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A Disposition to Be Rich
by Geoffrey C. WardFerdinand Ward was the greatest swindler of the Gilded Age. Through his unapologetic villainy, he bankrupted Ulysses S. Grant and ran roughshod over the entire world of finance. Now, his compelling, behind-the-scenes story is told--told by his great-grandson, award-winning historian Geoffrey C. Ward.Ward was the Bernie Madoff of his day, a supposed genius at making big money fast on Wall Street who turned out to have been running a giant pyramid scheme--one that ultimately collapsed in one of the greatest financial scandals in American history. The son of a Protestant missionary and small-town pastor with secrets of his own to keep, Ward came to New York at twenty-one and in less than a decade, armed with charm, energy, and a total lack of conscience, made himself the business partner of the former president of the United States and was widely hailed as the "Young Napoleon of Finance." In truth, he turned out to be a complete fraud, his entire life marked by dishonesty, cowardice, and contempt for anything but his own interests.Drawing from thousands of family documents never before examined, Geoffrey C. Ward traces his great-grandfather's rapid rise to riches and fame and his even more dizzying fall from grace. There are mistresses and mansions along the way; fast horses and crooked bankers and corrupt New York officials; courtroom confrontations and six years in Sing Sing; and Ferdinand's desperate scheme to kidnap his own son to get his hands on the estate his late wife had left the boy. Here is a great story about a classic American con artist, told with boundless charm and dry wit by one of our finest historians.
A Dissertation on the Life, Theology, and Times of Dr. Jeremy Taylor
by Ernest Horatio May<p>Although the name of Jeremy Taylor is a household word to thousands, but few pens have been employed upon his life and writings. The reason is not hard to discover. In a busy age like the present, men rarely have either the time or inclination to study the voluminous works which this eminent divine has bequeathed to the world. <p>The following pages are intended to supply a brief digest of Taylor's complete writings. The limits of a dissertation necessarily prevent the analysis from being exhaustive, but it is hoped that it is sufficiently full to escape the dilemma of the Roman of old: "Brevis esse laboro Obscurus fio."</p>
A Distant Front In The Cold War: The USSR In West Africa And The Congo, 1956-1964 (Cold War International History Project Series)
by Sergey MazovA Distant Front in the Cold War reveals West Africa as a significant site of Cold War conflict in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although the region avoided the extreme tensions of the standoff in Eastern Europe or in the Cuban missile crisis, it nevertheless offers a vivid example of political, economic, and propagandistic rivalry between the U.S. and the USSR. For Africa, this was a critical period characterized by decolonization and the formation of African countries' first foreign policies. The United States and the Soviet Union both hoped to win the sympathies of the newly established states, and Sergey Mazov's book is the first account of that competition, which the Soviet Union lost, largely through ignorance of the region. Mazov presents evidence from previously inaccessible or unknown documents in Russian and U.S. archives, as well as an international sampling of recent scholarly works. The rich historical account pays particular attention to the repercussions of Soviet West African experience on future Soviet foreign policy, especially in the Third World.
A Distant Heartbeat: A War, a Disappearance, and a Family's Secrets
by Eunice LiptonOn May 20, 1938, a young man from the Bronx informs his parents that he is leaving for the Catskills to begin his new job as a waiter. Instead, he sails for Europe to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, the opening round in the fight against Hitler and Mussolini. The man, Dave Lipton—the author&’s uncle—sends letter after letter home detailing his hopes and begging for forgiveness. He never receives a reply.Decades later, Eunice Lipton stumbles upon clues for this silence, uncovering details of Dave&’s exhilarating political life in New York, his shuttered romantic life, and his deep friendship with another volunteer. A Distant Heartbeat tells a tale of passion and heroism, centered on a fierce competition between brothers, a packet of missing letters, and the unforeseen results of family betrayal.
A Distant Prayer
by Joseph Banks Jerry BorrowmanJoseph Banks served in a B-17 bomber during WWII. This is a first-hand narrative of his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war: his sufferings, his triumphs, his joys.
