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What if you could have whatever you want, produced and provided immediately and affordably no matter how customized--with minimal environmental impact? Products, services, and experiences on demand. Just-in-time anything, anywhere, anytime. This radical change is underway, as digital technologies push the production and provision of value ever closer to the moment of demand.

Robert C. Wolcott and Kaihan Krippendorff provide an indispensable guide to the Proximity revolution, showing how it's transforming every industry--and our lives. Offering unparalleled foresight for leaders and innovators, they reveal how pervasive this trend will be. Proximity represents an entirely new way to serve customers, with critical implications for corporate strategy, investing, public policy, supply chain resilience, and sustainability. Incremental changes to existing business models won't suffice.

Through interviews and compelling examples, Proximity shares stories of the people and companies leading the way. The book places rapidly advancing technologies--from generative AI and 3D printing to lab-grown meats, renewable energy, and virtual reality--in context and explores the factors accelerating the transformation.

Proximity offers a playbook for business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs to win this rapidly emerging game--and for each of us to consider the implications for our careers, families, communities, and lives.

A transformative way of understanding addiction--and an invitation to find connection in the pleasures of life we know are bad for us

Elizabeth Roberts has experienced the suffering wrought by addiction: her sister's destructive alcoholism and dependency on prescription drugs, her mother's hoarding, and her own struggles with binge eating. As for so many of us, addiction brought about self-loathing, reflecting her individual failure to exercise self-control, to keep it together. But during her fieldwork studying chemical exposure in Mexico City, her sense of addiction got turned upside down. She witnessed her neighbors, both young and old, defiantly celebrate their compulsive dependencies on alcohol, drugs, and junk food instead of hiding them in shame. Roberts began to wonder if everything she thought she knew about addiction was wrong.

In Praise of Addiction shares the unexpected journey that led Roberts to a new understanding of addiction. Taking lessons from her years in Mexico City as well as from addiction researchers, harm reduction activists, and scholars of religion, philosophy, and anthropology, Roberts pays close attention to the external forces that so often fuel the damage of addiction. As her neighbors in Mexico City suggest, the adverse health effects brought on by their dependencies on Coca-Cola, processed foods, drugs, and alcohol have more to do with the ongoing effects of the drug war and NAFTA than any personal failings. Taking up this ecological framework, Roberts draws a line between vice that isolates and addiction that connects, a distinction she movingly integrates into her own life and family, making a case for sharing in the pleasures--and suffering--of dependency.

Provocative and deeply humane, In Praise of Addiction invites readers to cast aside the shame, self-hatred, and judgment associated with addiction and discover how dependency can serve as a binding force worthy of our most profound devotion.

SPECIAL LUXE COLLECTOR'S EDITION WITH STAINED EDGES, FULL-COLOR CHARACTER ART, AND MORE.

Once upon a time, I was a sheltered princess. Now he owns me, body and soul.

One night, and my entire life went up in flames. All because of him. Jafar. As my world burned around me, he offered me a choice: walk away with nothing but my freedom...or rise to his challenge and win my fortune back.

I bargained.

I lost.

Now Jafar owns me, and even as my mind rails against him, my body loves the delicious punishments he deals out. It's almost enough to believe he cares. But a gilded cage is still a prison, and I'll do anything to obtain my freedom.

Even betray the man who captured my heart.

For all tropes, tags, and CWs, please check the author's website.

Rich bonus features include:

• Stained edges
• Beautiful full-color art insert
• Gorgeous additional b&w interior art
• Author annotations
• Additional scenes
• A spicy kink inventory
• And more!

Wicked Villains:

Desperate Measures

Learn My Lesson

A Worthy Opponent

The Beast

The Sea Witch

Queen Takes Rose

A powerful new book that corrects a false myth in African American history that Kirkus Reviews calls "a thoughtful antidote to white Southern propaganda."

