Bücher veröffentlicht von St. Martin's Griffin

More than two million couples wed every year in the United States, bringing together a whole new family unit. The extended family may now include a hard to please mother-in-law who criticizes her daughter-in-law's childrearing; or a patriarchal father-in-law who expects all the kin round the dinner table every Sunday; or a new spouse, who a year or decade out, still gets shellshock visiting the in-laws. If that wasn't cause enough for a stiff drink, more than a million couples divorce each year, creating hard to define family structures. How do families handle the inevitable friction and how do they make sense of evolving family relationships? Ruth Nemzoff, an expert in family dynamics, empowers family members across the generations to define and create lasting bonds, including how to:*Welcome a new in-law from a different culture and religion into your family.*Not let differences of politics or philosophy impact quality time with the extended family.*Respond to major life changes in an in-law's life, including financial crises, illnesses, or career changes.*Retain warm connections with in-laws even amidst divorce and remarriage.This is a must read for anyone dealing with a difficult in-law as well as anyone who will soon be welcoming a new member to their family.

Renowned mystery author Arthur Conan Doyle and famous illusionist Harry Houdini first met in 1920, during the magician's tour of England. At the time, Conan Doyle had given up his lucrative writing career, killing off Sherlock Holmes in the process, in order to concentrate on his increasingly manic interest in Spiritualism. Houdini, who regularly conducted séances in an attempt to reach his late mother, was also infatuated with the idea of what he called a "living afterlife," though his enthusiasm came to be tempered by his ability to expose fraudulent mediums, many of whom employed crude variations of his own well-known illusions. Using previously unpublished material on the murky relationship between Houdini and Conan Doyle, this sometimes macabre, sometimes comic tale tells the fascinating story of the relationship between two of the most loved figures of the twentieth century and their pursuit of magic and lost loved ones.

In The Mystery of Lewis Carroll, Jenny Woolf brings to life the brilliant, secretive, and self-contradictory creator of Alice in Wonderland, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a.k.a. Lewis Carroll. Reveling in double meanings and puzzles, in his fiction and his life, Carroll always-at least in part-seemed hidden, unknowable. Woolf uses rarely-seen and recently discovered sources like Carroll's private bank account records, letters from the family of the "real" Alice Liddell and unpublished correspondence with Carroll's own relatives. In shining new light upon Carroll, Woolf sets this perennially fascinating man firmly in the context of the English Victorian age and tackles many of the questions that have persisted throughout the years. - Was it Alice or her older sister that caused a coolness between Carroll and the Liddell family?- How true is the gossip both about about pedophilia and certain adult women that became attached to him?- What could be the "romantic secret" which many think ruined Carroll's personal life?- Who caused Carroll major financial trouble, and why have this person's identity and actions remained unknown till now? Woolf discards the myths and lets us see Carroll as he truly was: a brilliant product of the Victorian Age, and a genius whose famous stories continue to fascinate readers almost 150 years after their initial publication.

A woman can always count on are her friends-right? But what if those friendships are hurtful, harmful, even toxic? Susan Shapiro Barash explores the ten types of female friends and shows you why and how women get stuck with the worst kinds, the ways to get "unstuck, and how to recognize a true friend." For example: . The Leader of the Pack-it's all on her terms . The Doormat-and why you're the one paying the price . The Misery Lover-she wants to feel your pain. Really. . The User-and why you seldom see her coming . The Trophy Friend-and what you gain from each other Provocative and fascinating, Susan Shapiro Barash looks at the bonds (and bondage) of female friendships in a new light.

In order to satisfy the heightened demands of today's more powerful consumer, corporations from Wal-Mart to GE are undergoing an evolutionary transformation in the way they do business--from their operations and strategies to their relationships with customers and communities. In this timely book, two top branding experts team up with a highly regarded specialist in corporate culture and a leading global search consultant to illustrate how the most dynamic and promising companies of today are charting a new path for the corporate brand of tomorrow. Good for Business outlines four key elements that will serve as the cornerstones of the most successful businesses of the future: * Purpose Beyond Profit * Humanized Leadership * Corporate Consciousness * Collaborative Partnerships Today, brands matter a lot, and what companies we do business with also matters. In Good For Business, the authors show not only why building an authentic corporate brand is critical to success, but how to do it in a way that creates more loyal customers, develops a devoted workforce, and makes a social difference in the world at large.

