Grabbing the Brass Ring is an epic Homeric tale of a complex and enigmatic man, Richard Mansan - a front-line fighter, an adventurer, and a natural leader. In a time close to ours...on a world not unlike our own...Mansan is either blessed or cursed with the ability to clearly see the inevitable consequences of mankind's actions, choices, and hubris - a vision shared by no one else. As a result of serendipity or design, he finds himself inextricably entwined with the major leaders of the day. Yet, despite the benefit of his friendship and counsel, as well as their own valiant efforts, they are unable to stem the tide of events as the world catapults madly to an unavoidable fate. A story of power, war, greed, ignorance, pride, and redemption, Grabbing the Brass Ring will give the reader a glimpse at the worst...and the best within all of us. After a phenomenal career as a legendary football player, record-setting track and field star, powerhouse wrestler and weightlifter, and multi-titled heavyweight boxing champion - Michael Earl Nolan joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1941. He fought at Guadalcanal, Bougainville with the famed Raiders, and Iwo Jima, rising from private to captain during the war, and retiring a major. With an amazing life that spanned hopping freight trains in the 1930s to becoming the highly respected civil engineer responsible for the massive Coronado National Forest, Nolan was a fascinating individual, a sensitive and prophetic novelist, a devoted family man and friend. To this day, he remains an inspiration, a real-life hero in every sense of the word.

In Michael Earl Craig’s sixth book, poems resonate with an inscrutable logic that feels excitedly otherworldly and unsettlingly familiar. Whether he be writing about the cadaver that Hans Holbein the Younger used as a model, Montana as the “Italy of God,” or the milking rituals in Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Iggy Horse is a book that articulates the sadness and strangeness of American life with the poetic observations of true satire.

With his fifth collection of poems, Michael Earl Craig delivers a fresh set of tableaux that have us squinting aslant at the ordinary. Dexterously constructed, the scenes, conversations, letters, instructions, stories, bios, and little fables of Woods and Clouds Interchangeable twist the comedic into shapes of startling seriousness, making us laugh at the same time they widen the dimensions of the world we live in.

"An academic career was in front of me, but I sampled the oil and gas industry and stayed. Thirty years later I became CEO of an international company based in Greece." Michael Earle's story is full of exploration and adventure from beginning to end. He witnessed the aftermath of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and felt the threat of nuclear war between Pakistan and India; in the Sahara Desert he crossed a minefield in the war zone between Libya and Chad, and he was attacked by gigantic hornets in the spectacular mountains of Papua New Guinea - all in the line of duty. Extensive international travel came with the territory, and the narrative contains interesting portraits of many countries, and insights into the pros and cons of expatriate life. Finally, I am CEO recounts the hard lessons learned at each stage of a tortuous path through corporate life, and how passion for work and the need to support a family strained marriages and determined career choices.

This volume offers a description of the current state of the art in information technology, whose contributors include academics and businessmen from around the world. It is based on the first annual PA conference on information management in Oxford, jointly sponsored by the Oxford Institute of Information Management and PA Computers and Telecommunications. A principal objective was to identify areas in need of further research. Topics covered include the place of technology in corporate strategy, the use of IT to gain competitive advantage, the formulation of information systems strategies, competitive dynamics in the use of value-added networks, strategies for end-user computing, leadership in information management and the development of IT human resources. Case studies are presented from Ford in Europe, ICI, Volvo and the UK Inland Revenue.

"Reality may be stranger than fiction, but Michael Earl Craig's poems make a laudable effort to even the score. Quite possibly the funniest poet writing today, Craig's unadorned poetry tends toward the deadpan and the offbeat, with an almost David Lynch-like sense of the uncanny."--"The Believer"

"I like being in the world of Michael Craig's poems. Anything can happen, and probably will, and it will affect me in small or large ways that I couldn't have imagined. The precision of their imagery keeps me reeling with delight."--James Tate

Michael Earl Craig furthers his existential, Lynchian leanings with masterfully composed new poems. He has borrowed the everyday and returned it defamiliarized, dark, and droll. Readers are ushered out of their contemporary bustle and into the intimate viewing room that is Craig's cinematic fourth collection.

Wild for the Lord: "

Someone is sitting on a tall stool before me.

I have just very carefully cut
my best friend's wife's bangs.

My watch feels like a small corpse on my wrist tonight."

Michael Earl Craig is the author of "Thin Kimono," "Yes, Master," "Can You Relax in My House," and the chapbook "Jombang Jet." He lives in the Shields Valley, near Livingston, Montana.

The last five decades have seen a sea-change in business and in management studies. The world of business has been transformed by powerful forces: globalization, IT, outsourcing and all manner of organizational reshaping and flattening. At the same time Management Studies has seen a massive expansion in courses, students and teachers, driven in part by a quest for new and broader models. The ground covered by Management Studies, and the way Management Studies maps this, have changed.
This book, written by specialist experts, analyses these developments in Management Studies, giving a concise guide to specific areas. Working from the broader global and technological context, it explores a range of sectors - private, public and professional - and conclude by examining specific functions involved in management, such as Corporate Strategy, Information Technology, Operations Management, and Marketing.
The authors are all associated with Templeton College at the University of Oxford, a school known for its close work with managers, companies, and other types of organizations, through its executive education programs and high-impact business research. This experience, and its specialist knowledge, leaves it uniquely positioned to chronicle and comment on the development of the discipline of management studies and point the way ahead.

If you enjoyed A Christmas Carol, you will be touched by The Switch. It is the story of Mark Gilbert, who was born with a heart defect. His health and his life was severely impaired by his medical condition and by the time Mark reaches his early twenties, his life is virtually at an end. However, a very special someone has been observing Mark's struggle, and at the brink of his death, that someone comes to Mark with an astonishing offer. A switch is proposed. The someone will absorb Mark's illness and replace it with perfect health. There is only one condition: The gift is good for one week only. For the first time in his life, Mark experiences the precious gift of health, the most priceless gift any of us can possess. His life is transformed, but there is one looming question: What happens at the end of the week?

Grabbing the Brass Ring is an epic Homeric tale of a complex and enigmatic man, Richard Mansan - a front-line fighter, an adventurer, and a natural leader. In a time close to ours...on a world not unlike our own... Mansan is either blessed or cursed with the ability to clearly see the inevitable consequences of mankind's actions, choices, and hubris - a vision shared by no one else. As a result of serendipity or design, he finds himself inextricably entwined with the major leaders of the day. Yet, despite the benefit of his friendship and counsel, as well as their own valiant efforts, they are unable to stem the tide of events as the world catapults madly to an unavoidable fate. A story of power, war, greed, ignorance, pride, and redemption, Grabbing the Brass Ring will give the reader a glimpse at the worst...and the best within all of us.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Ye Who Heed A Nation's Call And Speed To Arms Therefor, Ye Who Fear Your Children's March To Perils Of The War,-- Soldiers Of The Deck And Camp And Mothers Of Our Men, Hearken To A Tale Of France And Tell It Oft Again.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

Ye Who Heed A Nation's Call And Speed To Arms Therefor, Ye Who Fear Your Children's March To Perils Of The War, -- Soldiers Of The Deck And Camp And Mothers Of Our Men, Hearken To A Tale Of France And Tell It Oft Again