Bøger udgivet af HarperCollins Publishers Inc

A comprehensive and practical guide to the mental disciplines of high performance, from the performance psychologist who developed the US Navy SEALs' mental toughness curriculum and has worked with thousands of athletes, first responders, and business leaders.When it comes to high performance, it's hard to beat the US Navy SEALs, perhaps the most effective military operators on the planet. When they are on a mission, SEALs think clearly, stay focused, and shrug off setbacks under very high levels of stress. In this way they are like other top performers, the athletes, first responders, and business executives who have risen to be the best. These leaders may have superb physical and intellectual traits, but it is the stuff going on above the neck and between the ears that makes them excellent. The difference between settling and achieving, between good and great, between contentment and fulfillment, is based entirely on their mental approach. This approach isn't innate; it is 100% learned. The world's top performers aren't born that way, they learn excellence. So can everyone else, and Dr. Eric Potterat can teach us. One of the world's leading performance psychologists and a retired US Navy Commander, Dr. Potterat spent over three decades working with thousands of top performers from the military, sports, first responder, and business worlds, helping them raise their psychological game. He's been the performance psychologist on teams that have won the MLB World Series and the FIFA World Cup. In Learned Excellence, he distills his insights into five mental disciplines for high performance?Values & Goals, Mindset, Process, Adversity Tolerance, and Balance & Recovery. Illustrated with numerous stories and quotes from Navy SEALs, Olympians, professional athletes, coaches, first responders, and business leaders, Learned Excellence includes a clear set of principles and practices that anyone can use. We are all performers, at work, at school, at home, and at life. Learned Excellence provides the roadmap to help each of us perform at our very best.

A new historical drama from Daughter of the Reich bestselling author Louise Fein, about a London bookshop involved in an espionage network, set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff.In nuclear war, there can be no winners.It's 1962, and the world is teetering on the brink of nuclear war. But daily life must go on. South London girl Celia Duchesne longs for a career but with no means, connections, or qualifications, she spends her days at the till of a dusty antiquarian bookshop on the Strand, unable to see a way out. The day a handsome American walks into the shop, she thinks she might have found it. Just as the excitement of a budding relationship engulfs her, she learns a devastating secret that draws her into the murky world of espionage.Twenty years prior, nineteen-year-old Anya Moreau was dropped behind enemy lines to aid the resistance in occupied France, sending messages back to London via wireless transmitter. When she was cruelly betrayed and handed over to the Nazis, evidence of her legacy and the truth of her actions were buried by wartime injustices.As Celia learns more about Anya?and her unexpected connection to the undercover agent?she becomes increasingly aware of furious efforts, both past and present, to protect state secrets, at all costs. With her newly formed romance taking a surprising turn and the world's superpowers on the verge of nuclear annihilation, Celia must risk everything she holds close to her heart, in the name of justice.Propulsive, illuminating, and inspired by true events and figures of the Cold War, The London Bookshop Affair is a gripping story of secrets and love set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Unique insights from pioneers of Google's Startup Accelerator on why building teams is harder than building tech?and a proven way to develop a tight team that's ready for the intense challenges of startup life.Most startups fail not because of product failure or financial mismanagement, but because of people problems: internal conflicts over strategy, decision-making, and culture. Even the smartest entrepreneurs have been derailed by these ?soft? problems: How do you fire a loyal friend who's not up to par? How do you motivate your team to give their all? What happens when egos and emotions overpower facts and reason? The ?soft? stuff can be shockingly hard.Martin Gonzalez and Josh Yellin, cofounders of The Effective Founders Project at Google, outline the common traps startup teams fall into, and share their powerful one-day workshop that helps teams escape those traps. The unique process of The Bonfire Moment brings colleagues together for a full day of facing hard truths, noticing hidden dynamics, and gearing up for the intense challenges of startup life. When the constant hustle feels overwhelming, a team's Bonfire Moment pulls them out of the day-to-day intensity to reflect and reboot.The Bonfire Moment has proven effective with thousands of teams of all sizes around the world?from the smallest startups to large organizations?significantly improving their cohesion, focus and effectiveness. Now this book will teach leaders the principles behind the Bonfire Moment and how to run the workshop on their own. It's ideal for anyone who needs a tight, focused, and resilient team to achieve big goals.

