Captain In The Cauldron

"John Smit is the world's most capped Test captain and an icon of South African rugby. Under his leadership the Springboks have won a World Cup, two Tri-Nations titles and a Test series against the British & Irish Lions."--Back cover.

Pursued by the interplanetary police for a crime he did not commit, space traveller Tyg is forced down on the planet Storm, where he finds a revolution brewing among the Tadda against King Caiman, the planet's tyrannical ruler. He must prove his innocence of the crime with which he is charged, as he fights for survival beneath the Storm's seething oceans, where the very existence of the Tadda is threatened by the deadly undersea volcano known as NEPTUNE'S CAULDRON.

A bold new theory of leadership drawn from elite captains throughout sports—named one of the best business books of the year by CNBC, The New York Times, Forbes, strategy+business, The Globe and Mail, and Sports Illustrated “The book taught me that there’s no cookie-cutter way to lead. Leading is not just what Hollywood tells you. It’s not the big pregame speech. It’s how you carry yourself every day, how you treat the people around you, who you are as a person.”—Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, Chicago Bears Now featuring analysis of the five-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and their captain, Tom Brady The seventeen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common: Each employed the same type of captain—a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies. Drawing on original interviews with athletes, general managers, coaches, and team-building experts, Sam Walker identifies the seven core qualities of the Captain Class—from extreme doggedness and emotional control to tactical aggression and the courage to stand apart. Told through riveting accounts of pressure-soaked moments in sports history, The Captain Class will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like. Praise for The Captain Class “Wildly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . makes you reexamine long-held beliefs about leadership and the glue that binds winning teams together.”—Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations, Chicago Cubs “If you care about leadership, talent development, or the art of competition, you need to read this immediately.”—Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code “The insights in this book are tremendous.”—Bob Myers, general manager, Golden State Warriors “An awesome book . . . I find myself relating a lot to its portrayal of the out-of the-norm leader.”—Carli Lloyd, co-captain, U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team “A great read . . . Sam Walker used data and a systems approach to reach some original and unconventional conclusions about the kinds of leaders that foster enduring success. Most business and leadership books lapse into clichés. This one is fresh.”—Jeff Immelt, chairman and former CEO, General Electric “I can’t tell you how much I loved The Captain Class. It identifies something many people who’ve been around successful teams have felt but were never able to articulate. It has deeply affected my thoughts around how we build our culture.”—Derek Falvey, chief baseball officer, Minnesota Twins

In August 1942, the Allies launched a raid against the German-held port of Dieppe on the French channel coast. It was largely a disaster, with the Canadian forces bearing the brunt of the catastrophe. However, it wasn't all a failure, and history has tended to overlook the role of 4 Commando, who, along with their US Ranger counter-parts, landed and successfully disabled the German guns threatening the rest of the landings. Their actions proved an excellent demonstration of the military adage “train hard, fight easy” and showed the advantage of proper operational planning and brilliant leadership. This controversial raid also included members of the Free French and it was the first time US land forces engaged the Germans on mainland Europe. Set in the context of the Dieppe raid as a whole, Will Fowler studies the contribution of No. 4 Commando and Operation Cauldron, and evaluates how and why they achieved their objectives in this daring Commando raid of World War II.

If Not This Dream is an 1134-page fast-paced novel, presented in three books. In The Hausas Màdawwàri chieftain Zaki sacrifices his eldest son to save the rest of his villagers from 1807 Oyo slave raiders in Northeast Nigeria. The Oyos are led by Atticus Clarke, an English slaver, making his first middle passage with his new ship, Na’imah. Zaki promises his people that he will return one day in flesh or in spirit. His dream will be passed down five generations in his family. The twenty Hausas are taken from their little village in northeast Nigeria to the seaport at Lagos. The slaves spend weeks inside Na’imah’s belly, chained hands and feet in the tall ship, on their passage to Charleston, South Carolina. Na’imah stops at Havana, Cuba, where Clarke purchases sixty-seven additional slaves and crams them into Na’imah’s hold. In Charleston, Na’imah is met by William Biggs, a cotton and tobacco farmer who has ordered twenty Hausa Africans to work on his plantation. He pays $5000 for Zaki and $1500 each for his nineteen villagers. He also buys twenty-five additional slaves at $400 a head. Biggs invests $43,500 for fifty slaves to work his plantation. Through the years Biggs maintains a pure bloodline of Hausas. He breeds Zaki to handpicked non-Hausas in exchange for allowing the big Hausa to begin his own family with a female from his African village. Biggs trains Zaki to slowly manage the rest of the slaves as they work the cotton and tobacco fields. Nabilah, an overweight house slave, manages the day-to-day maintenance of the Biggs mansion. Biggs also puts her in charge of pairing male and female slaves and keeping records of their bloodlines. Book one chronicles the parallel lives of both the Biggs and Zaki families from 1807 to the present day.

Lunarbre, a lonely eighteenth-century Louisiana island, has been blessed with the gift of resurrection after death, bestowed by the lovely spirit, Lorelei. The islanders may live as they please, unable to remain dead, as long as they stay on the shore of her power. Yet the taste of eternal life has held all in repetition for years and begins to lose its flavour with a few of its citizens. Jackson Grimm, the doctor and undertaker, has fallen in love with Lorelei at the crossroads of death but is unable to fully be with her. William Moreau, captain of the island's militia, has grown cruel with the impatience of a stagnated life. Edith Moreau, wife of William, longs to save what is left of their relationship. And Cosette Giroux, the island's prostitute and drunk, is seen as a mockery of her ancestor, Lorelei, and has thus lost respect for herself. When a situation arises and islanders start perishing permanently, it's up to the four of them to discover what has occurred with Lorelei before death embraces them all.

The epic finale of the New York Times bestselling sequel series to Fablehaven from author Brandon Mull. The magical world teeters on the brink of collapse. The Dragon King, Celebrant, has united the dragons into a vengeful army, and only a final artifact stands in the way of them unleashing their fury against humankind. With established allegiances shifting under the strain, Seth and Kendra find themselves in desperate need of new allies. Seth must face his most dangerous quest—the fulfillment of his pledge to the Singing Sisters. With only Calvin the Tiny Hero at his side, Seth needs to collect the pieces of the Ethergem, including the stones from the crowns of the Dragon King, the Giant Queen, and the Demon King. Halfway across the world, Kendra finds herself torn between her duty to Dragonwatch and her desire to rescue Bracken. Can she challenge Ronodin’s control of the fairy realm without leaving the five legendary dragon slayers to be hunted by Celebrant and his sons? Left behind at Titan Valley, Knox and Tess must survive the aftermath of the Giant Queen’s fall. Will the secret crown in Knox’s possession prove too much for him to handle?

There's nothing glorious about war-despite what movies and books often show. Military veteran and author Jason Lambright shares its ugly side in the sci-fi novel The Captain's Cauldron. Captain Paul Thompson can't just shake off the rigors of war after his combat on Juneau 3, and his injuries are severe enough that his military career may be over. But the trauma runs even deeper-impacting not only him, but also those he loves. Paul finds his way back thanks to his family and treatment at a veterans hospital. He marries his high school sweetheart, and life is good. But the happiness is short-lived when Paul and other humans hear that telepathic aliens nicknamed the Harpies have invaded the distant world of Brasilia 4. Soon Paul is recalled to service to lead a company in Operation Cyclone and take back the planet. Casualties mount as the battalion faces new dangers. It will take all Paul has to make it through. Both the grit and the sorrow of war come alive in Lambright's gripping novel about what it's really like to fight on the front lines-and how the struggle isn't over once a soldier returns home.