Epic Train Journeys: The Inside Track to the World's Greatest Rail Routes

This accessible textbook describes Christianity, the world’s largest religion, in all of its historical and contemporary diversity. No other publication includes so much information or presents it so clearly and winsomely. This volume employs a “religious studies” approach that is neutral in tone yet accommodates the lived experiences of Christians in different traditions and from all regions of the globe. The World’s Christians is a perfect textbook for either public university classrooms or liberal arts campuses.  Divided into three parts, the text first describes the world’s four largest Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal) which together account for roughly 98 percent of all Christians worldwide. A second section focuses on Christian history, explaining the movement’s developing ideas and practices and examining Christianity’s engagement with people and cultures around the world. The third and longest portion of the text details the distinctive experiences, contemporary challenges, and demographics of Christians in nine geographic regions, including the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.  The second edition of this popular text has been thoroughly rewritten to take recent developments into account, and each chapter now includes two primary source readings, highlighting the diversity of voices that exist within the world Christian movement. Like the first edition, the revised text is enhanced with easily understandable maps, charts, tables and illustrative photographs. In summary, this new and improved second edition of The World’s Christians is: 

This is the first in-depth study of the relationship between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own members. Drawing on years of participant observation, extensive interviews, previously inaccessible organizational documents, and dozens of memoirs and writings, the book provides an intimate portrayal of the recruitment and socialization of Brothers, the evolution of their intricate social networks, and the construction of the peculiar ideology that shapes their everyday practices. Drawing on his original research, Kandil reinterprets the Brotherhood’s slow rise and rapid downfall from power in Egypt, and compares it to the Islamist subsidiaries it created and the varieties it inspired around the world. This timely book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the politics of the Middle East and to anyone who wants to understand the dramatic events unfolding in Egypt and elsewhere in the wake of the Arab uprisings.

This comprehensive workbook helps readers become familiar with the structures and synthetic challenges associated with nearly 300 essential medicines and gain the skills needed for pharmaceutical development. Highlights nearly three hundred medicines on the latest World Health Organization (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines and their manufacturing routes Features exercises that equip students with the skills necessary to solve similar real-world problems Includes a retrosynthetic analysis for each commodity chemical and supplies an extensive list of key journal and information sites and a library of reagents, solvents, and conditions for many common organic reactions

A comprehensive guide to planning for CEO succession, from the experts at RHR As the demands from stakeholders for consummate leadership and good governance from a company's board of directors, its CEO, and its executive team increase, how the process of CEO succession is carried out has become more critical than ever before. Yet, over the past several years, a growing number of CEOs have failed early in their terms, often with devastating consequences to their companies and stockholders. By far the most common problem is a lack of ownership of the CEO succession process. Inside CEO Succession provides businesses, leaders, and boards with the strategies they need to execute their responsibilities with a heightened level of professionalism and ensure the sustained success of the companies they serve. Written by Dr. Thomas J. Saporito, CEO of RHR International, and Dr. Paul Winum, Senior Partner of RHR International, the lessons of Inside CEO Succession are rooted in RHR's long-standing history of bringing expert knowledge, experience, advice, and counsel to the issues related to CEO succession. The culmination of RHR's 65 years of experience providing expert counsel to the boards of directors of hundreds of companies, it explains how ego, role-relationships, power, and human dynamics associated with relinquishing leadership, preparing successors, and ceding power and authority to other people create undetected problems in the succession process and ultimately cause many CEOs to fail early in their tenures. Distills RHR's 65 years of experience helping businesses deal with CEO succession into one practical resource Presents strategies to enable boards to understand their role in succession planning and how to source leadership that best fits their organization's culture and requirements Brings together business acumen and psychological insight to help readers better prepare for more effective CEO succession To be successful, CEO succession requires a well-defined course of action that ensures that a number of highly capable candidates are ready to assume the chief executive position whether through an unexpected event or a planned transition. Inside CEO Succession is designed to help boards comprehensively manage that process and effectively sustain their company's profitability.

Created by two of the field’s leading experts, this unique introduction to international religious demography outlines the challenges in interpreting data on religious adherence, and presents a contemporary portrait of global religious belief. Offers the first comprehensive overview of the field of international religious demography – detailing what we know about religious adherents around the world, and how we know it Examines religious freedom and diversity, including agnostics and atheists, on a global scale, highlighting trends over the past 100 years and projecting estimates for the year 2050 Outlines the issues and challenges related to definitions, taxonomies, sources, analyses, and other techniques in interpreting data on religious adherence Considers data from religious communities, censuses, surveys, and scholarly research, along with several in-depth case studies on the global Muslim population, religion in China, and the religious demography of recently created Sudan and South Sudan Argues against the belief that the twentieth-century was a ‘secular’ period by putting forward new evidence to the contrary Provides resources for measuring both qualitatively and quantitatively important data on the world's religious situation in the twenty-first century