From Melissa Ben-Ishay?the co-founder of Baked by Melissa and creator of the viral Green Goddess Salad?comes an irresistible, veggie-packed cookbook with over 100 flavorful, nourishing recipes to inspire you to eat delicious meals that make you feel great.When Melissa Ben-Ishay, the co-founder and CEO of bite-size cupcake empire Baked by Melissa, posted her vegan Green Goddess Salad on TikTok, it became a viral sensation. The recipe exploded online, gaining over 25 million views, landing Melissa on the TODAY Show, and inspiring fans like Cardi B and Lizzo to make their own version of the salad.After the success of the Green Goddess Salad, Melissa continued to share her finely chopped, vegetable-focused recipes and inspired millions of fans to eat more greens with her flavorful, fresh creations. The meals all highlight Melissa's food philosophy: if you get your nourishment from mealtime, you can absolutely indulge in dessert every day, just like she does.In Come Hungry, Melissa shares her favorite everyday recipes and tips for creating nourishing, delicious meals the whole family will love. With flavorful ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions, Melissa encourages home cooks of all levels to cook outside of their comfort zones and reveals her go-to techniques for creating the perfect bite. Packed with colorful, craveable recipes, Come Hungry offers a wide range of simple dishes for any diet, including:Mediterranean Grain SaladCoffee Shop Sesame Chicken SaladCrunchy Ramen Slaw with Grilled RibeyeGreen Veggie PizzaDouble Chocolate Zucchini CakeFrom her grandmother's kitchen in the Catskills to her in-laws' home on the Mediterranean, Melissa features recipes inspired by meals that have shaped her as a cook and promote a veggie-packed way of eating, from mouthwatering toasts topped with leftovers to filling a pita with flavorful small plates. Ultimately, each and every recipe encourages creativity in the kitchen and invites the reader?as Melissa's family says to guests on their way for dinner?to come hungry.

Bestselling author ReShonda Tate presents a fascinating fictional portrait of Hattie McDaniel, one of Hollywood's most prolific but woefully underappreciated stars?and the first Black person ever to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy in the critically acclaimed film classic Gone With the Wind.It was supposed to be the highlight of her career, the pinnacle for which she'd worked all her life. And as Hattie McDaniel took the stage in 1940 to claim an honor that would make her the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award, she tearfully took her place in history. Between personal triumphs and tragedies, heartbreaking losses, and severe setbacks, this historic night of winning best supporting actress for her role as the sassy Mammy in the controversial movie Gone With the Wind was going to be life-changing. Or so she thought. Months after winning the award, not only did the Oscar curse set in where Hattie couldn't find work, but she found herself thrust in the middle of two worlds?Black and White?and not being welcomed in either. Whites only saw her as Mammy and Blacks detested the demeaning portrayal. As the NAACP waged an all-out war against Hattie and actors like her, the emotionally conflicted actor found herself struggling daily.Through it all, Hattie continued her fight to pave a path for other Negro actors, while focusing on war efforts, fighting housing discrimination, and navigating four failed marriages. Luckily, she had a core group of friends to help her out?from Clark Gable to Louise Beavers to Ruby Berkley Goodwin and Dorothy Dandridge.The Queen of Sugar Hill brings to life the powerful story of one woman who was driven by many passions?ambition, love, sex, family, friendship, and equality. In re-creating Hattie's story, ReShonda Tate delivers an unforgettable novel of resilience, dedication, and determination?about what it takes to achieve your dreams?even when everything?and everyone?is against you.

New York Times bestselling author and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb provides a glimpse of a promising future that is quickly approaching: a world with cures for chronic illnesses and cancers.While traditional drugs mostly help us manage the effects of disease, cell therapies promise genuine cures for a broad range of intractable ailments, from Alzheimer's to heart damage to cancer. They could even reverse the effects of aging. For the first time in history, on an unprecedented scale, we possess the power to modify the biology that gives rise to disease, ultimately restoring individuals to a state of normalcy and reversing debilitating ailments.In The Miracle Century, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb traces the scientific achievements that propelled progress in cell therapies. The birth of this medical revolution wasn't a sudden event. Rather, it emerged from decades of steady, incremental progress in science. These concerted advances made cell therapies a reality. To forge a path for continued medical breakthroughs, Dr. Gottlieb meticulously traces this scientific journey, identifying lessons on how these achievements can be replicated.The MIracle Century is a look at the future of healthcare from one of the nation's leading medical authorities. Scott Gottlieb explains how these new medicines are moving from the laboratory bench to the marketplace and tackles the issues that must be addressed to enable wide adoption of these treatments and transform as many lives as possible.

