrant performing arts destination. By the time he left, Lincoln centre had prepared itself fully for the next generation of artists and audiences. They Told Me Not to Take That Job is more than a memoir of life at the heart of one of the world's most prominent cultural institutions. It is also a case study of leadership and management in action. How Levy and his colleagues triumphantly steered Lincoln centre,through perhaps the most tumultuous decade of its history to a startling transformation,is fully captured in his riveting account.

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Winner, 2010 Association for Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer Book Award 2011 Honorable Mention for the American Sociological Association Culture Section's Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book Since 1999 hundreds of thousands of young American Jews have visited Israel on an all-expense-paid 10-day pilgrimage-tour known as Birthright Israel. The most elaborate of the state-supported homeland tours that are cropping up all over the world, this tour seeks to foster in the American Jewish diaspora a lifelong sense of attachment to Israel based on ethnic and political solidarity. Over a half-billion dollars (and counting) has been spent cultivating this attachment, and despite 9/11 and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict the tours are still going strong. Based on over seven years of first-hand observation in modern day Israel, Shaul Kelner provides an on-the-ground look at this hotly debated and widely emulated use of tourism to forge transnational ties. We ride the bus, attend speeches with the Prime Minister, hang out in the hotel bar, and get a fresh feel for young American Jewish identity and contemporary Israel. We see how tourism's dynamism coupled with the vibrant human agency of the individual tourists inevitably complicate tour leaders' efforts to rein tourism in and bring it under control. By looking at the broader meaning of tourism, Kelner brings to light the contradictions inherent in the tours and the ways that people understandtheir relationship to place both materially and symbolically. Rich in detail, engagingly written, and sensitive to the complexities of modern travel and modern diaspora Jewishness, Tours that Bind offers a new way of thinking about tourism as a way through which people develop understandings of place, society, and self.

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Just before the 2002 season opens, the Oakland Athletics must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players and is written off by just about everyone—but then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins. How did one of the poorest teams in baseball win so many games? In a quest to discover the answer, Michael Lewis delivers not only “the single most influential baseball book ever” (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what “may be the best book ever written on business” (Weekly Standard). Lewis first looks to all the logical places—the front offices of major league teams, the coaches, the minds of brilliant players—but discovers the real jackpot is a cache of numbers?numbers!?collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers, and physics professors. What these numbers prove is that the traditional yardsticks of success for players and teams are fatally flawed. Even the box score misleads us by ignoring the crucial importance of the humble base-on-balls. This information had been around for years, and nobody inside Major League Baseball paid it any mind. And then came Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics. He paid attention to those numbers?with the second-lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had to?to conduct an astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis shows us how and why the new baseball knowledge works. He also sets up a sly and hilarious morality tale: Big Money, like Goliath, is always supposed to win . . . how can we not cheer for David?

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Poem to Fire: Fast transparency that explodes the fuel and air in the cylinder and shuts the intake valves and thrusts down on the piston so the crankshaft spins and spins you can through all material that blocks your way so fast that driving now past rushes and billboards this pull to her could be your own impersonal presence cloaked in the day to day of the malls and condos all those wired sensors keeping on guard for you except you flicker even inside the wet wall where papillary muscle makes that sweet pulsation in whatever room she's moving through this moment under the cotton and the cool smoothness tinted blue In this debut collection, Peter Campion explores both the gaps and the connections between the self and others. Like the "night blooming jasmine leaving its warm trace," these poems arise out of the dark. A man awakens in a hotel room to find the neighboring voices merging with the anguished souls of his nightmare. A woman living alone beside the ocean hears the words of the dead echo in the crashing waves. But if these poems convey a feeling of an enduring emptiness, they also offer us the most vital intimacies. In one poem, two lovers traverse the industrial sweep of strip malls and office towers to arrive at their rendezvous. In another, the seemingly simple memory of a mother playing with her sons at a park bridges a chasm of pain and loss. With great poise, keen insight, and formal skill, Campion moves between shared experience and interior life in the shifting textures of "Other People." Whether writing in rhymed couplets or free verse, he matches a deep understanding of the poetic tradition with his own imaginative feel for structure.

