Sampling

In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million—all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the twentieth century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who fought Leopold: a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure and unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust. Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill of a Barbara Tuchman. Like her, he knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters than any novelist could invent. Chief among them is Edmund Morel, a young British shipping agent who went on to lead the international crusade against Leopold. Another hero of this tale, the Irish patriot Roger Casement, ended his life on a London gallows. Two courageous black Americans, George Washington Williams and William Sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the Congo atrocities to the outside world. Sailing into the middle of the story was a young Congo River steamboat officer named Joseph Conrad. And looming above them all, the duplicitous billionaire King Leopold II. With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo—too long forgotten—onto the conscience of the West.

Want More Joy and Confidence? Discover the life guide that has developed world champions, empowered athletes to become world #1, and most importantly, transformed their hearts and minds. This step-by-step training manual from one of the world's top mental skills coaches will teach you how the mindset of some of the best performers and leaders on the planet allowed them to have freedom and confidence when so much was out of their control. Whether you’re an athlete or entrepreneur, single mother or father of five, you’ll find exercises, techniques and tools in this book that will improve every area of your life. Your life will take on new meaning as you move beyond the pursuit of happiness to a life of purpose and fulfillment. Jim Murphy's complete program of proven mental techniques is based on the powerful principles of love, wisdom, and courage, that came from over six years of full-time research and writing (after his masters degree in Coaching Science). “I read the first version of Inner Excellence six times. I recommend all my clients read it.” – Matt Killen, PGA Tour coach to Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods and many others INNER EXCELLENCE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO: DEVELOP SELF-MASTERY—and let go of what you can’t control OVERCOME ANXIETY—and build powerful mental habits REMOVE MENTAL BLOCKS—and get out of your own way TRAIN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND—and release limiting beliefs As professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, Jim’s sense of worth and identity revolved around his performance. He was obsessed with fame but also afraid of failure, and that fear in his heart made him struggle under the pressure to perform. When he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he saw the same pattern over and over again: athletes had lost their joy and passion for life as the fear of failure engulfed their lives. This book will share with you how some of the best athletes in the world have learned Inner Excellence, how it propelled them to extraordinary performance even when they were filled with doubt and uncertainty, and how you can excel in the same way in your life. The insights and exercises within will help you achieve higher levels of performance than you ever thought possible—and bring incredible peace and confidence. “Inner Excellence changed how I see the world, how I think, and how I play golf.” - Vaughn Taylor, three-time PGA Tour winner Jim Murphy is a Performance Coach (mental skills) to some of the best athletes and leaders in the world. The majority of his clients achieved the best year of their career their first year working with Jim (or their best year in the previous five years)