Random House Inc.

This intimate, shocking — and thoroughly unauthorized — portrait of the Hiltons chronicles the family’s amazing odyssey from poverty and obscurity to glory and glamour. From Conrad Hilton, the eccentric “innkeeper to the world” who built a global empire beginning with a fleabag in a dusty Texas backwater, to Paris Hilton, his great-granddaughter, whose fame took off with a sex video, «House of Hilton» is the unauthorized, eye-popping portrait of one of America’s most outrageous dynasties. If you want to know how Paris Hilton became who she is, you have to know where she came from. From scores of candid and exclusive interviews, from private documents and public records, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer has dug deeply into her paternal and maternal family roots to reveal the often shocking, tragic, and comic lives that helped shape the world’s most famous and fabulous “celebutante”. The cast of characters includes Paris’s maternal grandmother, a materialistic “stage mother from hell”. There is Paris’s maternal grandfather, who became an alcoholic housepainter. The life of Paris’s mother, Kathy Hilton, groomed by her mother to be a star and marry rich, is candidly revealed, too, as is that of Paris’s father, Rick, Conrad’s grandson. Paris’s tabloid antics are truly in the Hilton tradition. Set against a glittery Hollywood backdrop — with appearances by stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Natalie Wood, and Joan Collins — House of Hilton brings to light a cornucopia of closely held Hilton family secrets and sexual peccadilloes, such as the many affairs and the nightclub-brawling, boozing, and pill-popping life of Paris’s great-uncle, Nick Hilton. The story of his hellish marriage to Liz Taylor alone rivals any of today’s Hollywood breakups. Behind it all was Conrad Hilton, who built his worldwide empire through the Great Depression while others were jumping out of windows. A devout Catholic publicly, his personal life was that of an unrepentant sinner. His first marriage was to Mary Barron Hilton, a sexy, hard-drinking, gambling Kentucky teenager half Conrad’s age. Wife number two was the gorgeous Zsa Zsa, who, like Paris, was famous for being famous. Their tumultuous marriage and headline-making divorce are revealed here in all their juicy glory. In all, «House of Hilton» is a gripping American saga, from the fire and passions that built a business empire to the debauchery and amorality passed on from one generation to the next.

The new grand theory of leadership by Ram Charan... The breakthrough book that links know-how —the skills of people who know what they are doing — with the personal and psychological traits of the successful leader. How often have you heard someone with a commanding presence deliver a bold vision that turned out to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air? All too often we mistake the appearance of leadership for the real deal. Without a doubt, intelligence, vision, and the ability to communicate are important. But something big is missing: the know-how of running a business — the capacity to take it in the right direction, do the right things, make the right decisions, deliver results, and leave the people and the business better off than they were before. For well over four decades, Ram Charan has been learning in the most visceral way the underlying reasons why leaders succeed and fail. As one of the most influential advisers to top management teams of leading companies around the world, he has had a front-row seat to observe the cause and effect of leadership practices and behaviors. Ram Charan’s insight into the real content of leadership provides you with the eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century: • Positioning (and, when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money • Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others • Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business • Judging people by getting to the truth of a person • Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts • Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve • Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals • Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business «Know-How» is the missing link of leadership. By showing how the eight know-hows link to, interact with, and reinforce personal and psychological traits, Ram Charan provides a holistic and innovative portrait of successful leaders of the twenty-first century.

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter....

The long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, author of „For the Relief of Unbearable Urges“, which won the 2000 Pen/Malamud Award.

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignmet — find them and then...»retire» them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!

2,300 years ago an unbeaten army of the West invaded the homeland of a fierce Eastern tribal foe. This is one soldier’s story... The bestselling novelist of ancient warfare returns with a riveting historical novel that re-creates Alexander the Great’s invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 b.c. In a story that might have been ripped from today’s combat dispatches, Steven Pressfield brings to life the confrontation between an invading Western army and fierce Eastern warriors determined at all costs to defend their homeland. Narrated by an infantryman in Alexander’s army, The Afghan Campaign explores the challenges, both military and moral, that Alexander and his soldiers face as they embark on a new type of war and are forced to adapt to the methods of a ruthless foe that employs terror and insurgent tactics. An edge-of-your-seat adventure, The Afghan Campaign once again demonstrates Pressfield’s profound understanding of the hopes and desperation of men in battle and of the historical realities that continue to influence our world.

