Books about Pivotal from Amazon.com

Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia.
Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington's men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined.
Fischer's richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americans evolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning..
Price: $9.80 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Much more than a book of pictures, 100 Days in Photographs is a compelling visual journey through our age—an odyssey that's personal and universal, immediate and timeless To create it, Getty Images and National Geographic identified 100 days that represent defining moments of the past 150 years... and crystallized them with photographs that leap from the page to evoke joy and anger, triumph and despair. Supporting the visuals are firsthand journal excerpts, photographers' on-site notes, and insightful text by photography historian Nick Yapp.

From the Getty Images archive, astonishing images depict major world events: revolution in 19th-century Europe, President Lincoln's assassination, the Eiffel Tower's construction from 1887 to 1889, Bleriot flies the English Channel in 1909, the Wall Street crash of 1929, Germany's Kristallnacht, the British quit India in 1947, and more. National Geographic's contributions illustrate scientific, cultural, and geographical topics—including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzees, Chernobyl's nuclear disaster, the cloning of sheep, the attacks of September 11, 2001, and today's global warming debate. Page after eye-catching page reveals the emotion of an entire event or age captured in a single image—whether of a peasant's tears, of world leaders sharing a secret, or the triumph of an Olympic champion. Politics, war, crime, technology, achievement, fads, and fashion all figure into the life and legacy of these 100 days.

Featuring scores of rare and unpublished photographs uncovered during its creation, this remarkable book provides new perspective on key events and personalities of the past 150 years..
Price: $4.82 [Notify me when price goes down.]

When Union General George McClellan marched toward the Confederate capital of Richmond in 1862, he encountered the Warwick River "where it wasn't supposed to be," causing a delay in his strategy and criticism from Northern press. McClellan was following a map created by an esteemed and experienced topographer, but the map was wrong! The map McClellan was following, reproduced in Great Maps of the Civil War, shows lines in pencil along the true course of the Warwick, apparently drawn after it was too late.

Most people interested in the Civil War are fascinated by maps - for what they tell about the battles, for what they tell about the terrain, and in some cases for their artistic beauty. But maps reproduced in books have limitations and there is not a good way of preserving a map collection - until now. Fifteen chapters in Great Maps of the Civil War each contain two or three maps that can be pulled out of a pocket. Ten of the maps are 18" x 24"; others are smaller. In addition to a discussion of the battles and the roles of the maps, the book tells about Civil War mapmakers and the methods they used.

Stunningly designed, this unique full-color book will make a significant addition to the library of any Civil War enthusiast or those who are fascinated by maps and mapmakers.

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Price: $17.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book represents the culmination of ten years of autism research by the authors It describes Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and details how this program can help children with autism acquire language skills, form social bonds, and further their schoolwork. PRT is a comprehensive service delivery model that aims to reduce the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. The structure of the treatment relies on targeting pivotal areas of behavior to affect a larger, overarching change..
Price: $28.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In January 1959, as Fidel Castro entered Havana in triumph, Americans hailed the revolutionary as a hero. Then came Castro's increasingly anti-American talk, the rise in his regime of the openly Marxist Che Guevara and Raul Castro, and seizures of American-owned assets. In little more than a year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower concluded that Castro must go.
In The Bay of Pigs, Howard Jones provides a concise, incisive, and dramatic account of the disastrous attempt to overthrow Castro. He deftly examines the train of missteps and self-deceptions that led to the invasion of U. S.-trained exiles at the Bay of Pigs. Ignoring warnings from the ambassador to Cuba, the Eisenhower administration put in motion an operation that proved nearly unstoppable even after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. The CIA and Pentagon, meanwhile, both voiced confidence in the outcome of the invasion, especially after coordinating previous successful coups in Guatemala and Iran. As a vital part of the Cuban effort, the CIA sought to incite a popular insurrection by recruiting the Mafia's help in engineering Castro's assassination on the eve of the invasion. And so the Kennedy administration launched the exile force toward its doom in Cochinos Bay on April 17, 1961. Jones gives a riveting account of the battle--and the confusion in the White House--before moving on to explore its implications. The Bay of Pigs, he writes, set the course of Kennedy's foreign policy. It was a humiliation for the administration that fueled fears of Communist domination and pushed Kennedy toward a hardline cold warrior stance. But at the same time, the failed attack left him deeply skeptical of CIA and military advisers and influenced his later actions during the Cuban missile crisis.
Richly researched, vividly written, The Bay of Pigs offers an engaging and thoughtful account of the turning point in Kennedy's foreign policy and indeed in foreign policy for decades to come..
Price: $9.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Few historians have ever captured the drama, excitement, and tragedy of the Civil War with the headlong elan of Edwin Bearss, who has won a huge, devoted following with his extraordinary battlefield tours and eloquent soliloquies about the heroes, scoundrels, and little-known moments of a conflict that still fascinates America. Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg: these hallowed battles and more than a dozen more come alive as never before, rich with human interest and colorful detail culled from a lifetime of study.