The author of the world's best-selling book on negotiation draws on his nearly fifty years of experience and knowledge grappling with the world's toughest conflicts to offer a way out of the seemingly impossible problems of our time. Conflict is increasing everywhere, threatening everything we hold dear?from our families to our democracy, from our workplaces to our world. In nearly every area of society, we are fighting more and collaborating less, especially over crucial problems that demand solutions.With this groundbreaking book, bestselling author and international negotiator William Ury shares a new ?path to possible??time-tested practices that will help readers unlock their power to constructively engage and transform conflict. Part memoir, part manual, part manifesto, Possible offers stories and sage advice from Ury's nearly 50 years of experience on the front lines of some of the world's toughest conflicts.One of the world's top experts in the field, Ury has worked on conflicts ranging from boardroom battles to labor strikes, from the US partisan divide to family feuds, from wars in the Middle East, Colombia and Ukraine to helping the US and USSR avoid nuclear disaster. Now, in Possible, he helps us tackle the seemingly intransigent problems facing us.In Possible, Ury argues conflict is natural. In fact, we need more conflict, not less?if we are to grow, change, evolve and solve our problems creatively. While we may not be able to end conflict, we can transform it?unleashing new, unexpected possibilities.Successfully tested at Harvard University with almost a thousand participants from business, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, Ury's ?Path to Possible? proved so valuable that Harvard's Program on Negotiation selected it as its inaugural online daylong in April 2022.Possible introduces Ury's methods and makes them available for everyone. Combining accessible frameworks and powerful storytelling and offering dozens of examples, it is an essential guide for anyone looking to break through the toughest conflicts?in their workplace, family, community or the world.

Award-winning author Denny S. Bryce and USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight collaborate on a brilliant novel that uncovers the boundary-breaking, genuine friendship between Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, and iconic movie star Marilyn Monroe. One woman was recognized as the premiere singer of her era with perfect pitch and tireless ambition.One woman was the most glamorous star in Hollywood, a sex symbol who took the world by storm.And their friendship was fast and firm...1952: Ella Fitzgerald is a renowned jazz singer whose only roadblock to longevity is society's attitude toward women and race. Marilyn Monroe's star is rising despite ongoing battles with movie studio bigwigs and boyfriends. When she needs help with her singing, she wants only the best?and the best is the brilliant Ella Fitzgerald. But Ella isn't a singing teacher and declines?then the two women meet, and to everyone's surprise but their own, they become fast friends. On the surface, what could they have in common? Yet each was underestimated by the men in their lives?husbands, managers, hangers-on. And both were determined to gain. Each fought for professional independence and personal agency in a time when women were expected to surrender control to those same men. This novel reveals and celebrates their surprising bond over a decade and serves as a poignant reminder of how true friendship can cross differences to bolster and sustain us through haunting heartbreak and wild success.

An empowering, soul-baring personal account and guide from a two-time cancer survivor, business leader, and healthcare disrupter that shows anyone how to deal with a frightening medical diagnosis in America today, providing the knowledge necessary to take ownership of personal wellbeing and maximize the chances for survival.?Twenty-five years ago, Kathryn Giusti was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and given three years to live. With a young child, a happy marriage, and a successful career, Giusti had too much to live for. An ?impatient patient,? she overcame her fear and got to work, learning to advocate for her own care. This book is the result of all she's learned about how to get the best result from America's opaque and sometimes impossible-to-navigate health care system.Saving Your Life While Living Your Life tells the story of how Giusti took on the system and turned it to her advantage not once but twice when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. It is a crash course in surviving a grim diagnosis, organized around twelve simple steps, with practical tips for everything from how to build your healthcare team and learning which online sources to trust, to understanding the science and identifying which tests to ask for in the new genomic era and how to access the treatments and studies that could save your life.At its center is a gripping personal story that reveals difficult, yet honest truths about illness, family, friendship, marriage, and the business of medicine. Giusti lays bare her soul as she walks you through the steps for handling any diagnosis, and includes insights from medicine's top insiders, therapists, religious leaders, nurses, and others on the frontlines of physical and spiritual healing and care.Sick people deserve a fighting chance. Giusti's mission to democratize medicine?and healthcare?has never been more imperative, or more urgent. Hopeful, wise, and packed with hard-won knowledge, this book gives you the concrete tools and inspiration to save your life as you live it.

