"John Smit is the world's most capped Test captain and an icon of South African rugby. Under his leadership the Springboks have won a World Cup, two Tri-Nations titles and a Test series against the British & Irish Lions."--Back cover.
A bold new theory of leadership drawn from elite captains throughout sports—named one of the best business books of the year by CNBC, The New York Times, Forbes, strategy+business, The Globe and Mail, and Sports Illustrated “The book taught me that there’s no cookie-cutter way to lead. Leading is not just what Hollywood tells you. It’s not the big pregame speech. It’s how you carry yourself every day, how you treat the people around you, who you are as a person.”—Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, Chicago Bears Now featuring analysis of the five-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and their captain, Tom Brady The seventeen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common: Each employed the same type of captain—a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies. Drawing on original interviews with athletes, general managers, coaches, and team-building experts, Sam Walker identifies the seven core qualities of the Captain Class—from extreme doggedness and emotional control to tactical aggression and the courage to stand apart. Told through riveting accounts of pressure-soaked moments in sports history, The Captain Class will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like. Praise for The Captain Class “Wildly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . makes you reexamine long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together.”—Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations, Chicago Cubs “If you care about leadership, talent development, or the art of competition, you need to read this immediately.”—Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code “The insights in this book are tremendous.”—Bob Myers, general manager, Golden State Warriors “An awesome book . . . I find myself relating a lot to its portrayal of the out-of the-norm leader.”—Carli Lloyd, co-captain, U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team “A great read . . . Sam Walker used data and a systems approach to reach some original and unconventional conclusions about the kinds of leaders that foster enduring success. Most business and leadership books lapse into clichés. This one is fresh.”—Jeff Immelt, chairman and former CEO, General Electric “I can’t tell you how much I loved The Captain Class. It identifies something many people who’ve been around successful teams have felt but were never able to articulate. It has deeply affected my thoughts around how we build our culture.”—Derek Falvey, chief baseball officer, Minnesota Twins
The war in the South Pacific in its entirety has remained remarkably neglected by historians. This is the first comprehensive narrative history covering all land, sea and air operations in the theater to the end of World War II. While Guadalcanal is familiar to most Americans and the Kokoda Trail is well known to Australians, the war in the South Pacific includes many now forgotten operations that deserve to be well remembered. Also, significantly, the official Australian history of World War II correctly observed that Australia’s part in the Pacific war is barely mentioned in American histories. This volume finally brings the major Australian contribution to the fore, recognizing too the valuable part played by New Zealand forces in the Solomons campaign. The dramatis personae could hardly be improved upon, including brilliant and imperious General Douglas MacArthur, audacious and profane Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, and bibulous and indelicate Australian General Thomas Blamey. No less interesting are many others that will be mostly new to readers, many from the Japanese side, including indomitable generals Noboru Sasaki and Hatazo Adachi. As for the fighting men, many of their stories are captured in accounts of the actions for which they were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, Victoria Cross, and other decorations for valor. Three chapters are of special interest. Based on the author’s archival research, Chapter 10 tells through confidential correspondence the remarkable story of the death of the top Marine general in the Pacific and its cover-up sanctioned by Halsey. Chapter 23 concerns the first African-American ground troops in combat and tells how the performance of one company on Bougainville resulted in a reversal of that policy. Chapter 26 involves Blamey’s questionable decision to eradicate the isolated Japanese forces, forcing his Australian militia to risk their lives knowing their sacrifices could make no difference in the outcome of the war.