»Arctic Tale» accompanies a new Paramount Vantage motion picture from the producers of March of the Penguins, a 2005 Academy Award winner. The film, narrated by Queen Latifah, follows the dual drama of Seela and Nanu, a walrus calf and polar bear cub, as they embark on their astonishing journey from infancy to maturity amidst the stark beauty of the Arctic landscape. Protected by mothers who will stop at nothing to ensure their safe passage to adulthood, both cubs romp in their cold playground as ever-present threats of starvation, predators, and a harsh homeland are overcome in an unrelenting life-and-death struggle to survive.

Batman strikes fear in the hearts of criminals, but there’s a killer stalking Gotham who’s even better at inspiring fright – and his method just might be unbeatable...because it’s invisible. Unbeknownst to the general public, a powerful new designer drug has hit the streets of Gotham, courtesy of an evil genius determined to turn the expression “scared to death” into lethal reality. Unlike the Caped Crusader, who petrifies only villains, this mastermind is targeting decent citizens – and he’s come up with the ultimate delivery system. After all, the public can’t refuse something they can’t see, hear, or smell. That’s the beauty of a terror toxin that is undetectable by the human senses. And with all of Gotham’s super-villains incarcerated, Batman must hunt down a mystery madman about whom he knows nothing. Maybe the Dark Knight should be afraid...because there’s plenty to fear when you go head-to-head with fear itself.

Most Americans today are aware that jobs are being outsourced to China, India, and other nations at an alarming rate. From factory jobs to white-collar, high-tech positions, the exporting of labor is one of the most controversial issues in America. Yet few people know much about the other end — about the people who are actually working these jobs and how their own lives have been throw into tumult by these new economic forces. Andrew Ross spent a year in China, interviewing local employees and their managers in Taiwan, Shanghai, and the far western provinces. In this engaging and informative book, he shows how the Chinese workforce has inherited many of the same worries as American workers, such as job instability, long hours, and awareness of their own expendability. He reports on the daily reality of corporate free trade and explores the growing competition between China and India. This is an eye-opening exploration of an unseen side of our globalized world.

A heart-stopping adventure that places Cotton Malone and his family in grave peril… An ambitious and explosive thriller with a historical twist!

Denmark Wheeler had it all: a gorgeous wife, Sierra, whom he passionately loved, and a respectable job that allowed him to keep her living in the style to which she was accustomed. The good life wasn’t handed to him on a silver platter, though. Growing up in the Cleveland ghetto, his father was shot by a drug addict, he worked the streets to help his sister through college, and he made his fair share of enemies along the way. Yet not even his tough upbringing prepared him for the mysterious DVD that showed up on his doorstep, its contents revealing an explicit sexual encounter between his wife and another man, whose face was purposely blurred. Sierra’s betrayal is heart wrenching, and Denmark’s on the warpath to find out the identity of the man behind it. One thing’s sure: It’s someone close to him. Suddenly everyone is suspect, especially his two best buddies, and he’ll stop at nothing to exact his revenge – even if it means sleeping with their wives to get it. But when Denmark takes justice into his own hands, he discovers a truth even more shocking than his wife’s infidelity... In this gritty revenge tale, Freddie Lee Johnson III takes us into the mind of a man consumed with grief and rage. Full of jump-off-the-page characters and fast-paced drama, Other Men’s Wives is an explosive ride fueled by love, lust, and deceit.

There was never any question that Deirdre and Desmond Doyle would celebrate a gala twenty-fifth anniversary. Naturally, their daughter Anna, would plan their grand affair. Of all three Doyle children, Anna knew exactly what their mother wished — even as she lived her own secret life. Will Brendan, the rebellious son, even bother to return to London? Will Helen, the hapless would-be nun, embarrass them all? This is Deirdre’s day, a triumph for a woman obsessed with keeping up appearances, her silvery revenge after “marrying down” twenty-five years ago. She’s determined to show them all: the maid of honor, still unmarried, still gorgeous, now a successful London business woman…the best man, once Desmond’s close friend, now his boss…their reluctant priest, who harbors his own guilty secret. As family and friends gather, a lifetime of lies takes its toll. But what begins as a family charade brings with it the transforming power of love — and truth.

