Best Selling Books by Michael Williams

Unclassical Traditions: Alternatives to the Classical Past in Late Antiquity is the first of two collections of essays by leading scholars discussing the nature and extent of the late-antique engagement with its classical heritage. This issue has long been at the heart of modern historical debate and, as this volume demonstrates, it was no less a matter of concern among authors and audiences in the period itself. From the Chronological Tables of Eusebius of Caesarea to the Brevarium of Festus and from the imperial panegyric to the Byzantine liturgy, eight papers explore how the persistence, dominance and normative nature of the classical tradition in its various forms could be negotiated, undermined, ironized or even flatly denied. Whether in the hands of Christian bishops such as Ambrose of Milan or Basil of Caesarea, or in the poetry of Ausonius or in the lives of the saints, many central aspects of late-antique culture here emerge as the product of a combination of authoritatively classical and avowedly unclassical traditions.

To God Be The Glory For The Things He Has Done, And Will Do Part II, is an inspirational Christian Poetry book created and designed (by God Himself) for people of all age groups. Everyone will be able to relate to it, elementary school students, junior high students, high school students, and adults. Everybody will enjoy this delightful scripture filled book, which is easy to read and understand. The poems are uplifting in difficult times and they will touch your heart, spirit, mind and soul, also your emotions. Every poem has a message; most of them possess a scripture. It truly is an interesting book. You may not be able to put it down. Yes, Jesus is Lord! When you learn to follow His ways, you will start to have "Better Days." Guaranteed!

This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of how the ancient past has shaped screen stardom in Hollywood since the silent era. It engages with debates on historical reception, gender and sexuality, nostalgia, authenticity and the uses of the past. Michael Williams gives fresh insights into ‘divinized stardom’, a highly influential and yet understudied phenomenon that predates Hollywood and continues into the digital age. Case studies include Greta Garbo and Mata Hari (1931); Buster Crabbe and the 1930s Olympian body; the marketing of Rita Hayworth as Venus in the 1940s; sculpture and star performance in Oliver Stone’s Alexander (2004); landscape and sexuality in Troy (2004); digital afterimages of stars such as Marilyn Monroe; and the classical body in the contemporary ancient epic genre. The author’s richly layered ‘archaeological’ approach uses detailed textual analysis and archival research to survey the use of the myth and iconography of ancient Greece and Rome in some of stardom’s most popular and fascinating incarnations. This interdisciplinary study will be significant for anyone interested in star studies, film and cultural history, and classical reception.

Touching on the fields of philosophy, critical theory, cultural studies, and queer theory, Pervert-Schizoid-Woman critiques the organization of Western economy, language, and desire. Author Michael Williams seeks to promote alternative frameworks for a posthumanist theory and practice of perverse selfhood and sociality. In this study, he identifies the capitalist economic system as structured by scarcity and supply/demand dynamics, discerning the paradoxical accumulation of debt as the essence of the assumed scarcity in the financial system. He also uncovers the profound isomorphism between the economics of scarcity and the castration and lack at the center of the psychoanalytic interpretation of gender, sexuality, and desire, concluding that the essential negativity in the scarcity of capitalism, the absence in the structure of language, and the castration in the network of desire are the sources of the dysfunctions in Western systems of finance, expression, and gender and sexuality.

This is a short collection of poetry for children, mothers, and grandmothers and contains relatable real-life inspiration plus a touch of imagination. Every mother has heard the words watch this and has felt that heartrending moment when their child leaps into danger. They all have wondered while scratching their heads in bemusement, What did I do to deserve a child like this? Mothers put up with more than most and deserve our thanks, especially mine.

If you are or aspire to become a business executive then you cannot escape being confronted with problem solving situations from internal operations to external customer facing decisions. Problem solving is a learned skill. As such, you have to learn the right way to do it, and then you have to practice in every problem you face. If you don''t learn the skill, you might find yourself hitting a self-imposed corporate ceiling. Problem solving is not only a skill important for the corporate world. It is vital for companies in the startup phase of their lifecycle. If you''re in that group, then you have undoubtedly seen many titles on ''product innovation'' or ''business model innovation'' among others that will supposedly fuel your idea generation. In This Book You Will Learn: · Show how to remove emotions from decision-making. · Clarify your current position and your desired result. · Demonstrate how to involve employees, suppliers and customers in problem-solving. · Illustrate the art of evaluation to know if a solution will just make things worse. · Add problem-solving discipline to your leadership skills. Fortunately, the frameworks offered in this insightful book are highly customizable, so you can tailor them to suit your professional, social, student, or home life. It is time to bid adieu to indecisiveness and welcome in a new era where you are the confident, capable decision-maker you know you can be.

