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The Routledge International Handbook of Deindustrialization Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)
by Stefan Berger Steven High Tim Strangleman Jackie Clarke Sherry Lee LinkonThe Routledge International Handbook of Deindustrialization Studies is a timely volume that provides an overview of this interdisciplinary field that emerged in response to the widespread decline of manufacturing and heavy industry from the 1980s onward. Edited by prominent figures in the field, the volume brings together many of the leading scholars from a range of countries across the globe to offer a multifaceted overview of deindustrialization and its impact. Deindustrialization has been cited as one of the factors behind the rise of the far right, and to a lesser extent the far left, across Europe, the rise and success of Trumpism in the US, and the Brexit vote as well as the more recent and sudden erosion of UK Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ of the North of England. This collection brings together scholars of deindustrialization around the globe and from a wide variety of academic disciplines including history, sociology, politics, geography, economics, anthropology, literature, arts practice, photography, heritage, and cultural studies. In doing so, the volume explores the roots of deindustrialization across the world, highlights the key themes and issues in the field, illustrates the intersectional and interdisciplinary character of the field, and shows how deindustrialization lies at the heart of many of the key political, cultural, social, and economic issues of our time.Written in a clear and accessible style, the Handbook is a comprehensive interdisciplinary volume for this young but maturing field. The volume is a valuable resource for students, teachers, and researchers interested in industrial decline, closure, and the multifaceted impacts they cause. It speaks to readers across the arts, humanities, and social and political sciences concerned with deindustrialization broadly defined.Chapter 27 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 International license.
Cause and Effect Business Analytics and Data Science (Chapman and Hall/CRC Series on Statistics in Business and Economics)
by Jonathan Haughton Dominique Haughton Victor S. LoAmong the most important questions that businesses ask are some very simple ones: If I decide to do something, will it work? And if so, how large are the effects? To answer these predictive questions, and later base decisions on them, we need to establish causal relationships.Establishing and measuring causality can be difficult. This book explains the most useful techniques for discerning causality and illustrates the principles with numerous examples from business. It discusses randomized experiments (aka A/B testing) and techniques such as propensity score matching, synthetic controls, double differences, and instrumental variables. There is a chapter on the powerful AI approach of Directed Acyclic Graphs (aka Bayesian Networks), another on structural equation models, and one on time-series techniques, including Granger causality.At the heart of the book are four chapters on uplift modeling, where the goal is to help firms determine how best to deploy their resources for marketing or other interventions. We start by modeling uplift, discuss the test-and-learn process, and provide an overview of the prescriptive analytics of uplift.The book is written in an accessible style and will be of interest to data analysts and strategists in business, to students and instructors of business and analytics who have a solid foundation in statistics, and to data scientists who recognize the need to take seriously the need for causality as an essential input into effective decision-making.
Popcorn Bob Can't Stop Popping
by Maranke RinckEverybody gets angry sometimes. Everybody gets annoyed. Everybody pops off now and then. And when you're a popcorn kernel like Bob… maybe it happens more often than you'd like. From beloved duo Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden comes Popcorn Bob Can't Stop Popping, a laugh-out-loud exploration of emotional regulation.
Educational Leadership Preparation and Development: An international and future focused perspective (Studies in Educational Leadership #27)
by Peng Liu David GurrThis collection addresses key issues in the preparation and development of school leaders across eight countries and four world areas (North America, United Kingdom, Europe and Australasia). The work offers evidence-based insights into the current and future leadership preparation and development needed for school success. The future focus extends across the coming two or more decades and challenges the reader to consider how schools will likely develop and the leadership we will need in these schools. The book comes at a time when many schools are faced with significant challenges, including enduring impacts from the pandemic, teacher shortages and the incorporation of new technologies such as generative AI. Leadership in schools has never been more important and it is timely to consider the leadership preparation and development we need now and into the future. There are chapters that address leadership from pre-service and early career teachers through to principals, providing a whole of career focus. The authors are part of the International Leadership Development Network, and use their extensive research to consider the important areas of teacher and middle leaders; leadership for equity, inclusion, and social justice; and school, community and university partnerships. It is a book that will prove useful to teachers and school leaders, system leaders, university faculty and graduate researchers.
