Bøger udgivet af Ballantine Books

"One day your sluggish company will taken to the sound of a beating drum and the sight of a competitor approaching at ramming speed. On deck will be a jut-jawed Barbarian....He will hardly blink as his target is ripped asunder, sending Aristocrats, Bureaucrats and their unfortunate shipmates to their corporate death....So goes Mr. Miller's tale, from which we can all profit." The Wall Street JournalBarbarians to Bureaucrats presents a brilliant new solution to a stubborn old business problem: how to halt a company's descent into wasteful, stifling bureaucracy. Lawrence M. Miller, a management consultant for such corporate giants as Xerox and 3M, argues that corporations, like civilizations, have a natural life cycle, and that by identifying the stage your company is in, and the leaders associated with it, you can avert decline and continue to thrive.Every company begins with the compelling new vision of a Prophet and the aggressive leadership of an iron-willed Barbarian, who implements the Prophet's ideas. New techniques and expansions are pushed through by the Builder and the Explorer, but the growth spawned by these managers can easily stagnate when the Administrator sacrifices innovation to order, and the Bureaucrat imposes tight control. And just as in civilizations, the rule of the Aristocrat, out of touch with those who do the real work, invites rebellion -- from employees, customers, and stockholders. It will take the Synergist, a business leader who balances creativity with order, to restore vitality and insure future growth.Executives from major corporations have already put the powerful insights of Barbarians to Bureaucrats into practice to regenerate their own companies. Now you can use this brilliant, lucid, and dazzlingly original book to put your company -- and your career -- back on track.

"Unusually accessible and useful . . . An eye-opener to readers into the universality and importance of myth in human history and culture."-William E. Paden, Chair, Department of Religion, University of VermontFor as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality. Now, in Parallel Myths, classical scholar J. F. Bierlein gathers the key myths from all of the world's major traditions and reveals their common themes, images, and meanings.Parallel Myths introduces us to the star players in the world's great myths-not only the twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, but the stern Norse Pantheon, the mysterious gods of India, the Egyptian Ennead, and the powerful deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, and the various cultures of Africa and Oceania. Juxtaposing the most potent stories and symbols from each tradition, Bierlein explores the parallels in such key topics as creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, morality myths, underworld myths, and visions of the Apocalypse. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and others, Bierlein also contemplates what myths mean, how to identify and interpret the parallels in myths, and how mythology has influenced twentieth-century psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies."A first-class introduction to mythology . . . Written with great clarity and sensitivity."-John G. Selby, Associate Professor, Roanoke College

The Ornish Diet has been named the "#1 best diet for heart disease" by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years!Dr. Dean Ornish is the first clinician to offer documented proof that heart disease can be halted, or even reversed, simply by changing your lifestyle. Based on his internationally acclaimed scientific study, which has now been ongoing for years, Dr. Ornish's program has yielded amazing results. Participants reduced or discontinued medications; they learned how to lower high blood pressure; their chest pain diminished or disappeared; they felt more energetic, happy, and calm; they lost weight while eating more; and blockages in coronary arteries were actually reduced.In his breakthrough book, Dr. Ornish presents this and other dramatic evidence and guides you, step-by-step, through the extraordinary Opening Your Heart program, which is winning landmark approval from America's health insurers. The program takes you beyond the purely physical side of health care to include the psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects so vital to healing. This book represents the best modern medicine has to offer. It can inspire you to open your heart to a longer, better, happier life.

The Elenium series, which began in Diamond Throne, continues against a background of magic and adventure. Ehlana, Queen of Elenia, had been poisoned. A deep enchantment sustained her life, but only while the Knights aiding it still lived-and already they were dying, one each month. Then Sparhawk, Knight and Queen's Champion, learned that the cure for the poison was the Bhellion, the great jewel lost when Sarak of Thalesia had died in battle, five hundred years before. Sparhawk and his companions set forth to find King Sarak's grave by raising ghosts of those who had perished in that ancient battle. The Seeker, an insectile monster spawned of the evil God Azash, hounded their every step. Still Sparkawk pressed on, driven by desperate need. They had to find Bhellion before his queen could perish. They must not fail!

