About this product: The Berlin Wall has been rubble for a decade and the memories of the cold war are growing dim. And yet no one is ever likely to forget the Cuban Missile crisis of October 1962, when the world stood on the brink of full-scale nuclear war as the Soviet Union and America locked horns off the coast of Florida. The Soviet navy set sail for Cuba loaded with nuclear warheads for their newly constructed missile bases, precipitating the crisis. After 10 days of high tension, the Soviet Union backed down and the warheads were sent back home. War was averted, but up until now, no one has ever been too certain just how close the world came to catastrophe. Kennedy was assassinated long before he could write his memoirs, Castro's lips are sealed, and the Soviet archives were a closed book.
Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali have taken advantage of recent unrestricted access to Soviet records and performed painstaking detective work to fill the gaps in the historical record. Some of the tension of the narrative is lost, because we know the outcome; even so, they give penetrating insights as they reconstruct the drama step by step. We learn that the Kremlin did seriously consider launching a nuclear attack on the U.S.: the appropriate orders were discussed and Khrushchev spent the night of October 22 in his office so he could be on hand to cable his authorization. Some of the most interesting facts to emerge, however, are those concerning John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert. JFK had always previously been portrayed as something of a parochial gung-ho type, but this, it emerges, was merely a public persona designed to appease the Pentagon hawks. At the same time JFK was talking about a Cuban invasion, he and his brother were engaging in a more secret policy of appeasement through the Soviet ambassador. Fortunately for all of us, diplomacy won the day. In recent years, JFK has been somewhat discredited as a leader for his unpleasant sexual carryings-on and corruption. It may just be that this view is as incomplete as his portrayal as the saintly "King of Camelot". If so, One Hell of a Gamble could be the first stage in his partial rehabilitation. --John Crace, Amazon.co.uk
About this product: Twenty years ago, six doctors formed a partnership to build a medical office plaza in Massachusetts. While it wasn't the most above-board deal ever made, the doctors have found continued profit and success from their partnership-until now. Someone wants the doctors dead, and he or she has already succeeded in murdering two of them. The identity of the killer remains unknown. Is it a madman with a vendetta against the medical profession, a small-time bookie seeking revenge for a shady real estate deal, or a disgruntled former construction manager who was unjustly fired? The widow of one of the slain doctors has a clue-but she's too afraid to tell the police. She hires Boston private investigator Daniel Gallagher to help track down the murderer. But as Gallagher begins to unravel the mystery, he finds himself entangled in a web of danger and political intrigue. With the stakes growing higher, Gallagher faces a growing threat to keep him quiet before he reveals the damaging truth. But when push comes to shove, has Gallagher made a Fatal Gamble?
About this product: Mojo's got an uncanny knack for winning at slots, but her home sweet home is Bad-Ass Bert's Biker Saloon. She'd love to go undercover with an irresistibly hot cop, but he's got baggage as big as his biceps. Mojo survived a mysterious childhood tragedy, but she's never quite figured out who she really is or how to get on with her life. Now the wisecracking Mojo is seeing ghosts—the ectoplasmic kind— and turning up baffling clues to her real identity. And she'll need all her savvy and strange new talent to keep someone from burying her—and the truth—for keeps.
About this product: Essentials of Strategic Management responds head-on to the growing requests by business faculty for a concise, theory-driven strategic management concepts and cases text. This first edition text was written with four objectives in mind: 1) Although relatively brief in length, the text would provide students with an up-to-date and thorough understanding of essential strategic management concepts and analytic tools; 2) The text would simplify the task of demonstrating student learning through course embedded assessment; 3) Like our works preceding this text, it would include especially well-written cases involving headline strategic issues; and lastly, 4) The text could serve as the theoretical foundation of a teaching approach incorporating a business strategy simulation.
About this product: Fiasco, Thomas E. Ricks’s #1 New York Times bestseller, transformed the political dialogue on the war in Iraq—The Gamble is the next news breaking installment
Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.
Since early 2007 a new military order has directed American strategy. Some top U.S. officials now in Iraq actually opposed the 2003 invasion, and almost all are severely critical of how the war was fought from then through 2006. At the core of the story is General David Petraeus, a military intellectual who has gathered around him an unprecedented number of officers with both combat experience and Ph.D.s. Underscoring his new and unorthodox approach, three of his key advisers are quirky foreigners—an Australian infantryman-turned- anthropologist, an antimilitary British woman who is an expert in the Middle East, and a Mennonite-educated Palestinian pacifist.