According to an oft repeated legend, during Christmas before the Civil War, all enslaved people in the American South enjoyed lengthy vacations of a week or more depending on how long an oversized "Yule log" burned in their master's fireplace. As long as the log held out, slaves escaped heavy labor and their masters' whips and enjoyed a rare freedom of movement to go and do what they wished as well as gorge themselves on food and drink they never got the rest of the year. No wonder they soaked those logs in swamps to make them burn even longer.
But is it true?
In this book, historian Robert May takes readers on a detective caper as he investigates a story that reaches back to colonial America and continues today. May finds no evidence of the Yule log tradition in the historical record, instead showing that it originated with pro-Confederate Lost Cause propagandists attempting to present the South's prewar system of human bondage in as soft tones as possible. Tales about good-natured masters and unresentful slaves jovially sharing Christmases played to this impulse beautifully.
Debunking the Yule Log Myth does more than correct the historical record. It serves as a highly instructive case study in the process of historical mythmaking. This captivating tale will appeal to all readers interested in African American history and the long struggle to support white supremacy by creating a mythical antebellum American South.

In The 50 Greatest Players in New York Mets History, sports historian Robert W. Cohen ranks the top 50 players ever to perform for one of Major League Baseball's most iconic franchises.

The first book of the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series, an "enchanting one-of-a-kind novel" (Stephen King) that is "nothing short of masterful" (Los Angeles Times).

Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, and Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator, are quick to take a new case involving a frantic mother searching for her teenage daughter. This well-behaved and gifted student may or may not have been kidnapped, but she has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters. With Chet's highly trained nose leading the way, their hunt for clues takes them into the desert to biker bars and other exotic locales--until the bad guys try to turn the tables and the resourceful duo lands in the paws of peril. Spencer Quinn's irresistible mystery kicks off a delightful new series that will have readers panting for more.

The beloved classic Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree gets a sequel!

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree has been a holiday favorite since 1963. Now, its generations of fans can read a new Mr. Willowby story, thanks to the discovery of a long lost manuscript and sketches by the creator Robert Barry, lovingly brought to life in a thrilling new picture book.

On Christmas Eve, Mr. Willowby finds himself in a predicament when his Christmas tree delivery gets stuck in a snowdrift. But hope arrives in the form of Barnaby Bear and his woodland friends, who embark on a thrilling mountainside adventure to bring the perfect tree to Mr. Willowby's parlor. Their journey is filled with laughter, surprises, and the true magic of Christmas, making this story a perfect addition to any holiday collection.

An afterword to the book by Robert Barry's son illuminates his father's acclaimed career and provides details about the exciting discovery of this forgotten work.

Also available: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

A detective's fall from grace. A rookie's baptism by fire. A town's secrets laid bare.

"...reads like the real deal--a tale of trial and redemption..."--Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

In the unforgiving wilderness of Maine, a disgraced detective must confront his past to solve a chilling murder.

Detective Brock Justice's career is on thin ice. Once the golden boy of Maine State Police, Brock now finds himself exiled to the remote northeastern wilderness, punishment for crossing the thin blue line. Assigned to the Major Crimes Unit--North, he suffers the added indignity of partnering with newly-minted Detective Chloe Wright, a rookie with her own hidden struggles.

The pair's uneasy alliance is put to the test almost immediately when a routine snowmobile retrieval in the coastal town of Blue Hill unexpectedly escalates into a full-blown murder investigation. Even as the case exposes the darkest corners of the town, their fragile partnership threatens to undermine the investigation at every turn.

Brock and Chloe's hunt draws them into the lives of several intriguing locals: the town doctor, a biker gang involved in drug trafficking, a politically connected sheriff, and Brock's own father. With each revelation, the line between ally and enemy blurs, compelling Brock and Chloe to question their trust in everyone around them, including each other.

Even as winter's icy grip loosens from Blue Hill, the noose of suspicion tightens. Brock must navigate not only a shaky partnership and a town harboring deadly secrets, but also the shadows of his own past. Can he and Chloe piece together the puzzle before Maine's wilderness swallows them whole?

Retired Detective Sergeant Bruce Robert Coffin delivers a masterful blend of police procedural and small-town intrigue in this page-turning thriller. Perfect for fans of Craig Johnson's Longmire series and C.J. Box's Joe Pickett novels.