The Soviet writer Andrey Platonov saw much of his work suppressed or censored in his lifetime. In recent decades, however, these lost works have reemerged, and the eerie poetry and poignant humanity of Platonov’s vision have become ever more clear. For Nadezhda Mandelstam and Joseph Brodsky, Platonov was the writer who most profoundly registered the spiritual shock of revolution. For a new generation of innovative post-Soviet Russian writers he figures as a daring explorer of word and world, the master of what has been called “alternative realism.” Depicting a devastated world that is both terrifying and sublime, Platonov is, without doubt, a universal writer who is as solitary and haunting as Kafka. This volume gathers eight works that show Platonov at his tenderest, warmest, and subtlest. Among them are “The Return”, about an officer’s difficult homecoming at the end of World War II, described by Penelope Fitzgerald as one of “three great works of Russian literature of the millennium”; “The River Potudan”, a moving account of a troubled marriage; and the title novella, the extraordinary tale of a young man unexpectedly transformed by his return to his Asian birthplace, where he finds his people deprived not only of food and dwelling, but of memory and speech. This prizewinning English translation is the first to be based on the newly available uncensored texts of Platonov’s short fiction.

Since the times of Ivan the Terrible, generations of Russian leaders have turned the Kremlin into a fortress within a fortress, stocking its labyrinthine underground with secret vaults, elegant chambers, and priceless treasures. Now a master thief has the ultimate motivation to stage an assault on the Kremlin’s inner sanctum. Two lives depend on it. Thousands of years of religious faith hinge on it. And a man’s conscience, skill, and passion will not let him fail. For Michael St. Pierre, history’s most daring heist is only one piece of an intricate puzzle reaching from an ancient monastery in Scotland to a hideaway in Corsica — where a madman has built an empire of terror. Haunted by his own family secrets, and surrounded by the precious few people he can trust, Michael will take on a mission that will make him the most hunted man in the world. But when an astounding truth, buried deep beneath the Kremlin, erupts with shattering force, he may unleash a relic too dangerous to possess.…

With an introduction by J.M. Coetzee. A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold. Greene’s gripping thriller, exposes a world of loneliness and fear, of life lived on the ‘dangerous edge of things’.

CIA agent John Wells has been undercover so long that his bosses are no longer sure he’s still loyal – or even still alive. For years Wells has been building his cover in the mountains of Afghanistan, his existence known only to a few senior CIA officials. But now he's coming home — and no one, including his CIA minder Jennifer Exley, knows what to expect. He is a man alone, used by two adversaries and trusted by neither. And as terrorists prepare to unleash the most devastating attack in history, Wells knows he is the only man who can stop them. With or without the government’s approval...

Weeks went by when Ismay never thought of it at all. Then something would bring it back or it would return in a dream. The dream began in the same way. She and her mother would be climbing the stairs, following Heather's lead through the bedroom to what was on the other side, not a bathroom in the dream but a chamber floored and walled in marble. In the middle of it was a glassy lake. The white thing in the water floated towards her, its face submerged, and her mother said, absurdly, 'Don't look!'' The dead man was Ismay's stepfather, Guy. Now, nine years on, she and her sister, Heather, still lived in the same house in Clapham. But it had been divided into two self-contained flats. Their mother lived upstairs with her sister, Pamela. And the bathroom, where Guy had drowned, had been demolished. Ismay worked in public relations, and Heather in catering. They got on well. They always had. They never discussed the changes to the house, still less what had happened that August day... But even lives as private as these, where secrets hang in the air like dust, intertwine with other worlds and other individuals. And, with painful inevitability, the truth will emerge.

At fifteen, Terry Flynn had the face of an angel and the body of a perfect athlete... Set in a small boarding school on the eve of America's entry into World War Two, «A Good School» tells the story of William Grove, the nervous teenager trying to fit in; the betrayed alcoholic, Jack Draper; and Edith Stone, the teacher's daughter, who falls in love with the most popular boy in school. Instantly acclaimed on its first publication, peopled with some of Richard Yates's most memorable characters, this tender, spare masterpiece is a haunting meditation on the twilight of youth, and an unforgettable description of the impact of war on the lives of an innocent generation.