New York Times bestselling author Douglas Adams and zoologist Mark Carwardine take off around the world in search of exotic, endangered creatures.Join them as they encounter the animal kingdom in its stunning beauty, astonishing variety, and imminent peril: the giant Komodo dragon of Indonesia, the helpless but loveable Kakapo of New Zealand, the blind river dolphins of China, the white rhinos of Zaire, the rare birds of Mauritius island in the Indian Ocean. Hilarious and poignant-as only Douglas Adams can be-Last Chance to See is an entertaining and arresting odyssey through the Earth's magnificent wildlife galaxy. Praise for Last Chance to See "Lively, sharply satirical, brilliantly written . . . shows how human care can undo what human carelessness has wrought."-The Atlantic"These authors don't hesitate to present the alarming facts: More than 1,000 species of animals (and plants) become extinct every year. . . . Perhaps Adams and Carwardine, with their witty science, will help prevent such misadventures in the future."-Boston Sunday Herald "Very funny and moving . . . The glimpses of rare fauna seem to have enlarged [Adams's] thinking, enlivened his world; and so might the animals do for us all, if we were to help them live."-The Washington Post Book World "[Adams] invites us to enter into a conspiracy of laughter and caring."-Los Angeles Times "Amusing . . . thought-provoking . . . Its details on the heroic efforts being made to save these animals are inspirational."-The New York Times Book Review

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time."SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLEHere are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

From the Modern Library's new set of beautifully repackaged hardcover classics by Robert K. Massie-also available are Nicholas and Alexandra and The RomanovsAgainst the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, crowned co-tsar at the age of ten. The acclaimed author of Catherine the Great, Robert K. Massie delves deep into the life of this captivating historical figure, chronicling the pivotal events that shaped a boy into a legend-including his "incognito" travels in Europe, his unquenchable curiosity about Western ways, his obsession with the sea and establishment of the stupendous Russian navy, his creation of an unbeatable army, his transformation of Russia, and his relationships with those he loved most: Catherine, the robust yet gentle peasant, his loving mistress, wife, and successor; and Menshikov, the charming, bold, unscrupulous prince who rose to wealth and power through Peter's friendship. Impetuous and stubborn, generous and cruel, tender and unforgiving, a man of enormous energy and complexity, Peter the Great is brought fully to life. The Modern Library of the World's Best Books Peter the Great Winner of the Pulitzer Prize "Enthralling . . . as fascinating as any novel and more so than most."-The New York Times Book Review Nicholas and Alexandra "A magnificent and intimate picture . . . Not only the main characters but a whole era become alive and comprehensible."-Harper's The Romanovs "Riveting . . . unfolds like a detective story."-Los Angeles Times Book Review

A sweeping novel of intrigue and identity, of love and legacy, as a young woman discovers that her own fate is irrevocably tied-for better or worse-to literature's greatest star-crossed lovers.Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie's twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key-one carried by her mother on the day she herself died-to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy. This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever-a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei. In 1340, still reeling from the slaughter of her parents, Giulietta was smuggled into Siena, where she met a young man named Romeo. Their ill-fated love turned medieval Siena upside-down and went on to inspire generations of poets and artists, the story reaching its pinnacle in Shakespeare's famous tragedy. But six centuries have a way of catching up to the present, and Julie gradually begins to discover that here, in this ancient city, the past and present are hard to tell apart. The deeper she delves into the history of Romeo and Giulietta, and the closer she gets to the treasure they allegedly left behind, the greater the danger surrounding her-superstitions, ancient hostilities, and personal vendettas. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the unforgettable blood feud, she begins to fear that the notorious curse-"A plague on both your houses!"-is still at work, and that she is destined to be its next target. Only someone like Romeo, it seems, could save her from this dreaded fate, but his story ended long ago. Or did it?Praise for Juliet"One of those rare novels that have it all . . . I was swept away"-Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants "Juliet leads us on a thrilling treasure hunt through present-day Italy that makes the classic tragedy itself spellbinding all over again."-Elle "Boldly imagined, brilliantly plotted, beautifully described, Juliet will carry you spellbound until the gripping end."-Susan Vreeland, author of Clara and Mr. Tiffany "The Shakespearean scholarship on display is both impressive and well-handled."-The Washington Post