_________________________

Praise for Crimson Thaw

"Will please fans of Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch series or Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther novels." --Library Journal

"Coffin's experience...lends the book's procedural elements a ring of truth, and he paints cops and suspects alike with a fine brush." --Publishers Weekly

"A superior, Connelly-esque procedural that ratchets up the tension page by page." --Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author of Blind to Midnight

"...Coffin's descriptions are wonderful, evocative even--mud and all." --Katherine Hall Page, MWA's 2024 Grand Master

"Smooth as buttah in the telling, Coffin's layered characters almost leap off the page to sit in your lap." --Tracy Clark, award-winning author of the Cass Raines Chicago Mystery series and the Det. Harriet Foster series

"The pace is break-neck swift..." --Baron Birtcher, award-winning and bestselling author of Knife River

"Brock Justice is a protagonist worth following." --Paul Doiron, author of Dead by Dawn

"...suspenseful and extremely entertaining." --Chris Miller, Best Thriller Books

"One of the most mesmerizing crime fiction series starters I've read in years..." --LynDee Walker, bestselling author of the Faith McClellan series

"...drips with gritty authenticity and razor-sharp detail." --Brian Shea, author of the Boston Crime Thriller series

"...a masterfully creative and riveting tale of suspense." --Raven Award winner Dru Ann Love, Dru's Book Musings

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What readers are saying:

★★★★★ "...fast-paced..."
★★★★★ "...high-stakes..."
★★★★★ "...a wild conclusion."
★★★★★ "...settings that come alive..."
★★★★★ "...great start to a new series!"

The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery and, after a four-year struggle to become an independent slaveholding republic, died as emancipation dawned. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands African American men, women, and children. These transactions in humanity made the internal slave trade a cornerstone of Confederate society, a bulwark of the Rebel economy, and a central part of the experience of the Civil War for all inhabiting the American South.

As An Unholy Traffic shows, slave trading helped Southerners survive and fight the Civil War, as well as to build the future for which they fought. They mitigated the crises the war spawned by buying and selling enslaved people, using this commerce to navigate food shortages, unsettled gender roles, the demands of military service, and other hardships on the homefront. Some Rebels speculated wildly in human property, investing in slaves to ward off inflation and to buy shares in the slaveholding nation they hoped to create. Others traded people to counter the advance of emancipation. Given its centrality to their nationhood, Confederates went to great lengths to prolong the slave trade, which, in turn, supported the Confederacy. For those held in slavery, the surviving slave trade dramatically shaped their pursuit of freedom, inserting a retrograde movement into some people's journeys toward liberty while inspiring others to make the risky decision to escape.

Offering an original perspective on the intersections of slavery, capitalism, the Civil War, and emancipation, Robert K.D. Colby illuminates the place of the peculiar institution within the Confederate mind, the ways in which it underpinned the CSA's war effort, and its impact on those attempting to seize their freedom.

A proven bestseller time and time again, Robert Frost's Poems contains all of Robert Frost's best-known poems-and dozens more-in a portable anthology. Here are "Birches," "Mending Wall," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Two Tramps at Mudtime," "Choose Something Like a Star," and "The Gift Outright," which Frost read at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy." An essential addition to every home library, Robert Frost's Poems is a celebration of the New England countryside, Frost's appreciation of common folk, and his wonderful understanding of the human condition. These classic verses touch our hearts and leave behind a lasting impression.

* Over 100 poems
* All Frost's best known verses from throughout his life

Explore the Impact of a Career in Emergency Services: Unveiling Personal Stories, Family Ties, and Lessons of Resilience. Insight for Aspiring First Responders & Curious Minds.

The 40 Year Deployment: A First Responders Journey is a true testament of a life dedicated to public service. This powerful narrative takes you on an intimate journey through the trials, triumphs, and transformations that shape a career in emergency services. It goes beyond the flashing lights and adrenaline rushes to deeply examine the human side of this demanding profession.

Authoring with the wisdom of four decades in emergency services, Robert Bruce Ulrich presents a rare insight into the experiences that shape a first responder's life. The narrative spotlights the seldom-discussed aspects of the job - the impact on families and loved ones, the bonds forged in the line of duty, and the life-altering experiences that leave indelible marks. It candidly explores how a career in emergency services can change one's perspective on life, resilience, and humanity.

The 40 Year Deployment: A First Responders Journey also serves as a guide for those considering a career in public service. Ulrich's anecdotes and advice provide valuable insights into the realities of the job, offering a glimpse of the wins and losses that come with the territory. It encapsulates the essence of a first responder's journey - not just the physical toll but the emotional and psychological impact as well.

