Books about Vulture from Amazon.com

"What kinds of investors actually choose to make their living by seeking out troubled companies and becoming mired in the complexities and contentiousness of a bankruptcy or out-of-court workout?" - Hilary Rosenberg (from The Vulture Investors)

Welcome to the big-time, big-stress-and big-profit-world of vulture investing. From the eleventh-hour save of Donald Trump's casinos, to the tempestuous history of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, to the rocky restructuring of the massive Revco discount drugstore chain, Hilary Rosenberg takes us on a fast-moving journey through some of the major bankruptcies of the 1980s and 1990s-and brings to life the infamous, talented arbiters at the heart of their recovery. Meet the so-called "vulture investors" who cast their sights on distressed concerns, buy out debt, and skillfully forge their way to rich returns. Quietly upstaging the flashier corporate tycoons and raiders of the previous decade, men like Leon Black, Ronald LaBow, Sam Zell, Talton Embry, and Martin Whitman have helped to make a more efficient market in this obscure sector of investment, and their success may even inspire the quickly evolving business cultures of Asia and Latin America.

The vulture investors made their way to the forefront of American business during the troubled period when declaring bankruptcy became commonplace among debt-heavy companies. Buying out debt and seeing through the rehabilitation of companies as well-known as Sunbeam and Bloomingdale's, these unique players have changed the face of the distressed securities market. In her own animated, absorbing, and original style, Hilary Rosenberg creates thoroughly researched reenactments of the vultures' greatest exploits to offer an intriguing examination of their methods and their madness-and reveals the important role of these controversial characters in aiding worldwide economic recovery.

Praise for The Vulture Investors

"A lively account of the hardy band of investors who look for-and find-gold in capitalism's junk pile. Rosenberg not only tells their stories with captivating relish but weighs the overall economic impact of their exploits. This book is a valuable introduction to 1990s-style deal-making." - Chris Welles, Senior Editor, Business Week

"In a tour de force of punchy business writing, Rosenberg dissects a little-known but increasingly common high-stakes financial game: preying on companies in distress. . . . The author relates these intricate, suspenseful narratives in a clear, lively style that always instructs and often amuses." - Publishers Weekly

"Reads like a good suspense novel." - Library Journal.
Price: $32.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

On 22 February 1895, a naval force laid siege to Brass, the chief city of the Ijo people of Nembe in Nigeria's Niger Delta. After severe fighting, the city was razed. More than two thousand people perished in the attack.

A hundred years later, the world was shocked by the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa—writer, political activist, and leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. Again the people of Nembe were locked in a grim life-and-death struggle to safeguard their livelihood from two forces: a series of corrupt and repressive Nigerian governments and the giant multinational Royal Dutch Shell.

Ike Okonta and Oronto Douglas pre-sent a devastating case against the world's largest oil company, demonstrating how (in contrast to Shell's public profile) irresponsible practices have degraded agricultural land and left a people destitute. The plunder of the Niger Delta has turned full circle as crude oil has taken the place of palm oil, but the dramatis personae remain the same: a powerful multinational company bent on extracting the last drop of blood from the richly endowed Niger Delta, and a courageous people determined to resist..
Price: $10.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A proud but decrepit lion learns a lesson about friendship from the vultures he despises .
Price: $4.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $5.81 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From the bestselling author of Captain Underpants comes Ricky Ricotta¹s Giant Robot. A small mouse named Ricky Ricotta and his friend, a giant flying Robot, save the planet from Victor Von Vulture and his vicious Voodoo Vultures!.
Price: $0.01 [Notify me when price goes down.]

We all dutifully write out checks for insurance coverage each month, assuming that if the worst should occur, we'll be protected financially. But what we don't know about the insurance business could -- and most probably will -- hurt us. Vulture Culture is a hard-hitting exposé of the sorry state of the industry, from tales of rampant, widespread corruption to inconsistent state regulations and the inability - and often unwillingness - of the federal government to protect the rights of denied claimants.

The book takes readers into a world of bid-rigging, fraudulent commissions, and secret payoffs, revealing shocking abuses and ominous new trends. Readers will hear about a rogue's gallery of shady executives, including a CEO whose massive claim denial schemes eventually got him fired . . . at great cost to consumers. From the Hurricane Katrina fiasco of unpaid claims, to a revolving door in which former insurance executives regulate their own industry before returning to it themselves, this is a shocking account of an industry on the brink of collapse, and what must be done to fix it before it's too late..
Price: $11.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Told in anecdotal form, Vulture's Row tells a fascinating story about an important period covering nearly one half of the entire history of U.S. naval aviation. "Vulture's Row" is an area dubbed by naval flyers, on the island structure of an aircraft carrier where pilots who aren't flying can overlook carrier launchings and recoveries on the deck below. This new book by acclaimed author Paul Gillcrist is a series of true stories about the U.S. Navy carrier aviation from the perspective of a Navy pilot who spent thirty-three years directly involved in that exciting profession. The book begins with a series of vignettes in the period of the mid-1950s when the U.S. Navy introduced swept wing, jet-powered fighters into the aircraft carrier navy, flying from straight-deck carriers whose flight decks were made of teak wood. The thread of stories follows the author's career in chronological sequence, in various venues throughout the Navy. There are accounts from his first carrier deployment to the western Pacific, followed by events as a weapons delivery instructor at the predecessor to TOPGUN in El Centro, California. Some of his experiences as a Navy pilot are recorded in a section about Patuxent River, Maryland, the Navy's test center. Additional episodes include an unforgettable wing-walking flight. flying Japanese Zeros in the movie TORA!TORA!TORA! and the author's subsequent tour of duty in Pentagon conducting proficiency flights from our nation's capital. There are also accounts of combat missions over Vietnam and the author's experiences in both wing commander jobs, flying the F-4 Phantom II and the F-14 Tomcat. The last story is about his two flights, as a fifty-two year old Admiral, in the controversial F-20 Tigershark. These vignettes combine humor, hair-raising excitement and tragedy. Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot, served also as a test pilot and weapons delivery instructor, and actively flew from sixteen aircraft carriers for over twenty-seven years. The author writes with authority as a former fighter squadron commanding officer who recorded 167 combat missions over Vietnam flying the F-8 Crusader. Subsequently, he commanded a carrier air wing and finally served, the rank of Rear Admiral, as the wing commander for all pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. His pilot's logbook includes over 6,000 hours, in seventy-one different types of aircraft from 1952 to 1981. He retired in 1985 as Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations(air Warfare). He is also the author of TOMCAT!The Grumman F-14 Story, and CRUSADER! Last of the Gunfighters(both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.)..
Price: $21.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $7.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Vulture explores the minds and crimes of sadistic serial predators. After examining her own cases, studying dozens of solved cases, researching the killers' lives, and interviewing the killers, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin created new profiles of sadistic killers. Vulture provides a comprehensive, fascinating new look into the minds and crimes of sadists. The book even includes Dr. Schurman-Kauflin's analysis of the BTK serial killer, a profile which BTK renamed "Hits" and sent to police. In chilling detail, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin takes us through sadistic crimes around the world. Gruesome and horrifying cases are analyzed. The profiling process and the mindsets of these killers are presented. Finally, from the mouths of the killers come the most frightening thoughts and details..
Price: $26.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]