A Well-executed Failure


Book Description

Sullivan and his four brigades of Continental regulars torched forty Iroquois settlements and destroyed 160,000 acres of corn but ultimately failed in removing the Iroquois from the conflict. Instead, the crusade increased the dependency of the Iroquois remnant on its British supporters and galvanized raiding activities. Fischer suggests that the historical focus on the campaign's failure has overshadowed its importance as a vehicle for understanding the Continental army at a turning point in the war.




The Up Side of Down


Book Description

“Clever, surprisingly fast-paced, and enlightening.” —Forbes Most new products fail. So do most businesses. And most of us, if we are honest, have experienced a major setback in our personal or professional lives. So what determines who will bounce back and follow up with a home run? What separates those who keep treading water from those who harness the lessons from their mistakes? One of our most popular business bloggers, Megan McArdle takes insights from emergency room doctors, kindergarten teachers, bankruptcy judges, and venture capitalists to teach us how to reinvent ourselves in the face of failure. The Up Side of Down is a book that just might change the way you lead your life.




Groundless


Book Description

The fascinating—and troubling—story of powerful rumors that circulated and influential legends that arose in early America. Why did Elizabethan adventurers believe that the interior of America hid vast caches of gold? Who started the rumor that British officers purchased revolutionary white women’s scalps, packed them by the bale, and shipped them to their superiors? And why are people today still convinced that white settlers—hardly immune as a group to the disease—routinely distributed smallpox-tainted blankets to the natives? Rumor—spread by colonists and Native Americans alike—ran rampant in early America. In Groundless, historian Gregory Evans Dowd explores why half-truths, deliberate lies, and outrageous legends emerged in the first place, how they grew, and why they were given such credence throughout the New World. Arguing that rumors are part of the objective reality left to us by the past—a kind of fragmentary archival record—he examines how uncertain news became powerful enough to cascade through the centuries. Drawing on specific case studies and tracing recurring rumors over many generations, Dowd explains the seductive power of unreliable stories in the eastern North American frontiers from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. The rumors studied here—some alluring, some frightening—commanded attention and demanded action. They were all, by definition, groundless, but they were not all false, and they influenced the classic issues of historical inquiry: the formation of alliances, the making of revolutions, the expropriation of labor and resources, and the origins of war.




Narratives of Sullivan's Expedition 1779


Book Description

A decisive campaign of the American War of Independence The fast moving political situation of the latter part eighteenth century in America impacted upon the indigenous Indian tribes of the eastern woodlands as old loyalties and allegiances were fractured by the wars between European powers. The French in North America had but lately been deposed by the British when a new war broke out between the American colonists and the Crown. The Iroquois had remained loyal to the British but now the six nations were divided. Four tribes, the Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas and Senecas, remained faithful to their British allies whilst the Tuscaroras and Oneidas allied themselves to the new nation of the United States. Now Iroquois fought Iroquois. Nevertheless the power of the four nations, especially operating as guerrilla troops combined with Tory troops and Rangers could not be ignored as a substantial threat. In 1779 Congress decided to break the influence of the Iroquois decisively and forever. General John Sullivan and his troops of the Continental Army embarked on a scorched earth campaign which destroyed numerous Indian villages and brought the Indians and Tories to defeat at the Battle of Newtown. The action all but put an end to attacks by Loyalists and Indians. The survivors reeled back into Canada, but the hardship caused to the tribes by this crushing defeat resulted in many deaths by starvation and cold in the following winter. This history of the Sullivan Campaign is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.




Software Specification and Design


Book Description

The rigors of engineering must soon be applied to the software development process, or the complexities of new systems will initiate the collapse of companies that attempt to produce them. Software Specification and Design: An Engineering Approach offers a foundation for rigorously engineered software. It provides a clear vision of what occurs at e




Almost A Miracle


Book Description

In this gripping chronicle of America's struggle for independence, award-winning historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle." Almost a Miracle offers an illuminating portrait of America's triumph, offering vivid descriptions of all the major engagements, from the first shots fired on Lexington Green to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, revealing how these battles often hinged on intangibles such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune, blunders, tenacity, and surprise. Ferling paints sharp-eyed portraits of the key figures in the war, including General Washington and other American officers and civilian leaders. Some do not always measure up to their iconic reputations, including Washington himself. The book also examines the many faceless men who soldiered, often for years on end, braving untold dangers and enduring abounding miseries. The author explains why they served and sacrificed, and sees them as the forgotten heroes who won American independence.




