Ben Hughes

The First Comprehensive Investigation into the First Uprising Against Slavery in North America At 2 a.m. on April 7, 1712, a fire broke out in New York City's North Ward. Unbeknown to the residents who roused themselves to combat the flames, the blaze had been started with murderous intent. A group of at least twenty-four enslaved West African men and women, mostly Akan from modern-day Ghana, had long plotted this moment. Armed with guns, daggers, swords, axes, and clubs, they fell upon their enslavers. In the next few frantic moments, eight Europeans were killed and seven were wounded. The perpetrators were rounded up, jailed, and put on public trial. Twenty enslaved men and one woman were executed or transported for carrying out the plot. As the first event of its kind to take place in the North American colonies, this revolt was the progenitor of those that followed--it inspired, the Stono Rebellion of 1739, the New York Conspiracy of 1741, and Nat Turner's 1831 insurrection. When I Die, I Shall Return to My Own Land: The 1712 New York City Slave Revolt is the first comprehensive investigation into this major event in the history of slavery in North America. Consulting court records, correspondence, and the minutes of the various colonial councils, as well as a wide range of sources related to eighteenth-century slavery, historian Ben Hughes vividly recreates early colonial New York, the lives of its enslaved inhabitants, the factionalism among the city's Dutch and English elites, and their precarious hold on Manhattan Island in the face of French and Native American threats. Hughes traces the origins of the New York rebels, details how they came to be enslaved, and recreates the shadowy dealings that took place between African polities, European and American slavers, and New York merchants. The forerunners of a movement which continues to this day, the deeds of these original African American rebels have now been all but forgotten. Here, Hughes attempts to redress this imbalance by recovering their story.

How best to adapt established companies to a rapidly changing economy has long been a topic of debate in both the corporate and academic worlds. This challenge is especially pressing for large organizations that may have grown top-heavy and rigid with time but now need to be light on their feet to stay relevant and profitable. Until now, the best attempts have consisted of plucking tools and methods from the world of start-ups and applying them wholesale in large corporate environments. Most of these efforts have either fizzled or failed outright because they lacked a framework for a comprehensive corporation-sized rollout. The Loop Approach introduces a new series of methods that could help change the course of operations for even the most colossal organizations. Sebastian Klein and Ben Hughes provide a wide-ranging set of guidelines for achieving corporate agility, complete with checklists and worksheets that should prove instantly applicable. Want proof? The methods outlined in The Loop Approach have already been successfully implemented at such European corporate giants as Audi, Deutsche Bahn, and Telekom.

The Werewolf is a story of two young boys, Ben and Jordan, and Wolfie, a young werewolf who after going out to play with the boys, is separated from his family. Over the next few weeks, the boys and Wolfie set off on an adventure to reunite the lost wolf with his family.