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Welcome to Berecombe-by-the-Sea for a year of very special celebrations… This year sees the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to those brave boys who went to fight on French beaches for our freedom. And now Berecombe is playing host to our American allies once more. All surviving soldiers who were billeted in the town have been invited for street parties, a D-Day parade, a black-tie ball at The Henville and much, much more. So, come along, get dressed up and join in the fun! A second chance…or a new romance? With summer having arrived in Berecombe with sunshiny gusto, and the D-Day anniversary celebrations on the horizon, there’s much to keep Ashley Lydden busy as she settles further into her new life by the seaside. So why can’t she stop thinking about Eddie McQueen? They came so close to having it all, but now Ashley isn’t sure where they stand. With flirty Cornish painter Jake Tremayne taking a shine to Ashley and asking her to sit for a portrait, things get even more complicated. It’s shaping up to be a summer of love…but which man will claim Ashley’s heart? Readers are LOVING The Great Summer Street Party: ‘A delightful escapism read and a beautiful story that brought back lots of memories of my Nan’ Helen ‘Packed with romance, celebrations, starting life again and lots of see, sun and sand…a lovely friendship and community vibe’ Meena ‘What a lovely blend of romance and historical fiction surrounding the soldiers involved in the D-Day landings…Get out the bunting!’ Norma ‘Made me really want to read more after rushing through it’ Joanne ‘Left me wanting more…the most perfect setting in the West Country, sun, sea and a fantastic welcoming community’ Sally

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Most of what is written about Africa is framed in terms that have been out of date for years. Too often, it is seen as heading for either disaster or salvation; the realities are more subtle, more complicated than this binary opposition suggests. The continent has over the last century experienced the fastest population growth in the entire history of our planet. This brings pressures environmental and human, but it also changes the logic of Africa's economics. It suggests reasons for hope. Thanks to mobile phones, African retail markets are now becoming integrated; in South Africa, Nigeria and elsewhere, banking is penetrating society; foreign direct investment is higher than ever before. And Africa has 80 per cent of the world's empty agricultural land, which foreigners covet. Yet there is no reason to believe that Africa is heading for political stability. Its so-called 'failed states' are actually here to stay. After two centuries when Europeans and Americans thought of Africa as a continent struggling to catch up, it has arrived. It has developed, but in ways no one foresaw. Season of Rains explains how one billion Africans are changing their continent and changing the world. Stephen Ellis dissects how the postcolonial legacy has been overcome, how Africans are seizing the commercial and political initiative, and why this matters. Africans are reorienting-literally-as they connect to the East. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese, seeking minerals, oil and more, have settled in Africa; conversely the Chinese city of Guangzhou is home to as many as 100,000 Africans. In a series of short, pungently written chapters, Ellis surveys the continent today, offering the reader an indispensable guide to how money, power, religion and indigenous development will shape Africa's coming generations.

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It remains one of the most memorable moments in modern Olympic history. At the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, a raucous crowd of ninety thousand saw their favorite in the women’s 3,000-meter race, Mary Decker, go down. An audience of two billion around the world witnessed the mishap and listened to the instantaneous accusations against the suspected culprit, Zola Budd. Just seventeen, the South African Budd had already been the target of a vicious and vocal campaign by the antiapartheid lobby after she transferred to the British team in order to compete at the games. Decker, at twenty-six, was America’s golden girl, ready to overcome years of bad luck and injuries to rightfully take the Olympic gold for which she had waited so long. With three laps to go, Decker and Budd’s feet became tangled. Decker went down and didn’t get up, wailing in primal agony as her gold medal hopes vanished. Decker’s stumbles continued in the race’s aftermath when she refused Budd’s apology and race officials found her, not Budd, at fault for the collision. Although both women found success after the Olympics, neither could escape the long shadow of the infamous event that forever changed both of their lives and defines them in popular culture to this day.Olympic Collision follows Decker and Budd through their lives and careers, telling the story behind the controversy; the account that emerges is certain to revise the view Americans, in particular, have held since that fateful day in Los Angeles more than thirty years ago. Olympic Collision relives one of the most famous incidents in Olympic history, its legacy, and what has happened to both athletes since.

