Set in the ironmaking town of Merthyr Tydfil, The Fire People is the story of Dic Penderyn who in 1831 became the first Welsh Martyr of the working class. Hanged for a crime that he did not commit, his story is told in this powerful novel which describes the events which took place during the famous Merthyr Tydfil riots of 1831.

“[A] gracefully narrated, arrestingly illustrated myth originating from the Karuk people” about a coyote who steals fire and shares it with the world (Publishers Weekly). There was a time when the animals had no way to keep warm in the winter, because the miserly Yellow Jackets kept fire for themselves at their mountaintop home. But wise old Coyote devised a plan to trick the Yellow Jackets and steal a burning ember. As the Yellow Jackets give chase, Coyote passes the ember to Eagle, who then passes it to Mountain Lion, and so on. The animals work together, using their individual strengths and abilities, to get the ember down from the mountain where it is kept inside a willow tree. This delightful retelling of the legend from the Karuk people of Northwestern California is enlivened by beautiful illustrations and includes an afterword by Julian Long, a member of the Karuk tribe.

On Fire at Work flies in the face of other books on workplace culture by showing that employee engagement isn’t the ultimate goal—it is merely the starting point. Renowned leadership expert Eric Chester has gone straight to the source—top-tier leaders of the world’s best places to work to uncover their best practice strategies for getting employees to work harder, perform better, and stay longer. On Fire at Work features examples and original stories from exclusive personal interviews with over 25 founders/CEOs/presidents of companies like Marriott, Siemens, BB&T Bank, Wegmans, 7-Eleven, Hormel, Canadian WestJet, Ben & Jerry’s, and The Container Store, along with smaller companies like Firehouse Subs, the Nerdery, and Build-A-Bear. The guiding principle is that any organization in any industry—from Fortune 500 firms to mom-and-pop shops—can learn how to bring out the very best in their employees. The book’s content-rich research and conversational case study-based narrative make it a timely, actionable go-to reference on employee performance and productivity for C-level execs, corporate and government managers, HR professionals, and small business owners. On Fire at Work is a practical field guide that any organization can implement to build, not an engaged workforce, but a workforce that is on fire!

Long ago the people of Dahomey told a tale of the days when the world was new, and the only Earth people were animals. They lived in cold and darkness because Mawu, the selfish Moon god, kept all the fire to herself. At last, little Chameleon and slow Tortoise, working together, found a way to outwit Mawu.

Invaders from Mercury! The invaders from Mercury came in ships designed to look like asteroids. Thus did they avoid detection from the unsuspecting humans until they began to lay waste to entire cities. The women of Mercury are winged, but must have their wings clipped when they marry. But would human men allow them to keep their wings and their freedom? When the humans start to fight back some of the Mercurian woman begin to wonder. A rip roaring adventure from the beginning of the Science Fiction Age.

National Bestseller CNBC and Strategy + Business Best Business Book of the Year It’s the biggest revolution you’ve never heard of, and it’s hiding in plain sight. Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition. New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and high performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution—from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Red Bull’s training center, Nike’s innovation team, and the United Nations’ Headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide. Today, this revolution is spreading to the mainstream, fueling a trillion dollar underground economy and forcing us to rethink how we can all lead richer, more productive, more satisfying lives. Driven by four accelerating forces—psychology, neurobiology, technology and pharmacology—we are gaining access to and insights about some of the most contested and misunderstood terrain in history. Stealing Fire is a provocative examination of what’s actually possible; a guidebook for anyone who wants to radically upgrade their life.

The first of the new meteors landed on the earth in November, 1940. It was discovered by a farmer in his field near Brookline, Massachusetts, shortly after daybreak on the morning of the 11th. Astronomically, the event was recorded by the observatory at Harvard as the sudden appearance of what apparently was a new star, increasing in the short space of a few hours from invisibility to a power beyond that of the first magnitude, and then as rapidly fading again to invisibility. This star was recorded by two of the other great North American observatories, and by one in the Argentine Republic. That it was comparatively small in mass and exceedingly close to the earth, even when first discovered, was obvious. All observers agreed that it was a heavenly body of an entirely new order.

Years of drought and decades of aggressive fire exclusion have left North American forests at high risk for future catastrophic fires. Forest settings are a magnet for recreational opportunities and for rapidly growing residential developmentputting an increasing number of citizens and their property into the path of wildfires. Recordsetting wildfires initiated the twentyfirst century and motivated the rise to prominence of wildfire on the political agenda, prompting important and farreaching new public policy initiatives. To be effective, these policies must be informed by sciencebut that requires more than just improved knowledge about the physical and biological dynamics of fire and forest ecosystems. Social values, socioeconomic factors, demographic trends, institutional arrangements, and human behavior must also be taken into consideration by the agencies and individuals responsible for wildland fire decision making. The first book to integrate the social science literature on the human dimensions of wildfire, People, Fire, and Forests reviews current studies from this broad, interdisciplinary field and synthesizes them into a rich body of knowledge with practical management implications. Chapters in the book highlight principal findings and common threads in the existing research and identify strengths and gaps. They cover such topics as public perception of wildfire risk, acceptability of fire management policies, and community impacts of wildfire. Designed to make relevant social science information more available and useful to wildfire risk managers and policy makers, People, Fire, and Forests is also intended to encourage and guide further research into wildfire. By exploringthe theoretical and methodological issues surrounding human interactions with wildfire and describing the practical implications of this research, this volume provides an essential resource for students, scholars, and professionals.

For the first time, and in one place, Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides decision makers at any supervisory level, exactly what they need to get it right every time they hire, develop, or fire someone. In today’s complex and competitive world of work, organizations simply cannot afford a mismatched new hire, a loss of top talent, or a dreaded bad ‘goodbye’ following a difficult termination. Whether working to avoid budget mayhem or preserving your company’s image, learning how to navigate the hiring and firing process is a corporate essential. Leadership expert and executive coach Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides insights and advice for avoiding these all-too-common business bumps in the road. She defines and explores the ARC employee life cycle: Acquisition (hire right), Retention (nurture right), Closure (fire right). Acquiring and retaining talent, and eventually bringing closure when employees leave, is a relational, not a transactional process. Hire Right, Fire Right successfully guides decision makers through those key interactions with new and current employees arming leaders with a powerful set of tangible tools to help ensure their organizations are well equipped to take on these talent management challenges - and win. By following Hewertson’s three systems of hiring, developing, and terminating employees, decision makers will be empowered to: Dramatically increase your company’s success rate of hiring the right people for the right job Measurably boost employee retention rates Significantly lower the risk of lawsuits, arbitrations, and damage to your organization’s reputation if things end badly

The trickster Coyote helps people stay warm through the winter in this Native American folktale.