This book is more than a memoir; it's a tribute to the heroes who risk their lives every day and a valuable resource for those who aspire to join their ranks. It's a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the intricacies of a career in emergency services, the undying spirit of first responders, and the profound resilience born out of facing adversity.

In essence, The 40 Year Deployment: A First Responders Journey celebrates the human spirit's indomitable strength, making it a narrative of resilience, courage, and transformation. It's not just a book; it's an invitation to explore a world where service, sacrifice, and humanity converge.

IACP AWARD WINNER - Indulge your thirst for new ways to enjoy tequila and mezcal with 60+ recipes for agave cocktails from a James Beard Award-nominated author and New York Times spirits writer.

From riffs on classics such as the Mezcal Mule and Oaxaca Old-Fashioned to new favorites such as Naked and Famous or Smoke and Ice, discover how to use mezcal and tequila to create cocktails in nearly every classic cocktail formula--from flip to sour to highball--that highlight the smoky, edgy flavors of these unique and popular spirits.

Robert Simonson, author of The Old-Fashioned and The Martini Cocktail, covers a broad range of flavors with doable, delicious recipes that are easy to assemble, most only requiring three or four ingredients. This comprehensive, straightforward guide is perfect for tequila and mezcal enthusiasts looking for creative ways to enjoy agave spirits more often and in more varied ways--or for anyone who just likes to drink the stuff.

The first general consumer book ever on the powerful, award-winning, scientifically proven new system of intervention that is turning the recovery field on its head.

Historically there have been few options available for individuals seeking help for treatment-resistant loved ones suffering from substance abuse. Co-author Dr. Robert Meyers spent ten years developing a treatment program that helps concerned significant others improve the quality of their lives and learn how to make treatment an attractive option for their partners who are substance abusers.

Get Your Loved One Sober describes this multi-faceted program that uses supportive, non-confrontational methods to engage substance abusers into treatment. Called Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT), the program uses scientifically validated behavioral principles to reduce the loved one's substance use and to encourage him or her to seek treatment. Equally important, CRAFT also helps loved ones reduce personal stress and introduce meaningful, new sources of satisfaction into their life.

Key Features:

--CRAFT is more effective than other types of interventions.This breakthrough new system is sweeping the recovery field. This is its first introduction to the general public.

--Contains simple exercises readers can practice at their own pace, with no costly or heart-breaking interventions.

--Proven successful for numerous addictions, not just alcoholism.

Cold Case Clues

On May 21, 1932, Arthur Oker, a mild-mannered Finnish tailor, was brutally murdered in his shop in the small seaside town of Rockport, Massachusetts.

While this unsolved crime terrified local residents, their fears increased after another horrifying murder, that of Swedish immigrant and fellow churchgoer Augusta Johnson in her home on Halloween night in 1933. Following the crimes, authorities searched every house and building in Rockport, and some 2,500 households were interviewed. A reward was posted, a mystic volunteered her services and local children wearing badges provided by a breakfast cereal company joined in the search. However, the crimes went unsolved. Local authors Robert Fitzgibbon and Wayne Soini reveal long-lost details about the crime, the investigation and a surprise suspect from the state police archives.

Record your thoughts, notes, and inspiration with this stunning journal inspired by Powerless, the first novel in Lauren Roberts' best-selling Powerless Trilogy series.

This high-end journal is sure to thrill any fan of The Powerless Trilogy and is perfect for journaling, notetaking, or recording the details of your own forbidden romance.

240 RULED PAGES: Premium lined pages give you ample space for journaling.

DETAILED DESIGN: This high-quality hardcover journal features a striking deboss and silver foil cover design, protective metal corners, a velvet ribbon page marker, and beautifully printed text pages with patterned edge printing.

CONVENIENT SIZE: This 5.75 x 8.25-inch journal is a comfortable size to journal anywhere and easy to store in a bag or backpack as you set off through the Kingdom of Ilya.

THE PERFECT GIFT: This journal makes an excellent gift for any fan captivated by the world of The Powerless Trilogy series.

ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION: Collect more beautiful Lauren Roberts' journals inspired by The Powerless Trilogy including the Lauren Roberts: Reckless Hardcover Journal, Lauren Roberts: Fearless Hardcover Journal, Lauren Roberts: Powerless Trilogy Sculpted Journal, and the Lauren Roberts: Powerless Trilogy Notebook Boxed Set (Set of 3).