Called "one of our best science popularizers" by Publishers Weekly, Amir D. Aczel tackles the cause of one of last century's most destructive events--the scientific discovery of nuclear power. Drawing on his rich storytelling skills, Aczel presents the fascinating and suspenseful story of the scientists who first uncovered the potential of uranium. Uranium Wars takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of 1920s Europe where the scientific elite of the day were embroiled in a fierce rivalry to achieve nuclear fission. Leading us to an understanding of both the processes that take place inside a uranium nucleus and its destructive power are the brilliant men and women at the heart of the race--mammoth figures such as Marie Curie, Enrico Fermi, and Lise Meitner. Enmeshed in the story of scientific intrigue is the complex and ongoing story of uranium itself, which Aczel presents as a dynamic, dual natured force, capable of providing both abundant usable energy and generating unfathomable destructive power. From the nuclear programs in the Middle East to plans for nuclear reactors at home, the element uranium is never far from today's headlines.

In an instant, one woman's perfect world is turned inside outWhen Nora Banks goes to answer the doorbell very early one November 1st, she thinks it must be tardy trick-or-treaters. But it's no Halloween prank-it's the Feds, who have come to arrest her husband Evan for a white-collar crime. Nora's enviable life in the eighteenth-century house she'd filled her days renovating to museum-quality perfection is upended.In this of-the-moment story about the loss of wealth and social prominence, the private-school mothers in Nora's exclusive community close ranks against her and her young sons. Only the boys' nanny Beatriz stands by the family. To support her children, Nora is forced to take a job in the same bakery in which the mothers share coffee every morning. While tempted by the offer of an affair with one of their husbands, she reaches into reserves she didn't know she had. Thwarting a malevolent wife intent on running her out of town, Nora launches a local business of her own, The Summer Kitchen Bakery-Café. Along the way, she changes the town, its characters, and her way of thinking about life, family, money, and romance.

In 1682, ten years before the infamous Salem witch trials, the town of Great Island, New Hampshire, was plagued by mysterious events: strange, demonic noises; unexplainable movement of objects; and hundreds of stones that rained upon a local tavern and appeared at random inside its walls. Town residents blamed what they called "Lithobolia" or "the stone-throwing devil." In this lively account, Emerson Baker shows how witchcraft hysteria overtook one town and spawned copycat incidents elsewhere in New England, prefiguring the horrors of Salem. In the process, he illuminates a cross-section of colonial society and overturns many popular assumptions about witchcraft in the seventeenth century.

The closing of Ted Kennedy's chapter in America's political and cultural life means that, for the first time perhaps, the real measure of the Kennedy legacy can finally be taken. John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy's individual stories can now be seen as essentially one, with each brother striving to fulfill the interrupted promise of the brother before. How did the brothers pass the family torch to each other? And who carries the torch forward now? Vincent Bzdek compellingly answers these questions and much, much more.

Mark Puls delivers a compelling portrait of the Revolutionary War general who played a key role in all of George Washington's battles. During the Siege of Boston, Henry Knox's amazing 300 mile transport of forty nine cannons from Ticonderoga saved the city. Building upon his talent for logistics, Knox engineered Washington's famous Christmas night passage to safety across the Delaware River. And it was the general's tactical successes that made the final victory at Yorktown possible. With riveting battle scenes, inspiring patriotism, and vivid prose, Puls breathes new life into the American Revolution and firmly re-establishes Knox in his deserved place in history.

Painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, 28 years after Michelangelo completed the glorious and hopeful ceiling, The Last Judgment is full of stark images depicting the End of Days. Here, James Connor uncovers the secrets behind the fresco, and details the engrossing stories of conspiring kings, plotting popes, and murderous rivalries between noble families who were vying for control over Michelangelo and his art. This book combines enchanting storytelling with incisive historical detective work, demonstrating how Michelangelo was inspired by Copernicus and how the Counter-Reformation arose from the ashes of the Renaissance.

In this gripping social history of South Africa, award-winning journalist Mark Gevisser follows the family of former South African President Thabo Mbeki to make sense of his legacy and understand the future of the country under new President Jacob Zuma. With unparalleled access to Mbeki and Zuma, as well as other key players in the ANC, Gevisser presents an intimate yet accessible account of South Africa's past, present and future. With his stunning account of the Mbeki family's history as a backdrop, Gevisser fleshes out a monumental period in world history that will continue to shape African politics for years to come.

January 1801, and Captain Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, known as ""St. Alan the Liberator"" for freeing (stealing!) a dozen black slaves on Jamaica to man his frigate years before, is at last being brought to trial for it, with his life on the line. At the same time, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia are forming a League of Armed Neutrality, to Napoleon Bonaparte's delight, to deny Great Britain their vital exports, even if it means war. England will need all her experienced sea dogs, but ... even Alan Lewrie?Ultimately Lewrie is acquitted, but he's also ignored by the Navy, so it's half-pay on ""civvy street"" for him, and with idle time on his mischievous hands, Lewrie is sure to get himself in trouble---again!---especially if there are young women and his wastrel public school friends involved...and they are! A brawl in a Panton Saint brothel, a drunk, infatuated young Russian count, precede Lewrie's summons to Admiralty and the command of the Thermopylae frigate to replace an ill captain as the fleet gathers to face down the League of the North, and its instigator, the mad Tsar Paul.Lewrie must take the Thermopylae into the Baltic in the dead of winter, alone and with no support, to scout the enemy fleets and iced-in harbors, deal with a fellow officer who is less of a friend than he thought, and be saddled with a pair of Russian noblemen as a last-minute peace delegation, but if the wily Foreign Office spy-master, Zachariah Twigg, sent them, what else might their mission be?All that and the Battle of Copenhagen, too, and it's broadsides at close quarters, and treachery for Lewrie, forcing him to use all his wiles to survive! The Baltic Gambit is one of Dewey Lambdin's most enjoyable naval adventures yet.

General William Tecumseh Sherman famously said "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." This statement has contributed to his mythic status as a grim-visaged Civil War character who embodied implacable war. Utilizing unique and highly successful maneuvering techniques, Sherman was an original, decisive, and efficient leader. Rising steadily through the ranks during the Civil War, Sherman quickly became Ulysses S. Grant's right hand man. He went on to lead the Union capture of Atlanta, a major victory that contributed to Lincoln's reelection during a tough phase of the war. Legend has him burning a sixty-mile-wide swath of desolation across the South, but while he held the harsh view that the Southern people must feel the pain of the war if it were ever to end, he also showed courtesy and restraint to those Southerners he encountered and strictly limited the destruction to strategic targets. An integral component to the North's success, Sherman was directed and single-minded in his pursuit of Union victory and a re-united country. Acclaimed Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth delivers a nuanced, insightful portrait of General Sherman, as a man who shied away from the spotlight and only wanted the war to end as quickly as possible.

Charles A. Coulombe's The Pope's Legion tells the amazing adventures of the remarkable multinational force that rallied in defense of the Vatican during the ten-year war of Italian reunification. With Arthurian grandeur the Papal Zouaves marched into Italy in the mid-nineteenth century, summoned by the Pope under siege as the Wars of the Risorgimento raged. Motivated by wanderlust, a sense of duty and the call of faith, some 20,000 Catholic men from around the world rallied to Vatican City to defend her gates against Sardinian marauders. Volunteers came from France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Austria, and many other countries, including the United States. The battles that ensued lasted over 10 years, among a shifting array of allies and enemies and are among history's most fascinating yet largely overlooked episodes. Napoleon, Pius IX, and Bismarck all make appearances in the story, but at the center were the Zouaves--steeped in a knightly code of honor, and unflinching in battle as any modern warrior--as the Church they vowed to defend to the death teetered at the brink of destruction.

