"The general gave us a talk. He said the more Germans you kill, the quicker you're gonna get home."As a young anthropologist, Ian Cosh set out to document the memories of a little-known but costly World War II battle fought over Christmas in the Italian town of Ortona. His research took him across western Canada, and to Italy and Germany, interviewing veterans and civilians. In their stories, he encountered puzzling details—hints of things unspoke...

Ben Elrod is an Arkansas philanthropist, educator and Christian leader who spent over four decades investing in the lives of young men and women through Christian higher education. His life story will inspire future generations of leaders to live a life of impact for the kingdom of God. His lifes work was founded upon careful professional preparation followed by a relentless pursuit of excellence in all his assignments. Ben Elrod started and ended his higher education experience at Ouachit...

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned—about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have—in this life-changing classic."We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." —Randy PauschA lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And wh...

The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in which adventure and heartbreak combine to produce a unique form of wisdom. Until his death in 2005, he taught languages to ghetto kids, heads of industry and movie stars in a matter of days, succeeding even with people who considered themselves hopeless linguists. To those who have been taught by him, he seemed to be a miracle worker with a magical gift for unlocking the secret powers of the mind. This unique understanding was gained unde...

"Just Another Kid is not just another book. This remarkable teacher's memoir reminds us that love takes many forms." -The New York TimesFrom the bestselling author of One Child comes the true story of six children impossible to reach and the amazing teacher who embraced them all.Torey Hayden faced six emotionally troubled kids no other teacher could handle—three recent arrivals from battle-torn Northern Ireland, badly traumatized by the horrors of war; eleven-year-old Dirki...

The inspiring true story of how one special education teacher got his class to Space Camp—now a Hallmark Hall of Fame television event."A heartening story, sure to inspire other teachers struggling with students who often seem beyond their reach." — Teacher magazineMike Kersjes always believed that his students could do anything—even attend the prestigious Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, where some of America's best and brightest ...

Phil Done fixes staplers that won’t staple, zippers that won’t staple, and pokes pins in the caps of glue bottles that will not pour. He has sung “Happy Birthday” 657 times. A witness to the joys of learning, Done inspires readers with the everyday adventures and milestones of his 32 third graders in this irresistible collection of bite-sized essays.From the nervous first day of school to the hectic Halloween parade to the disastrous spring musical, Done connects w...

The fascinating life story of Satish Kumar – monk, peace activist, pilgrim and ecological campaigner.When he was only nine years old, Satish Kumar renounced the world and joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. Dissuaded from this path by an inner voice at the age of eighteen, he became a campaigner for land reform, working to turn Gandhi's vision of a renewed India into reality.Fired by the example of Bertrand Russell, he undertook a peace pilgrima...

From her dorm room at Princeton University, twenty-one-year-old college senior Wendy Kopp decided to launch a movement to improve public education in America. In One Day, All Children... , she shares the remarkable story of Teach For America, a non-profit organization that sends outstanding college graduates to teach for two years in the most under-resourced urban and rural public schools in America. The astonishing success of the program has proven it possible for children in low...

An insider's account of higher education from a legendary university leaderLessons Learned gives unprecedented access to the university president's office, providing a unique set of reflections on the challenges involved in leading both research universities and liberal arts colleges. In this landmark book, William Bowen, former president of Princeton University and of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and coauthor of the acclaimed bestseller The Shape ...

Starting in 1902 at a country school that had an enrollment of fourteen, Frank Boyden built an academy that has long since taken its place on a level with Andover and Exeter. Boyden, who died in 1972, was the school's headmaster for sixty-six years. John McPhee portrays a remarkable man "at the near end of a skein of magnanimous despots who...created enduring schools through their own individual energies, maintained them under their own absolute rule, and left them forever imprinted with t...

As Syria confronts an uncertain future, A House in Damascus seeks to balance the Western view with the lives and views of the everyday people living in the world’s oldest continuing capital city Drawn from the author's experiences occurring immediately before the 2011-2012 social and political upheaval, each story traces the Old City of Damascus and its people's present through the past, capturing the universal human element often missing from the strategic and political accounts.