An unflinching and deeply reported look at the realities of binge-eating disorder from a rising culture commentator and writer for Vogue.Millions of us use restrictive diets, intermittent fasting, IV therapies, and Ozempic abuse to shrink until we are sample-size acceptable. But for the 30 million Americans who live with eating eating disorders, it isn't just about less. More, Please is a chronicle of a lifelong fixation with food?its power to soothe, to comfort, to offer a fleeting escape from the outside world?as well as an examination of the ways in which compulsory thinness, diet culture, and the seductive promise of ?wellness? have resulted in warping countless Americans' relationship with healthy eating.Melding memoir, reportage, and in-depth interviews with some of the most prominent and knowledgeable commentators currently writing about body shape and fatness, ?emotional eating? and our disorders with food?Jennifer Weiner, Marisa Meltzer, Virgie Tovar, Leslie Jamison , and others?Emma Specter explores binge-eating disorder as both a personal problem and a societal one. In More, Please she provides a context, a history, and a language for what it means to always want more than you'll allow yourself to have.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia comes the totally fetch story of one of the most iconic teen comedies of all time, Mean Girls, revealing how it happened, how it defined a generation, ?like, invented? meme culture, and why it just won't go away, filled with exclusive interviews from the director, cast, and crew. Get in, loser. We're going back to 2004.It's been 20 years since Mean Girls made ?fetch? happen. But, Mean Girls was never meant to be the global phenomenon it became. Given a mid-Spring release date?the film industry's equivalent of a wasteland?and up against the much more hyped 13 Going on 30, the studio, writer Tina Fey, and director Mark Waters, could only hope that their little film would be a modest success at best. Despite the odds, and thanks in no small part to Fey's infinitely quotable script and the burgeoning social media era, Mean Girls has gone to be one of the biggest pop culture influences of the past 20 years.In So Fetch, the first comprehensive book on the story of Mean Girls, the making of the movie, and its impact on pop culture, social media, and more, New York Times-bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong takes readers through the entire Mean Girls journey, from its conception in Saturday Night Live's offices to Fey's battle to keep a ?wide-set vagina? in the script; from peak Lohan to the high school vibe on the movie's Toronto set; from its hot-pink brand of feminism to its place in the rise of 2000s tabloid culture; from its instant catchphrases to its enduring internet popularity and hit Broadway adaptation. The limit truly does not exist when it comes to Mean Girls' enduring legacy.

In the vein of America's First Daughter, Piper Huguley's historical novel delves into the remarkable friendship of Portia Washington and Alice Roosevelt, the daughters of educator Booker T.

The thrilling second book in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's amazing new high concept series, The Scandalous Ladies of London, which chronicles the lives of a group of affluent ladies reigning over glittering, Regency-era London, vying for position in the hierarchy of the ton. They are the young wives, widows, and daughters of London's wealthiest families. The drama is big, the money runs deep, and the shade is real. Life is different in the ton.?I liked my husband well enough ... but I like him even better dead.?It's been a year since her wretched cad of a husband died and Valencia, the Dowager Duchess of Dedham, is finally her own woman. Flitting from party to party, freedom is sweet and life should be perfect. Until the new duke surfaces. Nothing like the haughty noblemen who populate the ton, Rhain, the newly minted Duke of Dedham, is a big brawny Welshman with an accent that makes Valencia's knees go weak as he boldly moves into her home with his six wild unwed sisters. The rude and humorless usurper thinks her vain and spoiled. But with a pittance to her name, Valencia needs his support to remain in London and enjoy all the pleasures her new position as a merry widow has to offer. So a bargain is struck. Valencia will usher his sisters into Good Society and see them happily betrothed. In return, he'll give her the financial security and independence she craves. But the more time they spend beneath the same roof, the more she realizes it's not safety she wants but the dangerously seductive Rhain. Valencia has vowed never to risk marriage again. And yet how can she resist the tempting man when he might be the greatest adventure of her life?