The national bestseller celebrated as "the ultimate Johnny Cash biography . . . Rock writer great Robert Hilburn goes deep." -- Rolling Stone

In this, the definitive biography of an American legend, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical superstar. Johnny Cash's extraordinary career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to the remarkable creative last hurrah, at age 69, that resulted in the brave, moving "Hurt" video.

As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed both Cash and his wife June Carter just months before their deaths. Drawing upon a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of a towering figure in country music, a seminal influence in rock, and an icon of American popular culture. Hilburn's reporting shows the astonishing highs and deep lows that marked the journey of a man of great faith and humbling addiction who throughout his life strove to use his music to lift people's spirits.

How to be more respectful and how to encourage others to treat you more respectfully

In Respect: How to Change the World One Interaction at a Time, veteran public relations executive Robert Dilenschneider delivers an insightful and original discussion of how to cultivate respectfulness in every facet of your life. You'll learn how to embody and encourage respectful behavior and speech among work colleagues, family, friends, and others.

You'll learn about how respectfulness has life-changing consequences for all who practice it and why it's within reach for us all. You'll also discover why it's so sorely needed in an increasingly fragmented society and how it can transform our interactions for the better.

Readers will also find:

• Strategies for transcending the inane and unimportant and creating meaning in your life
• Tools and paths to improve your self-respect, develop respectfulness, and encourage others to treat you with respect
• Techniques to begin mending some of the fences that appear irreparably damaged by increasing societal incivility

Perfect for managers, executives, directors, founders, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders, Respect is an essential guide to navigating a society, marketplace, and environment that seems increasingly prone to disrespect and rudeness, and how to help make it better.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

A stern captain meets his witchy match in this captivating first fantasy romance novel in the Crimson Sails series from Katee Robert, the New York Times bestselling author of the TikTok smash-hit Neon Gods.

Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she's fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She's immediately given a choice--join their ship's crew or die.

Bowen has no memory of his life before he became one of the Cŵn Annwn. He and his band of pirates are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea in between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn't expect to be attracted to the unflappably brassy pickpocket. The longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she'll steal.

But as tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, the danger at sea escalates as well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows to the Cŵn Annwn, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price....

The fourth installment in the irresistible New York Times bestselling mystery series featuring canine narrator Chet and his human companion Bernie--"the coolest human/pooch duo this side of Wallace and Gromit" (Kirkus Reviews).

Humor and intrigue combine for a "thoroughly entertaining comic mystery" (Booklist) as Spencer Quinn's engaging and unlikely team of crime solvers takes on the case of a boy gone missing from a wilderness camp.

The kid's mother thinks her ex-husband snatched their son, but Chet's always reliable nose leads Bernie in a new and dangerous direction. Meanwhile, matters at home get complicated when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. Affairs of the heart collide with a job that's never been tougher, requiring our intrepid sleuths to trust each other even when circumstances--and a rival P.I.--conspire to keep them far apart.

Explore the high-stakes world of gold and silver trading

In Mastering Gold and Silver Markets: Insights from a Legendary Bullion Bank Trader, veteran precious metals trader, Robert Gottlieb, delivers an insightful blend of memoir and education that covers the world of bullion trading from a banker's perspective. The book covers his journey from working at a certified public accounting firm to his position as the Global Head of Precious Metals Trading and Sales at many of the largest bullion banks in the world.

Gottlieb dives deep into the critical role played by bullion banks in the global precious metals ecosystem. He provides a detailed explanation of financial and futures markets and how they facilitate liquidity and hedging strategies for their clients. You'll also learn about how banks leverage arbitrage opportunities between the CME futures markets and the London OTC markets to meet customer needs.

You'll find:

• Explanations of the supply-and-demand fundamentals of gold and silver
• An engaging combination of personal experience, industry expertise, and thought-provoking analysis
• Examinations of significant disruptions to gold and silver markets, including Covid-19 and the impacts of US tariff announcements in 2025

Perfect for mining company executives, central bankers, Wall Stret traders, and professionals in finance and commodities trading, Mastering Gold and Silver Markets is also a must-read for hedge fund managers, wealth portfolio managers, and retail investors.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Modern medicine is lying to you. Discover the true science behind chronic diseases--and implement an actionable plan to take control of your health and longevity once and for all.

