Richard Baker

Siege at Dien Bien Phu is an historically accurate depiction of the the battle that ended French colonial rule in Vietnam. A rewrite of the novel "First a Torch", accepted by the French Foreign Legion as part of their official history in Vietnam, the book, and title, now better illustrates the events of the siege. The 14,000 French soldiers in the battle faced over 50,000 Viet Minh. Only about 3,000 French soldiers survived the battle and the subsequent internment.

A personal look into the world of boxing as award-winning writer Richard Baker attempts to find the world's greatest boxer. The book operates as a casual history of boxing, especially in the 1960's, and shows what it takes to be a champion. He looks into the costs and management of boxing.

World Boxing Champion Roberto Duran fights for his last title at the age of 50. This personal account shows Duran in training and explains what it takes to become a champion. An inspiration to anyone attempting to succeed. Must reading for sports fans and businessmen alike.

"Field of Agincourt" is a trip into madness. How does a soldier retain his morality in a war he feels is unjust? Pete, a simple trumpet player with the Army Band, turns to his friend Clifton, a street-savy thug with no qualms about killing the just or the unjust. To him, everyone is the enemy. Clifton tells Pete that he must kill to survive.The trouble is, Clifton and Pete are both equal parts of the same person. Throughout the story, Pete remains in constant conflict with Clifton as he attempts to retain both his sanity and his morality. The other soldiers in the unit learn to accept his changes in behavior knowing him to be kind one minute, brutal the next. As a soldier he is dependable. Nothing else matters.

Bix, just graduated from a South Dakota high school, looks for his big adventure before settling for a lifetime on the farm. He rescues Chau, a wealthy French-educated Vietnamese, from the racist violence that permeates American society in the early 1950's. As their friendship grows, Chau explains his education to European culture and convinces Bix to join the French Foreign Legion and help save his country from the communist Viet Minh. After teaming up with Steve, a street-wise ex-con, they take a wild ride across America before delivering Chau to a ship in San Francisco. Chau soon discovers his country has changed forever. Bix and Steve eventually join the Legion and befriend a German Legionnaire and is prostitute lover. Bix finds Chau during the siege of Dien Bien Phu. But something has changed. Chau is now fighting for the Viet Minh.Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French colonialism in Vietnam and the accelerated U.S. involvement in the region. Although they supplied Ho Chi Minh and his struggling army with arms and training to fight against the Japanese, U.S. intentions quickly deteriorated after World War II in an effort to stem the spread of communism. At Dien Bien Phu the finest European-trained French officers, and their professional military, backed by the U.S., were defeated by a history professor, a ship's cook, and a highly determined peasant army.

Essentials of Advanced Financial Accounting is an up-to-date and highly illustrated presentation of the accounting and reporting principles and procedures used in a variety of business entities. The book is ideal for instructors who have only a single term or semester to teach the core elements of the advanced accounting material that is most frequently represented on the CPA exam; this text contains the essential information on consolidations, multinational entities, partnerships, and governmental and not-for-profit entities. Most one-term courses are unable to cover all the topics included in a traditional comprehensive advanced accounting text. In recognition of time constraints, this text is structured to provide the most efficient use of the time available, while maintaining all the learning support and ancillary materials that cover these essential topics. For students and instructors who would like to cover a wider set of topics, we invite you to examine our comprehensive text, Advanced Accounting, which is now in its ninth edition.The text is highly illustrated with complete presentations of worksheets, schedules, and financial statements so that students can see the development of each topic. Inclusion of all recent FASB and GASB pronouncements and the continuing deliberations of the authoritative bodies provide a current and contemporary text for students preparing for the CPA Examination and current practice. The book's building block approach introduces concepts with simple examples and then gradually introduces complexity, allowing students to easily keep pace with the material.

In 1997 Richard Baker wrote a story featuring his family - a rip off of a children's book simply substituting the names of the characters and adding a few in-jokes. A family tradition was born. Reading of a new story became part of the Christmas day routine. In the new millennium Richard got kidnapped by aliens. He learned their language and was released after being provided a communicator. He also won his first Grand Prix. The aliens had assessed the human race and determined that by galactic standards the number of objectionable people was significant. A list of names contained individuals such as Graham Norton and Noel Edmonds. Communications with the aliens became blocked shortly after. Richard did however retain the List. The Major Vampires started to appear in the lives of the Baker family around the same time. This trilogy of goings-on is written by Richard in the style that he became accustomed. It makes no claim to have the answers or to give good guidance to those with similar tales.

Design your own fantasy D&D epic filled with adventurous exploits, cloaked characters, and mysterious monsters If you're a Dungeons & Dragons fan, you've surely thought of becoming a Dungeon Master. Learning to be a DM isn't as hard as you might think, especially if you have Dungeon Master For Dummies tucked into your bag of tricks! Whether you've assumed the role of Dungeon Master before or not, this illustrated reference can help you run a D&D game, either online or in person. From organizing your first D&D game to dealing with difficult players, this book covers everything a DM needs to know. Written for the newest edition of D&D by the experts at Wizards of the Coast, the game's creators, it shows you how to: Run your very first campaign, from shaping storylines and writing your own adventures to dealing with unruly players and charactersBuild challenging encounters, make reasonable rulings, and manage disagreementsRecognize all the common codes, tables, and spellsUnderstand the parts of a D&D adventure and how to create dungeon maps and craft monstersShape storylines and write your own adventuresFind your style as a DM and develop a game style that plays to your strengthsScript an encounter, vary the terrain and challenges, and establish rewards (experience points and treasure)Decide whether to use published adventuresUse and follow the official Dungeon Master's GuideDevelop a campaign with exciting themes, memorable villains, and plots to entrance players If you're getting the urge to lead the charge in a D&D game of your own, Dungeon Master For Dummies provides the information you need to start your own game, craft exciting stories, and set up epic adventures. Grab your copy today, and you'll be on your way!