Michael Williams has spent the past year travelling along the fascinating rail byways of Britain for this new collection of journeys. Here is the ''train to the end of the world'' running for more than four splendid hours through lake, loch and moorland from Inverness to Wick, the most northerly town in Britain. He discovers a perfect country branch line in London''s commuterland, and travels on one of the slowest services in the land along the shores of the lovely Dovey estuary to the far west of Wales. He takes the stopping train across the Pennines on a line with so few services that its glorious scenery is a secret known only to the regulars. Here, too, is the Bittern Line in Norfolk and the Tarka Line in North Devon as well as the little branch line to the fishing port of Looe in Cornwall, rescued from closure in the 1960s and now celebrating its 150th anniversary taking families on holiday to the seaside. From the most luxurious and historic - aboard the Orient Express - to the most futuristic - on the driverless trains of London''s Docklands Light Railway - here is a unique travel companion celebrating the treasures of our railway heritage from one of Britain''s most knowledgeable railway writers.

Employing the classic Chinese saying “returning home with glory” (man zai rong gui) as the title, Michael Williams highlights the importance of return and home in the history of the connections established and maintained between villagers in the Pearl River Delta and various Pacific ports from the time of the Californian and Australian gold rushes to the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Conventional scholarship on Chinese migration tends to privilege nation-state factors or concepts which are dependent on national boundaries. Such approaches are more concerned with the migrants’ settlement in the destination country, downplaying the awkward fact that the majority of the overseas Chinese (huaqiao) originally intended to (and eventually did) return to their home villages (qiaoxiang). Williams goes back to the basics by considering the strong influence exerted by the family and the home village on those who first set out in order to give a better appreciation of how and why many modest communities in southern China became more modern and affluent. He also gives a voice to those who never left their villages (women in particular). Designed as a single case study, this work presents detailed research based on the more than eighty villages of the Long Du district (near Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province), as well as the three major destinations—Sydney, San Francisco, and Honolulu—of the huaqiaowho came from this region. Out of this analysis of what truly mattered to the villagers, the choices they had and made, and what constituted success and failure in their lives, a sympathetic portrayal of the huaqiao emerges. Returning Home with Glory inaugurates the Hong Kong University Press book series “Crossing Seas”. “From the very local qiaoxiang or home village of migrants to the transnational destinations in America and Australia, this book is a model of how to write ‘diaspora’ into modern Chinese history. The Cantonese Pacific comes alive in this highly readable book that is sure to capture our imagination.” —Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Brown University “A perceptively conceptualized and well-researched case study of an emigrant community in the Pearl River Delta that extended its reach to Sydney, the Hawaiian Islands, and San Francisco. Williams offers a refreshing qiaoxiang perspective through which to understand the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” —Yong Chen, University of California, Irvine “This welcome study of Chinese mobility among settler societies of the Pacific places the family and the village at its heart, just as its subjects did over the century under review, to 1949. A path-breaking study based on first-hand research.” —John Fitzgerald, Swinburne University of Technology

A ground-breaking book based on extensive research which challenges accepted ''norms'' and establishes the seven key competencies required for successful leadership today.

This book focuses on the academic foundations, trends and traditions of environmental education for sustainable development principally in Chinese contexts. It highlights contexts and case studies that illuminate recent Chinese initiatives. It includes case studies of green schools and reports on recent initiatives in school-based ESD curriculum development programmes in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The book concludes with an overview chapter that points to likely future developments. The assumption underpinning the book is that experiences gained in such a major country as China will be of real interest to geographical and environmental educationists, professional educators and teachers elsewhere. Not only will it generate interest and create greater awareness but also it is hoped that these experiences will provide a platform for scholarly exchange and contribute insights on education policy and curriculum changes across Asian-Pacific communities in an increasingly globalised world.