The price for vengeance must always be paid… No matter what. Caelum may have stopped his father, but in the process, he lost more than he’d ever planned. The syren who had slowly been winning his heart over was gone, taken by the very woman she once owed her life to, and Caelum was now wanted for his father’s murder. In the chaos of the aftermath, Caelum must deal with his grief, and with the other syrens, who only seem determined to make his life more difficult as he searches for Brigid. Brigid is in agony. As if watching her best friend die in front of her wasn’t enough, she’d been ripped beneath the waves and brought to pay penance to the goddess she’d once sworn fealty to. But the syren queen seems determined to never cease her torture, not until Brigid has paid for her sins in blood. Resigning herself that she will never see the man she’d given up everything for, Brigid retreats into herself. The only way to endure the wrath of the syren queen is to shut down and silently hope that someone would come for her. But Brigid knows better than to hope. And her body is quickly giving out. When whispers of a mysterious witch with the ability to grant any wish reach Caelum, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Brigid back, including giving up that which he holds most dear. And so, the syrens and the crew set off on the dangerous journey to the south to find anything that will lead them to Brigid. But nothing worth having ever comes easy, and neither Caelum or Brigid have ever backed down from a challenge. The Captain’s Revenge is the thrilling conclusion to the slow-burn new adult fantasy romance duology, pulling you beneath the waves and into a Celtic mythology inspired world of do-good pirates, cunning syrens, and action-packed adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Dive beneath the seas of Caladhan and discover your next romantic fantasy read! Read this completed duology today! Book 1 - The Syren's Mutiny ---- Search Terms: fantasy romance, adventure romance, pirate romance, sequel, action & adventure romance, mythology, series, duology, dark fantasy, second chances, romance books, strong heroine, sirens, mermaids, teen, young adult, ya, goddesses, celtic goddesses, forbidden romance, action and adventure, action romance, pirates, historical fantasy, epic fantasy, low fantasy, fantasy, mythology retelling, fairytale retelling, little mermaid, peter pan, folklore retelling, retelling, betrayal, found family, cliffhanger, shipwreck
The encirclement of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in mid-November 1942 and its final collapse in February 1943 was a signature defeat for Hitler, as more than 100,000 of his soldiers were marched off into captivity. Frank Ellis tackles this oft-told tale from the unique perspective of the German officers and men trapped inside the Red Army's ever-closing ring of forces. This approach makes palpable the growing desperation of an army that began its campaign confident of victory but that long before the end could see how hopeless their situation had become. Highlighting these pages are three previously unpublished German army division accounts, translated here for the first time by Ellis. Each of these translations follows the combat experiences of a specific division-the 76th Infantry, the 94th Infantry, and the 16th Panzer-and take readers into the cauldron (or Kessel) that was Stalingrad. Together they provide a ground-level view of the horrific fighting and yield insights into everything from tactics and weapons to internal disputes, the debilitating effects of extreme cold and hunger, and the Germans' astonishing sense of duty and the abilities of their junior leaders. Along with these first-hand accounts, Ellis himself takes a new and closer look at a number of fascinating but somewhat neglected or misunderstood aspects of the Stalingrad cauldron including sniping, desertion, spying, and the fate of German prisoners. His coverage of sniping is especially notable for new insights concerning the duel that allegedly took place between Soviet sniper Vasilii Zaitsev and a German sniper, Major Konings, a story told in the film Enemy at the Gates (2001). Ellis also includes an incisive reading of Oberst Arthur Boje's published account of his capture, interrogation, and conviction for war crimes, and explores the theme of reconciliation in the works of two Stalingrad veterans, Kurt Reuber and Vasilii Grossman. Rich in anecdotal detail and revealing moments, Ellis's historical mosaic showcases an army that managed to display a vital resilience and professionalism in the face of inevitable defeat brought on by its leaders. It makes for compelling reading for anyone interested in one of the Eastern Front's monumental battles.
In Cracking the Code: Building Teams for Sports, Business, and Life, Azinger and Braund tell the compelling story of how the U.S. team, half of them Ryder Cup rookies, overcame their underdog status to bring the Cup back to American shores. In the telling, they offer team-building techniques that apply to sports, business, and beyond.
