Leadership, especially military leadership, has many purposes to build effective organizations, to successfully complete often dangerous tasks in a risk environment, and to mold teams that operate like successful athletic teams. Today's military leaders at the unit level can learn much from their predecessors in what works and what doesn't. Author John Chapman is a superb observer and chronicler of leadership events over many years, and now shares his observations and the lessons that are learned from this most practical military art. Emphasis is placed on practical applications of leadership, coupled with real-life vignettes add the real spark to the leadership lessons learned and relearned by each generation of America's warriors.

The tube-lipped nectar bat is the pollinator of a pale, bell-shaped flower found in the Ecuadorian cloud forests. First discovered in 2005, the bat is the only known pollinator of a pale, bell shaped flower called Centropogon nigricans . Due to the length of the bloom, no other animal can reach the nectar which rests at the flower’s base. This is the story of one such bat and her nocturnal search for this rare flower whose nectar sustains her.

No child can walk through a puddle of mud without a gigantic smile, and while the stuff might be the spring-time bane of grownups, children just love mud. Muddy Boots targets kids and families who value outdoor exploration and grandparents who long for their grandchildren to have the same unfettered time in nature as they did. The book features a wide range of hands-on activities for kids, including mud play, forts, animal tracking and forest wisdom, foraging, insects and worms, bird watching and bird feeding, and many small things for kids to make. Although not primarily about mud, the activities do encourage all hands to get dirty as they explore the world around them.

A Philosophy of Muddy Boots Leadership presents a Bible-based leadership philosophy. These thoughts (some original, most not) are not rocket science. They are basic common sense and as applicable to everyday life as they are to the battlefield, classroom, or boardroom. Most are drawn from those who have influenced the author the most--pastors, military leaders, and football coaches. In this uncertain and dynamic environment, there are a few constants. In this book, you will find a clear and concise set of principles and fundamentals that will assist leaders in maintaining mission focus and focusing on the team. Why will it help? Today, there is no shortage of leadership books, consultants, and experts. We hear terms like servant, authentic, transformational, adaptive, etc. These concepts are valid and important, but they are focused on the conceptual, not on the actionable. A Philosophy of Muddy Boots Leadership provides a set of biblically-based, actionable principles for leaders. The goal of the book is to provide overwhelmed, understaffed leaders or mid-level managers a set of techniques and processes that in times of stress and uncertainty will act as a blueprint for success. This is not a checklist but a thought-provoking set of guiding biblical principles that can be used every day.

Compulsive spending is a secret addiction seldom discussed but more common than anyone is willing to admit. For years, I hid purchases, bought things on impulse, and lived with constant feelings of shame and guilt. They owned me. I felt like I didn't deserve anything, and there was no one to talk to about it. I would sneak things into a shopping cart, even if I was the one going to the checkout. One day, after I had found freedom from another chemical addiction, I had a moment of clarity around my spending addiction and, like magic, a light came on. I began to see clearly a way out. I began to apply the Twelve Steps to my compulsive spending. Little by little, one day at a time, I gained ground on those powerful sister demons, guilt and shame. They began to lose their grip on me. I felt a new freedom. I wanted to share that freedom with others. Recovery is a gift you work for, and freedom is the reward.

This text focuses on the working people who, in the first three decades of the 20th century, made Detroit into one of the world's great industrial cities. Telling their stories through photographs with captions explaining its content and context, it examines the world as they lived and changed it.

“Succeeds admirably as an introductory survey of the early American travel experience”—from the National Book Award-nominated author (Journal of Transport History). What was travel like in the 1880s? Was it easy to get from place to place? Were the rides comfortable? How long did journeys take? Wet Britches and Muddy Boots describes all forms of public transport from canal boats to oceangoing vessels, passenger trains to the overland stage. Trips over long distances often involved several modes of transportation and many days, even weeks. Baggage and sometimes even children were lost en route. Travelers might start out with a walk down to the river to meet a boat for the journey to a town where they caught a stagecoach for the rail junction to catch the train for a ride to the city. John H. White Jr. discusses not only the means of travel but also the people who made the system run—riverboat pilots, locomotive engineers, stewards, stagecoach drivers, seamen. He provides a fascinating glimpse into a time when travel within the United States was a true adventure. “Throughout this massive work, the author repeatedly captures the romance, flavor, and color associated with travel.”—Choice “Every chapter, in any order, will constitute a well-spent and informative read. Journey with this book soon!”—National Railway Historical Society Bulletin “[A] popular history, informative and engaging . . . White has given us a book that’s as unusual as it is useful. Read it cover-to-cover or just pick out a random chapter in a stolen hour, and the book will be equally enjoyable either way.”—Railroad History