The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason and Suze Orman

 

 

Beloved by millions, George S. Clason’s classic business book reveals the financial principles that hold the key to personal wealth—now with a new introduction by Suze Orman.
 
THE SUCCESS SECRETS OF THE ANCIENTS—AN ASSURED ROAD TO HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY
 
Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,” hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime.

This is the business book that holds the secrets to keeping your money—and making more. May they prove for you, as they have proven for millions of others, a sure key to gratifying financial progress.

American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White

 

 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America’s greatest generals—and most misunderstood presidents

Winner of the William Henry Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography • Finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Military History Book Prize

In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the “Trinity of Great American Leaders.” But the battlefield commander–turned–commander-in-chief fell out of favor in the twentieth century. In American Ulysses, Ronald C. White argues that we need to once more revise our estimates of him in the twenty-first.

Based on seven years of research with primary documents—some of them never examined by previous Grant scholars—this is destined to become the Grant biography of our time. White, a biographer exceptionally skilled at writing momentous history from the inside out, shows Grant to be a generous, curious, introspective man and leader—a willing delegator with a natural gift for managing the rampaging egos of his fellow officers. His wife, Julia Dent Grant, long marginalized in the historic record, emerges in her own right as a spirited and influential partner.

Grant was not only a brilliant general but also a passionate defender of equal rights in post-Civil War America. After winning election to the White House in 1868, he used the power of the federal government to battle the Ku Klux Klan. He was the first president to state that the government’s policy toward American Indians was immoral, and the first ex-president to embark on a world tour, and he cemented his reputation for courage by racing against death to complete his Personal Memoirs. Published by Mark Twain, it is widely considered to be the greatest autobiography by an American leader, but its place in Grant’s life story has never been fully explored—until now.

One of those rare books that successfully recast our impression of an iconic historical figure, American Ulysses gives us a finely honed, three-dimensional portrait of Grant the man—husband, father, leader, writer—that should set the standard by which all future biographies of him will be measured.

Praise for American Ulysses

“[Ronald C. White] portrays a deeply introspective man of ideals, a man of measured thought and careful action who found himself in the crosshairs of American history at its most crucial moment.”—USA Today

“White delineates Grant’s virtues better than any author before. . . . By the end, readers will see how fortunate the nation was that Grant went into the world—to save the Union, to lead it and, on his deathbed, to write one of the finest memoirs in all of American letters.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Ronald White has restored Ulysses S. Grant to his proper place in history with a biography whose breadth and tone suit the man perfectly. Like Grant himself, this book will have staying power.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Magisterial . . . Grant’s esteem in the eyes of historians has increased significantly in the last generation. . . . [American Ulysses] is the newest heavyweight champion in this movement.”—The Boston Globe 

“Superb . . . illuminating, inspiring and deeply moving.”—Chicago Tribune

“In this sympathetic, rigorously sourced biography, White . . . conveys the essence of Grant the man and Grant the warrior.”—Newsday

 

A Soldier's Tale of Combating Hangovers: Debauchery Before the Internet by S D Turner

 

 

"I simply could not put it down-marvelous storytelling. This book makes you want more. Aside from being incredibly funny, S.D. Turner honors America's soldiers past and present. I could see A Soldier's Tale of Combating Hangovers being adapted into a mini-series."

- MAJ Donald "Captain Hand-grenade" Vandergriff, MA, FRSA, US Army (Ret)

A Soldier's Tale of Combating Hangovers: Debauchery Before the Internet is the funniest damn book you'll ever read about the military. S.D. Turner, in his debut memoir, brilliantly captures the mood and spirit of life in the early 1990s. After signing up for the Army's delayed entry program at sixteen years old, he found himself at Kentucky's Fort Knox a week after his eighteenth birthday. As a new recruit, the story starts with him running from irate drill sergeants and ends with him running from 1,800-pound angry bulls in the cobbled streets of Pamplona, Spain.

Part One follows his 4-month training cycle where the recruits are at the hands of the drill sergeants and every torturous, but funny punishment they can dole out. Having come from a long line of service members, S.D. Turner breaks down the hysterical irony of it all in perfect fashion, as he masterfully puts the encoded world of the military into a language that civilians will understand and service members, young and old, will appreciate. It's a page-turner that will have you wanting more.

Part(y) Two finds our author stationed in the beer capital of the world-Germany. As a newly minted soldier on his first night in Europe, he wasted no time in drinking too much, as he defiles a First Sergeant's boots with pizza and beer. Follow along as he finds his first experiences, like driving on the famed Autobahn, mostly-naked, in a 10-ton Army truck, and with an audience of French tourist buses, are usually down-right laughable. He guarantees you will look at soldiers in trucks very differently. Beer fests, an unauthorized weekend in Amsterdam, being chased by the German Polizei and Military Police in one night all happened before the advent and proof of the internet.

Aside from being laugh-out-loud, the story, interestingly, is not all beer brawls and bull fights. The subtle theme is the author's reflective quality on character and the bonds of brotherhood that were developed, while their mostly innocent and youthful spirits soared in the moment. As WWII was less than a half-century removed, the rich European history they lived and breathed was not in the least lost on the author. S.D. Turner and company literally walked the hallowed footsteps of Patton at the Battle of the Bulge, slept in barracks still adorned with Swastikas, and hiked a section of the D-Day invasion.

The humor is a constant throughout the book, but the subtle theme that every service member can appreciate, is the one quality that defines them as soldiers, airmen and airwomen, marines and sailors-adaptability in every situation. The author has seemingly pulled back the curtain into not only the past, but into a world about the military that few knew existed-the funnier side of all the guns, guts, and glory.

America is wrought with warrior heroes, and having only combated hangovers in Europe, the author pays a fitting tribute to the humor of life as a soldier. Sit back and enjoy this hilarious and unbelievable journey and meet some of his closest brothers in the storyline, as they regularly hold reunions.