A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age
by Alec WilkinsonA New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice"Wilkinson has accomplished something more moving and original, braiding his stumbling attempts to get better at math with his deepening awareness that there’s an entire universe of understanding that will, in some fundamental sense, forever lie outside his reach." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times "There is almost no writer I admire as much as I do Alec Wilkinson. His work has enduring brilliance and humanity.” —Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book A spirited, metaphysical exploration into math's deepest mysteries and conundrums at the crux of middle age.Decades after struggling to understand math as a boy, Alec Wilkinson decides to embark on a journey to learn it as a middle-aged man. What begins as a personal challenge—and it's challenging—soon transforms into something greater than a belabored effort to learn math. Despite his incompetence, Wilkinson encounters a universe of unexpected mysteries in his pursuit of mathematical knowledge and quickly becomes fascinated; soon, his exercise in personal growth (and torture) morphs into an intellectually expansive exploration.In A Divine Language, Wilkinson, a contributor to The New Yorker for over forty years, journeys into the heart of the divine aspect of mathematics—its mysteries, challenges, and revelations—since antiquity. As he submits himself to the lure of deep mathematics, he takes the reader through his investigations into the subject’s big questions—number theory and the creation of numbers, the debate over math’s human or otherworldly origins, problems and equations that remain unsolved after centuries, the conundrum of prime numbers. Writing with warm humor and sharp observation as he traverses practical math’s endless frustrations and rewards, Wilkinson provides an awe-inspiring account of an adventure from a land of strange sights. Part memoir, part metaphysical travel book, and part journey in self-improvement, A Divine Language is one man’s second attempt at understanding the numbers in front of him, and the world beyond.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson
by Candy CarsonLike most Americans, you might think of Ben Carson as a trailblazing brain surgeon and, in the last few years, as an outspoken commentator on national issues. <P><P>But his wife of more than forty years knows him as so much more: a loving husband, a devoted father, a devout Christian, a committed philanthropist, and a fierce patriot. Now Candy Carson introduces us to the private side of a very public figure as she shares the inspiring story of their marriage and their family. Like her husband, Candy grew up in Detroit, one of five children of a teacher and a factory worker. Also like Ben, she overcame her humble background through determination, hard work, and perseverance, earning a scholarship to attend Yale University. In that strange new world she focused on her studies, her music, and her deepening spiritual life. She attended church with a handsome older student who liked to tease her, but never assumed he would be anything more than a friend to her. But Ben and Candy quickly became inseparable, and they married soon after she graduated, with Ben still in medical school, preparing for his career as a soon-to-be world-famous pediatric neurosurgeon. In A Doctor in the House, Candy reveals many stories that have never been told before, despite the media spotlight on Dr. Carson in recent years. She shows us what it was like when they moved to Baltimore to join the community centered around Johns Hopkins Hospital. She describes how their family evolved with the births of their three sons and the tragic miscarriage of their twins. She talks about the challenges of Ben's twelve- to twenty-hour workdays, saving thousands of lives every year while Candy ran the household. She also addresses the prejudice they sometimes faced as African Americans, and how Ben's calm, levelheaded approach made him a great problem solver at home and in their travels, just as he was in the operating room. Above all, she reveals her husband's consistency as a believer: in God, in family, and in America. Having lived the American Dream, Ben believes every child from every background is capable of achieving it. That's why he and Candy have been committed to educating and inspiring young people and over the past twenty years have awarded more than 6,700 students with scholarships through their Carson Scholars Fund. A Doctor in the House is a classic American love story--and that story is far from over. As Candy writes, "We don't know what God has for us next, but we're ready to follow. . . . As we head forward into the un-known once more, I thank God for putting us together."From the Hardcover edition.
A Doctor of Sorts: In Peace and in War
by V.J. DownieAnecdotal in style, these memoirs do not follow a chronological order. The author is a surgeon who, from the harrowing account of the crossing of the River Rapido in World War II to the story of a man with a poker up his backside, reveals himself to be a man of compassion and a skilful raconteur.
