We in the west share a common narrative of world history. But our story largely omits a whole civilization whose citizens shared an entirely different... narrative for a thousand years.In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as the Islamic world saw it, from the time of Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and beyond. He clarifies why our civilizations grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe—a place it long perceived as primitive and disorganized—had somehow hijacked destiny.

James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a... Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.

The extraordinary New York Times-bestselling account of James Garfield's rise from poverty to the American presidency, and the dramatic history of his... assassination and legacy, from bestselling author of The River of Doubt, Candice Millard.   For a man forced into the presidency, the legacy of James Garfield extended far beyond his lifetime, and Destiny of the Republic revisits his meteoric rise within the military and government with meticulous research and intimate focus. Garfield was a passionate advocate of freed slaves, a reformer at odds with Republican power brokers and machine politics, a devoted father, and a spellbinding speech-giver. Four months after taking office he was shot twice by an unhinged office-seeker, Charles Guiteau, and a nation already recently fractured by war shattered, leaving the wounded president at the center of a bitter, behind-the-scenes struggle for power. Examining the medical reform spurred by Garfield's unsanitary medical treatment, and reflecting on the surprising political reform brought on by his former political enemy Senator Roscoe Conkling, Destiny of the Republic passionately brings President Garfield's unknown-but-widely-felt legacy into focus.

Written by a leading planetary scientist, this engaging book tells the remarkable story of how our solar system came into existence and provides an... expert tour of the Earth, its planetary neighbors and other planetary systems. In a whirlwind adventure, we explore how the formation of mighty Jupiter dominated the solar system, why Mars is so small, where comets come from, how rings form around planets, why asteroids exist and why Pluto isn't a planet at all. En route, we discover the role of chance events in shaping the course of the history of our solar system. Dramatic collisions, for example, caused the tilts and spins of the planets, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the rise of man. Finally, we look at how suitable Earth is for harboring life, what other planetary systems look like and whether we are alone in the cosmos. For all those interested in understanding our solar system and its place in the cosmos, this is a lucid and compelling read. Stuart Taylor is the recipient of numerous academic awards, including the Norman L. Bowen Award from the American Geophysical Union for his important contributions to our understanding of the origins and early history of the Earth and Moon. In 1997, Asteroid 5670 was named Rosstaylor in his honor. He is the author of Solar System Evolution (Cambridge, 1992).

National Book Award winner and renowned psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton reveals a world at risk from millennial cults intent on ending it all.Since the... earliest moments of recorded history, prophets and gurus have foretold the world's end, but only in the nuclear age has it been possible for a megalomaniac guru with a world-ending vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Now Robert Jay Lifton offers a vivid and disturbing case in point in this chilling exploration of Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subways. With unprecedented access to former Aum members, Lifton has produced a pathbreaking study of the inner life of a modern millennial cult. He shows how Aum's guru Shoko Asahara (charismatic spiritual leader, con man, madman) created a religion from a global stew of New Age thinking, ancient rituals, and apocalyptic science fiction, then recruited scientists as disciples and set them to producing weapons of mass destruction. Taking stock as well of Charles Manson, Heaven's Gate, and the Oklahoma City bombers, Lifton confronts the frightening possibility of a twenty-first century in which cults and terrorists may be able to bring about their own holocausts. Bold and compelling, Destroying the World to Save It charts the emergence of a new global threat of urgent concern to us all.

This highly literate account by the son of President Zachary Taylor follows the author's Confederate commands in all three major theatres of the war,... and provides a unique view of the Reconstruction period. "Taylor possessed literary art that approached the first rank."–Douglas Southall Freeman.

Expanding the palette of contremporary surrealism while harkening back to the stories and prayers at the origin of poetry, Destruction Myth is a series... of abusrdists myths of creation and destruction that are at times both inventively silly and surprisingly emotionally direct. This book attemps the world again and again, only to find that even the most ridiculous of creations contains the seeds of its own destruction.

A widely read classic exposition of the history of Africans on the continent—and the people of African descent in the United States and in the... diaspora—this well researched analysis details the development of civilization in Africa.