The highly-regarded author of the first biography of Hugo Chavez brings his considerable expertise to assess the left-leaning regimes in South America. In this insightful and timely examination, Nikolas Kozloff discusses the hot-button issues of energy integration, free trade agendas, culture wars and South America's emerging role as a new political bloc, and how these tectonic political shifts will affect the United States. As Venezuela opposes U.S. militarization in the Andes and Bolivia fights a U.S.-fueled drug war, Kozloff looks to the future and what the U.S. must do to maintain these vital economic and political allies.

This dramatic account weaves together the rich and complex life of the celebrated and controversial film director, Holocaust survivor, and exile, based on a wealth of sources and new material. New revelations about Polanski's life include: -- The connection between his mother's death in Auschwitz and wife Sharon Tate's murder by the Manson family-both women were pregnant -- His radical transition from childhood poverty in a Krakow ghetto to a glamorous Hollywood life among socialites -- The psychological complexity and central thread of sexuality that runs throughout his films and his relationships with younger women -- A culmination of tragedies in Polanski's life, from the Holocaust to the Manson murders to his sexual assault charges and subsequent exile from the U.S. The unique humor of the "rascal genius" that keeps the world watching and awaiting his new projectsAcclaimed biographer Sandford draws on dozens of interviews with actors who have worked with Polanski, as well as previously sealed transcripts of his criminal hearings, testimony before the California grand jury following the accusations that led to his exile, and personal reflections on the murders of Sharon Tate and other friends of the couple. Polanski's films from 1962 to 2005 are contextualized within his life, including such highlights as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and the Oscar-winning The Pianist. Sandford's fascinating biography illuminates the life and work of one of the most important careers in modern cinema.

Are you tough enough? Only for the bravest crossword solvers, this collection contains 75 fiendish Saturday puzzles! Put your solving skills to the ultimate test and see if you're tough enogh for these devious puzzles.Features:-Seventy-five of the Times' toughest puzzles-Portable format is perfect for travel or solving at home-Edited by the biggest name in crosswords, Will Shortz.

KenKen is known around the world as a fun and wildly addictive game but did you know that it was originally created as a teaching tool to hone math, logic, and reasoning skills? So grab a pencil and and enjoy this fun way to strengthen your mind, even while relaxing on the beach!*Refresh and renew the "little grey cells" with 100 easy to hard KenKen puzzles*Introduction by legendary New York Times puzzlemaster Will Shortz *Big grids with lots of space for easy solving

A close look at the controversial command and strategies of the Air Force Chief of Staff, Curtis LeMay--a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, LeMay ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was responsible for tens of thousands of civilian deaths--a fact he liked to celebrate by smoking Cuban cigars. But LeMay was also the man who single-handedly transformed the American air force from a ramshackle team of poorly trained and badly equipped pilots into one of the fiercest and most efficient weapons of the war. Over the last decades, most U.S. military missions were carried out entirely through the employment of the Air Force; this is part of LeMay's complicated legacy.Packed with breathtaking battles in the air and inspiring leadership tactics on the ground, LeMay will keep readers on their edge of their seats.

Alan Axelrod applies his signature insight and compelling prose to the life, strategy and legacy of the general Bradley who remains the model for all commanders today as the man who revolutionized the National Guard, shaped the US army's focus on the individual soldier, and emphasized cooperation and coordination among the military services--a cornerstone of modern U.S. military doctrine. Dubbed by the World War II press as "The GI General" because of his close identification with his men, Omar Bradley rose to command the U. S. 12th Army Group in the European Campaign. By the spring of 1945, this group contained 1,300,000 men--the largest exclusively American field command in U.S. history. Mild mannered, General Bradley was a dedicated mentor, the creator of the Officer Candidate School system, and a methodical tactician who served through World War II. Then, as a five-star general, he lifted the Veterans Administration from corruption and inefficiency to a model government agency, served as U.S. Army chief of staff, first chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and head of NATO.

