Alan Axelrod
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Fought during 1916, the Battle of the Somme was conceived by the French and British as a great offensive to be waged against Germany even as France poured incredible numbers of men into the slaughterhouse that was the desperate defense of Verdun.
The French general-in-chief, Joseph "Papa" Joffre, was especially anxious to go on the offensive. For the French high command cherished the belief, born in the era of Napoleon, that the success of French...
The French general-in-chief, Joseph "Papa" Joffre, was especially anxious to go on the offensive. For the French high command cherished the belief, born in the era of Napoleon, that the success of French...
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100 Turning Points in American History is the first in a series of books about the critical decisions, events, inventions, and discoveries that shaped our nation, our world, and our civilization.
Each volume presents the stories of 100 decisions/events/ breakthroughs in chronological order and includes, as a special feature, a list of the "Top Ten" ranked in order of impact, with a discussion justifying the ranking. Each decision/event/breakthrough...
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Fourteen lessons to instruct, inspire, and encourage, drawn from the life and work of one of the twentieth century's true leaders.
Gandhi, a CEO? Absolutely, and an incomparable example for our uncertain times, when we need leaders we can trust and admire. Not only was he a moral and intensely spiritual man, but also a supremely practical manager and a powerful agent for change, able to nurture the rebirth of an entire nation.
To achieve this goal,...
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In brief, compelling, and inspiring vignettes, bestselling author and historian Alan Axelrod pinpoints and investigates the make-or-break event in the lives and careers of some of history's most significant figures. Axelrod explores the fascinating question of why the people who made history made their choices, and conveys the resonance of those choices today.
The forty-six profiles range from ancient times to the present day and include:
• Cleopatra's...
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The typical military history presents a chronicle of battles and wars and the commanders and troops who fought them. This book takes a different approach. It presents battles and wars and people aplenty, but they are not its ultimate subjects. This book is about the turning points that not only make military history dynamic but crucial to the story of humanity and civilization. This book is about the decisions, acts, innovations, errors, ideas, successes,...
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In an engrossing anecdotal format, historian and bestselling author Alan Axelrod turns to the dark side of audacious decision-making, and explores history's most tragic errors, the people who made them, and why they happened.
While Axelrod looks at the hopelessly dumb and the overtly evil, the main focus is on smart people who had the best of intentions, but whose plans went disastrously wrong. The 35 compelling stories include the sailing of the...
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Immediately after the armistice was signed in November, 1918, an American journalist asked Paul von Hindenburg who won the war against Germany. He was the chief of the German General Staff, co-architect with Erich Ludendorff of Germany's Eastern Front victories and its nearly war-winning Western Front offensives, and he did not hesitate in his answer. "The American infantry," he said. He made it even more specific, telling the reporter that the final...
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Few areas of human endeavor have produced more-or more colorful-terms than has the military. Soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen have over centuries come up with words, phrases, and acronyms to express everything from raw emotion to complex technology. The military is both a distinctive way of life and a community, and a command of its slang is essential to admission to full membership within the group.
Most military slang is almost always familiar...
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A fascinating look at the leadership style of the longest-ruling empress of Russia, from the bestselling author of Elizabeth I, CEO.
Catherine the Great traveled from Germany to Russia at only fourteen years of age, and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating rulers in history. In this book, historian Alan Axelrod profiles this strong and beloved leader, examining her qualities of intellect, heart, and character, and...
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An argument settler-and starter-for Civil War buffs who want to know which side had the better soldiers: Armies South, Armies North definitively compares the military forces of both sides.
Civil War buffs are always arguing over which side had the better soldiers. Armies South/Armies North by Alan Axelrod helps readers reconsider their understanding of America's most harrowing war. Axelrod is the author of more than one hundred books with a passion...
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The Cheaper the Crook, the Gaudier the Patter: Forgotten Hipster Lines, Tough Guy Talk, and Jive Gems explores the rich vocabulary of gangsters, hipsters, jazz musicians, and military personnel of the 1930s and '40s. Entries include definitions, etymology, and examples of usage. This delightful compendium celebrates the linguistic gems cut and polished during the Great Depression, World War I, and the postwar fifties-now forgotten or in danger of...
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Thanks to Julius Caesar, "crossing the Rubicon" has become a synonym for bold decision-making when the risks are great-but the rewards can be greater.
Now, historian and bestselling author Alan Axelrod analyzes the Roman emperor as a business leader, using an engaging, conversational style to explore six inspirational principles that constitute his guiding tenets. From this, Axelrod draws 92 lessons that modern business and other organizational leaders...
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General Patton said, "The soldier is the army." This book says, "People are the war." And even World War II – a conflict of unprecedented scope, magnitude, complexity, and devastation – was the work of individual political leaders, commanders, heroes, and villains. Here are the 30 people who were at the very heart of the world's deadliest and most consequential war, exposed, studied, and ranked according to influence by an author praised as "one...
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Strange facts and bizarre anecdotes from centuries of armed conflict fought with everything from machetes to machine guns.
In this thought-provoking and highly entertaining book, Alan Axelrod, author of “The Real History of World War II” and many other titles, takes a journey through some of the lesser-known aspects of military history. Discover over a hundred fascinating, startling, or just plain odd facts and stories:
• Commanders-the good,...
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A study of the leadership style of the incomparable Winston Churchill.
The quintessential twentieth-century leader Winston Churchill skillfully converted crisis into victory, making the boldest of visions seem attainable, even though he sometimes failed audaciously, he embraced his errors and used them to become stronger. In this book, historian Alan Axelrod looks at this much-studied figure in a way nobody has before: He explores 25 key facets of...
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With April 12, 2011, set to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, the time is ripe for a new assessment of the conflict's most influential and controversial military leaders. Generals South, Generals North highlights twenty-four such commanders-twelve each from the Confederacy and the Union. Best-selling author and military historian Alan Axelrod presents a biography of each, narrates the major engagements in which...
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What today's organizational leaders can learn from the commanding, colorful US President.
The twenty-sixth president of the United States was a gifted leader. Before he was elected to office, he led the famed Rough Riders during the Spanish-American war, and once in the White House, he succeeded in bringing together workers and business owners to settle their differences as well as greatly expanding the country's priceless national parks. Many historians...
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The Great War ate men, machines, and money without mercy or remission. At the end of 1915, the German army chief of staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, believed he knew how to finally kill the beast and win the war.
On Christmas day, 1915, Falkenhayn sent a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm II proposing a campaign to demoralize Britain, whose industrial might and maritime power were the foundation of the alliance against Germany, while also knocking France out of...
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The man who would prevail in a war for independence came of age not through easy victory but in triumphal defeat. A Blooding at Great Meadows is a unique look at the founding father as a young, inexperienced military leader with many lessons yet to learn but already possessed of the character to learn them.
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As commander of the Third Army, General George S. Patton, Jr.'s wartime success inspired the remarkable performance of his troops, and the grudging admiration of his enemies. Having stormed across France and Germany with lightning speed, Patton revealed himself as a courageous warrior, a gifted strategist, an inspiring communicator, a masterful motivator, and, most importantly, a brilliant leader. Patton On Leadership distills Patton's brilliance...