A Doctor's Journey: What I Learned About Women, Healing, and Myself in Eritrea
by Mary Lake PolanDr. Mary Lake Polan takes us on a compelling journey into Eritrea, where she started a surgical clinic to offer life-changing care to African women. She and her team repair fistulas, a condition that results from traumatic births and leads many African women to lives of stigma and shame. Dr. Polan describes how she and her surgical team offered the care and compassion that forever changed the lives of their African patients, in a story that will inspire readers to believe that they, too, can make a difference.
A Doctor's Quest: The Struggle for Mother and Child Health Around the Globe
by Gretchen Roedde Dr John EvansA doctor grapples with the challenges of mother and child health in the developing world. Recounting medical missions in half of the thirty countries in which she has worked for the past twenty-five years in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific - from Darfur in Sudan to Papua New Guinea and Bhutan - Dr. Gretchen Roedde shares the grim reality of world politics and bureaucratic red tape on the front lines as a doctor in mother-and-child health and HIV/AIDS.A Doctor’s Quest tells the stories of the hopes of village women struggling to give birth safely, their often corrupt leaders, and countries trying to bring evil despots to justice. The book analyzes the slow progress in global maternal health, contrasting the affluence of the few with the precarious hold on survival of the world’s poorest, where economic realities force families to sell young girls into marriage at the age of thirteen to face higher risk of death from early child-bearing.
A Doctor's Quest: The Struggle for Mother-and-Child Health Around the Globe
by Gretchen RoeddeA doctor grapples with the challenges of mother-and-child health in the developing world. Recounting medical missions in one-third of the forty-five countries in which she has worked for the past thirty years in Africa, Asia, and, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, Dr. Gretchen Roedde shares the grim reality of world politics and bureaucratic red tape on the front lines as a doctor in mother-and-child health and HIV/AIDS. This second edition updates the progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH), with additional studies in Afghanistan, Laos, South Sudan, and Nigeria. It tells the stories of the hopes of village women struggling to give birth safely, of their often corrupt leaders, and of countries trying to bring evil despots to justice. Roedde analyzes the encouraging momentum in global maternal health while maintaining a focus on equity disparities within and between countries.
A Doctor's War
by Aidan MacCarthyAn &“engrossing&” memoir of a Royal Air Force doctor&’s World War II experiences, from surviving Dunkirk to witnessing Nagasaki (The Irish Times). As an RAF medical officer, Aidan MacCarthy served in France, survived Dunkirk, and was interned by the Japanese in Java, where his ingenuity helped his fellow prisoners through awful conditions. While en route to Japan in 1944, his ship was torpedoed, sending him into the Pacific. Miraculously, MacCarthy was rescued by a whaling boat—only to be re-interned in Japan. Ironically, it was the dropping of the atomic bomb at Nagasaki that saved his life, though it also meant being an eyewitness to the horror and devastation it caused. Long out of print, this remarkable war memoir was rediscovered during a journey through Ireland by Pete McCarthy, author of McCarthy&’s Bar, who describes it as &“jaw-dropping.&” &“Written in a straightforward, matter-of-fact tone, this book is marked by the author&’s ability to keep cool under adversity and by his admirable sense of humor and irony. A wonderful, if chilling work.&” —Publishers Weekly &“A gripping read.&” —Evening Echo
A Dog Called Harry
by Jill BakerHow much do you think you could take? Try this: your husband dies suddenly and, weeks later, while you're still grieving, you're diagnosed with cancer. Would you keep fighting?Newspaper editor Jill Baker arrived home to find her husband George dead on the bedroom floor. Then - while still in shock - she was diagnosed with breast cancer and given odds on being alive in five years' time. Surgery, chemo and radiation therapy followed during Jill's extraordinary year from hell. It took a huge toll. Some days she barely recognised herself. When a doctor suggested a dog might heal her, Jill took a chance on her first wag. She needed something to make life worth living, but could that really be a crazy, snoring, howling, digging, chewing, barking, hipster 70s orange pup like Harry?Harry and Jill are an unlikely duo. Jill is quiet, Harry is loud as hell. Jill meticulously plans the day while Harry says let's wing it. She sips pinot while he's an espresso martini guy. Turns out Harry and Jill were made to be together. Theirs is a beautiful friendship, an unbreakable bond. A Dog Called Harry is the moving story of a dog dubbed Dirty Harry who helped Jill love life again.