Execution


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than two million copies in print! The premier resource for how to deliver results in an uncertain world, whether you’re running an entire company or in your first management job. “A must-read for anyone who cares about business.”—The New York Times When Execution was first published, it changed the way we did our jobs by focusing on the critical importance of “the discipline of execution”: the ability to make the final leap to success by actually getting things done. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan now reframe their empowering message for a world in which the old rules have been shattered, radical change is becoming routine, and the ability to execute is more important than ever. Now and for the foreseeable future: • Growth will be slower. But the company that executes well will have the confidence, speed, and resources to move fast as new opportunities emerge. • Competition will be fiercer, with companies searching for any possible advantage in every area from products and technologies to location and management. • Governments will take on new roles in their national economies, some as partners to business, others imposing constraints. Companies that execute well will be more attractive to government entities as partners and suppliers and better prepared to adapt to a new wave of regulation. • Risk management will become a top priority for every leader. Execution gives you an edge in detecting new internal and external threats and in weathering crises that can never be fully predicted. Execution shows how to link together people, strategy, and operations, the three core processes of every business. Leading these processes is the real job of running a business, not formulating a “vision” and leaving the work of carrying it out to others. Bossidy and Charan show the importance of being deeply and passionately engaged in an organization and why robust dialogues about people, strategy, and operations result in a business based on intellectual honesty and realism. With paradigmatic case histories from the real world—including examples like the diverging paths taken by Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase and Charles Prince at Citigroup—Execution provides the realistic and hard-nosed approach to business success that could come only from authors as accomplished and insightful as Bossidy and Charan.




Smoke and Mirrors


Book Description

Argues that despite increasing levels of government action, illicit drugs are more readily available than ever, and analyzes the failure of our drug policy




Forgotten Allies


Book Description

Combining compelling narrative and grand historical sweep, Forgotten Allies offers a vivid account of the Oneida Indians, forgotten heroes of the American Revolution who risked their homeland, their culture, and their lives to join in a war that gave birth to a new nation at the expense of their own. Revealing for the first time the full sacrifice of the Oneidas in securing independence, Forgotten Allies offers poignant insights about Oneida culture and how it changed and adjusted in the wake of nearly two centuries of contact with European-American colonists. It depicts the resolve of an Indian nation that fought alongside the revolutionaries as their valuable allies, only to be erased from America's collective historical memory. Beautifully written, Forgotten Allies recaptures these lost memories and makes certain that the Oneidas' incredible story is finally told in its entirety, thereby deepening and enriching our understanding of the American experience.




Kendig and Chernick's Disorders of the Respiratory Tract in Children E-Book


Book Description

Kendig, Chernick’s Disorders of the Respiratory Tract in Children is the definitive medical reference book to help you confront critical challenges using the latest knowledge and techniques. You’ll get the state-of-the-art answers you need to offer the best care to young patients. Tackle the toughest challenges and improve patient outcomes with coverage of all the common and rare respiratory problems found in newborns and children worldwide. Get a solid foundation of knowledge to better understand and treat your patients through coverage of the latest basic science and its relevance to clinical problems. Get comprehensive, authoritative coverage on today’s hot topics, such as interstitial lung disease, respiratory disorders in the newborn, congenital lung disease, swine flu, genetic testing for disease and the human genome, inflammatory cytokines in the lung, new radiologic techniques, diagnostic imaging of the respiratory tract, and pulmonary function tests. Learn from the experts with contributions from 100 world authorities in the fields of pediatrics, pulmonology, neurology, microbiology, cardiology, physiology, diagnostic imaging, anesthesiology, otolaryngology, allergy, and surgery.