Organisational Identity: A Critical Reflection on the Theory (Contributions to Management Science)
by Dieter Veldsman Theo H VeldsmanThis book addresses the pressing need for a comprehensive understanding of Organisational Identity (OI) as essential to building effective, viable, and credible organisations. Its purpose is to provide the reader with insight into OI from a theoretical and practical vantage point, using leading OI practices to assist organisations to become identity-directed and -guided. The five primary contributions of the book are: an enriched conceptualization of OI grounded in a firm moral base; an OI framework that integrates systemic meta-theoretical thinking and practice; an analysis of OI from the vantage point of the New World of Work; a discussion of VICCAS World-related OI themes; and a perspective of OI that critically reflects from practice on OI theory.
Computing and Combinatorics: 31st International Computing and Combinatorics Conference, COCOON 2025, Chengdu, China, August 15–17, 2025, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #15984)
by Mingyu Xiao Fedor V. FominThis two-volume set, LNCS 15983 and 15984, constitutes the referred proceedings of the 31st International Computing and Combinatorics Conference, COCOON 2025, held in Chengdu, China, during August 15–17, 2025. The 54 full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 191 submissions. COCOON 2025 provided an excellent venue for researchers working in the topical sections as follows:Part I: Approximation Algorithms, Combinatorial Optimization, Computational Complexity, Computational Geometry, Economics and Computation.Part II: Graph Algorithms and Graph Theory, Learning and Data-Related Theory, Parameterized Algorithms, String Algorithms and Discrete Structures.
Learning Tableau 2022: Create effective data visualizations, build interactive visual analytics, and improve your data storytelling capabilities
by Joshua N. MilliganNow in color, this edition of Learning Tableau will empower you to bring data to life and make better business decisions. Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free eBook in PDF format.Key FeaturesLearn the basics of data analysis, from snappy visualizations to comprehensive dashboardsGain meaningful insights with geospatial analysis, scripting extensions, and other advanced methodsExplore the latest Tableau 2022 features, including Einstein Discovery and Explain DataBook DescriptionLearning Tableau 2022 helps you get started with Tableau and data visualization, but it does more than just cover the basic principles. It helps you understand how to analyze and communicate data visually, and articulate data stories using advanced features. This new edition is updated with Tableau’s latest features, such as dashboard extensions, Explain Data, and integration with CRM Analytics (Einstein Analytics), which will help you harness the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive modeling in Tableau. After an exploration of the core principles, this book will teach you how to use table and level of detail calculations to extend and alter default visualizations, build interactive dashboards, and master the art of telling stories with data. You’ll learn about visual statistical analytics and create different types of static and animated visualizations and dashboards for rich user experiences. We then move on to interlinking different data sources with Tableau’s Data Model capabilities, along with maps and geospatial visualization. You will further use Tableau Prep Builder’s ability to efficiently clean and structure data. By the end of this book, you will be proficient in implementing the powerful features of Tableau 2022 to improve the business intelligence insights you can extract from your data.What you will learnDevelop stunning visualizations to explain complex data with clarityBuild interactive dashboards to drive actionable user insightsExplore Data Model capabilities and interlink data from various sourcesCreate and use calculations to solve problems and enrich your analyticsEnable smart decision-making with data clustering, distribution, and forecastingExtend Tableau's native functionality with extensions, scripts, and AI through CRM Analytics (formerly Einstein Analytics)Leverage Tableau Prep Builder's amazing capabilities for data cleaning and structuringShare your data stories to build a culture of trust and actionWho this book is forThis Tableau book is for aspiring BI developers and data analysts, data scientists, researchers, and anyone else who wants to gain a deeper understanding of data through Tableau. This book starts from the ground up, so you won’t need any prior experience with Tableau before you dive in, but a full Tableau license (or 14-day demo license) is essential to be able to make use of all the exercises.
American Government: Stories of a Nation for the AP Course
by Karen Waples Scott AbernathyThis new offering from AP teacher Karen Waples and college professor Scott Abernathy is tailor-made to help teachers and students transition to the redesigned AP U. S. Government and Politics course. Carefully aligned to the course framework, this brief book is loaded with instructional tools to help you and your students meet the demands of the new course, such as integrated skills instruction, coverage of required cases and documents, public policy threaded throughout the book, and AP practice after every chapter and unit, all in a simple organization that will ease your course planning and save you time.
