This book is a comprehensive study of Joan of Arc as a soldier, not as a saint. The view is wholly from the lowly foxhole and not from the lofty perch of spiritual enlightenment, although they often coalesce as one and the same. The primary purpose is to explore her martial relationships and her battlefield actions and their influence on soldier motivations, explaining why these relationships and actions led to her successes and failures. In most cases these leadership assessments are supported by comparative observations based on a broad sweep of military history. Expect to meet up with such ancient legends as Xenophon, Sun-Tzu, Attila, Caesar, Charlemagne, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and Henry V; with pre-twentieth century commanders like Charles XII of Sweden, Frederick the Great, George Washington, Wellington, Napoleon, Crazy Horse, George Custer, Ulysses Grant, and Robert E. Lee; and with modern military leaders like Pershing, Gavin, Stilwell, Patton, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Petraeus. Also included are the equally important but often less well-known names of military theorists such as Vegetius, Pizan, de Bueil, Machiavelli, Jomini, Clausewitz, du Picq, Hart, Fuller, and Keegan, among others who may be of literary surprise. What were the leadership traits and techniques of history’s most accomplished combat commanders and how do they compare to Joan of Arc? And if they do compare—when, where, and how did she come by those lessons? By answering these questions Joan's talents are demystified, allowing a more appropriate integration of her battlefield example into the greater arc of military history, demonstrating yet again what does and does not work on the battlefield. Although unreasonable to expect after almost six hundred years of historical research and analysis, the most crucial questions about Joan of Arc, those involving her military leadership, still remain unanswered. Yet the answers to these questions are fundamental to understanding her history. Just how did this untrained, illiterate teenage female convince medieval knights to accept her decisions and to obey her commands in the elusive art of war? Moreover, how did she motivate these men to risk their lives, inspiring them with a “will to fight”? Would modern soldiers have fought with her and for her and, if so, why? This last question is of special interest to our American armed forces, currently tasked to integrate enlisted and commissioned women into our frontline combat arms units.

Joan of Arc: A Study in Charismatic Women's Leadership

Kaiser, Anton

Black Hills Books Press

When a child plays the piano, he or she must perform multiple tasks at the same time: coordinate movements of arms, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers; read notes and symbols; and use the ear to monitor and control the music output. Later a student will be presented with intellectual and aesthetic challenges. This can all be overwhelming and stressful for a young child, and occasionally it may even be physically or emotionally trying. In some cases this can create tension in the body or mind. It can also impede future technical development because technical problems in adults are often deeply rooted in the “bad habits” developed during childhood.Piano Gym takes a different approach to teaching beginners by gradually adding tasks and building basic technical skills. Piano Gym helps to build and maintain correct piano-playing skills for beginners and helps prevent future tension and injuries.Piano Gym contains three different types of exercises.Just as we do not teach kids to dance, jump, or run before they can walk, we should teach piano “toddlers” how to properly move their arms, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers before they touch the piano keyboard. Table exercises can be both beneficial and enjoyable. They will help students improve in their work on piano technique, and they can be fun games students can practice anywhere. Kids can do these movement games and exercises on a table, on the piano lid, and even on their own laps while riding in the car. Table exercises coordinate rhythm and movement. 4Piano position exercises teach students how to apply movement skills to the piano keyboard. These piano exercises are easy and accessible, and they bring the Table exercises to life. Easy White Keys Etudes add sight reading to the basic piano playing skills that students master after Table exercises and Piano position exercises.

First Step, First Sound, First Phrase: Piano Gym

Children's Books

Beletsky-Shik, Bella

Arts, Music & Photography

Give Your Child the Gift of a Lifetime. A child’s early introduction to piano is the perfect time to develop habits and techniques that will serve a lifetime of playing. Proper piano fundamentals transform playing from a challenging endeavor to a joyful act of expression. Too often, we neglect to teach young learners these crucial skills, leading to bad habits that students must later work hard to correct. But young students can easily master these important techniques, and now, they can have fun while doing it!For over 35 years, pianist and music instructor Bella Beletsky-Shik has been helping children learn to play and love the piano. Her passion for bringing music into the smallest hands led her to develop a unique approach for giving kids a proper piano foundation in a way that they enjoy. This book will teach your child to: -Approach the artistic aspects of a piano piece as one would approach a craft project or painting. -Play with “musical colors” – dynamics, articulation, rhythm, tempo, dissonance and consonance, major and minor,etc. -Employ special “musical tools”, learning to use your hearing, arm weight, fingertips, and wrist movements.-Understand the character of a piece, and use this skill to determine how it should be played. -Appreciate and enjoy classical pieces, by providing the student with simple, kid-friendly music theory.This book offers:-Piano Crafting Exercises that help the student choose the right touch and to use the correct arm weight when playing in varying dynamics, articulation, or tempo-Add Color Exercises that engage kid's imagination, show the connection between “musical colors” and the character of a piece.-A selection of etudes, solo pieces, and duets.

