This book explores the following: What is the art of power? What is the art of French power? How did Charles de Gaulle understand and assert power, establishing the Fifth Republic and breaking centuries of political instability? How well or poorly have his successors wielded the art of French power to define, defend, or enhance French interests?

Going from being the boy who walks on water in everyones eyes, the boy loved by everyone in the community, and the pride of his fathers family to being evil incarnate, the great Satan. A snake to have it head cut off.So much was invested in this boy for him to stay on a path that was walked by his family for many generations. In the eyes of everyone around him taking this path was the only right thing to do. There was no other way. In this environment taking a different path meant ...

No one in history has provoked more controversy than Napoleon Bonaparte. Was he an enlightened ruler or brutal tyrant? Was he an insatiable warmonger or a defender of France against the aggression of the other great powers? Was he kind or cruel, farsighted or blinkered, a sophisticate or a philistine, a builder or a destroyer?One thing is certain, if the art of leadership is about getting what one wants, then Napoleon was among history's greatest masters. War was the medium through...

“Nester brings out clearly the features of Patton’s buoyant dynamic leadership… an important addition to the stock of modern military biographies.” – The NYMAS ReviewFor General George S. Patton, “Leadership is the thing that wins battles. I have it—but I’ll be damned if I can define it. Probably it consists in knowing what you want to do and then doing it and getting mad if anyone steps in the way. Self-confidence and leadership are twin brothers.”Indeed, ...

Many indeed, are the biographies of Winston Churchill, one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century. But what was that influence and how did he use it in the furtherance of his and his country's ambitions? For the first time, Professor William Nestor has delved into the life and actions of Churchill to examine just how skillfully he manipulated events to place him in positions of power.His thirst for power stirred political controversy wherever he intruded. Those wh...

This deep dive into the mind of the complex, controversial political and military leader is "a great addition to the field of Napoleonics" ( Journal of Military History).No historical figure has provoked more controversy than Napoleon Bonaparte. Was he an enlightened ruler or brutal tyrant? An insatiable warmonger or a defender of France against the aggression of the other great powers? Kind or cruel, farsighted or blinkered, a sophisticate...

Insurgencies are like the hydra, the many-headed beast of Greek mythology. Once one begins, the measures a government takes to eliminate militantsùto cut off the insurgencyÆs headùcan provoke countless others to join the enemy ranks. Tactical victories often breed strategic de¼feats. Traditional ôsearch, destroy, and withdrawö missions that rely on firepower to wipe out reb¼els frequently destroy the livelihoods and loved ones of innocent people caught in the cross fire. U.S. troops have seen...

America’s colonial era began and ended dramatically, with the founding of the first enduring settlement at Jamestown on May 14, 1607 and the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. During those 169 years, conflicts were endemic and often overlapping among the colonists, between the colonists and the original inhabitants, between the colonists and other imperial European peoples, and between the colonists and the mother country. As conflicts were endemic, so too were st...

The French drink, smoke and eat more fat than anyone in the world, yet they live longer and have fewer heart problems than the English and the Americans. They work 35-hour weeks and take seven weeks' paid holiday each year, yet they are the world's fourth-biggest economic power.So how do they do it? From a distance modern France looks like a riddle. It is both rigidly authoritarian, yet incredibly inventive; traditional (even archaic) yet modern; lacking clout on the international ...

WARNING: If readers accept the author's challenge, they will pray more deeply, effectively, and regularly than they ever have before. Through powerful daily "dares" or challenges, Ron Kincaid, pastor of Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon, guides readers not just to think or talk or read about prayer . . . but to actually pray. Individuals and small groups will gain confidence in their prayer lives, strengthen their understanding of prayer's purpose, and learn how to apply key s...

This controversial, impassioned call-to-arms for a return to the ideals that fueled the French Resistance has sold millions of copies worldwide since its publication in France in October 2010. Rejecting the dictatorship of world financial markets and defending the social values of modern democracy, 93-old Stéphane Hessel -- Resistance leader, concentration camp survivor, and former UN speechwriter -- reminds us that life and liberty must still be fought for, and urges us to reclaim those e...

Abandon dead, dry, rule-keeping andembrace the promise of being truly known and deeply loved.JeffersonBethke burst into the cultural conversation in 2012 with a passionate,provocative poem titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” The 4-minutevideo literally became an overnight sensation, with 7 million YouTube views inits first 48 hours (and 23+ million in a year). The message blew up onsocial-media, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from ...