Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374605173
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Get Book Here
Book Description
#1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks offers a new take on the Civil Rights Movement, stressing its unexpected use of military strategy and its lessons for nonviolent resistance around the world. “Ricks does a tremendous job of putting the reader inside the hearts and souls of the young men and women who risked so much to change America . . . Riveting.” —Charles Kaiser, The Guardian In Waging a Good War, the bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution—the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s—and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning war reporter, draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but by paying attention to recruiting, training, discipline, and organization—the hallmarks of any successful military campaign. An engaging storyteller, Ricks deftly narrates the Movement’s triumphs and defeats. He follows King and other key figures from Montgomery to Memphis, demonstrating that Gandhian nonviolence was a philosophy of active, not passive, resistance—involving the bold and sustained confrontation of the Movement’s adversaries, both on the ground and in the court of public opinion. While bringing legends such as Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis into new focus, Ricks also highlights lesser-known figures who played critical roles in fashioning nonviolence into an effective tool—the activists James Lawson, James Bevel, Diane Nash, and Septima Clark foremost among them. He also offers a new understanding of the Movement’s later difficulties as internal disputes and white backlash intensified. Rich with fresh interpretations of familiar events and overlooked aspects of America’s civil rights struggle, Waging a Good War is an indispensable addition to the literature of racial justice and social change—and one that offers vital lessons for our own time.
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143110888
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Get Book Here
Book Description
A New York Times bestseller! A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 A dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, who preserved democracy from the threats of authoritarianism, from the left and right alike. Both George Orwell and Winston Churchill came close to death in the mid-1930's—Orwell shot in the neck in a trench line in the Spanish Civil War, and Churchill struck by a car in New York City. If they'd died then, history would scarcely remember them. At the time, Churchill was a politician on the outs, his loyalty to his class and party suspect. Orwell was a mildly successful novelist, to put it generously. No one would have predicted that by the end of the 20th century they would be considered two of the most important people in British history for having the vision and courage to campaign tirelessly, in words and in deeds, against the totalitarian threat from both the left and the right. In a crucial moment, they responded first by seeking the facts of the matter, seeing through the lies and obfuscations, and then they acted on their beliefs. Together, to an extent not sufficiently appreciated, they kept the West's compass set toward freedom as its due north. It's not easy to recall now how lonely a position both men once occupied. By the late 1930's, democracy was discredited in many circles, and authoritarian rulers were everywhere in the ascent. There were some who decried the scourge of communism, but saw in Hitler and Mussolini "men we could do business with," if not in fact saviors. And there were others who saw the Nazi and fascist threat as malign, but tended to view communism as the path to salvation. Churchill and Orwell, on the other hand, had the foresight to see clearly that the issue was human freedom—that whatever its coloration, a government that denied its people basic freedoms was a totalitarian menace and had to be resisted. In the end, Churchill and Orwell proved their age's necessary men. The glorious climax of Churchill and Orwell is the work they both did in the decade of the 1940's to triumph over freedom's enemies. And though Churchill played the larger role in the defeat of Hitler and the Axis, Orwell's reckoning with the menace of authoritarian rule in Animal Farm and 1984 would define the stakes of the Cold War for its 50-year course, and continues to give inspiration to fighters for freedom to this day. Taken together, in Thomas E. Ricks's masterful hands, their lives are a beautiful testament to the power of moral conviction, and to the courage it can take to stay true to it, through thick and thin. Churchill and Orwell is a perfect gift for the holidays!
Author: David J. Barron
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451681976
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Get Book Here
Book Description
“Vivid…Barron has given us a rich and detailed history.” —The New York Times Book Review “Ambitious...a deep history and a thoughtful inquiry into how the constitutional system of checks and balances has functioned when it comes to waging war and making peace.” —The Washington Post A timely account of a raging debate: The history of the ongoing struggle between the presidents and Congress over who has the power to declare and wage war. The Constitution states that it is Congress that declares war, but it is the presidents who have more often taken us to war and decided how to wage it. In Waging War, David J. Barron opens with an account of George Washington and the Continental Congress over Washington’s plan to burn New York City before the British invasion. Congress ordered him not to, and he obeyed. Barron takes us through all the wars that followed: 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American war, World Wars One and Two, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and now, most spectacularly, the War on Terror. Congress has criticized George W. Bush for being too aggressive and Barack Obama for not being aggressive enough, but it avoids a vote on the matter. By recounting how our presidents have declared and waged wars, Barron shows that these executives have had to get their way without openly defying Congress. Waging War shows us our country’s revered and colorful presidents at their most trying times—Washington, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Johnson, both Bushes, and Obama. Their wars have made heroes of some and victims of others, but most have proved adept at getting their way over reluctant or hostile Congresses. The next president will face this challenge immediately—and the Constitution and its fragile system of checks and balances will once again be at the forefront of the national debate.
