The story of Captain D. Michael Abrashoff and his command ofUSS Benfold has become legendary inside and outside the Navy. NowAbrashoff offers this fascinating tale of top-down change foranyone trying to navigate today's uncertain business seas. WhenCaptain Abrashoff took over as commander of USS Benfold, a shiparmed with every cutting-edge system available, it was like abusiness that had all the latest technology but only some of theproductivity. Knowing that responsibility for improving performancerested with him, he realized he had to improve his own leadershipskills before he could improve his ship. Within months he created acrew of confident and inspired problem-solvers eager to take theinitiative and take responsibility for their actions. The slogan onboard became "It's your ship," and Benfold was soon recognized farand wide as a model of naval efficiency. How did Abrashoff do it?Against the backdrop of today's United States Navy-Benfold was akey player in our Persian Gulf fleet-Abrashoff shares h

When long-time bachelor Gunder Jomann goes to India for twoweeks and comes home married, the town of Elvestad is stunned.Then, on the day the Indian bride is supposed to arrive, thebattered body of a woman is found on the outskirts of town. The"good people of Elvestad" can't believe that anyone among themcould be capable of such a brutal murder. But in his quiet way,Inspector Konrad Sejer understands that no one is completelyinnocent--not the cafe owner who knows too much, the girl who wantsthe attention that comes with being a witness, or the bodybuilderwith no outlet for his terrible strength. In "The Indian Bride,"one of Europe's most successful crime writers has crafted anotherchilling page-turner.

Marcus Didius Falco,once a common informer,now middle class,discovers that newly acpquired rank brings saaociated problems,the most gruesome of which is a corpse buried under the tiles of his new bath house.The contractors have fled to Britain where,as the Fates have it ,Falco is ordered. A local chief and ally of the Romans is having a Palace built by the Emperor Vespasian.However the Project is running late,work is slipshod,and fatal accidents keep happenig.Somewhere on site are the murderers who may be behind this latest spate of killings.Somewhere in the forefront,trouble-shooting for the Emperor is Falco,Whithout an ally and now next to the list for assassination. 作者简介: Lindsey Davis's first Falco novel, The Silver Pigs, was published in 1989. Since then, her novel Two For the Lions won the inaugural Ellis Peters Historical Dagger in 1998, and in 1999 she received the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective for her creation, Marcus Didius Falco. Lindsey's last ten novels have all

If you had to pick the top-ten iconic sporting events, whatwould they be? Jim Gorant asked himself this question, and theanswer resulted in a yearlong journey into the heart of sports.From the Kentucky Derby to the Super Bowl, from a day game atWrigley Field to a fortnight at Wimbledon, from the NCAA Final Fourto the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, Gorant takes us along forthe ride, evoking the best (and sometimes the worst) sports has tooffer. He enters the inner sanctum of NASCAR, witnesses JackNicklaus teeing off for the last time at the Masters, and takespart in one of college football’s biggest rivalries—Ohio Stateversus Michigan. Fanatic is a rollicking story of the ultimatesports road trip. Jim Gorant captures these ten unforgettableevents in all their color and commotion and gives sports fanseverywhere reason to cheer.

Embodying the confusions between what is "lifelike" and what is alive, robots have always held an anxious fascination. When eighteenth-century physicians described the body as a complex piece of machinery, the stage was set for inventors like Jacques de Vaucanson, who thrilled Paris with a flute-playing android, and Wolfgang von Kempelen, whose chess-playing automaton took on the best players of its time. Deftly balancing historical detail with provocative meditations on the reception accorded such marvels, Wood then traces the development of subsequent imitations of life, such as the talking doll designed by Thomas Edison and the magic-filled films of Georges Méliès. Her contention that in the twentieth century human freaks came to seem more uncanny than machines may not entirely persuade, but the exotic particulars—especially those pertaining to a group of circus midgets called the Doll Family—more than make up for this inconsistency.

When Julia Child told Dorie Greenspan, “You write recipes justthe way I do,” she paid her the ultimate compliment. Julia’s praisewas echoed by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, whichreferred to Dorie’s “wonderfully encouraging voice” and “the senseof a real person who is there to help should you stumble.” Now in a big, personal, and personable book, Dorie captures allthe excitement of French home cooking, sharing disarmingly simpledishes she has gathered over years of living in France. Around My French Table includes many superb renditions of thegreat classics: a glorious cheese-domed onion soup, a spoon-tenderbeef daube, and the “top-secret” chocolate mousse recipe that everygood Parisian cook knows—but won’t reveal. Hundreds of other recipes are remarkably easy: a cheese and olivequick bread, a three-star chef’s Basque potato tortilla made with asurprise ingredient (potato chips), and an utterly satisfying roastchicken for “lazy people.”