For fans of The Rose Code and The Librarian Spy comes another literary themed historical novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books. Germany, 1946: Emmy Clarke is a librarian not a soldier.

For readers of Bill Bryson, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Siddhartha Mukherjee, a wondrous, wildly ambitious, and vastly entertaining work of popular science that tells the awe-inspiring story of the elements that make up the human body, and how these building blocks of life travelled billions of miles and across billions of years to make us who we are.Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth's deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you've got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human? All matter?everything around us and within us?has an ultimate birthday: the day the universe was born. This informative, eye-opening, and eminently readable book is the story of our atoms' long strange journey from the Big Bang to the creation of stars, through the assembly of Planet Earth, and the formation of life as we know it. It's also the story of the scientists who made groundbreaking discoveries and unearthed extraordinary insights into the composition of life. Behind their unexpected findings were investigations marked by fierce rivalries, obsession, heartbreak, flashes of insight, and flukes of blind luck. Ultimately they've helped us understand the mystery of our existence: how a quadrillion atoms made of particles from the Big Bang now animate each of our cells.Shaped by the curious mind and bold vision of science and history documentarian Dan Levitt, this wondrous book is no less than the story of life itself.

The second book in New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell's humorous and heartwarming series The Gambler's Daughters, in which three aristocratic Irish sisters are determined to make their ways in Regency London...only to learn the path to making a brilliant society marriage isn't easy?especially when Love gets in the way. Here, a disaster in a storm throws headstrong sister Elise into the company, and arms, of a rake on the run.Elise Lanscarr is furious?her very own sister has married the man Elise had marked for herself. Feeling betrayed, she flees London, determined to return to the one place where everything was once as it should be: her family home in Ireland. But when her stagecoach crashes in a storm, she finds herself cast adrift in the wilds with no one to help but a rough-looking, albeit handsome, stranger?one who has obviously never been informed of the ?proper? rules of society.Christopher Fitzhugh-Cox, the missing Duke of Winderton, has fled all responsibility, preferring the persona of the devil-may-care rake ?Kit.? He proudly lives hand-to-mouth, rubbing shoulders with commoners and thieves alike. But while he values his freedom, he's never been one to leave a lady in trouble?even one as opinionated, albeit intriguing, as Elise.But this night of booming thunder and flashing lightning is just the beginning of an unexpected, often dangerous, adventure. And two disillusioned souls who have been caught up in their own webs of expectations and disappointments are about to learn that life always holds surprises, and gifts. And all it asks in return is that they risk everything for Love . . .

Acclaimed author Suzanne Park returns with a charming and compelling novel about an aspiring tech entrepreneur who goes on an rollercoaster journey of self-discovery after her app, which sends messages to loved ones after you pass, accidentally sends her final words to all the important people in her life?including the venture capital mentor she's crushing on.Sara Chae is the founder of the app One Last Word, which allows you to send a message to whomever you want after you pass. Safeguards are in place so the app will only send out when you're definitely, absolutely, 100% dead, but when another Sara Chae dies and the obituary triggers the prototype to auto-send messages that Sara uploads on one drunken night?to her emotionally charged mother, to a former best friend who ghosted her, and to her unrequited high school crush Harry?she has to deal with all the havoc that ensues and reopen old wounds from the past. She applies for a venture capital mentorship and is accepted to the program, only to find out that the mentor she's assigned is none other than her former crush and VC superstar Harry Shim, and her life goes from uncertain to chaotic overnight.Empowering and laugh-out-loud funny, One Last Word is a remarkably relatable story about a woman in tech who learns to speak up and fight for what she wants in life and love.

