Showing results by narrator "Jonathan Cowley" in All Categories

This collection brings together three of Plato's most enduring classics: the "Symposium", the "Apology", and the famous "Allegory of the Cave" from the Republic.

Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd "All-American" and the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.

Great leaders and teams don't know everything, and they don't get it right every time. What sets them apart is their commitment to continual learning and vertical growth. Vertical growth is about cultivating the self-awareness to see our self-defeating thoughts, assumptions, and behaviors, and then consciously creating new behaviors that are aligned with our best intentions and aspirations.

In this Very Short Introduction, Paul B. Wignall looks at the causes and nature of extinctions, past and present, and the factors that can make a species vulnerable. Summarizing what we know about all of the major and minor extinction events, he examines some of the greatest debates in modern science, such as the relative role of climate and humans in the death of the Pleistocene megafauna, including mammoths and giant ground sloths, and the roles that global warming, ocean acidification, and deforestation are playing in present-day extinctions. 

Deborah is a British First World War tank that rose from the grave after taking part in one of the most momentous battles in history. In November 1917, she played a leading role in the first successful massed tank attack at Cambrai. Eighty years later, in a remarkable feat of archaeology, the tank's buried remains were rediscovered and excavated, and are now preserved as a memorial to the battle and to the men who fought in it. John Taylor's book tells the tale of the tank and her crew and tracks down their descendants to uncover a human story every bit as compelling as the military one.

This book is an attempt to create something beautiful from this chaos; to make sense of the things we dare not breathe to life. Focusing on loss, heartbreak, mental health, and the impact of isolation on a tired mind, these poems are the starlings that gather above the water. This book is the hope that we can learn to heal; that the future can survive the past.

Parents and parents-to-be are bombarded with information, from what to expect to what to do (and not to do) when it happens. But what they may not realize is that from the chemistry of pregnancy tests to the vacuum physics of breastfeeding, there is fascinating science at the heart of every aspect of creating and raising a new human.

England—begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, star of beloved period dramas, and home of the House of Windsor—is not quite the stalwart island fortress that many of us imagine. Riven by an ancient fault line that predates even the Romans, its fate has ever been bound up with that of its neighbors, and for the past millennia, it has harbored a class system like nowhere else. This bracing tour of the most powerful country in the United Kingdom reveals an England repeatedly invaded and constantly reinvented—yet always fractured by its very own Mason-Dixon Line. 

A book guaranteed to touch anyone who has ever had a beloved pet...From instant New York Times best seller, Dr. Nick Trout comes another touching and heartfelt story from the front lines of veterinary medicine - the story of two dogs who forever changed the way he thought about life, death, fate, and love. Love is the Best Medicine immerses you in the true life drama of beloved pets whose lives hang in the balance. It underscores the profound bond we have with the animals in our lives and the incredible responsibility Nick carries as their healer.

In far-flung locations around the globe, an unparalleled sequence of international events took place between December 1 and December 12, 1941. In this riveting book, historian Evan Mawdsley explores how the story unfolded.... 

Sub Culture explores the crucial role of the submarine in modern history, its contribution to scientific progress and maritime exploration, and how it has been portrayed in art, literature, fantasy, and film. Ranging from the American Civil War to the destruction of the Russian submarine Kursk in 2000, the book examines the submarine's activities in the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War, and in covert operations and marine exploration to the present day.

In today's workplace, too many marginalized groups are underrepresented. And yet, workplaces often struggle to find enough employees to sustain their growing needs, putting massive pressure on HR hiring teams to fill the demand. Organizational psychologist Gil Winch argues that addressing our own biases and building organizations where everyone feels a profound sense of belonging is not only great for a company's bottom line, it's also good for employees, communities, and society as a whole. Winning with Underdogs is the highly practical step-by-step guide you need. 

A hurricane sweeps off the Gulf of Mexico and, in the back country of Alabama, assembles a passenger jet out of old bean cans and junkyard waste. This piques the interest of the enigmatic Directorate of the Extremely Improbable. Their fascination with this random event sets into motion a madcap caper that will bring together a hilarious cast of characters.

As digital technologies and consumer expectations continue to disrupt almost every industry sector, companies are placing greater emphasis on developing and implementing transformation programs. Changing the Game offers the practical knowledge required to create a dramatic step-change in company performance.  

In 2000, Martin Bojowald, then a 27-year-old post-doc at Pennsylvania State University, used a relatively new theory called loop quantum gravity - a cunning combination of Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics - to create a simple model of the Universe. Loop quantum cosmology was born, and with it, a theory that managed to do something even Einstein’s general theory of relativity had failed to do - illuminate the very birth of the Universe.

In 1945, Tom Pocock travelled widely and saw the final collapse of the German armies; the horror of concentration camps and destroyed cities; retribution reaching war criminals; and the unpredictable strangers from the east, the Red Army. In Berlin, he climbed through the ruins of Hitler's Chancellery. In Vienna, he roistered with the Russians only to be arrested by them on a trip to Budapest. By the end of the year, he had paid his first visit to the El Dorado of that now distant world, New York, the glittering, happy, prosperous, democratic center of hopes and affections.

In this book, Patrick Bolton and Haizhou Huang offer a novel perspective, viewing monetary economics through the lens of corporate finance. They propose a richer theory, where money can be seen as the equity capital of a nation, playing a similar role as stocks for a company. This innovative framework integrates the real and monetary sides of the economy, with a banking sector and debt at its core.

Donald Maclean was one of the most treacherous spies of the Cold War era, a member of the infamous "Cambridge Five" spy ring. Yet little is known of this shrewd, secretive man. The full extent of his betrayal has never been documented - until now. Drawing on the recent release of previously classified files, A Spy Named Orphan meticulously documents the extraordinary story of a man leading a chilling double life until his exposure and defection to the USSR.

The last year of the war saw Russian offensives that cleared the Germans out of their final strongholds in Finland and the Baltic states, before advancing into Finnmark in Norway and the east European states that bordered Germany: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. By spring 1945 the Red Army had reached to Vienna and the Balkans, and had thrust deep into Germany where they met American, French, and British troops advancing from the west. 

In May 1940, Group Captain Peter Townsend took command of 85 Squadron, tasked with preparing it for the defense of Great Britain against German bombers. It was the beginning of the long, hot, lethal summer in which the RAF and the Luftwaffe fought to the death over England in the furious conflict which ultimately saved Britain from Nazi invasion. Peter Townsend's epic Duel of Eagles is widely acknowledged as the classic account of the Battle of Britain—the desperate, defining clash which would become one of the greatest triumphs in British military history.