A Dog Called Hope: A Wounded Warrior and the Service Dog Who Saved Him
by Damien Lewis Jason MorganLone Survivor meets Marley & Me in this &“inspiring and very moving&” (Bear Grylls, host of the hit TV show Man vs. Wild) memoir of an extraordinary service dog whose enduring love brought a wounded soldier back to life.A decade ago, special forces warrior Jason Morgan parachuted into the Central American jungle on an antinarcotics raid. He&’d served with the famous Night Stalkers on countless such missions. This one was different. Months later, he regained consciousness in a U.S. military hospital with no memory of how he&’d gotten there. The first words he heard were from his surgeon telling him he would never walk again. The determined soldier responded, &“Sir, yes, I will.&” After multiple surgeries, unbearable chronic pain, and numerous setbacks, Morgan was finally making progress when his wife left him and their three young sons. He was a single father confined to a wheelchair and tortured by his pain. At this very dark, very low point, Morgan found light: Napal, the black Labrador who would change his life forever. A Dog Called Hope is the incredible story of a service dog who brought a devastated warrior back from the brink and taught him how to be a true father. It is the story of Napal, who built bridges between his wheelchair-bound battle buddy and the rest of able-bodied humankind. It is the story of Jason, who found life&’s true meaning with the help of his faithful companion. Humorous, intensely moving, and uplifting, Jason and Napal&’s heartwarming tale will brighten any day and lift every heart.
A Dog Called Hope: The wounded warrior and the dog who dared to love him
by Damien LewisWhen special forces soldier Jason Morgan awoke from a months-long coma, he was told he'd never walk again. Discovered face-down in a Central American swamp after a jungle mission gone wrong, he had a smashed spine, collapsed lungs and countless broken bones. It was a miracle he'd even survived.Months of painful surgery followed, with Jason's life balanced on a knife-edge. Released from hospital in a wheelchair and plagued by memory loss, Jason's life fell apart. Left alone to raise his three infant sons, all hope seemed gone, until Jason met Napal, a handsome-as-hell black Labrador provided by a very special charity. With this one incredible dog at their side, Jason's life and that of his family would never be the same again. With Napal's help Jason was able to conquer his paralysis, eventually completing a marathon and winning numerous medals in the Wounded Warrior Games. More than that, this amazing service dog helped heal a family and taught Jason to be the father his kids needed him to be. A Dog Called Hope is the moving and heart-warming story of how Jason rediscovered his life's mission, his strength as a father and, through his beloved dog, his hope. It's the story of the closeness between one man and one dog like no other, and how this mesmerizing duo changed countless lives.Inspirational, tear-jerking and laugh-out-loud uplifting, this is a story that will brighten any day and warm every heart.
