The complete history of soldiers for hire. From Biblical times and the Crusades through the American Revolution up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, mercenaries-professional soldiers who contract themselves out to the highest bidder-have played a vital role in most, if not all, military and paramilitary campaigns, helping to determine the victors and the vanquished. Contract Warriors reveals their compelling story for the first time. * Why they fight (and for how much) * How they fight * The unique lifestyle of mercenaries both on and off the battlefield * The spoils and business of war * The current role of mercenaries in the world's arms trade * The significance of the mercenary in popular culture and film Featuring a special afterword by W. Thomas Smith Jr. and his interview with Richard Marcinko, military consultant and author of the bestselling book Rogue Warrior
"A compelling look at how the Golden State Warriors organization embraced saavy business practices and the corporate culture of Silicon Valley to produce one of the greatest basketball teams in history and become a model franchise for the NBA"--
Golden State Warriors insider and bestselling author Marcus Thompson “paints a complex portrait and captures all the multitudes of a dynamic athlete trying to carve his legacy” (Jonathan Abrams, New York Times bestselling author) with this definitive biography of one of the most extraordinary basketball players in NBA history—Kevin Durant. The NBA has never seen a player quite like Kevin Durant. Larry Bird wasn’t as quick, Magic Johnson didn’t have such a range, and Michael Jordan wasn’t seven feet tall. Durant handles the ball like Allen Iverson, shoots like Dirk Nowitzki, and has the scoring instincts of Kobe Bryant. He does it in a body that’s about as big as Hakeem Olajuwon. But ultimately, Kevin Durant is like no one but himself. After an incredible first season with Golden State, Kevin Durant earned the coveted NBA Finals MVP award: he was the Warriors’ top scorer in every game of the 2017 Finals, helping the team snatch the title from LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. As a sports columnist for The Athletic Bay Area, and longtime beat reporter covering the Golden State Warriors, Marcus Thompson is perfectly positioned to trace Durant’s inspirational journey. KD follows Durant’s underdog story from his childhood spent in poverty outside DC; to his rise playing on AAU teams with future NBA players; to becoming a star and hometown hero for the Oklahoma Thunder; to his controversial decision to play for the NBA rival Golden State Warriors; to his growth from prodigy into a man, in the first true inside account of this superstar player. With his “gift for insight into people, in a way that might be sui generis among writers” (Ethan Strauss, The Athletic), Thompson has written a powerful, moving biography of a modern-day legend that is also an essential read for all sports fans—or anyone who wants to know: what’s it like to shoot for greatness?
Most Golden State Warriors fans have attended a game at Oracle Arena, marveled at Stephen Curry's effortless shots, and remember where they were when the team won the 2015 NBA championship. But only real fans watched all 73 wins in the 2015-16 season, know where the Warriors played when they first moved to California, or can name whom the Warriors swept in the 1975 Finals. 100 Things Warriors Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of Warriors basketball. Whether you're a die-hard fan from the Run TMC days or a new supporter of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant, this book contains everything Warriors fans should know, see, and do in their lifetime.
Fans of professional sports have been forced to pay attention to labor relations in the last five years. The 1994—1995 season reminded baseball enthusiasts that a player's strike can mean something more than a swing and a miss, and the fans of other sports have experienced similar frustrations. In Playing for Dollars, Paul D. Staudohar analyzes the business dimension of sports with a timely assessment of the interactions among labor, management, and government in baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Author of The Sports Industry and Collective Bargaining, an earlier version of the current volume, Staudohar describes the mechanics of contract and salary negotiations, including the pivotal issue of free agency. He explains how unions became established in sports, how the balance of power shifted between owners and players, and how the salaries of stars escalated. He investigates the gambling controversies and changing drug policies that have sometimes alienated fans and comments, as well, on the impact AIDS has had on professional sports. Sports events are media events and Staudohar takes a look at the effects of television contracts and international expansion. He also considers the future of team sports, discussing league expansion, prospects for growth, and the issue of franchise relocation.
Some have claimed that "War is too important to be left to the generals," but P. W. Singer asks "What about the business executives?" Breaking out of the guns-for-hire mold of traditional mercenaries, corporations now sell skills and services that until recently only state militaries possessed. Their products range from trained commando teams to strategic advice from generals. This new "Privatized Military Industry" encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions of dollars in revenue. Whether as proxies or suppliers, such firms have participated in wars in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and Latin America. More recently, they have become a key element in U.S. military operations. Private corporations working for profit now sway the course of national and international conflict, but the consequences have been little explored. In this book, Singer provides the first account of the military services industry and its broader implications. Corporate Warriors includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence, and engineering. In an updated edition of P. W. Singer's classic account of the military services industry and its broader implications, the author describes the continuing importance of that industry in the Iraq War. This conflict has amply borne out Singer's argument that the privatization of warfare allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the ways that war is carried out. At the same time, however, Singer finds that the introduction of the profit motive onto the battlefield raises troubling questions—for democracy, for ethics, for management, for human rights, and for national security.