Intelligent Construction in Tunnels (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #679)
by Limao Zhang Yue Pan Mirosław J. Skibniewski Penghui LinThis book highlights the latest technologies and applications of intelligent construction in the domain of tunneling works. Rapid urbanization has surged the rapid development of underground infrastructures in major metropolitans around the world over the past decades. The development of urban tunnel systems is a challenging task with high complexity in terms of design, construction, and maintenance. Recent advancements in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have driven vast transformations around the world with successful implementations in many domains of science. Under the concept of &“industry 4.0&”, there are many attempts at intelligent construction using the latest ICTs, where the major applications in urban system development mainly focus on building information modelling (BIM), Internet of Things (IoT), deep learning, and computer vision. A tremendous transformation has taken place in the past years with the emerging intelligent construction applications in urban tunnel development. This enables industrial participants to operate projects more efficiently and safely, not only increasing the automation and productivity in tunnel development but also enhancing construction competitiveness globally.
Technological Horizons of Decarbonization Based on Environmental Innovations (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation)
by Elena G. PopkovaThis book highlights the technological horizons of decarbonization in the digital economy based on environmental innovations. It reveals the advantages of digital technologies and innovations for decarbonization and identifies the industry features of decarbonization based on digital technologies and innovations. The book describes in detail and discusses the international experience of decarbonization of the economy with the use of digital technologies and innovations. A set of authors' recommendations has been developed to unlock the potential of decarbonization based on digital technologies and innovations. Applied solutions for the use of digital technologies and innovations in the interests of decarbonization have also been proposed.
Modern Technology for Sustainable Agriculture
by V. K. Singh Arvind Kumar Pavan Kumar Susheel Kumar Singh Yogeshwar SinghModern technology for sustainable agriculture is based primarily on three platforms, namely science, innovation and spatial technologies. These are considered as the three pioneer pillars of nation building. Spatial technologies play a vital role in improving soil quality, reducing the waste of water during irrigation and sharing agricultural information with farmers. With the help of terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial sensors, satellites and surveillance equipment, a large volume of geo-spatial data from diverse sources is collected, analyzed, and utilized for smart farming and shielding of crops. During last five decades, agricultural research and extension has focused on the development of higher productivity of crop varieties, increased fertilizer use and other production technologies. These have enabled the farmers to grow more food, but at the same time it over exploited the resources and resulted in decreasing farm productivity and profitability. To tackle such problems, harmonious use of inputs through integration of various land- based enterprises and their compounded responses needs further attention to make the agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable. Many technologies have been identified to support sustainable use of resources and facilities, including Natural Resource Management (NRM), Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs), Integrated Farming System (IFS), Integrated Crop Management (ICM), Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), protected cultivation practices, secondary agricultural practices and post-harvest technologies.
Advanced Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Comprehensive Review
by Michael Gottlieb Nova PanebiancoThis book is a structured and comprehensive source of detailed information on advanced point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) applications. Dating back to the 1990s with the FAST exam for trauma, the scope of this imaging modality has expanded widely and been adopted by almost all medicine specialties. POCUS is increasingly being integrated into medical school and residency curricula globally and innovations in technology continue to make the devices smaller and lighter, with better image quality and advanced features, facilitating accessibility and use by health care providers wherever it is needed. This volume is organized into four sections: organ systems, procedures, disease-state protocols, and high-level information for individuals building educational programs and for those in leadership roles. The chapters dedicated to organ systems cover ultrasound of the heart, lung, eye, head, neck, and many others. Following a chapter on ultrasound guidance for various procedures, chapters cover ultrasound-guided nerve blocks and resuscitative ultrasound. The book closes with several chapters relevant to ultrasound education and leadership, including chapters that discuss research; diversity, equity, and inclusion; administration of ultrasound programs; and emerging applications of ultrasound. In the hands of appropriately trained users, POCUS augments diagnostic accuracy, allows for timely diagnosis, and improves procedural safety and success rates. Advanced Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Comprehensive Review reviews core foundational knowledge and provides comprehensive information on advanced techniques, applications, and innovations to addresses the resource gap for POCUS providers who wish to elevate their knowledge to a higher level.
Principles of Electrical Measurement and Measuring Instruments
by V. Jagadeesh KumarThis book covers the topics in Electrical and Electronic Measurements at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Most universities prescribe a compulsory course covering these topics at the undergraduate level. The book also covers advanced concepts taught in postgraduate degree programme in Instrumentation. The book is a &‘Textbook&’ for an undergraduate degree program in Electrical, Electronics, Control and Instrumentation engineering.