Author: Frank Vogl
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442218533
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Get Book Here
Book Description
Waging War on Corruption is a fascinating look at worldwide corruption by a leader of the global anticorruption movement. Frank Vogl draws on twenty years of experience to share a history filled stories of activists, victims, and villains; strengthening our understanding of the complexities of corruption with wisdom and integrity.
Author: Wayne E. Lee
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199797455
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 561
Get Book Here
Book Description
Waging War: Conflict, Culture, and Innovation in World History provides a wide-ranging examination of war in human history, from the beginning of the species until the current rise of the so-called Islamic State. Although it covers many societies throughout time, the book does not attempt to tell all stories from all places, nor does it try to narrate "important" conflicts. Instead, author Wayne E. Lee describes the emergence of military innovations and systems, examining how they were created and then how they moved or affected other societies. These innovations are central to most historical narratives, including the development of social complexity, the rise of the state, the role of the steppe horseman, the spread of gunpowder, the rise of the west, the bureaucratization of military institutions, the industrial revolution and the rise of firepower, strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, and the creation of "people's war."
Author: Patrick Coffey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199959749
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Get Book Here
Book Description
American Arsenal examines the United States' transformation from isolationist state to military superpower by means of sixteen vignettes, each focusing upon an inventor and his contribution to the cause.
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101201401
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 524
Get Book Here
Book Description
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • One of the Washington Post Book World's 10 Best Books of the Year • Time's 10 Best Books of the Year • USA Today's Nonfiction Book of the Year • A New York Times Notable Book "Staggeringly vivid and persuasive . . . absolutely essential reading." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "The best account yet of the entire war." —Vanity Fair The definitive account of the American military's tragic experience in Iraq Fiasco is a masterful reckoning with the planning and execution of the American military invasion and occupation of Iraq through mid-2006, now with a postscript on recent developments. Ricks draws on the exclusive cooperation of an extraordinary number of American personnel, including more than one hundred senior officers, and access to more than 30,000 pages of official documents, many of them never before made public. Tragically, it is an undeniable account—explosive, shocking, and authoritative—of unsurpassed tactical success combined with unsurpassed strategic failure that indicts some of America's most powerful and honored civilian and military leaders.
Author: Stephen A. Wilson
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071713506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Get Book Here
Book Description
Shed Revenue-Draining Complexity Costs by Thirty Percent! “This is an ambitious book packed with insight and fresh thinking. Separating good from bad complexity costs is a critical task facing companies today, and the authors provide a compelling roadmap for solving the problem.” Michael B. McCallister, President and CEO, Humana Inc. “Waging War on Complexity Costs examines an incredibly important and often overlooked aspect of business and organizations in general—regulators and government officials should read this book and take notice. Complexity dramatically increases costs and risk of failure. It is like a cancer that eats away at efficiency and profitability.” Andy Beal, Chairman and CEO, Beal Bank “This is by far the best and most useful explanation of how to address complexity in a business. Waging War on Complexity Costs frames the issue in a way that companies can finally tackle the problem—this book delivers.” Ahmad R. Chatila, CEO, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. “This is the first book that really targets organizational complexity in a compelling way, making this a must-read for any organization that is looking to distance itself from the competition. After years of cost-cutting, many companies are realizing that they still don’t have a discernable cost advantage. This book provides the platform to achieve just that, by attacking the complexity that bogs them down.” Tom DiDonato, EVP Human Resources, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. About the Book: Complexity costs are the single biggest determinant of your company’s cost competitiveness. For the past two decades the pursuit of growth has created massive complexity in processes, product portfolios, and organizations, adding costs that companies can ill afford. The only good news is that your competitors may be carrying as much complexity as you are. Learn how to eliminate this complexity, and you can create a tremendous cost advantage over your competition. In Waging War on Complexity Costs, Stephen Wilson and Andrei Perumal deliver a powerful and practical approach for reclaiming your cost advantage. This executive-level resource presents a wealth of insight and new research to definitively answer key questions such as: How can I quantify the cost of complexity without getting lost in a sea of data? Where are the biggest opportunities for reducing product, process, and organizational complexity, and how can I cut through the interdependencies that trap these costs? How can I see results quickly by taking targeted actions against key levers? How do I keep complexity costs at bay? It is not enough to attack bloated product portfolios. Substantive cost improvements require addressing the complexity in the underlying processes and organizational structures. Waging War on Complexity Costs provides a wealth of relevant case studies with examples from Kraft, Tesco, Fiat, and the U.S. Navy and highlights specific strategies for reducing costs by 15-30% in significant portions of your business. Tomorrow’s consumers are emerging as wellinformed customers who know what they want and the price they’re willing to pay for it. Complexity not only drives costs; it creates a barrier between you and the customer. Declare a war on complexity costs and prepare for profitable growth.
