Books about Defense from Amazon.com

Amazon Significant Seven, January 2008: Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and thoughtful answers that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. Many processed foods vie for a spot in our grocery baskets, claiming to lower cholesterol, weight, glucose levels, you name it. Yet Pollan shows that these convenient "healthy" alternatives to whole foods are appallingly inconvenient: our health has a nation has only deteriorated since we started exiling carbs, fats--even fruits--from our daily meals. His razor-sharp analysis of the American diet (as well as its architects and its detractors) offers an inspiring glimpse of what it would be like if we could (a la Humpty Dumpty) put our food back together again and reconsider what it means to eat well. In a season filled with rallying cries to lose weight and be healthy, Pollan's call to action—"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."--is a program I actually want to follow. --Anne Bartholomew

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Price: $9.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power ... while others decrease it and even ruin us."

The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit," or "Discover each man's thumbscrew." Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with "keys to power," potential "reversals" (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew); the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up-to-date as it is timeless. .
Price: $10.12 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Are you now, or have you ever been, in relationships with family, friends, or mates who have been verbally abusive? Is your happiness with someone you love continually threatened by interactions that continually undermine your self-esteem? Do you feel trapped in a relationship that keeps decaying in a downward spiral of overt or passive-aggressive abuse?

If so, this book could be your life raft, either carrying you toward repair of the existing relationship or the effects of past relationships or offering liberation from your current confusion. Its practical approach can help clear your head and possibly change your life. The only criticism that I and other readers have is that the author assumes verbal abuse is almost always directed by males toward females, which, in my experience and that of others I know, is not necessarily the case. Highly Recommended..
Price: $5.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

On the azure blue morning of 9/11 the skies were pronounced "severe clear," in the parlance of airline pilots; a gorgeous day for flying. Nearly 5,000 flights were cruising the skies over America when FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney arrived at the Command Center for his first day on that job. He could never have anticipated the historic drama that was about to unfold as Americans who found themselves on the front lines of a totally unprecedented attack on our homeland sprang into action to defend our country and save lives.

In this gripping moment-to-moment narrative, based on groundbreaking reporting, Lynn Spencer brings the inspiring true drama of their unflinching and heroic response vividly to life for the first time, taking us right inside the airliner cockpits and control towers, the fighter jets and the military battle cabs. She makes vital corrections to the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and reveals many startling, utterly unknown elements of the story.

As a commercial pilot herself, for whom the attacks hit terribly close to home, she knew that the true scope and nature of the response so brilliantly improvised that morning by those in the thick of the action -- with so little guidance from those at the highest levels -- had not at all been captured by the news coverage or the 9/11 Commission. To get to the truth, she went on a three-year quest, interviewing hundreds of key players, listening to untold hours of tapes and pouring through voluminous transcripts to re-create each heart-stopping moment as it happened through their eyes and in their words as the drama unfolded.

From the shocking moment at 7:59 a.m. that American 11 fails to respond to a controller's call, until the last commercial flight has safely landed and military jets rule the skies, all Americans will find themselves deeply moved and amazed by the grace and fierce determination of these steely men and women as they draw on all of their exquisite training to grasp, through the fog of war, what is happening, put their lives on the line, and mount an astonishing response.

This beautifully crafted and deeply affecting account of the full story of their courageous actions is a vital addition to the country's understanding of a day that has forever changed our nation..
Price: $15.63 [Notify me when price goes down.]

To watch Bruce Lee on film is an amazing experience. Those who have read Tao of Jeet Kune Do, however, know that Lee's prose can also be exhilarating This praiseworthy and enduring bestseller (mainly written over six months when Lee was bedridden with back problems) compiles philisophical aphorisms, explanations on technique, and sketches by the master himself..
Price: $10.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In Unarmed Fighting Techniques of the Samurai, world-renowned ninja grandmaster and bestselling author Masaaki Hatsumi explains the fundamentals of various unarmed techniques unique to the Japanese martial arts. Known as budo taijutsu, these specialized moves allow the practitioner to evade and receive an attack even from an opponent wielding a sword. Hatsumi covers such topics as Kihon Happo (Eight Basic Movements), Kosshijutsu (Attacks Against Muscles), Koppojutsu (Attacks Against Bones), Jutaijutsu (Flexible Body Arts), Daken Taijutsu (Fist Punching and Striking), Ninpo Taijutsu (Bodily Arts of the Ninja), discussing and demonstrating the many techniques which will enable the fighter to punch, kick and finally lock or control the body of his adversary.

As Hatsumi tells us, the techniques have been secretly passed down from the masters to their students for more than a century, and have become the foundations for a range of other martial arts including judo, karate and aikido. This book will thus enhance the readers understanding of the roots of these various disciplines as well as provide fascinating insights into the spirit of the way of the warrior and the martial arts. Includes over 300 step-by-step photos and rare drawings..
Price: $21.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Mixed Martial Arts outlines the revolutionary system of fighting used by world-renowned fighter BJ Penn, Coach of Spike TV's 'Ultimate Fighter 5'.

Penn, one of the most technical and decorated fighters in the world today, illustrates fighting techniques that teach you how to mix strikes with takedowns, ground and pound an opponent into submission, fight against the cage and formulate strategies based upon your personal attributes and strengths..
Price: $21.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Battling bad guys. High-tech hideouts. The gratitude of the masses. Who at some point in their life hasn't dreamed of being a superhero? Impossible, right? Or is it?

Possessing no supernatural powers, Batman is the most realistic of all the superheroes His feats are achieved through rigorous training and mental discipline, and with the aid of fantastic gadgets. Drawing on his training as a neuroscientist, kinesiologist, and martial artist, E. Paul Zehr explores the question: could a mortal ever become Batman?

Zehr discusses the physical and skill training necessary to maintain bad-guy-fighting readiness while relating the science underlying this process, from strength conditioning to the cognitive changes a person would endure in undertaking such a regimen. In probing what a real-life Batman could achieve, Zehr considers the level of punishment a consummately fit and trained person could handle, how hard and fast such a person could punch and kick and the number of adversaries that individual could dispatch, what it would be like to fight while wearing a batsuit, and the amount of food one would have to consume each day to maintain vigilance as Gotham City's guardian.

A fun foray of escapism grounded in sound science, Becoming Batman provides the background for attaining the realizable -- though extreme -- level of human performance that would allow you to be a superhero.

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Price: $17.79 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Along with the many benefits of leisure-class living comes obesity and its attendant ailments. In The Warrior Diet, Ori Hofmekler looks not forward but backward for a solution–to the primal habits of early cultures such as nomads and hunter-gatherers, the Greeks, and the Romans. Based on survival science, this book proposes not ordinary dietary changes but rather a radical yet surprisingly simple lifestyle overhaul.

Drawing on both scientific studies and historical data, Hofmekler argues that robust health and a lean, strong body can best be achieved by mimicking the classical warrior mode of cycling—working and eating sparingly (undereating) during the day and filling up at night. Specific elements from the Warrior Diet Nutritional Program (finding ideal fuel foods and food combinations to reduce body fat) to the Controlled Fatigue Training Program (promoting strength, speed, and resilience to fatigue through special drills), literally reshape body and mind. Individual chapters cover warrior meals and recipes; sex drive, potency, and animal magnetism; as well as personalizing the diet for women. Featuring forewords by Fit for Life author Harvey Diamond and Fat That Kills author Dr. Udo Erasmus, The Warrior Diet shows readers weary of fad diets how to attain enduring vigor, explosive strength, a better appearance, and increased vitality and health..
Price: $11.61 [Notify me when price goes down.]