The Fortress of Solitude is the story of Dylan Ebdus growingup white and motherless in downtown Brooklyn in the 1970s. It's aneighborhood where the entertainments include muggings along withgames of stoopball. In that world, Dylan has one friend, a blackteenager, also motherless, named Mingus Rude. As Lethem follows theknitting and unraveling of their friendship, he creates anoverwhelmingly rich and emotionally gripping canvas of race andclass, superheros, gentrification, funk, hip-hop, graffiti tagging,loyalty, and memory. The Fortress of Solitude" "is the first greaturban coming of age novel to appear in years.

作者简介： J. K. (Jo) Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury in the UK in 1965. Such a funny-sounding name for a birthplace may have contributed to her talent for collecting odd names. She was quiet, freckly, short-sighted and not very good at sports. She even broke her arm playing netball. Her favourite subject by far was English, but she also liked languages. Jo always loved writing more than anything. 'The first story that I ever wrote down, when I was five or six, was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee. And ever since Rabbit and Miss Bee, I have wanted to be a writer, though I rarely told anyone so. I was afraid they'd tell me I didn't have a hope.' As she got older, Jo kept writing but she never showed what she had written to anyone, except for some of her funny stories that featured her friends as heroines. Jo attended the University of Exeter in Devon where she studied French. When she was 25,

Dorie Greenspan has written recipes for the most eminent chefsin the world: Pierre Herme, Daniel Boulud, and arguably thegreatest of them all, Julia Child, who once told Dorie, "You writerecipes just the way I do." Her recipe writing has won widespreadpraise for its literate curiosity and "patient but exuberantstyle." (One hard-boiled critic called it "a joy forever.") InBaking: From My Home to Yours, her masterwork, Dorie applies thelessons from three decades of experience to her first and reallove: home baking. The 300 recipes will seduce a new generation ofbakers, whether their favorite kitchen tools are a bowl and a whiskor a stand mixer and a baker's torch. Even the most homey of therecipes are very special. Dorie's favorite raisin swirl bread. Bigspicy muffins from her stint as a baker in a famous New York Cityrestaurant. French chocolate brownies (a Parisian pastry chefbegged for the recipe). A dramatic black and white cake for a "wow"occasion. Pierre Herme's extraordinary lemon tart.The generoushelpi

From America's most inventive novelist, Jonathan Lethem, comesthis compelling and compulsive riff on the classic detective novel.Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn's very own self-appointed HumanFreakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark,count, and rip apart our language in startling and original ways.Together with three veterans of the St. Vincent's Home for Boys, heworks for small-time mobster Frank Minna's limo service cumdetective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King ofBrooklyn, would be unimaginable, so who cares if the tasks he setsthem are, well, not exactly legal. But when Frank is fatallystabbed, one of Lionel's colleagues lands in jail, the other twovie for his position, and the victim's widow skips town. Lionel'sworld is suddenly topsy-turvy, and this outcast who has troubleeven conversing attempts to untangle the threads of the case whiletrying to keep the words straight in his head. Motherless Brooklynis a brilliantly original homage to the classic detective novel b

The Spartans is a compelling narrative that explores theculture and civilization of the most famous "warrior people": theSpartans of ancient Greece, by the world's leading expert in thefield. Sparta has often been described as the original Utopia--aremarkably evolved society whose warrior heroes were forbidden anyother trade, profession, or business. As a people, the Spartanswere the living exemplars of such core values as duty, discipline,the nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for, sacrificing theindividual for the greater good of the community (illustrated bytheir role in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph of willover seemingly insuperable obstacles--qualities that today arefrequently believed to signify the ultimate heroism. Paul Cartledgeis the distinguished scholar and historian who has long been seenas the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. He tracesthe evolution of Spartan society--the culture and the people, aswell as the tremendous influence they had on their worl