A Dog Called Hope: The wounded warrior and the dog who dared to love him
by Damien LewisWhen Special Ops soldier Jason Morgan was left crippled by a mission that went wrong, battling depression and wheelchair-bound, his wife left him, and overnight he became a paraplegic father with three young boys to raise. He had lost the two very things that defined him: his military service, plus his family and marriage. As the pain spiked to unbearable levels, he agreed to have surgery to block the pain. But the doctors' promises that he would keep his mobility proved misplaced. After the surgery the pain was less, yet he'd lost the ability to move his legs.It was then that Jason reached his lowest ebb. But it was then too that he heard about a not-for-profit call Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), one that specializes in providing service dogs to wounded veterans. Jason was convinced that his disability was serious enough to qualify him for a service dog, and that CCI had just the animal for him. Yet when he flew to their Oceanside, California facility to meet his dog, Jason had no idea how much his life was about to change. So low was he that he wished that the airplane carrying him would tumble out of the sky and bring it all to an end. After meeting his black Labrador service dog Napal, he would never do so again.This is the story of how Napal enabled Jason to rebuild his life, to reconnect with his family and to find true peace against all the odds.(P)2016 WF Howes Ltd
A Dog Named Beautiful: A Marine, a Dog, and a Long Road Trip Home
by Rob KuglerAn uplifting and unforgettable story of a US Marine, his extraordinary dog, and the road trip of a lifetime.When US Marine Rob Kugler returns from war he had given up not only a year of his life in service to his country, but he had also lost a brother in the fighting as well. Lost in grief, Rob finds solace and relief in the one thing that never fails to put a smile on his face: his chocolate lab Bella. Exceptionally friendly, and always with - you wouldn’t believe it - a smile on her face, Bella is the friend Rob needs, and they spend their days exploring nature and taking photos. But then Bella develops a limp in her front leg. It’s cancer, and the prognosis isn’t good. Rob has a choice, either to let Bella go now, or amputate her cancer riddled leg, and see what the next few months would bring.For Rob, the choice is a no-brainer, and instead of waiting at home for the cancer to spread, Rob and Bella pack their bags and hit the road. Life is short, but the road ahead is long and winding, and as they criss-cross the country Rob and Bella meet remarkable, life-changing men and women who are quick to make friends with this incredible three-legged dog. A Dog Named Beautiful is a book full of inspiration, hope, love, tears, and laughs. Enjoy the journey.
A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other—and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way
by Lisa J. EdwardsThe International Bestseller"The 'feel good' book of the season… Boo&’s story reminds all of us that life is full of possibilities and that hope often arrives wagging a tail." —Best Friends magazineThe dunce of obedience class with poor eyesight and a clumsy gait, Boo was the least likely of heroes. Yet with his unflappable spirit and boundless love, Boo has changed countless lives through his work as a therapy dog: inspiring a six-year-old boy to speak for the first time in his life, coaxing movement from a paralyzed girl and stirring life in a ninety-four-year-old nun with Alzheimer&’s disease. But perhaps Boo&’s greatest miracle is the way he transformed Lisa Edwards&’s life, giving her the best gift of all: faith in herself.This is the inspiring true story of how one woman and one dog rescued each other, a moving tribute to hope, resilience and the transformative power of unconditional love.
A Dog Named Mattis: 12 Lessons for Living Courageously, Serving Selflessly, and Building Bridges from a Heroic K9 Officer
by Mark TappanTake a ride-along with Sergeant Mark Tappan and his amazing K9 partner Mattis, whose heroic actions will inspire you to live courageously, serve selflessly, and love passionately because every human (and dog) has a purpose.Sergeant Mark Tappan shares a unique bond with his K9 partner Mattis, one of the most decorated police K9s of all time. Mark knew from the first time they interacted that Mattis was something special. As a man of deep faith, Mark also knew that God's most profound teaching often comes through the most unexpected sources, and he soon realized that Mattis was going to teach him about loyalty, selfless service, and so much more.In A Dog Named Mattis, Mark shares twelve life lessons he's learned from working with Mattis. Through these first-hand accounts of bravery and service, you will learn profound lessons, like:being willing to 'go all in' and work with all your heart even when things are uncertain,how persistence pays off when you are willing to stick with what you know is right,how to be strong and courageous in the face of adversity,and much more. You will also get a behind-the-scenes look at the world of police K9s and gain a deeper understanding of:the many ways that K9 units assist police departments,what a K9 officer's daily life looks like,what kind of training police dogs and their handlers must go through,how a police dog is tested and selected,and the lengths a dog will go to in order to complete their mission. A Dog Named Mattis will capture the hearts of dog lovers everywhere and remind you that true success is built on relationships filled with trust, communication, and love.
