From award-winning Financial Times journalist Gillian Tett, who enraged Wall Street leaders with her newsbreaking warnings of a crisis more than a... year ahead of the curve, Fool's Gold tells the astonishing unknown story at the heart of the 2008 meltdown. Drawing on exclusive access to J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and a tightly bonded team of bankers known on Wall Street as the "Morgan Mafia," as well as in-depth interviews with dozens of other key players, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Tett brings to life in gripping detail how the Morgan team's bold ideas for a whole new kind of financial alchemy helped to ignite a revolution in banking, and how that revolution escalated wildly out of control. The deeply reported and lively narrative takes readers behind the scenes, to the inner sanctums of elite finance and to the secretive reaches of what came to be known as the "shadow banking" world. The story begins with the intense Morgan brainstorming session in 1994 beside a pool in Boca Raton, where the team cooked up a dazzling new idea for the exotic financial product known as credit derivatives. That idea would rip around the banking world, catapult Morgan to the top of the turbocharged derivatives trade, and fuel an extraordinary banking boom that seemed to have unleashed banks from ages-old constraints of risk. But when the Morgan team's derivatives dream collided with the housing boom, and was perverted -- through hubris, delusion, and sheer greed -- by titans of banking that included Citigroup, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and the thundering herd at Merrill Lynch -- even as J.P. Morgan itself stayed well away from the risky concoctions others were peddling -- catastrophe followed. Tett's access to Dimon and the J.P. Morgan leaders who so skillfully steered their bank away from the wild excesses of others sheds invaluable light not only on the untold story of how they engineered their bank's escape from carnage but also on how possible it was for the larger banking world, regulators, and rating agencies to have spotted, and heeded, the terrible risks of a meltdown. A tale of blistering brilliance and willfully blind ambition, Fool's Gold is both a rare journey deep inside the arcane and wildly competitive world of high finance and a vital contribution to understanding how the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression was perpetrated.

The stereotype of the "angel investor" is a retired wealthy entrepreneur who sees potential, asks tough questions, takes a large stake, and in a few... years makes a massive return in an IPO. This outsider fills the gap between the venture capitalist and the professional investor, swooping in with cash and expertise to bring dreams to fruition.Unfortunately, Shane observes, this figure bears no relationship to reality. In Fool's Gold, he draws on hard data from the Federal Reserve and other sources to paint the first reliable group portrait of the lionized angel investors. Surprisingly, he finds that they are fewer, contribute less, and involve themselves in fewer start-ups than the conventional wisdom suggests. Most angels typically still have their day jobs, make investments of $10,000 or less, and take little or no role in assisting entrepreneurs build their companies. Few of the companies they put money into arrive at IPOs, let alone massive returns. But angels can play a critical role, he writes, if the fantasy is abandoned by all concerned. Drawing on his rich store of data, Shane offers recommendations to entrepreneurs and angels alike for the most productive use of angel investing, and suggests how policymakers can encourage it. Particularly promising are angel groups, which pool knowledge and money for wiser and more productive investments. In groups, angels can rely on each other's expertise, share the labor of performing due diligence, and generally insure that their money is being placed--and used--wisely. Fostering the formation of such groups may be the single most important thing that government can do to boost angel investing.Massively researched and briskly written, Fools' Gold offers the first real resource on this misunderstood aspect of our entrepreneurial system.

Penguin Classics is proud to welcome William Trevor—"Ireland’s answer to Chekhov" (The Boston Globe) and "one of the best writers of our era" (The... Washington Post)—to our distinguished list of literary masters. In this award-winning novel, an informer’s body is found on the estate of a wealthy Irish family shortly after the First World War, and an appalling cycle of revenge is set in motion. Led by a zealous sergeant, the Black and Tans set fire to the family home, and only young Willie and his mother escape alive. Fatherless, Willie grows into manhood while his alcoholic mother’s bitter resentment festers. And though he finds love, Willie is unable to leave the terrible injuries of the past behind. First time in Penguin Classics Winner of the Whitbread Novel of the Year Award

A collection from one of the twentieth century's great activist journalists ''It suddenly occurred to me that, in all the world, there neither was nor... would ever be another place like this City of the Angels. Here the American people were erupting, like lava from a volcano; here, indeed, was the place for me: a ringside seat at the circus.''--Carey McWilliams, in Southern California Country Carey McWilliams (1905-1980)--lawyer, activist, historian, and editor of The Nation for two decades--wrote the history of California as no one else could, or would. Alternately scathing, amusing, and disturbing, his sharp and literate accounts shatter the myths meant to obscure the real workings of the state, revealing always the relationship between the exploited and those who would exploit them. Readers will find that McWilliams's writing on history and the issues of his day is still relevant--in fact, it is the basis for the field that we now call California studies. His painstakingly researched accounts on topics ranging from racism to the intricacies of commerce, from farm labor to the cults of California, have opened the door for generations of writers and thinkers. Introduction by Gray Brechin; Preface by Wilson Carey McWilliams

On a blazing July day in California's San Joaquin Valley, snitch Johnny Blue is murdered by a lethal heroin injection. Undercover narcotic detective... James Wolfe, the operative who handled Blue, goes to the Sheriff's Department substation seeking ex-girlfriend Christy Bristol. In the past he ridiculed her hobby of casting horoscopes. Now he needs her expertise to catch the man he suspects is behind Blue's murder, a drug dealer named Lloyd Parr. Stuck on the lowest rung of law enforcement, Christy becomes first a victim, then a hero in the high-stakes game of narcotic trafficking. Through her eyes, the drug world is reduced to individual players, lost values and discarded dreams. The reality of what goes on in the fertile land of the San Joaquin Valley is far more disturbing than the Hollywood version of drug lords and a wealthy lifestyle fueled by drug money. In the drug world of the Valley, there are no winners. Only losers.

