Showing results by narrator "Alan Sklar" in All Categories

Assassinations, political upheaval, student riots, and conservative rage. In the thick of the Cold War it was the perfect recipe for revolution, and it only took a gentle push to send a nation toppling into dictatorship. But what if it happened in the United States? Miles Dorn can make it so. A hired killer with no past and no future, he steps out of retirement and sets his sights on the political leaders holding America back from the brink.

In the spirit of the demolition derby, where drivers take heedless risks with reckless abandon, welcome to the first convocation of The Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is a one-of-a-kind collection by famous authors writing anonymously and dangerously. With the usual concerns about reputations and renown cast aside, these 12 daredevils have each contributed an extreme, no-holds-barred, unsigned story, each shining as brightly and urgently as hazard lights.

Did Wall Street cause the mess we are in? Should Washington place stronger regulations on the financial industry? Can we lower unemployment rates by controlling the free market? Answer: no. Not only is free-market capitalism good for the economy, it is our only hope for recovery. As the nation’s longest-serving CEO of one of the top 25 financial institutions, John Allison has had a unique inside view of the events leading up to the financial crisis.

The Archerfish, a diesel powered Balao-class submarine crafted in the 1940s, won a unique, heroic place in military history and the memories of her crew members. Here is her story: from her assembly in New England and her dedication by Eleanor Roosevelt's personal secretary, to her service in World War II, where she broke the back of the Japanese Navy, and her critical role in the Cold War.

In this new age of networked intelligence, businesses and communities are bypassing crumbling institutions. We are altering the way our financial institutions and governments operate; how we educate our children; and how the health care, newspaper, and energy industries serve their customers. Once again backed by original research, Tapscott and Williams provide vivid, new examples of organizations that are successfully embracing the principles of wikinomics.

In this shocking and groundbreaking new book, economic historian Burton Folsom, Jr., exposes the idyllic legend of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a myth of epic proportions. With questionable moral character and a vendetta against the business elite, Roosevelt created New Deal programs marked by inconsistent planning, wasteful spending, and opportunity for political gain---ultimately elevating public opinion of his administration but falling flat in achieving the economic revitalization that America needed.

Most employees feel invisible to their leadership, and many times prefer to stay hidden in the corporate shadow lands. The Invisible Employee, part fable, part business advice, teaches managers how to actively engage employees, and find the way to bring out the best in them.

What's the secret to wowing your customers while maintaining a loyal and dedicated workforce? Drawing upon time-tested strategies that have propelled Enterprise, the nation's number-one car-rental company, from a single location in St. Louis to a $9-billion global powerhouse, noted business author Kirk Kazanjian reveals how your company can consistently outperform and outsmart the competition.

According to Bernard Goldberg, the media crossed an important line in the 2008 presidential race, moving from their usual unthinking liberal bias to crass partisanship of the crudest kind, practically acting as spin doctors for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. In A Slobbering Love Affair, his most provocative book yet, Goldberg demonstrates how the media launched an unparalleled effort to ensure the election of the man they regarded as the One.

A leading Supreme Court expert recounts the personal and philosophical rivalries that forged our nation's highest court and continue to shape our daily lives. The Supreme Court is the most mysterious branch of government, and yet the Court is at root a human institution, made up of very bright people with very strong egos, for whom political and judicial conflicts often become personal.

Psychologist and professor Seth Roberts has spent years analyzing why most diets don't work. A maverick with a curious mind, and a yen for self-experimentation, he started by asking a simple question most experts haven't tackled: What makes us feel hungry in the first place?

In this encore to his classic 1987 unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward), Jeffrey Young examines Jobs' remarkable resurgence, one of the most amazing business comeback stories in years.

Thomas Hargrove's Long March to Freedom is a record of his 11 months as a hostage of Colombian guerillas and was the basis for the recent movie hit Proof of Life that starred Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, and David Morse.

Tony Valentine is an expert at spotting cheats. He's tossed them out of gambling casinos from Atlantic City to Monaco. But though Tony has never met a scam he couldn't crack, his son and partner, Gerry, has just walked into one with a body count. What started as a conman's deathbed confession turns into a deadly Las Vegas grudge match during the world's biggest poker tournament.

In 1904, at age 23, two-time Kentucky Derby-winner Jimmy Winkfield was forced from American horseracing by a virulent combination of racism and hard times. Wink left his beloved Kentucky, bought a steamer ticket for Europe, and made the world his racetrack. There he embarked on a decades-long odyssey, rising to superstardom and winning and losing two fortunes. Driven at gunpoint from Russia by the Bolshevik Army and from France by Nazi occupiers, the 105-pound jockey proved himself the most resilient, courageous athlete of the 20th century.

From the basics of the internet to the fight for healthcare privacy and security that is so critical to our aging population, Senior Cyber offers simple advice and expertise for all levels of internet experience. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or the son or daughter of one, this book is designed with your concerns in mind. Practical cybersecurity advice and examples affecting seniors put Senior Cyber atop any listening list for those helping others or themselves to stay cyber safe.

Dave and Jill Wade come to Pennsylvania, the ink still wet on their marriage license, expecting three weeks of lakeside honeymooning bliss. All is lovely until gunshots shatter their first night together. Killers have come for the man in the next cabin, and afterward they decide to silence the happy couple, battering Dave and dragging his virgin bride into the dead man's bedroom. The Wades say nothing to the police, but afterward take a second set of vows: death for the men who ruined their honeymoon.

In his explosive new book, New York Times best-selling author Bill Gertz uncovers the most significant threat to U.S. national security today: America's enemies, including radical terrorist groups, are arming themselves with the world's most dangerous weapons. And they're doing it with the help of America's supposed allies. Worst of all, the United States has let it happen.

The United States invaded Iraq with grand ambitions to bring it democracy and thereby transform the Middle East. Instead, Iraq has disintegrated into three constituent components: a pro-western Kurdistan in the north, an Iran-dominated Shiite entity in the south, and a chaotic Sunni Arab region in the center. The country is plagued by insurgency and is in the opening phases of a potentially catastrophic civil war.

For all of his influence, the world knows very little about Vice President Dick Cheney. The wide range of topics Stephen F. Hayes covers here includes Cheney's withdrawal from Yale; his meteoric rise to congressional leadership; his opposition to removing Saddam Hussein from power after the first Gulf War; his selection as Bush's running mate; his commanding performance on 9/11; the aggressive intelligence and interrogation measures he pushed in the aftermath of those attacks; and more.