A Dog Named Slugger: The True Story of the Friend Who Changed My World
by Leigh BrillThe true life story of a dog who changed everything for one woman. For the first time in my life, I didn't need to pretend, I didn't need to be tough: I only needed to be honest. "I have cerebral palsy. I walk funny and my balance is bad. I fall a lot. My hands shake, too. That means I'm not so good at carrying things. And if I drop stuff, sometimes it's hard to just bend down and get it." I waited anxiously for the interviewer's response. She smiled. "It sounds like a service dog could be great for you." So began Leigh Brill's journey toward independence and confidence, all thanks to a trained companion dog named Slugger. The struggling college student and the Labrador with a "a coat like sunshine" and a tail that never stopped wagging became an instant team. Together, they transformed a challenge into a triumph. Together, they inspired and educated everyone they met. Now, Leigh honors her friend with the story of their life, together.
A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home
by Sue HalpernA layabout mutt turned therapy dog leads her owner to a new understanding of the good life. At loose ends with her daughter leaving home and her husband on the road, Sue Halpern decided to give herself and Pransky, her under-occupied Labradoodle, a new leash—er, lease—on life by getting the two of them certified as a therapy dog team. Smart, spirited, and instinctively compassionate, Pransky turned out to be not only a terrific therapist but an unerring moral compass. In the unlikely sounding arena of a public nursing home, she led her teammate into a series of encounters with the residents that revealed depths of warmth, humor, and insight Halpern hadn’t expected. And little by little, their adventures expanded and illuminated Halpern’s sense of what virtue is and does—how acts of kindness transform the giver as well as the given-to. Funny, moving, and profound, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is the story of how one faithful, charitable, loving, and sometimes prudent mutt—showing great hope, fortitude, and restraint along the way (the occasional begged or stolen treat notwithstanding)—taught a well-meaning woman the true nature and pleasures of the good life. .
A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
by Sue HalpernA layabout mutt turned therapy dog leads her owner to a new understanding of the good life. At loose ends with her daughter leaving home and her husband on the road, Halpern decides to give herself and Pransky, her Labradoodle, a new lease on life by getting certified as a therapy dog team.
A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Ser.)
by Jon KatzBONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jon Katz's Going Home."Change loves me, defines and stalks me like a laser-guided smart bomb. It comes at me in all forms, suddenly and with enormous impact, from making shifts in work to having and raising a kid to buying a cabin on a distant mountaintop. Sometimes, change comes on four legs." In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who'd read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him--a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement, but instinct overruled reason, and soon thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me is the story of how Devon and Jon--and Julius and Stanley--came to terms with each other. It shows how a man discovered a lot about himself through one dog (and then another) whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day is from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.
A Dog called Perth: The Voyage of a Beagle
by Peter MartinThe moving true story of Perth the beagle.'Perth was a dog larger than life. She bought us adventure, drama and joy. She changed us forever.' From the instant they spotted the forlorn puppy in the kennel, Cindy and Peter Martin knew she was the one for them. Refusing to remain a mere pet, Perth becomes an adored member of the household - fiercely loyal, impossibly intelligent and totally trusting. The Martins swear to always let Perth run free, and she becomes an indefatigable explorer with an infallible compass. From the woods and lakes of upstate New York and her incredible survival in the wilderness of Vermont to her later adventures in the English countryside, Perth rewards the Martins with unshakable trust and unstinting love.This is an entertaining, beautifully written homage to a very special canine heroine that will bring tears to the eyes of dog lovers everywhere.
A Dog called Perth: The Voyage of a Beagle
by Peter MartinThe moving true story of Perth the beagle.'Perth was a dog larger than life. She bought us adventure, drama and joy. She changed us forever.' From the instant they spotted the forlorn puppy in the kennel, Cindy and Peter Martin knew she was the one for them. Refusing to remain a mere pet, Perth becomes an adored member of the household - fiercely loyal, impossibly intelligent and totally trusting. The Martins swear to always let Perth run free, and she becomes an indefatigable explorer with an infallible compass. From the woods and lakes of upstate New York and her incredible survival in the wilderness of Vermont to her later adventures in the English countryside, Perth rewards the Martins with unshakable trust and unstinting love.This is an entertaining, beautifully written homage to a very special canine heroine that will bring tears to the eyes of dog lovers everywhere.