Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Professionals & Academics

Howard Hughes (1905-1976) was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, idiosyncratic film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric—and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even several decades after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate about him. Richard Hack explodes the illusion of Hughes' life and exposes the man behind the myth.

Beginning in the 1950s, William Masters and Virginia Johnson convinced hundreds of people to shed their clothes and copulate—in the name of science. For more than 40 years, the pair served as the nation's top experts on love, sex, and intimacy. In this eye-opening work, critically acclaimed biographer Thomas Maier presents an unprecedented look at the research team of Masters and Johnson, their pioneering studies of intimacy, and their lasting impact on the love lives of men and women. Masters of Sex offers a titillating portrait of the team's real-life story.

National Book Award winner Barry Lopez captivated the world with his bestselling books Arctic Dreams and Of Wolves and Men. Now, in this memoir, Lopez takes the listener on a literal and figurative journey through essays that provide great wisdom and insights into our times. Lopez leads listeners from Japan's beautiful Hokkaido Island to the over-explored Galapagos, to around-the-world journeys aboard air freights, offering new perspectives on nature and humankind along the way.

When Ted Turner started out in business, he owned a small billboard company in rural Georgia. Over the decades, he built a multi-billion empire that included CNN, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), MGM studios, and the Atlanta Braves. Risk-taking, careful planning, and steely determination are the hallmarks of this brash, outspoken, and wildly successful media mogul. On the other side of the world, his counterpart—Australian-born Rupert Murdoch—began with one small newspaper and parlayed it into more than 100 newspapers and magazines around the globe.

They were called the Class from Hell - 34 inner-city sophomores she inherited from a teacher who'd been "pushed over the edge". She was told "those kids have tasted blood. They're dangerous." But Louanne Johnson had a different idea. Where the school system saw 34 unreachable kids, she saw young men and women with intelligence and dreams.

J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) was a shrewd industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942, ultimately becoming a dominant player in the oil industry. In The Great Getty, Robert Lenzner presents an in-depth biography of the savviest entrepreneur of the 20th century and the world's richest private citizen at the time of his death—worth $6 billion, the equivalent of more than $27 billion in today' s money.

Controversial and outspoken, hated and admired, Larry Flynt was one of the most polarizing figures of the 20th century. The life of the infamous publisher needs no exaggeration to make it one of the most interesting stories of our time. The found of Hustler magazine, Flynt was an ardent advocate of First Amendment rights and a man whose landmark Supreme Court cases are studied by law students across the country.

Gallo Be Thy Name is the portrait of an American dynasty, chronicling the family's history from Prohibition and the Great Depression to its roots in organized crime, its impact on the roiling farm labor movements of the 60s and 70s, and ultimately to its domination of America's wine market. The Gallos rode the turbulent currents of history to triumph, with iconic brothers Ernest and Julio steering the ship. But beneath the carefully polished surface of E. & J. Gallo Winery is a sweeping story of passion and power — swirling with rumors of murder.

Harry Cohn was the cofounder and president of Columbia Pictures, which he ran from the 1930s through 1950s. Cohn—who abhorred personal publicity—left no writings, made no speeches, and rarely submitted to interviews. Despite this, acclaimed biographer Bob Thomas brilliantly illuminates the life of the powerful but elusive studio head in King Cohn: The Life and Times of Hollywood Mogul Harry Cohn. Thomas details the studio head's rise from a New York City song-plugger to a Poverty Row impresario, highlighting his reign as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

Ryan White was a typical 13-year-old living in a small town in the Midwest. Then, it was discovered that Ryan had contracted AIDS through tainted blood products he had been given for his hemophilia. Denied the right to return to school, he went to court.

Thirty-five years ago, Wayne Huizenga rose before the sun to run his garbage collection route. Today, the sun never sets on the international Blockbuster Video empire he created, and he has emerged from the spoils of the Paramount/Viacom merger one of the most powerful and wealthy figures in the entertainment and sports businesses.

In July of 1987, Judge Robert H. Bork was nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan, but by late October that year, his confirmation was denied. In this candid account of his experiences, Bork describes the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing from his point of view. He also expounds on his view of politics versus the law, which he was able to see in action during this period. A warning against the politicization of American law, The Tempting of America is a fascinating, insider's perspective about the nominating process and its impact on the Supreme Court.

In this comprehensive account of Bernie Madoff' s epic Ponzi scheme, Catastrophe exposes the real story behind the financial mastermind' s upstanding façade—his confession, his family's involvement, and his unlikely rise and incredible crash. The book defines and explains the whole diabolical debacle, including how Madoff evaded SEC watchdogs and how his far-reaching crime pervaded the world.

Miracles can and do happen—when one does the footwork. Dr. Walter Turnbull dreamed of creating opportunities and better lives for the children of Harlem, and Lift Every Voice is the inspirational story of how he realized his dream. Dr. Turnbull shares the hard-bought wisdom he learned throughout his life—from his impoverished childhood in backwoods Mississippi to his experiences as founder and director of the Grammy Award-winning Boys Choir of Harlem. Turnbull shares insights on how to teach children that with hard work, discipline, and self-respect they can attain their highest goals.

Financier Ronald O. Perelman is one of the richest men in America, building a personal business empire worth billions. Linked to society's most dazzling beauties, Perelman owns palatial estates in Palm Beach, East Hampton, Manhattan, Sun Valley, and Bel Air, plus an impressive art collection, a fleet of automobiles, and two G-4 jets. This first biography of the brilliant entrepreneur recounts the story behind Perelman's spectacular financial success and lavish lifestyle.

In this brave and provocative work, former US Vice President Al Gore asserts that only a rethinking of our relationship with nature will save the earth's ecology for future generations. Gore's analysis of where we've gone wrong ranges across politics, history, science, economics, psychology, and religion.