戏剧与现实交错的杰作在雷格纳·希尔部推理小说《喜欢交际的女人》里，他创造的一对独特的侦探搭档也首度登场。一位是心宽体胖、好色贪怀、爱斗嘴耍活宝的刑事主任达尔齐尔，另一位则是教养优雅、学识丰富的警官帕斯科。自从柯南·道尔创造了华生医生作为神探福尔摩斯的搭档之后，推理小说家就经常使用这种对比手法，用一位“次要而平凡”的角色来衬托神探的不凡。这些二号人物有时候是侦探的朋友，有时候是记者，有时候是助手或忠仆，但多半不脱烘托主角的功能。但雷格纳·希尔采取了另外一种途径：他让侦探的搭档有能力也有作用，甚至是重要的互补，没有对方彼此都不是完整的；他又让两人的文化特质与思考形态南辕北辙，比较与冲突的趣味因而源源不绝。仅此一项，就是希尔对推理小说的重大贡献。希尔的小说结构复杂紧凑，在我们要读的

Uncle Daniel Ponder, whose fortune is exceeded only by hisdesire to give it away, is a source of vexation for his niece, EdnaEarle. Uncle Daniel's trial for the alleged murder of hisseventeen-year-old bride is a comic masterpiece. Awarded theWilliam Dean Howells Medal of the american Academy of Arts andLetters. Drawings by Joe Krush.

Yochanan Rivlin, a professor at Haifa University, is a man ofboundless and often naive curiosity. His wife, Hagit, a districtjudge, is tolerant of almost everything but her husband's faultsand prevarications. Frequent arguments aside, they are awell-adjusted couple with two grown sons.When one of Rivlin'sstudents-a young Arab bride from a village in the Galilee-isassigned to help with his research in recent Algerian history, atwo-pronged mystery develops. As they probe the causes of thebloody Algerian civil war, Rivlin also becomes obsessed with hisson's failed marriage. Rivlin's search leads to a number ofimprobable escapades. In this comedy of manners, at once deeplyserious and highly entertaining, Yehoshua brilliantly portrayscharacters from disparate sectors of Israeli life, united above allby a very human desire for, and fear of, the truth in politics andlife.

A sexy new voice in erotica delivers a hot twist on theholidays. This season, the only gift attorney Isabella Andreuwants to unwrap is Navy SEAL Justin Rourke. She never set out tobed her sexy childhood rival over the holidays, but when a blizzardhits their sleepy hometown, she weathers the storm with Justin, andgives in to long- suppressed desires. Then Justin learns that hehas only twelve nights before he's deployed on another high-riskmission. Now, only one thing is certain-Isabella and Justin are infor twelve steamy, sexy, unforgettably wicked nights.

The first novella, "Tell Me," explores a callowundergraduate's initiation into the mysteries of sex, death, andthe Heroic Cycle. The second novella, "I've Been Told," traces noless than the history of storytelling and examines innocence andmodernity, ignorance and self-consciousness. And the three elderlysisters of the third novella, "As I Was Saying . . . ," record anoral history of their youthful muse-like services to (andservicings of) a subsequently notorious and now mysteriouslyvanished novelist. Sexy, humorous, and brimming with Barth's deepintelligence and playful irreverence, Where Three Roads Meet willsurely delight loyal fans and draw new ones.

Borrowing on your credit cards? Saving instead of investing?Caring for others financially and ignoring your own needs? Thethings you learned as a girl may be preventing you from becomingfinancially independent and following your own dreams. Nowbestselling author Lois Frankel tackles the outdated concepts thatkeep you from having the wealth you deserve, and she offerstried-and-true coaching tips to help you take control of your moneyand your life. Discover all the "nice girl" behaviors-and how toovercome them today!

India Palmer, living the cash-strapped existence of thewriter, is visiting wealthy friends in Maine when a yellow biplaneswoops down from the clear blue sky to bring a stranger into herlife, one who will change everything. The stranger is Win Johns, aswaggering and intellectually bored trader of mortgage-backedsecurities. Charmed by India's intelligence, humor, and inquisitivenature--and aware of her near-desperate financial situation--Winposes a proposition: "Give me eighteen months and I'll make you aworld-class bond trader." Shedding her artist's life withsurprising ease, India embarks on a raucous ride to the top of theincome chain, leveraging herself with crumbling real estate, neveronce looking back . . . Or does she?With a light-handed irony thatis by turns as measured as Claire Messud's and as biting as TomWolfe's, Martha McPhee tells the classic American story of peoplereinventing themselves, unaware of the price they must pay fortheir transformation.