Information Processing in Medical Imaging: 29th International Conference, IPMI 2025, Kos, Greece, May 25–30, 2025, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #15829)
by Shaoting Zhang Ipek Oguz Dimitris N. MetaxasThis two-volume set LNCS 15829-15830 constitutes the proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Information Processing in Medical Imaging, IPMI 2025, held on Kos, Greece, during May 25-30, 2025. The 51 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 143 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: Part I: Classification/Detection; Registration; Reconstruction; Image synthesis; Image enhancement; and Segmentation.Part II: Computer-aided diagnosis/surgery; Brain; Diffusion models; Self-supervised learning; Vision-language models; Shape analysis; and Time-series image analysis.
The Geometry of Coincidence: Nicholas of Cusa and the Quadrature of the Circle (SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology)
by Federica De FeliceThis book offers a contribution to our understanding of Nicholas of Cusa&’s theory of geometry. It is based not only on his—generally more famous—philosophical texts (e.g., De docta ignorantia, Idiota, etc.), but also, and more significantly, on the strictly speaking mathematical texts drafted between 1445 and 1459, where Cusanus attempts to provide a solution to the vexata quaestio of the squaring of the circle. First critically edited in 2010—and translated into Italian by the author in 2020—Cusanus&’ Scripta mathematica are here scrutinized as to their context, genesis, and content, in order to shed light, on the one hand, on the philosophical and theological motives behind Cusanus&’ mathematical endeavours; and, on the other hand, on the scope and limits of Cusanus&’ geometrical constructive attempts to reach &“mathematical perfection&”. In addition to providing a scrupulous survey of Cusanus&’ sources on mathematics, this book focuses on a little explored aspect in Cusanus&’ work, namely his original theory of geometrical space as men&’s space, where the activity of mensurare takes place, establishing relations of continuous proportionality to the original unity. In conclusion, the author provides an extensive account on the reception of Cusanus&’ mathematical texts, from their early dissemination to the reactions of several thinkers throughout history, ensuring a full and rounded overview of Cusanus&’ work in geometry, mathematics, and philosophy.
Unsupervised Computer Vision for Aerospace Systems: Spacecraft Pose Estimation to Infrastructure Health Monitoring (Scientific Computation)
by Zhaoxiang ZhangThis book addresses perception and monitoring challenges in aerospace systems by employing innovative unsupervised learning techniques, thereby providing solutions for scenarios characterized by limited labelled data or dynamic environments. It explores practical methods such as domain adaptation for cross-modal pose estimation, causal inference for point cloud segmentation, and lightweight vision models optimized for edge computing. Key features include algorithm flowcharts, performance comparison tables, and real-world case studies covering planetary crater detection and spacecraft pose estimation. The integration of generative adversarial networks (GANs) for satellite jitter estimation and multistep adaptation strategies for defect detection offers actionable insights, supported by real industrial datasets, embedded hardware schematics, software code snippets, and optimization guidelines for real-time deployment. Engineers and researchers will obtain tools to enhance robustness across modalities and domains, ensuring generalizability in resource-constrained settings. This book serves as a valuable reference for aerospace engineers, computer vision specialists, and remote sensing practitioners and also empowers aerospace infrastructure inspectors adopting advanced vision technologies.
Extended Reality: International Conference, XR Salento 2025, Otranto, Italy, June 17–20, 2025, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #15738)
by Lucio Tommaso De Paolis Pasquale Arpaia Marco SaccoThe seven-volume set LNCS 15737-15743 constitutes the proceedings of the International Conference on Extended Reality, XR Salento 2025, held in Otranto, Italy, during June 17-20, 2025.The 128 full papers presented together with 65 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 256 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections:Part I: Virtual Reality; and Augmented and Mixed Reality.Part II: Extended Reality; and Extended Reality in Education and Learning.Part III: Transforming Research and Clinical Interventions with eXtended Reality.Part IV: Digital Twin: Innovative Approaches in Industry and Healthcare.Part V: eXtended Reality for Cultural Tourism Sustainability; eXtended Reality for Art, Design, and Entertainment; and Digital Twin and Smart Virtual Representations for Cultural Heritage.Part VI: Crafting Virtual Humans for Immersive XR Applications; and eXtended Reality for Serious Games.Part VII: Artificial Intelligence; Integrating Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision and Augmented Reality in Computer-Assisted Intervention; and AI-Driven XR Innovations in Healthcare: Bridging Technology and Ethics.