A player like Richie McCaw comes along once in a lifetime... The Open Side will define that player. Rarely has a New Zealand biography been so eagerly anticipated. Superbly crafted, brilliantly insightful, and set to inspire people for generations to come. From the time his father told him as a child that ‘he would enjoy his rugby more if he got fitter’, Richard Hugh McCaw never looked back. Captain of the All Blacks since 2006, he is the face of rugby in New Zealand and one of our best-known and most admired figures. He has been named International Player of the Year three times and is considered the greatest player of his generation, and quite possibly the finest loose forward of all time. But what do we know of Richie the person and what drives him? In The Open Side, he reveals his passions and motivations, on and off the field. Teamed with Greg McGee, one of our great contemporary writers — and a man who himself is no stranger to rugby culture — the two have produced an outstanding book. The Open Side delves into the inner McCaw, the defining events and people in his life, as well as providing insight into the modern game and its professional players and coaches — including frank comment on the Deans–Henry debate. Richie’s leadership has had a huge impact on the team, and The Open Side traces his rise from fresh-faced Under 19 squad member in 1999 to hardened 100-cap veteran in 2011. As a participant in three Rugby World Cups, Richie describes the agony of defeat in 2007, and the four years of ‘living in a tunnel’ before clawing his way to ‘the light’ of a dramatic victory with the All Blacks in the 2011 final.
This memoir from an aide to, and fellow POW of, General Friedrich Paulus documents a unique perspective on the horror of Stalingrad. Colonel Wilhelm Adam, senior ADC to General Paulus, commander of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, wrote this compelling and controversial memoir describing the German defeat, his time as a prisoner of war with Paulus, and his conversion to communism. Now, for the first time, his German text has been translated into English. His account gives an intimate insight into events at the 6th Army headquarters during the advance to Stalingrad and the protracted and devastating battle for possession of the city. In vivid detail, he recalls the sharp personality clashes among the senior commanders and their intense disputes about tactics and strategy, but he also records the ordeal of the German troops trapped in the encirclement and his own role in the fighting. The extraordinary story he tells, fluently translated by Tony Le Tissier, offers a genuinely fresh perspective on the battle, and it reveals much about the prevailing attitudes and tense personal relationships of the commanders at Stalingrad and at Hitler’s headquarters. “Through his daily involvement with them, Wilhelm Adam is able to perfectly describe the characters involved, the tensions and despair amongst them and the pressure Paulus and his staff found themselves under as the Soviet pincers closed around the men of the abandoned 6th Army. The reader is presented with the hopeless situation faced by Paulus and his staff who, aware of the looming disaster from a very early stage are constantly denied the option of a withdrawal by Hitler and left to their catastrophic fate.”—Grossdeutschland Aufklarungsgruppe
Morning of Fire by Scott Ridley is the thrilling story of 18th century American explorer and expeditioner John Kedrick as he journeyed for land and trade in the Pacific. Set against the backdrop of one of the most exciting and uncertain times in world history, John Kendrick’s odyssey aboard his sailing ship Lady Washington carries him from the shores of New England across the unexplored waters of the Pacific Northwest to the contentious ports of China and the war-ravaged islands of Hawaii, all while avoiding intrigues and traps from the British and the Spanish. Morning of Fire is riveting American and naval history that brings the era of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson gloriously alive—a tale of danger, adventure, and discovery that fans of Nathaniel Philbrick will not want to miss.
The epic finale of the New York Times bestselling sequel series to Fablehaven from author Brandon Mull. The magical world teeters on the brink of collapse. The Dragon King, Celebrant, has united the dragons into a vengeful army, and only a final artifact stands in the way of them unleashing their fury against humankind. With established allegiances shifting under the strain, Seth and Kendra find themselves in desperate need of new allies. Seth must face his most dangerous quest—the fulfillment of his pledge to the Singing Sisters. With only Calvin the Tiny Hero at his side, Seth needs to collect the pieces of the Ethergem, including the stones from the crowns of the Dragon King, the Giant Queen, and the Demon King. Halfway across the world, Kendra finds herself torn between her duty to Dragonwatch and her desire to rescue Bracken. Can she challenge Ronodin’s control of the fairy realm without leaving the five legendary dragon slayers to be hunted by Celebrant and his sons? Left behind at Titan Valley, Knox and Tess must survive the aftermath of the Giant Queen’s fall. Will the secret crown in Knox’s possession prove too much for him to handle?