The Velvet Hammer challenges women leaders to explore why and how they must lead differently than men. Using real life stories, examples and assessments, this fascinating book shows women how to be decisive and diplomatic, confident and compassionate, strong and supportive in any leadership role

Michael Madigan rose from the Chicago machine to hold unprecedented power as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. In his thirty-six years wielding the gavel, Madigan outlasted governors, passed or blocked legislation at will, and outmaneuvered virtually every attempt to limit his reach. Veteran reporter Ray Long draws on four decades of observing state government to provide the definitive political analysis of Michael Madigan. Secretive, intimidating, shrewd, power-hungry--Madigan mesmerized his admirers and often left his opponents too beaten down to oppose him. Long vividly recreates the battles that defined the Madigan era, from stunning James Thompson with a lightning-strike tax increase, to pressing for a pension overhaul that ultimately failed in the courts, to steering the House toward the Rod Blagojevich impeachment. Long also shines a light on the machinery that kept the Speaker in power. Head of a patronage army, Madigan ruthlessly used his influence and fundraising prowess to reward loyalists and aid his daughter’s electoral fortunes. At the same time, he reshaped bills to guarantee he and his Democratic troops shared in the partisan spoils of his legislative victories. Yet Madigan’s position as the state’s seemingly invulnerable power broker could not survive scandals among his close associates and the widespread belief that his time as Speaker had finally reached its end. Unsparing and authoritative, The House That Madigan Built is the page-turning account of one the most powerful politicians in Illinois history.

The Velvet Hammer is the gripping, true crime memoir of former Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who sentenced some of Florida’s most evil and notorious murderers to death, fulfilling his oath to uphold justice. Perry provides a clear, accurate description of America’s criminal justice system and explains why the death penalty can, and should, work and how it was applied to certain capital murder cases he either prosecuted or presided over. Perry discusses his journey as an African American growing up in the segregated South, his life as a prosecutor and chief judge, and how he ended up presiding over one of the world’s most intriguing capital murder trials of the century: State of Florida v. Casey Marie Anthony. From the widow who slowly poisoned her lovers; to the lust murderer who mutilated his victim while she was still alive; to the serial killer who slayed a family of four, including his own child; as well as several other violent and frightening murders, Perry spares none of the gory details when bringing each case back to life in his debut, true crime memoir.

The Velvet Hammer Burlesque has put the "tease" back into striptease. Based in Los Angeles and founded by Michelle Carr, the infamous troupe kick-started the current era of Neo-Burlesque and has caused a furore on stages worldwide. The Velvet Hammer's shows are a potent cocktail that mixes elements from classical American revues with a post-feminist punk rock attitude. Their intricately choreographed and lovingly costumed performances have much more in common with the tradition of Vaudeville than with the sleazy table dancing of today. The book The Velvet Hammer Burlesque presents photographs of the group's voluptuous ensemble of dancers and performers ???????????????????????????????????????????????? from their savvy on-stage acts to a glimpse behind the curtain. Beautiful women of all shapes and sizes, most of them don't correspond to today's generally accepted, often surgically enhanced ideal. But they all radiate an authentic, raw energy in their routines that mesmerizes the audience until (almost) the last shred of clothing is stripped away. Every page of The Velvet Hammer Burlesque serves up true American beauty consisting of shapely curves, tattoos, tassels and lace, and fuelled by a passion for booze, smoke, rock 'n' roll and the wilder side of life.

Drawn by the lodestone his father gave him years before, twelve-year-old orphan Ray travels south, meeting along the way various characters from folklore who are battling against an evil industry baron known as the Gog.

BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times • The Washington Post • Fortune • Bloomberg From two of America's most revered political journalists comes the definitive biography of legendary White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III: the man who ran Washington when Washington ran the world. For a quarter-century, from the end of Watergate to the aftermath of the Cold War, no Republican won the presidency without his help or ran the White House without his advice. James Addison Baker III was the indispensable man for four presidents because he understood better than anyone how to make Washington work at a time when America was shaping events around the world. The Man Who Ran Washington is a page-turning portrait of a power broker who influenced America's destiny for generations. A scion of Texas aristocracy who became George H. W. Bush's best friend on the tennis courts of the Houston Country Club, Baker had never even worked in Washington until a devastating family tragedy struck when he was thirty-nine. Within a few years, he was leading Gerald Ford's campaign and would go on to manage a total of five presidential races and win a sixth for George W. Bush in a Florida recount. He ran Ronald Reagan's White House and became the most consequential secretary of state since Henry Kissinger. He negotiated with Democrats at home and Soviets abroad, rewrote the tax code, assembled the coalition that won the Gulf War, brokered the reunification of Germany and helped bring a decades-long nuclear superpower standoff to an end. Ruthlessly partisan during campaign season, Baker governed as the avatar of pragmatism over purity and deal-making over division, a lost art in today's fractured nation. His story is a case study in the acquisition, exercise, and preservation of power in late twentieth-century America and the story of Washington and the world in the modern era--how it once worked and how it has transformed into an era of gridlock and polarization. This masterly biography by two brilliant observers of the American political scene is destined to become a classic.

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