New Releases by William Martin

Tax cuts are such a pervasive feature of the American political landscape that the political establishment rarely questions them. Since 2001, Congress has abolished the tax on inherited wealth and passed a major income tax cut every year, including two of the three largest income tax cuts in American history despite a long drawn-out war and massive budget deficits. The Permanent Tax Revolt traces the origins of this anti-tax campaign to the 1970s, in particular, to the influence of grassroots tax rebellions as homeowners across the United States rallied to protest their local property taxes. Isaac William Martin advances the provocative new argument that the property tax revolt was not a conservative backlash against big government, but instead a defensive movement for government protection from the market. The tax privilege that the tax rebels were defending was in fact one of the largest government social programs in the postwar era. While the movement to defend homeowners'' tax breaks drew much of its inspiration—and many of its early leaders—from the progressive movement for welfare rights, politicians on both sides of the aisle quickly learned that supporting big tax cuts was good politics. In time, American political institutions and the strategic choices made by the protesters ultimately channeled the movement toward the kind of tax relief favored by the political right, with dramatic consequences for American politics today.

Picking up where his runaway bestseller "Back Bay" left off, William Martin returns to Boston, this time bringing the history of Harvard University vibrantly to life.

The dramatic history of living American soldiers left in Vietnam, and the first full account of the circumstances that left them there. Based on thousands of pages of public and previously classified documents, this book makes a convincing case that when the American government withdrew its forces from Vietnam, it knowingly abandoned hundreds of POWs to their fate. The product of 25 years of research, it exposes the reasons why these American soldiers and airmen were held back by the North Vietnamese at Operation Homecoming in 1973 and what these men have endured since. This is a history of America''s leaders in their worst hour; of life-and-death decision making based on politics, not intelligence; and of men lost to their families and the country they serve, betrayed by their own leaders.--From publisher description.

Rare-book expert Peter Fallon and his girlfriend, Evangeline, the main characters from Back Bay and Harvard Yard, are back for another treasure hunt through time. They have learned of an early, annotated draft of the Constitution, stolen and smuggled out of Philadelphia. The draft''s marginal notes spell out, in shocking detail, the Founders'' unequivocal intentions---the unmistakable meaning of the Bill of Rights. Peddled and purloined, trafficked and concealed for over two centuries, the lost Constitution could forever change America''s history---and its future. Moreover, Congress is already at war, fighting tooth and claw over the eternally contentious Bill of Rights. When word gets out of the lost draft''s existence, it launches a frenzied search, as both sides of the partisan machine believe it will reinforce their arguments. While battling politicians from both sides of the debate, Peter and Evangeline must get to the document first, because they know that if the wrong people find it, they will burn it, stripping the nation of its constitutional moorings. The search takes Peter and Evangeline into the rich history of America and New England, from Shay''s Rebellion to the birth of the American industrial revolution to the march of the legendary 20th Maine in the Civil War. Past and present play off one another as the search for the draft heats up. It finally boils over on the first night of the World Series, at that Mecca of New England, Boston''s fabled Fenway Park, and the truth is finally revealed....

Martin strikingly translates the "Tao Te Ching''s" 81 chapters to uncovers how directly the Tao speaks to readers who are on or about to embark on a spiritual journey.

"On 21 February 1916, German General Erich von Falkenhayn unleashed his hammer-blow offensive against the French fortress city of Verdun. His aim was nothing short of the destruction of the French army. He was sure that the symbolic value of Verdun was such that the French would be ''compelled to throw in every man they have.'' He was equally sure that ''if they do so the forces of France will bleed to death.'' The massed batteries of German guns would smash the French troops in their trenches and bunkers. However, the French hung on with immense courage and determination and the battle became a bloody battle of attrition"--Page 4 of cover.

Safety and Health Essentials is the leading introductory guide to industrial safety and health. Written by a team of specialist contributors, under the editorship of William Martin, the book covers all aspects of safety management and will be a companion to the more detailed treatment found in Industrial Safety & Hygiene Handbooks. The book is most useful to small companies that do not have or cannot afford a full-time safety officer and to business managers and human resources staff who have responsibilities for health and safety issues in the workplace. The book will cover all the most recent developments in health and safety laws, standards, techniques, and practices. Provides a leading introductory guide to industrial safety and health Specialist contributors cover all aspects of safety management, including recent developments in the field Offers an extremely useful tool to business managers and human resources staff with health and safety responsibilities, as well as to small companies that cannot afford a full-time safety officer

Following the successful debut of the Parent''s Tao Te Ching---William Martin now reinterprets the Tao for couples. With The Parent''s Tao Te Ching, William Martin beautifully re-interpreted Lao Tzu''s Tao Te Ching--one of the world''s oldest and most widely read books of wisdom--expressly for parents. Now, he distills and freshly re-interprets the essence of each of the Tao''s 81 chapters to speak directly and clearly to couples. William Martin''s indelible, spirited, and sage advice, rendered in free verse, captures the ancient spirit of Lao Tzu''s original text, yet speaks directly to modern lovers--and to the full sweep of their experiences and emotions. A deeply felt alternative to advice books that urge readers to manipulate their partners rather than to love them, The Couple''s Tao Te Ching is for everyone who has embarked upon a loving relationship, which, as William Martin says, "can be the most rewarding and enlightening adventure possible." Foreword by Hugh and Gayle Prather