The fun and easy way to tackle football basics and enjoy America's most popular sportSince the last edition of Football For Dummies, new stadiums have... been built, new stars have ascended, and records have been broken. This new edition has been revised to reflect today's game, giving football fans up-to-the-minute information on all the rules and regulations, positions, plays, and penalties.Featuring coverage of the newest stadium technologies, revised greatest players and legends, and pro-football must-do experiences, it also includes expert advice on training and gearing up for those who play the game. The complete fan's updated guide to footballRevised material on new players, stadiums, and strategiesWritten by football legend Howie Long and revered analyst John CzarneckiFrom peewees to the pros, this hands-on, friendly guide covers the nuts and bolts of football for fans of all ages and experience levels.

This book provides a highly readable introduction to the phenomenon of football hooliganism, ideal for students taking courses around this subject as... well as those having a professional interest in the subject, such as the police and those responsible for stadium safety and management. For anybody else wanting to learn more about one of society's most intractable problems, this book is the place to start. Unlike other books on this subject it is not wedded to a single theoretical perspective but is concerned rather to provide a critical overview of football hooliganism, discussing the various approaches to the subject. Three fallacies provide themes which run through the book: the notion that football hooliganism is new; that it is a uniquely football problem; and that it is predominantly an English phenomenon. The book examines the history of football-related violence, the problems in defining the nature of football hooliganism, the data available on the extent of football hooliganism, provides a detailed review of the various theories about who hooligans are and why they behave as they do, and an analysis of policing and social policy in relation to tackling football hooliganism.

Football has always provided its players and fans with identity and belonging, whether to a nation or to a particular social group. It has been both a... vehicle for the politically ambitious and an arena in which citizens can make sense of national failings and contest existing power structures. This volume explores many of these themes. The fifteen essays range widely, with theoretical and empirical contributions on the region as whole, as well as chapters specifically on Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and the United States.

In this lively anthology of 21 stories and one classic poem about football, fathers and sons tackle their issues, coaches and quarterbacks collide, and... ordinary heroes emerge from the blitz.

The best-selling guide on the essentials of the game is bigger, better, and more comprehensive than ever. Solid blocking, sure tackling, proper... footwork, precise routes, correct coverage angles, and synchronized body movements—these basic techniques are all essential to winning football. Football Skills & Drills is your guide to success, explaining how to teach key skills and consistent execution to players in offensive, defensive, and special-teams positions. You will benefit from the same techniques used by top college and professional teams, along with a complete arsenal of 114 drills. From quarterback rollouts for winning touchdowns to block-shedding maneuvers for drive-stopping sacks, Football Skills & Drills translates technical instruction into on-field application, depicting exactly how each pass, pattern, route, catch, block, tackle, and kick is performed. Gridiron champions are made on the practice field. Football Skills & Drills serves as a great foundation in your quest for a title.

The Big Ten . . . the SEC . . . the Final Four . . . sometimes it seems that American higher education is more about sports than studies. Not so, says... this well-researched, evenhanded study of athletics in university life. Sports--particularly football--play a key role in defining institutions that might otherwise be indistinguishable and are an indispensable tool in building a sense of community on campus, as well as an important factor in mustering alumni and political support.While abuses exist, the "football school" is not only a legitimate member of the academic community but an inevitable one as well--and football provides much-needed identity at every level from the local to the national scale. Pointing out that universities compete as much academically as athletically, J. Douglas Toma argues that fielding a winning sports team is a quick, effective way to win recognition and that doing so pays dividends across the board, by raising public awareness (thereby making a school more attractive to potential students and faculty) and by creating a wider constituency of "fans" whose loyalties pay off in increased contributions and appropriations that support academic programs as well. He notes that universities like Harvard and Yale, now eclipsed on the gridiron, were "football powers" in the era when America's westward expansion spawned new schools unable to challenge older institutions academically but able to win acclaim through sports. This fosters a campus and alumni culture based on "football Saturday"--a bonding experience that helped forge a larger community whose support, both personal and financial, has become integral to the life of the institution.Football U. brings welcome impartiality to a subject all too often riven by controversy, pitting football boosters against critics who complain that academic achievement takes second place to athletic success. But as a tool for creating "brand awareness" as well as local loyalty and widespread support, high-profile athletic programs meet a variety of institutional needs in ways no other aspect of university life can. This, Toma observes, is a two-edged sword, for even as it fosters collegiality, it discourages reform when the pendulum swings too far in the direction of athletic dominance. Nevertheless, Football U. is here to stay.J. Douglas Toma is Director and Senior Fellow, The Executive Doctorate and Penn Center for Higher Education Management, the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.