Galileo Nodding a head without a hair As if Truth at last was found He went to and fro in a rocking chair And the world went round and round Lines of Flight is a collection of lyrical poems, ranging from the compassionate and philosophical to the emotional and funny. Each poem has its own rhythms: the spacing between the words adds to the overall meaning both on the page and when read aloud. You cannot walk round the poems, like a piece of sculpture, nor can you walk away from them. They come into existence as poems precisely at the point of communicating with the reader. The themes of birds and flight form a leitmotif throughout the collection. The image of a bird in flight also has symbolic associations – it is an existential moment in time and space, which has affinities with our own experience at any point in the trajectory of our lives. Michael Williams is also an artist and has work in public and private collections in London, New York and Paris, and his artist’s eye is reflected in his poetry. As a result, Lines of Flight is a sensitive and inspired collection that affirms the importance of beauty and love. It will appeal to those looking to appreciate the world around them.

This book argues that the principles of Pan-Africanism are more important than ever in ensuring the liberation of the people Africa, those at home and abroad, and the rapid development of the African continent. The writings and practice of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first post-independence prime minister and president, were key in laying out a vision for post-independence Africa. Now, in an effort to counter the deluge of neo-liberal thinking that has engulfed so much of the debate on African development in recent decades, Michael Williams illuminates just how important a role an Nkrumaist intellectual framework can play in providing an accurate diagnosis of, and effective solution to, Africa’s development crisis. This is done by examining Nkrumah’s vision of the critical role Pan-Africanism must play in the development of the continent. Raising vitally important questions about Africa’s development and the quality of life of its populations, this book will be a key text for researchers of African politics, development studies, and the Pan-African movement.

As South Africa consolidates its democracy, chieftaincy has remained a controversial and influential institution that has adapted to recent changes. J. Michael Williams examines the chieftaincy and how it has sought to assert its power since the end of apartheid. By taking local-level politics seriously and looking closely at how chiefs negotiate the new political order, Williams takes a position between those who see the chieftaincy as an indigenous democratic form deserving recognition and protection, and those who view it as incompatible with democracy. Williams describes a network of formal and informal accommodations that have influenced the ways state and local authorities interact. By focusing on local perceptions of the chieftaincy and its interactions with the state, Williams reveals an ongoing struggle for democratization at the local and national levels in South Africa.

This book reveals the key skills needed by any leader in any type of business and shows how they can be used in practice, focusing on techniques for improving individual and organizational performance and enabling mid- to senior-level managers to understand their own leadership style. It provides guidance on how to develop a learning organization and how to be a successful mentor. It will be perfect for newly appointed managers looking for an expert but user-friendly introduction to this crucial role; departmental managers across the functions--i.e. finance, HR, production, marketing--who need to develop key skills outside their own area of expertise; in-company training courses; and business degree and MBA courses.

Options are an investment vehicle that can enhance virtually any investment philosophy. Fundamentals of the Options Market provides a clear, concise picture of this global marketplace. Using examples drawn from contemporary financial news, this completely accessible guidebook describes why and how these versatile tools can be used to hedge risk and enhance return, while explaining popular products including listed stock options, index options, and LEAPS.

A pictorial history of tractors, showing key models and technical details. Much material is from the Massey-Ferguson archives, and the photographs are accompanied by an informative text, and appendices of production data and serial numbers, resulting in a blend of the technical and the nostalgic.

Recently anglophone Marxism has become more naturalistic and individualistic in orientation. This book challenges this tendency by developing a neglected approach, one which makes social form the focus of the theory of society.

In this introduction to epistemology, Michael Williams explains and criticises traditional philosophical theories of the nature, limits, methods, possibility, and value of knowing.

Increasingly we understand that no ethnic community is monolithic but shows a great degree of diversity in demographics, class and socio-economic status. This volume demonstrates this in its focus on the black ageing community, showing how these diversities have enormous implications for social services, social programmes and social policy. In these twelve informative, incisive essays, the state of America''s black aged is assessed and policies and programmes analyzed. The authors point to the importance of gearing services to a diverse group of elderly people. They also highlight how traditional racism and economic limitations impact on service needs and uses. Finally, they note the importance of family, church and other informal support networks in the black community as a substitute for or supplement to more formally-delivered services. Written by some of the best known scholars and professionals in the field of gerontology, the essays in this book will be required reading for all those delivering services to minority aged clients.

An omnibus edition containing the three novels in the Legends series is accompanied by extensive notes by the authors, as well as commentary from the original members of the Dragonlance setting conceptual team.

Fantasy roman.