*Why do seemingly rational, intelligent people commit acts of cruelty and violence?*What are the root causes of destructive behavior?*How can we control... the emotions that drive these impulses?*Can we learn to live at peace with ourselves and others?Imagine sitting with the Dalai Lama in his private meeting room with a small group of world-class scientists and philosophers. The talk is lively and fascinating as these leading minds grapple with age-old questions of compelling contemporary urgency. Daniel Goleman, the internationally bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence, provides the illuminating commentary—and reports on the breakthrough research this historic gathering inspired.Destructive EmotionsBuddhist philosophy tells us that all personal unhappiness and interpersonal conflict lie in the “three poisons”: craving, anger, and delusion. It also provides antidotes of astonishing psychological sophistication--which are now being confirmed by modern neuroscience. With new high-tech devices, scientists can peer inside the brain centers that calm the inner storms of rage and fear. They also can demonstrate that awareness-training strategies such as meditation strengthen emotional stability—and greatly enhance our positive moods.The distinguished panel members report these recent findings and debate an exhilarating range of other topics: What role do destructive emotions play in human evolution? Are they “hardwired” in our bodies? Are they universal, or does culture determine how we feel? How can we nurture the compassion that is also our birthright? We learn how practices that reduce negativity have also been shown to bolster the immune system. Here, too, is an enlightened proposal for a school-based program of social and emotional learning that can help our children increase self-awareness, manage their anger, and become more empathetic.Throughout, these provocative ideas are brought to life by the play of personalities, by the Dalai Lama’s probing questions, and by his surprising sense of humor. Although there are no easy answers, the dialogues, which are part of a series sponsored by the Mind and Life Institute, chart an ultimately hopeful course. They are sure to spark discussion among educators, religious and political leaders, parents—and all people who seek peace for themselves and the world.The Mind and Life Institute sponsors cross-cultural dialogues that bring together the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist scholars with Western scientists and philosophers. Mind and Life VIII, on which this book is based, took place in Dharamsala, India, in March 2000.

White violence in America is a hidden issue in race relations that must be addressed before the racial impasse between black and white can be... transcended. This innovative book cites the failure to raise this issue of white violence in the race relations debate as the cause of the omnipresent gap in the search for a resolution to the race problem. Serving also as an historical essay that looks at white violence in America in its overt and secretive forms, this book suggests that allowing history to teach us how to avoid the mistakes of the past will make bridging the racial abyss more probable. Contents: Introduction; In Search of a Theoretical Basis for White Violence Against Blacks: Finding Windows of Opportunity; Crucible of American Violence: Historical Perception; White Violence: The Sealing of a Partnership in a Cultural Community of Whiteness; White Violence: The Leveling Force in Race Relations; Destructively Common: Racial Radicalism and the Era of Separate But Equal; Images: The Ritual of Lynching; Johnny's March Home: A Violent Perception in the Inter-War Years; Destructive Impulses: Circumventing Brown v. Board of Education; Black Violence: A Mirror Image of its Creator; Seeds of Destruction: The White Backlash and an Attack on Affirmative Action; Past, Present, Future: The State of Race Relations; Notes.

Organizational behavior and leadership research has traditionally been deeply influenced by positive psychology and appreciative inquiry. Yet, in recent... times, a wave of corporate scandals and spectacular organizational failures has forced management and organizational theorists to rethink this approach. Unethical CEO behavior, white collar crime, property deviance, employee grievances and lawsuits, organizational terrorism, and workplace violence have all provided the impetus for an examination of the darker side of leadership. In Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations, Alan Goldman draws on his extensive experience as a management consultant and executive coach to provide a fascinating behind-closed-doors account of troubled leaders and the effect they have on their organizations. Featuring clinical case studies, ranging from the fashion industry to an aeronautical engineering corporation, the book explores the damaging effects of destructive leadership on organizations and provides the tools necessary for early recognition, assessment, and treatment.

This volume provides an in-depth consideration of destructive communication in organizations -- including workplace bullying, racism, stress, and... harassment.  It brings together communication scholars from theoretical and applied perspectives to assess current understandings, explore ways to integrate theory and practice, identify areas for change, and outline a research agenda for the coming decade. Each chapter examines a specific aspect of destructive organizational communication, reviews existing theory and research about that communicative form or ideology, suggests fruitful possibilities for application, and suggests key areas for further study. As such, the book opens a dialogue among communication scholars that explores destructive communication in organizations and addresses the following key components: the central issues and concerns regarding destructive organizational communication, current scholarly contributions to both applied and theoretical understanding of these issues, approaches to integrate applied/experienced and theoretical/conceptual perspectives in ways that inform one another and improve organizational considerations for varied stakeholders, and suggestions for a future research agenda for those interested in ameliorating the destructive side of organizational communication. Overall, the collection provides a basic understanding of the different types of destructive communication in organizations, the processes through which these interactions occur, the consequences to individuals and organizations, and the potential for organizing in more constructive, civil ways. This volume will be an excellent resource for scholars and researcher studying organizational communication, and graduate and advanced undergraduate students in organizational communication.  It will also resonate with managers dealing with hostile workplaces, and organizational members trying to understand their current experiences. The book will serve as an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in organizational communication.

"...the most useful, practical book I have seen on the management of turfgrass insect pests...mandatory reading for turfgrass managers in golf, lawns,... and sports..." --Dr. James B. Beard, International Sports Turf Institute, Inc.Written in clear, everyday language, Destructive Turfgrass Insects covers the biology, diagnosis, and control of virtually all the insects and mites that attack warm- and cool-season turfgrasses. No other source gives you as many practical and comprehensive management guidelines for use on golf courses, lawns, and sports fields.