Christopher Hibbert draws on every known contemporary source to provide a minutely detailed look at the fascinating writer Samuel Johnson. Using facts and anecdotes, Hibbert delivers intimate glimpses into Johnson's time as a schoolboy, his eccentricities as an undergraduate at Oxford, his struggle as a poor writer in London, and his slow rise to the legendary figure with a court of admirers and a steady stream of visitors. Hibbert combines personal stories with an examination Johnson's writing, offering a compelling and readable account.

It is a universal fact that men die before women. But the causes of this have long remained unexplored. Why Men Die First examines the reasons that men are more susceptible to illness and explains what they need to do to live longer. Bestselling author and professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University, Dr. Marianne Legato delves into problems that both men and women care about, including:* How men's reluctance to speak frankly to their physicians can kill them* The hormonal shift called "andropause," the male menopause, and therapies that alleviate its painful symptoms*Men's biological predisposition to infection and how best to protect against it*The real causes of male depression and how to treat it*The risks inherent to the male heart, and ways to correct coronary disease--even late in lifeThrough her appearances on the Today Show and NBC Nightly News, Legato has launched the conversation about why men die young, and what we all can do to reverse the grim trend.

In Your America, award-winning producers John Siceloff and Jason Maloney explore the paths to success of a remarkable group of people, each of whom has appeared on NOW, the popular PBS show, to tell their stories. For everyone interested in change at a local and national level, this book provides a blueprint for working together locally to create a better global community.Your America introduces twelve ordinary citizens who are accomplishing extraordinary changes in their communities. Among them:*Bill Graham, mayor of tiny Scottsburg, Indiana, who took on the telecommunications giants and wired his town to provide Wi-Fi for all.*Katie Redford, a young law student who dusted off the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and ended up changing the way American corporations behave overseas.*Wynona Ward, who drove long-haul trucks as she studied to be a lawyer and founded an organization, Have Justice, Will Travel, that reaches out to abused women in isolated homes and communities.

With passion and wit, Christopher Hibbert details the crucial years that formed Dickens the writer and Dickens the man. He explains how Dickens transferred the smallest fragments of his experience to his fiction, and how he interpreted his youth for both himself and his readers, throwing a clear light on the creative process and sources of literary imagination. An illuminating look at a complex and baffling person, fans of literary biography will relish Hibbert's acclaimed style as he delivers the fascinating tale of Dickens' development.

For the first time, Alan Ayckbourn shares all of his tricks of the playwright's trade. From helpful hints on writing to tips on directing, the book provides a complete primer for the newcomer and a refresher for the more experienced. Written in Ayckbourn's signature style that combines humor, seriousness, and heady air of theatrical sophistication that Noel Coward would envy, The Crafty Art of Playmaking is a must-have for aspiring playwrights and students of drama.

On the tails of an election with the subject of race at the forefront, Wrong on Race uncovers a hidden past that many Democrats would rather see swept under the carpet. Ranging from the founding of the Republic through to today, it rectifies the unfair perceptions of America's two national parties. While Nixon's infamous "Southern Strategy" is constantly referenced in the media, less well remembered are Woodrow Wilson's segregation of the entire Federal civil service; FDR's appointment of a member of the KKK to the Supreme Court; John F. Kennedy's apathy towards civil rights legislation; and the ascension of Robert Byrd, who is current President pro tempore of the Senate, third in line in the presidential line of succession, and a former member of the KKK.

In this insightful book, Microsoft consulting psychologist Anna Rowley draws on fascinating case studies from her twelve years of working with the top levels of Microsoft management, revealing the skills that have helped the company's top executives to maintain market dominance. Rowley's tools have helped her powerhouse clients, who are passionately devoted to their jobs, attain their maximum potential while faced with constant pressure to innovate and excel. In Leadership Therapy, she explains how leaders can develop the characteristics they need to succeed in a demanding environment, including belief, objectivity, insight, connectivity, and ambition.