First Step, First Sound, First Phrase: Part 2 Piano Soul Search

$9.95 Paperback available under A Path Less Taken: The True Life Adventures of ONE MAN and His Faith Awakening. All of us travel through life on our own path, but most of us choose, are guided to, or forced on to one where we live our lives like most of those around us. I chose A PATH LESS TAKEN. At age sixteen I spent thirty days in the wilderness halfway between the north shore of Lake Superior and Hudson Bay, and I never saw another human being for twenty-eight days, other than the thirteen-year-old boy that was with me. In 1965, at age twenty-two, I moved my pregnant wife and our one-year-old son to Alaska to homestead. The following year I started my first business, and I have been a plumbing contractor, a land speculator, a real-estate broker, a guide and outfitter, an athletic club owner, a cow-calf rancher, a writer of children's stories, and I have designed and built four homes. Along the way I had five sons, went up against a grizzly bear with a knife and a rock, built two private handball courts, won a state handball tournament, wrote a book on raising children and had an awakening in my lifelong search for faith. All these stories and more are written here in hopes of starting a family tradition wherein each of us tell our own story.

A Path Less Taken: The True Life Adventures of Gary Friendshuh and His Faith Awakening

Biographies & Memoirs

Friendshuh, Gary W

Community & Culture

All of us travel through life on our own path, but most of us choose, are guided to, or are forced on to one where we live our lives like most of those around us. I chose A PATH LESS TAKEN. At age sixteen I spent thirty days in the wilderness halfway between the north shore of Lake Superior and Hudson Bay, and I never saw another human being for twenty-eight days, other than the thirteen-year-old boy that was with me.In 1965 at age twenty-two I moved my pregnant wife and our one-year-old son to Alaska to homestead. The following year I started my first business and since then I have been a plumbing contractor, a land speculator, a real estate broker, a guide and outfitter, an athletic club owner, a cow-calf rancher, a writer of children's stories and I have designed and built four homes. Along the way I had five sons, went up against a grizzly bear with a knife and a rock, built two private handball courts, won a state handball tournament, wrote a book on raising children and had an awakening in my lifelong search for faith.All these stories and more are recorded here in hopes of starting a family tradition wherein each of us tell our own story.

A Path Less Taken: The True Life Adventures of One Man and His Faith Awakening

Leaders & Notable People

Chennault: A Rebel in China (Chennault Trilogy)

Chennault was a product of his time and circumstances. Born in the rural south just 28 years after the American Civil War ended, he felt its effects. He turned lessons learned in Southern defeat into victories in China.

History

Voorhies Jr., Richard P.

Asia

Chennault was a product of his time and circumstances. Born in the rural south just 28 years after the American Civil War ended, he felt its effects. He turned lessons learned in Southern defeat into victories in China.\nChennault: A Rebel in China 
Before Claire Lee Chennault could achieve success with the Flying Tigers, he had to learn how to lead and what to teach. This book examines the unique influences which created this remarkable, prescient military aviation pioneer. 
From his youth working on a family farm near a small Louisiana town, the book traces the influence of growing up in the American South, where Southern generals became his heroes. His education, both as a student and as a teacher, gave confidence but left him uneasy socially. 
His love of flying enabled a military career, beginning just after World War I. His 20-year career in the Army Air Corps developed his flying skills. Later work with the Flying Trapeze honed his theories on combat flying and brought him fame. But his devotion to pursuit planes and his convictions about the future of aerial warfare brought controversy. 
Cast loose from the military as a result, he went to China in the nick of time to help the Chinese Air Force oppose the Japanese invasion in 1937. He gained knowledge of Japanese tactics and equipment, and learned painful lessons there, which eventually enabled him to lead the Flying Tigers to their successes. 
This book covers those formative years and illustrates Chennault’s early time in China with maps and photos.

Birmingham's Forgotten Founders: 26 Stories From Its History

Badham, Thomas E.

Americas

History is made up of people’s stories, interwoven events told from many different points of view. The stories are like a ball of multicolored yarn which is all rolled up. The story of Birmingham, Alabama, begins long before 1871 when the Elyton Land Company began selling lots in Jefferson County. Many of the businesses that grew as Birmingham and Jefferson County grew include fascinating stories of Birmingham’s eventful history.This book collects some of the lesser known or forgotten stories about Birmingham and its people. It tries to unroll that ball of yarn to show how people and events ran together and cascaded down through time.

Walking Wounded

Literature & Fiction

Thorpe, Stephen J.

Literary

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Black Hills Books Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Black Hills Books Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Black Hills Books Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Joan of Arc: A Study in Charismatic Women's Leadership

First Step, First Sound, First Phrase: Piano Gym

First Step, First Sound, First Phrase: Part 2 Piano Soul Search

A Path Less Taken: The True Life Adventures of Gary Friendshuh and His Faith Awakening

A Path Less Taken: The True Life Adventures of One Man and His Faith Awakening

Chennault: A Rebel in China (Chennault Trilogy)

Chennault: A Rebel in China (Chennault Trilogy)

Birmingham's Forgotten Founders: 26 Stories From Its History

Birmingham's Forgotten Founders: 26 Stories From Its History

Walking Wounded