For the first time in history, chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity plague our population on a global scale. From a seasoned physician, this paradigm-shifting book comprehensively explains the linked cause and exposes the misconceptions prevalent in modern medicine.

In Lies I Taught in Medical School, Robert Lufkin, MD, explains that metabolic dysfunction is the common underlying cause of most chronic diseases that has been overlooked for decades, providing the tools needed to address these diseases in ourselves. He draws on expansive, peer-reviewed evidence, proving that standard medical recommendations are killing us.

Over the course of 12 illustrated chapters, Lies I Taught in Medical School chronicles how Dr. Lufkin corrected four chronic diseases in himself and expertly supplies the strategies needed to:

Identify chronic disease risk factors, such as inflammation and insulin resistance Boost mental health via nutrition and lifestyle Improve diet and metabolism Attend to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular and other common chronic diseases Get off unnecessary medications, including many diabetes and hypertension drugs

What's more, Dr. Lufkin offers practical advice to show how lifestyle factors such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress management can target the fundamental cause of chronic diseases. Lies I Taught in Medical School is a revolutionary and holistic guide that will help you take control of your health--before it's too late.

The long-awaited cookbook companion to the instant New York Times bestseller Fat Chance shows you how to beat the odds--deliciously

Dr. Robert Lustig's message that a calorie is not a calorie revolutionized our understanding of weight loss and nutrition. But in order to avoid the hidden sugars that threaten our health and waistlines, Dr. Lustig warns that we must transform the way we shop, cook, and eat. Teaming up with Cindy Gershen--a chef who's lost more than one-hundred pounds on his plan--Dr. Lustig shows readers how to:

- Stock a pantry
- Prepare more than 100 fast and delicious recipes
- Feed a family--kids included--healthy foods they'll love
- Make entertaining easy and nutritious

More timely than ever now that newest edition of The Dietary Guidelines for Americans has for the first time placed hard limits on the amount of sugar we should consume, The Fat Chance Cookbook shows you how to lose weight, find your way back to health, and still enjoy delectable, memorable meals.

Robert Foye, a veteran operator, investor, and advisor, draws on three decades of frontline experience to reveal how private equity really works-beyond the jargon, myths, and marketing. With clarity and precision, he breaks down the mechanics, incentives, and cultural dynamics that define the industry and determine outcomes for everyone involved.

In Private Equity Mastery, Foye takes readers inside the deal flow-from fund formation and acquisitions to portfolio management and exits-offering a rare insider's perspective on how value is truly created (and sometimes destroyed). His approach blends technical insight with practical, real-world lessons drawn from decades of operating, leading, and advising in public and PE-backed companies.

Readers will learn how to:

- Decode the economic and psychological forces that drive PE decision-making

- Succeed as an executive under PE ownership and maintain credibility with investors

- Evaluate private equity investments with clear understanding of fees, risk, and return

- Protect their interests in negotiations, deals, and exits

Clear, pragmatic, and deeply informed, Private Equity Mastery transforms one of the world's most powerful but misunderstood industries into actionable knowledge-giving readers the tools to not just understand private equity, but to win in it.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

The Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? And why, after lasting so long, did the war end so suddenly and unexpectedly? Robert McMahon considers these questions and more, as well as looking at the legacy of the Cold War and its impact on international relations today.

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction is a truly international history, not just of the Soviet-American struggle at its heart, but also of the waves of decolonization, revolutionary nationalism, and state formation that swept the non-Western world in the wake of World War II. McMahon places the 'Hot Wars' that cost millions of lives in Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere within the larger framework of global superpower competition. He shows how the United States and the Soviet Union both became empires over the course of the Cold War, and argues that perceived security needs and fears shaped U.S. and Soviet decisions from the beginning--far more, in fact, than did their economic and territorial ambitions. He unpacks how these needs and fears were conditioned by the divergent cultures, ideologies, and historical experiences of the two principal contestants and their allies. Covering the years 1945-1990, this second edition uses recent scholarship and newly available documents to offer a fuller analysis of the Vietnam War, the changing global politics of the 1970s, and the end of the Cold War.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.