Illustrated with detailed maps and archival images, this 448-page volume presents a unique narrative of the Civil War's most critical battles, translating Bearss' inimitable delivery into print. As he guides readers from the first shots at Fort Sumter to Gettysburg's bloody fields to the dignified surrender at Appomattox, his engagingly plainspoken but expert account demonstrates why he stands beside Shelby Foote, James McPherson, and Ken Burns in the front rank of modern chroniclers of the Civil War, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning McPherson himself points out in his admiring Introduction.

A must for every one of America's countless Civil War buffs, this major work will stand as an important reference and enduring legacy of a great historian for generations to come..
Price: $8.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The first major history of the Crash in over a decade, Rainbow's End tells the story of the stock market collapse in a colorful, swift-moving narrative that blends a vivid portrait of the 1920s with an intensely gripping account of Wall Street's greatest catastrophe. The book offers a vibrant picture of a world full of plungers, powerful bankers, corporate titans, millionaire brokers, and buoyantly optimistic stock market bulls. We meet Sunshine Charley Mitchell, head of the National City Bank, powerful financiers Jack Morgan and Jacob Schiff, Wall Street manipulators such as the legendary Jesse Livermore, and the lavish-living Billy Durant, founder of General Motors. As Klein follows the careers of these men, he shows us how the financial house of cards gradually grew taller, as the irrational exuberance of an earlier age gripped America and convinced us that the market would continue to rise forever. Then, in October 1929, came a "perfect storm"-like convergence of factors that shook Wall Street to its foundations. We relive Black Thursday, when police lined Wall Street, brokers grew hysterical, customers "bellowed like lunatics," and the ticker tape fell hours behind.
This compelling history of the Crash--the first to follow the market closely for the two years leading up to the disaster--illuminates a major turning point in our history..
Price: $8.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Nowhere will you find a more comprehensive, current, and detailed writing course designed specifically for writing children's and teen books, written by an author who is in the field today. WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS: A CRASH COURSE is a ten-step course that relays all the nitty-gritty details of the business, beginning with how to evaluate your book idea all the way to pitching your book to editors and agents.

Within each step, you'll find clear and specific information covering topics such as the children's book market, manuscript format, revision tips, finding the right agent or publisher, submission etiquette, and common faux pas to avoid. This book will even tell you what kind of paper you should use and exactly how you should write your letters to editors and agents.

Bonus materials include templates for all of your submission needs as well as examples of real-life editorial letters sent to authors from editors today. You will get a complete inside peek to the children's fiction writing market for those who want to write picture books, easy readers, chapter books, and middle grade or teen novels..
Price: $11.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The first in a series of volumes that examine pivotal states in the Muslim world, this timely work explores how, after a long period of isolation, Turkey is becoming a major player in Middle Eastern politics once again. In fact, by acting independently and attempting to reconcile its constitutionally secular form of governance and vibrant traditional culture, it is now for the first time becoming positively viewed by others in the Muslim world as a state worth watching - and maybe even emulating. As a result, Turkey's dynamic political scene and new search for independence in its foreign policy, however complicating or irritating for the United States today, will nonetheless ultimately serve the best interests of Turkey, the Middle East, and even the West. Drawing heavily on a range of Turkish and Western sources, this multidimensional, lively, and nuanced volume provides an excellent introduction to one of the region's most fascinating and complex countries and makes a highly valuable contribution to the current debate about Turkey and its place in the world..
Price: $9.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]