Awarded the Prix des libraires by France's booksellers, a universal story about music and restoring one's faith in others amid the aftermath of tremendous loss. Tokyo, 1938.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics delivers a wise, timely, big-hearted novel of unplanned isolation and newly forged community.Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life?the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day?suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?I went home, of course. MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARDFREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can for your own goddamn pet waste. I'm looking at you Peter Luflin.REMINDER: monthly Select Board meeting this Friday. Agenda items: 1) sludge removal; 2) upkeep of chime tower; 3) ice rink monitor thank you gift. Questions? Contact Hildegard Hyman, HHMurbridge@gmail.comDarcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy's first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consider the most fundamental of American questions: What can she ask of her community? And what does she owe it in return?

Social psychologist and Stanford professor Brian Lowery presents a provocative, powerful theory of identity, arguing that there is no essential "self"-our selves are social creations of those with whom we interact -exploring what that means for who we can be and who we allow others to be.

The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it's paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas-some iconic, others never-before-revealed-that have played out on the stage and off camera.

In this groundbreaking addition to his New York Times bestselling Plant Paradox series, Steven R.Gundry, MD offers a definitive guide to the gut biome and its control over its home?us!?revealing the unimaginably complex and intelligent ecosystem controlling our health and teaching us how to heal our guts to prevent and reverse every type of disease. We may believe that we are the masters of our fates, but in reality, we are at the mercy of hundreds of trillions of single-celled organisms that exert control over every aspect of how our minds and bodies function. These are the diverse species of microbes living in our guts, mouths, and skin that work together synergistically to communicate with each other and with every system in our bodies. You are your microbiome's home, and it wants to take care of you, but first you have to protect it.In Gut Check, Dr. Steven Gundry reveals the emerging science proving that Hippocrates was right ? all disease begins in the gut. When our microbiomes are out of balance, it affects our immune systems, our hormone levels, our mental health, our longevity, and our risk of developing autoimmunity, heart, and neurodegenerative disease, as well as arthritis, diabetes, and cancer. Yet, not all hope is lost: disease can also be healed in the gut if we choose to treat our microbes right. In Gut Check, Dr. Gundry shows us how. In his warm, authoritative voice, Dr. Gundry provides us with the keys to unlocking our gut health, allowing our bodies, and its microbiome, to function at their highest potential. Sharing shocking new research as well as a detailed eating plan with food lists and recipes to heal and rebalance the microbiome, Gut Check provides the cutting-edge information and tools we need to repair our health and reclaim our lives.

A stunning life of the iconic American artist, Keith Haring, by the acclaimed biographer Brad Gooch. In the 1980s, the subways of New York City were covered with art.

?Richard Norton Smith had brought a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and storytelling verve to the life of a consequential president?Gerald R. Ford. Ford's is a very American life, and Smith has charted its vicissitudes and import with great grace and illuminating perspective. A marvelous achievement!? -- Jon MeachamFrom the preeminent presidential scholar and acclaimed biographer of historical figures including George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller comes this eye-opening life of Gerald R. Ford, whose presidency arguably set the course for post-liberal America and a post-Cold War world.For many Americans, President Gerald Ford was the genial accident of history who controversially pardoned his Watergate-tarnished predecessor, presided over the fall of Saigon, and became a punching bag on Saturday Night Live. Yet as Richard Norton Smith reveals in a book full of surprises, Ford was an underrated leader whose tough decisions and personal decency look better with the passage of time.Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Smith recreates Ford's hardscrabble childhood in Michigan, his early anti-establishment politics and lifelong love affair with the former Betty Bloomer, whose impact on American culture he predicted would outrank his own. As president, Ford guided the nation through its worst Constitutional crisis since the Civil War and broke the back of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression?accomplishing both with little fanfare or credit (at least until 2001 when the JFK Library gave him its prestigious Profile in Courage Award in belated recognition of the Nixon pardon).Less coda than curtain raiser, Ford's administration bridged the Republican pragmatism of Eisenhower and Nixon and the more doctrinaire conservatism of Ronald Reagan. His introduction of economic deregulation would transform the American economy, while his embrace of the Helsinki Accords hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union.Illustrated with sixteen pages of black-and-white photos, this definitive biography, a decade in the making, will change history's views of a man whose warning about presidential arrogance (?God help the country?) is more relevant than ever.