The Gamble offers news breaking information, revealing behind-the-scenes disagreements between top commanders. We learn that almost every single officer in the chain of command fought the surge. Many of Petraeus’s closest advisers went to Iraq extremely pessimistic, doubting that the surge would have any effect, and his own boss was so skeptical that he dispatched an admiral to Baghdad in the summer of 2007 to come up with a strategy to replace Petraeus’s. That same boss later flew to Iraq to try to talk Petraeus out of his planned congressional testimony. The Gamble examines the congressional hearings through the eyes of Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and their views of the questions posed by the 2008 presidential candidates.
For Petraeus, prevailing in Iraq means extending the war. Thomas E. Ricks concludes that the war is likely to last another five to ten years—and that that outcome is a best case scenario. His stunning conclusion, stated in the last line of the book, is that “the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered by us and by the world have not yet happened.”
About this product: The Gender Communication Connection offers an interactive approach to the course, enabling students to experience firsthand how gender communication affects their lives daily. Strong end-of-chapter pedagogy includes special sections which strengthen students' critical-thinking skills by prompting them to discuss, reflect upon, write about, or explore online a variety of gender topics and issues.
About this product: Sleek, swift, and deadly, they are the X-wing fighters. And as the battle against the Empire rages across the vastness of space, the pilots risk both their lives and their machines for the cause of the Rebel Alliance. Now they must embark on a dangerous espionage mission, braving betrayal and death on the Imperial homeworld to smash the power of a ruthless foe!
It is the evil heart of a battered and reeling Empire: Coruscant, the giant city-world from whose massive towers the Imperial High Command directs the war. The Rebels will invade this mighty citadel in a daring move to bring the Empire to its knees. But first Wedge Antilles and his X-wing pilots must infiltrate Coruscant to gain vital intelligence information. Capture means death, or worse--enslavement by the vicious leader known as "Iceheart," Ysanne Isard, now Emperor in all but name. And one of Rogue Squadron's own is already her slave, a traitor hidden behind a mask of innocence, working to betray both colleagues and the Rebellion itself.
About this product: This text introduces, explores, and celebrates the central role interpersonal communication plays in personal and professional relationships. A rich, interactive pedagogy engages students in relevant issues and themes, from the impact of mediated communication--particularly online--to the influence of gender and culture on interpersonal interactions. New concepts are supported by the anecdotal experiences of professionals, literary excerpts, and a number of other box features:
About this product: Thompson, Strickland and Gambles', "Crafting and Executing Strategy, 16e" presents the latest research findings from the literature and cutting-edge strategic practices of companies have been incorporated to keep step with both theory and practice. The chapter content continues to be solidly mainstream and balanced, mirroring both the best academic thinking and the pragmatism of real-world strategic management. Known for its cases and teaching notes, "Crafting and Executing Strategy, 16e" provides an unparalleled case line up. 28 of the 31 cases are new to this edition. The selection of cases is diverse, timely, and thoughtfully-crafted and complements the text presentation pushing students to apply the concepts and analytical tools they have read about. Many cases involve high-profile companies. There's a comprehensive package of support materials that are a breeze to use, highly effective, and flexible enough to fit most any course design.
About this product: "One of NASCAR's greatest stories is brought to life in this meticulous, highly entertaining replay of the day that changed everything for the sport." —Lars Anderson, Sports Illustrated
"Joe Menzer has done an excellent job in telling the story of one ofNASCAR's most important races, a tale that includes the vibrant storiesof the cast of characters who participated." —Mike Hembree, NASCAR Scene
"A magnificent book, one that should be in the library of every diehard race fan." —Jerry Bonkowski, National NASCAR columnist, Yahoo! Sports and on-air personality, Sirius NASCAR Radio
It could so easilyhave been a disaster . . .
Everyone knew it, from CBS executives and owners of local CBS affiliates to NASCAR founder Big Bill French to driver and NASCAR booster Darrell Waltrip. If anything went wrong with the first-ever live, start-to-finishbroadcast of America's premier stock car race, a lot of people were going to lose a lot of money. It would also be the last-ever live broadcast of a NASCAR event. The Great American Gamble tells the gripping tale of the event that instead made NASCAR the multibillion dollar powerhouse it is today: the 1979 Daytona 500.
Based on new interviews with all the major drivers in the race andothers involved, including Richard Petty, crew chief Dale Inman andKyle Petty, Bobby Allison and Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, BennyParsons, Junior Johnson, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, A. J. Foyt, Ned Jarrett, Humpy Wheeler, Ken Squier, Richard Childress, Jim Hunter, David Pearson, Doug Rice, Ricky Rudd, Geoffrey Bodine, Sterling Marlin, Marvin Panch, Leonard Wood, Eddie Wood, Larry McClure, and Michael Waltrip,this is the ultimate, high-octane account of the most important race inNASCAR history.
BOOK
