David Drummond

Ivan Chervyakov, a petty government official, while in the theatre, sneezes right upon the head of a man sitting in front of him, who happens to be a high-ranking government official. He spends the evening and the next day fawning before his sneeze victim trying to extract forgiveness, but what he succeeds instead is only bringing out a fit of rage in him. Shocked, Chervyakov returns home to lie there and die, due to the sheer stress of having endured...

When Donovan Campbell's platoon deployed to Ramadi in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be spending most of their time building schools, training police, and making friends with the citizens. But shortly after arriving, when Campbell awoke to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret across the city, he knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands.For nearly the entire day, Joker-One-the forty-man...

At forty-seven, Gil is the world's oldest twenty-two-year-old man. He lives rent-free as a handyman in the L.A. summer house of a couple of rich retirees who only come out for vacations. Gruff, shrewdly observant, but perplexed and beleaguered by women since his nasty divorce, Gil has been dating Sara, an animal communicator, long enough to converse freely with all four of his dogs (especially Jimmy, the alpha). When Jimmy learns Gil isn't his biological...

In the Vietnam War, American "rough riders" drove trucks through hostile territory delivering supplies, equipment, ammunition, weapons, fuel, and reinforcements to troops fighting on the war's ever-shifting front lines. But, all too often, the convoys themselves became the front lines. Frank McAdams, a Marine Corps lieutenant, learned that the hard way during a tour of duty that began right after the 1968 Tet Offensive and the siege at Khe Sanh. In...

When Andrew Bridge was seven years old, he and his mother-a mentally unstable woman who loved her child more than she could care for him-slid deeper and deeper into poverty, until they were reduced to scavenging for food in trash bins. Welfare officials did little more than threaten to take Andrew away, until a social worker arrived with a police escort and did just that while his mother screamed on the sidewalk. And so began Andrew's descent into...

In Discover Your Inner Economist, one of America's most respected economists presents a quirky, incisive romp through everyday life that reveals how you can turn economic reasoning to your advantage-often when you least expect it to be relevant.Like no other economist, Tyler Cowen shows how economic notions-such as incentives, signals, and markets-apply far more widely than merely to the decisions of social planners, governments, and big business....

The demolition of Penn Station in 1963 destroyed not just a soaring neoclassical edifice but also a building that commemorated one of the last century's great engineering feats-the construction of railroad tunnels into New York City. Now, in this gripping narrative, Jill Jonnes tells this fascinating story-a high-stakes drama that pitted the money and will of the nation's mightiest railroad against the corruption of Tammany Hall, the unruly forces...

From the illegality of bowling in colonial America to violent video games and synthetic drugs, Vice Capades by bestselling author Mark Stein examines the nation's relationship with the actions, attitudes, and antics that have defined morality. This comprehensive, yet humorous, history reveals that our views of vice are not merely formed by morals but by power. By viewing a variety of vices across the span of American history, Vice Capades brings into...

Major Jake Thomas is on a roll. With the help of the Artificial Life: Intelligent Computing Environments, or ALICE systems, he has successfully faced off with the hostile NeHaw three times. With continued support from his inner circle of female recruits, all handpicked by the ALICEs to further their own agenda, he continues to try to help the earth return to glory. As Jake works to assemble a space fleet from captured and constructed vessels to address...

Are you the parent of an argumentative teen or a teen with an argumentative parent? Are you anticipating an argument with your boss when you ask for a raise? Are you expecting trouble from a supplier, contractor, landlord, or subordinate? Or do you just ignore conflict situations hoping that they'll magically disappear or solve themselves? The art of argument. It's mysterious and powerful. It's the art of having things go your way. But also it's the...