Proceedings of the 4th Annual International Conference on Material, Machines, and Methods for Sustainable Development: Volume 1: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering)
by Yun-Hae Kim Banh Tien Long Kozo Ishizaki Nguyen Thi Hong Minh Pham Duc An Ho Xuan Nang Pham Thanh Huy Kim Hyungsun Duc-Toan Nguyen Vu Van TruongThis book presents selected, peer-reviewed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Material, Machines and Methods for Sustainable Development (MMMS2024), held in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, from September 18 to 21, 2024. The conference establishes a comprehensive understanding of the key elements that drive sustainable development, with a particular focus on materials, machinery, and methodologies. Building on this foundation, the conference seeks to provide a holistic approach that guides policymakers, industries, and researchers in aligning local technological advancements with global sustainable development objectives. This alignment is intended to support informed decision-making that prioritizes greener solutions, particularly in relation to materials, machinery, and methods. The papers presented in Volume 1 of this proceedings collection reflect cutting-edge advancements in the fields of materials science and mechanical engineering. Contributions from scholars, research institutions, and industry experts cover a diverse range of topics, including electrodeposition of advanced alloys, optimization of 3D printing parameters for enhanced part quality, and deep learning models for surface roughness assessment. Significant attention is given to material innovations such as platinum-doped tin dioxide synthesis, as well as advanced modeling techniques for piezoactive composites used in energy harvesting systems. In the realm of mechanical engineering, several papers explore critical challenges such as the design and analysis of planetary gear systems with brakes, the development of non-circular gears for electric vehicle gearboxes, and the impact of mathematical transformers on predicting the limit strength of composite columns. Other contributions address structural responses of hybrid steel fiber-reinforced concrete under various conditions and advanced methodologies like using generative design for mechanical products. A significant portion of the research emphasizes material modeling, eco-material technologies, and sustainable manufacturing processes, with applications ranging from aerospace components to energy-efficient ship structures.
Logistics in the Modern Age (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Andreas Öchsner Azman Ismail Fatin Nur Zulkipli Muhammad Iqbal FirdausThis book delves into a diverse array of topics, from optimizing trucking haulage to analyzing the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction, spanning air cargo, e-commerce, shipping, and more. This book navigates through a series of meticulously researched chapters, uncovering the intricate web of factors that shape the logistics industry in the modern era. This book serves as an indispensable resource for logistics professionals, academics, and students. It is not just a glimpse into the industry's present and future; it is a roadmap for companies seeking to thrive in the ever-changing logistics landscape by prioritizing customer satisfaction and efficiency.
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Advances in Concrete, Structural, and Geotechnical Engineering—Volume 2: ACSGE 2024, BITS Pilani, India (Springer Proceedings in Materials #30)
by Shamsher Bahadur Singh Muthukumar Gopalarathnam Nishant RoyThis book consists of selected papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Advances in Concrete, Structural, and Geotechnical Engineering (ACSGE 2024) held at BITS, Pilani, India. The papers represent the latest research work in the fields of advanced composite materials, advanced computational techniques for structures, applications of nanotechnology in civil engineering, bridge engineering, composite structures, concrete technology, the fatigue life of structures, fire-resistant structures, functionally graded materials and structures, geotechnical processes, ground improvement techniques, offshore structures, performance-based design of structures, pre-cast pre-stressed concrete structures, seismic design, and construction, soil structure interaction, structural health assessment and rehabilitation, sustainability of construction, design, and management. The papers are presented by an international pool of academics, research scientists, and industrial experts and therefore cater to the global audience from the fields of construction materials, design guidelines, geotechnical engineering, concrete infrastructures, and structural engineering. This book is part of a 3-volume series of these conference proceedings, and it represents Volume 2 in the series.
Building Resilience into Production: Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Production Research (Lecture Notes in Production Engineering)
by Chin-Yin Huang Daniela Popescu Luis Quezada Mihai Dragomir Shun-Fung ChiuThis book contains the proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Production Research (ICPR). ICPR is a biennial conference that has been hosted for more than a half century. It is regarded worldwide as one of the leading conferences on production research, industrial engineering, and related subjects. This year&’s conference has a special focus on advances in production resilience through digital technologies, sustainability and the management of disruptive events. This book is of interest to researchers, students, and professionals in industry.