'Making money is a knack, a knack that can be acquired. And if someone like me can become rich, then so can you — no matter what your present circumstances. Here is how I did it and what I learned along the way'. So writes Felix Dennis, who believes that almost anyone of reasonable intelligence can become rich, given sufficient motivation and application. «How To Get Rich» is a distillation of his business wisdom. Primarily concerned with the step-by-step creation of wealth, it ruthlessly dissects the business failures and financial triumphs of 'a South London lad who became rich virtually by accident'. Part manual, part memoir, part primer, this book is a template for those who are willing to stare down failure and transform their lives. Canny, infuriating, cynical and generous by turns, «How To Get Rich» is an invaluable guide to 'the surprisingly simple art of collecting money which already has your name on it'.

Berlin 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

America’s engagement with the Arab world stretches back far beyond the Iraq wars. According to Milton Viorst, the current conflict is simply the latest round in a 1,400-year struggle between Christianity and Islam, in which the United States became a participant only in the last century. Today, the Bush Doctrine aims to free the Arab peoples from political oppression and create a democratic Iraq. So why are Arabs, and Iraqis in particular, so suspicious of our efforts? The explanation, Viorst says, is simple: “What the American leadership has miscalculated, or simply dismissed, is Arab nationalism.” In Storm from the East, Viorst offers a balanced, lucid, and vital history of America’s uneasy relationship with the Arab world and argues that brutal conflict in the region will continue until the West, with the United States taking the lead, honors the Arabs’ insistence on deciding their own destiny. Viorst examines the long struggle of the Arab world to overthrow Western hegemony. He explores the Arab experiences with democracy and military despotism; Nasserite socialism in Egypt and Ba’athism in Syria and Iraq; tribal monarchy in Saudi Arabia and Jordan; guerrilla warfare waged by the Palestinians; and, finally, Islamic rebellion culminating in Osama bin Laden’s extremist al-Qaeda. All have the same goal: the liberation of the Arabs from foreign domination. Storm from the East is a powerful work that, like no other, limns the political, religious, and social roots of Arab nationalism and the present-day unrest in the Middle East.

Dixie is the youngest of the Diamond family. She and her sisters, dreamy Martine, glamorous Rochelle and tough Jude, could hardly be more different from each other but their Mum's tried to teach them the value of sticking together. Now Mum's expecting yet another baby and she's convinced this one's a boy. Time to move to a bigger place, she insists, and the girls scarcely have time to protest before they find themselves at their new house. It's rough, dilapidated and filthy and before they've even unpacked the furniture, Mum goes into labour! By the time Mum comes home with the new baby, Jude's been in a fight, Rochelle's found a new boyfriend and Martine's stormed off. Only Dixie stays loyally by Mum's side — so only Dixie spots her secret — Another slice of realistic contemporary life, from the UK's most popular children's author.

A clash of armies and leaders takes center stage in the triumphant conclusion of Iggulden's bestselling series, in which the life of Julius Caesar is followed through epic rivalries, world-shattering battles, and doomed love.

Eine Familiengeschichte, die einen nicht mehr loslässt Was geschah mit Harriet Vanger? Während eines Familientreffens spurlos verschwunden, bleibt ihr Schicksal jahrzehntelang ungeklärt. Bis der Journalist Mikael Blomkvist und die Ermittlerin Lisbeth Salander recherchieren. Was sie zutage fördern, lässt alle Beteiligten wünschen, sie hätten sich nie mit diesem Fall beschäftigt. An seinem 82. Geburtstag erhält der einflussreiche Industrielle Henrik Vanger per Post anonym ein Geschenk. Das Paket enthält eine gepresste Blüte hinter Glas, genau wie in den 43 Jahren zuvor. Vangers Lieblingsnichte Harriet hatte ihm 1958 zum ersten Mal dieses Geschenk gemacht, doch dann verschwand sie spurlos. Ihr Leichnam wurde nie gefunden. In einer letzten Anstrengung beschließt Vanger herauszufinden, was dem geliebten Mädchen tatsächlich zustieß. Er engagiert den Journalisten Mikael Blomkvist, der, getarnt als Biograf, bald auf erste Spuren stößt. Unterstützt wird er von der jungen Ermittlerin Lisbeth Salander, einem virtuosen Computergenie mit messerscharfem Verstand. Je tiefer Blomkvist und Salander in der Vangerschen Familiengeschichte graben, desto grauenvoller sind ihre Enthüllungen. Ausgezeichnet mit dem skandinavischen Krimipreis.