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Since the early 1990s, advances in toxicology have allowed scientists to detect traces of adulterant substances in everyday products – even down to parts per billion concentrations. We can now detect the presence of harmful ingredients at levels so low that they actually cause no harm. Nonetheless, we get scared. We are now able to overreact to harmless, negligible sources of contamination and flock to ‘natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘chemical-free’ alternative products at elevated prices instead. This urge is driven in part by a set of interesting psychological quirks called the naturalness preference or biophilia. While exposure to many aspects of nature improves our physical and mental wellbeing, marketers are taking advantage of our naturalness preference by selling us ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ products with no functional advantage, sometimes to the detriment of the environment, and that have the unfortunate added effect of peddling a fear of conventional products that do not make such natural connotations. This fear of chemicals, exaggerated by marketers, has led some of us to seek nature in the form of expensive consumer product, which offer almost none of the benefits of spending time outdoors in real nature (which is free of charge). We thus chase nature in the wrong form. We feel guilt, anxiety and mental stress from being coaxed into paying a hefty premium price for "natural" products that are neither safer nor more effective than conventional ones, and forget to appreciate real nature in the process. This book explores the history of chemical fears and the recent events that amplified it. It describes how consumers, teachers, doctors, lawmakers and journalists can help make better connections with the public by telling stories that are more engaging about chemistry and materials science. Written in a sympathetic way, this book explains both sides of the argument for anyone with an interest in science.

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Two Slough House Novellas**THE DROP**'It is time Mick Herron was recognised in his own right as the best thriller writer in Britain today' Sunday ExpressOld spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone cafe, he knows he's witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair's breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.It's also what happens just before you hit the ground.**THE LIST**'Mick Herron is an incredible writer and if you haven't read him yet, you NEED to' Mark BillinghamDieter Hess, an aged spy, is dead, and John Bachelor, his MI5 handler, is in deep, deep trouble. Death has revealed that the deceased had been keeping a secret second bank account - and there's only ever one reason a spy has a secret second bank account. The question of whether he was a double agent must be resolved, and its answer may undo an entire career's worth of spy secrets.**previously published as two separate editions**

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What happens after she says 'yes'? Together in print for the first time in Stark After Dark, these four novellas - Take Me, Have Me, Play My Game, and Seduce Me - continue the story of billionaire Damien Stark and his fiancée, Nikki Fairchild, from J. Kenner's million-copy-selling Stark trilogy: Release Me, Claim Me, and Complete Me. Following the happy couple from their steamy engagement into wedded bliss, this addictive collection is perfect for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and the Crossfire series.I've long dreamed of my fairy-tale wedding, but it wasn't until I met Damien Stark - who captured me with his kisses and undid me with his touch - that I began to believe it was my destiny. Though we both carry secrets and scars, our shared passion heals us, binding us together. We have surrendered to each other completely, and our mutual ecstasy is the brightest light in my life.But darkness still snakes through the cracks in our armour. Ghosts from our past have moved in, bringing fresh pain that cuts deep and threatens to destroy everything we hold dear.Damien is my anchor to this world, and I am his. But if we are going to keep each other, we have to fight the shadows of our pasts to move forward into our future.Return to the smoking hot Stark world with the Stark International trilogy: Say My Name, On My Knees and Under My Skin is the explosively emotional story of Jackson Steele and Sylvia Brooks. And don't miss the sexy Stark S.I.N. series featuring Dallas Sykes: Dirtiest Secret, Hottest Mess and Sweetest Taboo.Want more of J. Kenner's sizzling romance? Try the Most Wanted series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees: Wanted, Heated and Ignited.

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