Architectural Research: An Academic Textbook for Students of Architecture (SpringerBriefs in Architectural Design and Technology)
by Tomasz E. MalecThis book introduces the basic principles and methods of scientific research in architecture. Due to the specificity of the creative process and the architectural industry, the presented issues have also been adapted to the needs of architecture teachers, architects active in the design market, and others interested in the topic. The first chapter explains four crucial research skills: focus, reasoning, critical thinking, and creativity, supported by ethics. The second chapter focuses on preparation for research by formulation of the research problem, hypothesis, and correlated research questions. The third chapter is an introductory part presenting the various classifications of architectural research and explaining the roots and significance of reasoning, creativity, and ethics. The fourth chapter presents the main research methods applicable to architecture, starting with the literature review. All of them can be modified and adjusted to ever-changing requirements. In the fifth chapter, visual tools are described for clearly presenting the research related issues. The sixth chapter is the introduction to academic writing. It includes the main rules of article preparation using elements such as abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, conclusions, references, and the application of citation styles. Additionally, this chapter is concerned with general requirements for critical review preparation.
Breaking the Law: Exposing the Weaponization of America's Legal System Against Donald Trump
by Alex MarlowAlex Marlow, editor-in-chief of Breitbart News and two-time New York Times bestselling author of the “must-read” (Peter Schweizer, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Breaking the News and Breaking Biden, returns with his third book: an intensely-researched examination into the legal cases against President Trump that threaten not only the conservative movement, but the concept of “law and order” itself. <p> Just as the political left uses the corporate media, academia, and the culture to advance their political agendas, they have found a new core American institution that they now exploit to expand their power: the legal system. Featuring Alex Marlow’s “prescient” (Tucker Carlson) insight, Breaking the Law effortlessly demonstrates how the American legal system has been weaponized against President Donald Trump on purely political grounds. Marlow delves into the history and origins of “lawfare&” debunks the notion that the “rule of law” was ever sacred to the American political left, and describes the superstructure—the donors, activists, and entities—that have made the legal system one of the left’s most potent political weapons. Finally, he makes bold predictions on where lawfare is heading (yes, they really are coming for you) and offers ways to fight its expanse…before it’s too late. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Champagne Letters: A Novel
by Kate MacIntoshPerfect for fans of bubbly wine and Kristin Harmel, this historical fiction novel follows Mme. Clicquot as she builds her legacy, and the modern divorcée who looks to her letters for inspiration.Reims, France, 1805: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot has just lost her beloved husband but is determined to pursue their dream of creating the premier champagne house in France, now named for her new identity as a widow: Veuve Clicquot. With the Russians poised to invade, competitors fighting for her customers, and the Napoleonic court politics complicating matters she must set herself apart quickly and permanently if she, and her business, are to survive. In present day Chicago, broken from her divorce, Natalie Taylor runs away to Paris. In a book stall by the Seine, Natalie finds a collection of the Widow Clicquot&’s published letters and uses them as inspiration to step out of her comfort zone and create a new, empowered life for herself. But when her Parisian escape takes a shocking and unexpected turn, she&’s forced to make a choice. Should she accept her losses and return home, or fight for the future she&’s only dreamed about? What would the widow do?
Capture or Kill: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Don Bentley (A Mitch Rapp Novel #23)
by Vince Flynn Don BentleyMitch Rapp faces an Iranian foe bent on destabilizing the Middle East in this &“bloody, electrifying adventure&” (The Real Book Spy) from Vince Flynn&’s #1 New York Times bestselling series, now written by the &“worthy successor to Tom Clancy&” (Publishers Weekly) Don Bentley.April 2011: On a remote mountaintop overlooking the remains of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, Azad Ashani witnesses the successful demonstration of a new weapons system meant to upend the American-led war in Afghanistan. Ashani, director of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security and Irene Kennedy&’s former back channel to the Iranian government, recognizes the demonstration&’s true significance, and the nation-ending conflict it will provoke. Alone, Ashani stands no chance of preventing this rush to madness. But with the help of one man, he just might. In Washington, DC, CIA director Irene Kennedy briefs the president that the operational window to kill or capture Osama bin Laden at his recently discovered compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan is rapidly closing. But before he&’ll authorize a commando raid on Pakistani soil, the president demands irrefutable proof of bin Laden&’s presence. Proof he trusts just one man to provide. Preventing a looming war in the Middle East while delivering justice for the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11 would be a big ask for anyone but Mitch Rapp isn&’t just anyone in this high-octane thriller that is perfect for &“action junkies&” (Kirkus Reviews).