Inside the Customer Universe reveals how an organization can become ahead of the game by focusing a its strategy on predicting customer needs rather than following them. This book provides a unique contribution to the field of customer management with a departure from current practice towards understanding customers as 'multi-individuals' and hence solving current confusions surrounding customer behaviour. Inside the Customer Universe's easy to implement tools, models and strategies provide the reader with the ability to create stable and sustainable customer understanding and, therefore, sustainable business growth. «CUBEical Thinking is a great concept for developing business and the concept of customer types is intriguing as it provides great insights into the drivers behind true customer loyalty.» Niels Henrik Hansen, Director SAS Corporate Sales, Scandinavian Airlines, Denmark «CUBEical Thinking has given us the platform for developing an effective sales and key account management organization which has delivered significant top and bottom line results based on targeted up and cross sales.» Henrik Hubner, Vice President Sales, Sanist?l «CUBEical Thinking has provided us with great customer insights on which we are benefiting in our daily operations and it has helped our organization focus activities and resources.» Carsten Hetling, Nordic Marketing Manager, Zyxel Communications

By focusing on the human side as well as the intellectual dimensions of how economists work and think, this collection of interviews with top economists of the 20th century becomes a startling and lively introduction to the modern world of macroeconomics. A fun read! For more information, frequent updates, and to comment on the forthcoming book, visit William A. Barnett's weblog at http://economistmind.blogspot.com/. Acclaim for Inside the Economist's Mind «In candid interviews, these great economists prove to be fabulous story tellers of their lives and times. Unendingly gripping for insiders, this book should also help non-specialists understand how economists think.» Professor Julio Rotemberg, Harvard University Business School, and Editor, Review of Economics and Statistics. «Economics used to be called the 'dismal science'. It will be impossible for anybody to hold that view anymore … This is science with flesh and blood, and a lot of fascinating stories that you will find nowhere else.» Dr. Jean-Pascal B?nassy, Paris-Jourdan Sciences ?conomiques, Paris, France «This book provides a rare and intriguing view of the personal and professional lives of leading economists … It is like A Beautiful Mind, scaled by a factor of 16 [the number of interviews in the book].» Professor Lee Ohanian, University of California at Los Angeles « … if you want an insider view of how economics has been developing in the last decades, this is the (only) book for you.» Professor Giancarlo Gandolfo, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza,’ Rome «Here we see the HUMAN side of path-breaking research, the personalities and pitfalls, the DRAMA behind the science.» Professor Francis X. Diebold, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

The book is a coaching guide for anyone interested in intellectual property and those wanting to embark on or develop patent creation. It draws on the authors’ extensive experience and insights from change projects, management and leadership at Nokia. The book guides the reader through each stage of setting up a successful unit, inviting active involvement by asking vital questions about their needs and aims. Focusing on key issues and themes involved, it provides examples, diagrams and models to illustrate how they can be out in to practice. Critical chapters include the core activities of patent creation, possible organisational models, costs, quality and the comparison of external and internal allocation of tasks. Discussion concentrates on how to such define roles and responsibilities and the management techniques of external resources. The book encourages the reader to challenge their current organisational structure and strategy by introducing various methods and tactics that can be deployed when considering patent creation, then offering advice into the pros and cons of techniques and how such methods can be assessed. The book highlights how knowledge and innovation can be utilised and protected, which due to the increased importance of intellectual property rights, especially the use of patents, is essential for every business.

The buzz about The ebay Phenomenon «David Bunnell's portrayal of eBay paints a picture of one of the most daring, fanatically innovative, customer-centric companies on the planet. It demonstrates how a small, driven group of people can listen to customers and reinvent the world-inspiring!» —David Siegel, author, Futurize Your Enterprise «Read The eBay Phenomenon if you want the inside account of how this innovative company became one of the decade's greatest business success stories. Regardless of what business you're in, David Bunnell's exciting chronicle offers valuable lessons and a riveting narrative.» —Eric Nee, Senior Writer, Fortune

Each October, as the Day of the Dead draws near, Mexican markets overflow with decorated breads, fanciful paper cutouts, and whimsical toy skulls and skeletons. To honor deceased relatives, Mexicans decorate graves and erect home altars. Drawing on a rich array of historical and ethnographic evidence, this volume reveals the origin and changing character of this celebrated holiday. It explores the emergence of the Day of the Dead as a symbol of Mexican and Mexican-American national identity. Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead poses a serious challenge to the widespread stereotype of the morbid Mexican, unafraid of death, and obsessed with dying. In fact, the Day of the Dead, as shown here, is a powerful affirmation of life and creativity. Beautifully illustrated, this book is essential for anyone interested in Mexican culture, art, and folklore, as well as contemporary globalization and identity formation.