Dear Listener,We see you, a would-be but reluctant swimmer, standing at the edge of the pool, toes curled around the concrete lip, hesitating.Let us say this:Timidity is not helpful here. Just dive in.LISTEN TO THE BLASTED BOOK!(We are not angry, just wanting to convey emphasis.).- PlinyThat is Pliny, the voice that introduced itself to me several years ago as the collecti...

Milam County, located in the heart of Central Texas, is home to 18 historic bridges that were constructed through the years to accommodate the growth of the county. One bridge, Worley Bridge, has been fully restored in a cooperative effort between Milam County and the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT). TXDOT is an important partner in the preservation of these historic structures. Memories of some bridges will be preserved in a bridge park, which is being constructed in Rockdale. ...

The Royal Road of the Tejas Indians, El Camino Real de los Tejas, was born hundreds of years ago when the Native Americans followed routes used by buffalo and other animals, realizing that these early creatures knew the best paths to take. Also known as Kings Highway, it later became a major thoroughfare used by travelers from the East coming to Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico. In 2004, El Camino Real de los Tejas took on new meaning when the historical road was designated as the 19th Nationa...

Written by a team of experts from legal, forensic, and policy backgrounds, this book presents new research into sexual violence and harassment across Africa.This first of it's kind book foregrounds the work of African scholars and presents careful research analysis and case studies that consider sexual harassment from legal, socio-economic, and cultural realities. It highlights the importance of laws around sexual harassment in Africa, the intersectional challenges it poses to wome...

In August 2016, the Aspen Strategy Group examined how to reform America’s national security decision-making process. The papers in this volume provide practical solutions to repair the key functions of Washington’s executive departments, agencies, and advisory bodies responsible for shaping U.S. foreign policy and national security.

**From the scholar who coined the term “soft power,” a bracing examination of what it means to lead in the digital age“Nye is a master of his field at the height of his powers.” —The Washington Post**Power evolves. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, unsurpassed in military strength and ownership of world resources, the United States was indisputably the most powerful nation in the world. But the information age is creating new opportunities for developin...

The #1 New York Times bestseller about putting America back in the lead by the former US senator and presidential candidate.In No Apology, Mitt Romney asserts that American strength is essential—not just for our own well-being, but for the world's. Nations such as China and a resurgent Russia threaten to overtake us on many fronts, and violent Islamism continues to be a threat. In the face of such challenges, America need not apologize for its libe...

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States was a defining moment in American history. After years of failed policies, Barack Obama was given the chance to reclaim the American dream. He proved himself to be a new kind of leader – one who could bring people together, be honest about the challenges we all face and move his nation forward. Change We Can Believe In outlines his vision for America and its standing in the world.

From one of the pioneers in the field of leadership studies comes a provocative reassessment of how people lead in the digital age: in The End of Leadership, Barbara Kellerman reveals a new way of thinking about leadership—and followership—in the twenty-first century. Building off of the strengths and insights of her work as a scholar and a teacher, Kellerman critically reexamines our most strongly-held assumptions about the role of leadership in driving success. Revealing which of our bel...

America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In What's Wrong with America?, Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what needs to be done now to rediscover America's power and prowess.They explain how the end of the cold war blinded the na...

From the former secretary of defense and author of the acclaimed #1 best-selling memoir Duty, a characteristically direct, informed, and urgent assessment of why big institutions are failing us and how smart, committed leadership can effect real improvement regardless of scale.Across the realms of civic and private enterprise alike, bureaucracies vitally impact our security, freedoms, and everyday life. With so much at stake, competence, efficiency, and fiscal prudence are...

The American people are frustrated with their government-dismayed by a series of high-profile failures (Iraq, Katrina, the financial meltdown) that seems to just keep getting longer. Yet our nation has a proud history of great achievements: victory in World War II, our national highway system, welfare reform, the moon landing.We need more successes like these to reclaim government's legacy of competence. In If We Can Put a Man on the Moon, William Eggers and John O'Leary explain ho...