Author: Jason Wilson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1400228174
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Get Book Here
Book Description
In a culture that tells men to suppress instead of express, join bestselling author, speaker, and leader Jason Wilson (featured in the award-winning ESPN documentary The Cave of Adullam) as he calls us to unlearn society's definition of masculinity and discover the power of engaging with our emotions. For decades, Jason was losing the war within--the internal battle that many men wage on a daily basis. He struggled to combat his toxic thoughts and emotions, communicating without composure, and ultimately hurting himself and his loved ones. When Jason began to release years of unresolved trauma, he learned how to acknowledge his emotions and express them in a healthy way. He discovered that he was strengthened by transparency and vulnerability, which taught him to forgive, trust, and love without limitations. Soon, Jason's newfound practices began to heal his relationships and transform his life. Throughout his journey of opening up, Jason became a better husband, father, and leader--and you can, too. Supported by Biblical teachings, the lessons that Jason shares in Battle Cry teach us that we can all be empowered to break through what we've been through. Jason calls us to become better versions of ourselves, equipping us with the mental and spiritual weapons needed to redefine modern masculinity and showing us how to: embrace our emotions rather than be ruled by them win internal battles before they become external wars break free from misconstrued masculinity and embrace our humanity communicate more effectively with the people in our lives heal trauma from our past in order to live our fullest lives in the present Battle Cry proves that it's possible to live beyond the limitations of your mind and finally experience the full life you've always longed for. What are you waiting for? It's time to win the war within.
Author: Ron Carver
Publisher: New Village Press
ISBN: 1613321074
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Get Book Here
Book Description
How American soldiers opposed and resisted the war in Vietnam While mainstream narratives of the Vietnam War all but marginalize anti-war activity of soldiers, opposition and resistance from within the three branches of the military made a real difference to the course of America’s engagement in Vietnam. By 1968, every major peace march in the United States was led by active duty GIs and Vietnam War veterans. By 1970, thousands of active duty soldiers and marines were marching in protest in US cities. Hundreds of soldiers and marines in Vietnam were refusing to fight; tens of thousands were deserting to Canada, France and Sweden. Eventually the US Armed Forces were no longer able to sustain large-scale offensive operations and ceased to be effective. Yet this history is largely unknown and has been glossed over in much of the written and visual remembrances produced in recent years. Waging Peace in Vietnam shows how the GI movement unfolded, from the numerous anti-war coffee houses springing up outside military bases, to the hundreds of GI newspapers giving an independent voice to active soldiers, to the stockade revolts and the strikes and near-mutinies on naval vessels and in the air force. The book presents first-hand accounts, oral histories, and a wealth of underground newspapers, posters, flyers, and photographs documenting the actions of GIs and veterans who took part in the resistance. In addition, the book features fourteen original essays by leading scholars and activists. Notable contributors include Vietnam War scholar and author, Christian Appy, and Mme Nguyen Thi Binh, who played a major role in the Paris Peace Accord. The book originates from the exhibition Waging Peace, which has been shown in Vietnam and the University of Notre Dame, and will be touring the eastern United States in conjunction with book launches in Boston, Amherst, and New York.
