Functional Path Training

Current Reading

These are the books I am currently reading, rereading, and  reviewing. I usually read about six books at a time, sometimes more, seldom less. I love to read. My reading interests are broad and varied. I am finding myself going back and rereading many works that I have read over the past few years. I seem to get more out of them on the second read.

Current Reading

Dynamics of Skill Acquisition – An Ecological Dynamics Approach by Button, Seifert, Chow, Araujo and Davids

Play Practice – Engaging and Developing Skilled Players from Beginner to Elite By Launder and Piltz

Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson

The World by Richard Haass

Cold Earth by Ann Cleaves (Fiction)

Facebook – The Inside Story by Steven Levy

Rereading

Annals of a Former World by John McPhee. McPhee is one of the best writers of our time. Seldom am I not reading one of books. Such elegant prose.

Reviewing 

Each year I review these seminal works that have shaped what I do as a teacher and coach.

Doherty, Ken. (1985) Track & Field Omnibook (Fourth Edition)

Counsilman, James E. (1968) The Science of Swimming

Dyson,Geoffrey H.G. (1977) The Mechanics of Athletics

Harre, Dietrich. Principles of Sports Training – Introduction to the Theory and methods of Training. Berlin, GDR: Sportverlag. 1982

Kreighbaum, Ellen and Barthels, Katharine M. Biomechanics - A Qualitative Approach for Studying Human Movement. Fourth edition. Boston, Allyn and Bacon. 1996.

Lieber, Richard L. (2002) Skeletal Muscle Structure, Function & Plasticity – The Physiological Basis of Rehabilitation. Second Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincot Williams & Wilkins.

Logan, Gene A. and McKinney, Wayne C. Kinesiology.  Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers. 1970

McArdle, William D. Katch, Frank I. And Katch, Victor L. (2007) Sixth Edition. Exercise Physiology – Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance. Baltimore, MD. Williams & Wilkins.

Todd, Mabel E. The Thinking Body. Princeton Book Company Publishers. Highston, NJ. 1937

What’s Next?

What's Next? The simple answer is: Who knows? People are talking about a new normal, what does that mean? I think each of us needs a deeper understanding of what got us into this dilemma. Certainly, all this chaos and adversity can represent an opportunity. Whether or not it is an opportunity depends on each and every one of us looking deep within ourselves, to be the best we can be, to focus on love, peace and togetherness. It can be done; it has been done.

When we all come through this is not unrealistic to have a better world. We need to put aside differences, think logically, trust in real science and focus on our humanity. I want my granddaughter who will be born in September to have a better world to grow up in than we have now. That was my parent’s expectation when they emigrated to this this country and it came true for my brother and me. It is not too much to ask.

Please, Please, Please – each of you focus on what you can do individually to make your own world better. If each of us makes what we can control better, the world will be better. There is hope! It is in your hands. Start acting on it now.

If you need proof believe it can be done listen to Louis Armstrong sing It's A Wonderful World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWzrABouyeE It truly is a wonderful world and we can make it better!

My Learning Milestones

I have been thinking lately on who and what shaped and influenced my ideas over the years. It has been a process of searching for knowledge to get better at getting better. These reflections make me realize how fortunate I have been in my life to be in the right place at the right time. The foundations for this journey was laid by my parents and the education I received in parochial elementary and high school where we were taught to think. It goes without saying that the athletes and colleagues I have been able to work with were also a constant source of learning for me.

Theory of Track & Field class at Fresno State senior year spring of 1968 taught by Red Estes, who was assistant track coach at Fresno State. We had to show proficiency in each event and develop a training program for each event. The textbook was Modern Track & Field by Ken Doherty. Red lent me all the back issues Track Technique and Run/Run/Run by Fred Wilt which set me on the right path.

Fresno State Track & Field Clinic, January 1968 with Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon and Ken Shannon, assistant coach at UCLA. What a way to start a career. After hearing these two coaches for two days there was no doubt in my mind that I would be a track coach. Fifty plus year later I can close my eyes and hear Bowerman’s words and see Shannon film of pole vault training.

Theory of Basketball class at Fresno State senior year spring of 1968 taught by head coach, Ed Gregory. Coach Gregory went on the scout for many years with the Warriors. We had to scout and prepare a scouting report on a high school game and college game. I chose Fresno city college versus Pasadena City College coached by Jerry Tarkanian. After that game my head was spinning watching the speed that Pasadena played and their tenacious 1:2:2 zone defense. A preview of thing to come at UNLV years later. We also had to develop our own training system and playbook.

Foundations of Conditioning fall 1968 at UCSB. The class was taught by Sherm Button. Our class project was a year long training program for your sport. It really forced me analyze and think why I was doing what I was doing. I still have it.  Sherm was a great teacher and a mentor for me.

MTSAC Track & Field Clinic February 1970. This was an annual clinic attended by over 300 coaches. This was the first time I heard Tom Tellez speak; I became a disciple. He recommended two books that really opened my eyes – Mechanics of Athletics by Geoff Dyson and Science of Swimming by Doc Councilman. Arne Nytro, from Norway coach of Terje Pedersen, first man to throw 300’ in Javelin, he also spoke on distance training also presented. He was a generalist, which left a huge impression on me and forged my philosophy of specializing in being generalist.

1972 Olympic Trials and Clinic. During the Olympic Trials each morning there was a clinic on all the events presented by top coaches. A chance to network and meet other coaches and share ideas.

July 1972 AAU Learn by Doing Clinic in Sacramento. Organized by Fred Wilt. It lasted six days beginning at 8:00 in the morning going until 9:00 at night. The days were devoted to learning by doing at stations taught by top coaches. Evenings consisted of lectures, the first two nights were by Tom Ecker on biomechanics and last three nights by Tadeusz Starzynski, coach of Joseph Schmidt two-time gold medal winner in triple jump. His lectures were two hours with simultaneous translation from polish. They were amazing, extensive use of 16mm film of training exercises. No heavy weights, a lot of what a we today call coordination. Really opened my eyes. In addition, the interaction with the coaches who attended was tremendous. It was a who’s who of anybody and everybody who did anything in coaching for the next forty years.

Track & Field Omnibook by Ken Doherty – First Edition. This was an update on his previous books all assembled under one cover. I still go back through this book once a year. It is so rich in information that is timeless.

Grad School at Stanford 1973-74 was in many ways a dream come true. Just to be at Stanford and the people that was able to access was amazing. There was also a dance master’s program and having classes with them opened my eyes to new vistas in movement, all of sudden rhythm and tempo became part of my coaching repertoire. In addition, I coached the jumps and decathlon. I don’t know if it was an aha ha or aha shit moment before the first meet when I realized that a year before I was coaching La Cumbre Junior high school and now I was coaching in the Pac Eight.

UC Berkeley Exercise Physiology seminar in January 1974. The speakers were a who’s who of anybody who had done anything of significance in exercise physiology to the that time. The headline presenter was Per Olaf Astrand, a true iconic figure in the field. Needless to say, it was eye opening, educational and challenging. There were over three hundred people there, only a handful of whom were coaches. I felt it gave me an edge in training my athletes because I had learned cutting edge information from the best.

1976 Olympic Games – I was able to attend the Montreal games. I got there a few days before the start of track and field. I would go to the practice/warm-up track, arrive at 7:30 am and leave at 7:00 pm. I did not want to miss anything. It was an education. Seeing Juantorena go through a session. Seeing the East Germans for the first time. Trying to hear what the coaches were saying. It was an unforgettable and formative experience for me. You can learn so much by watching.

1978 Commonwealth Games Scientific Congress in Edmonton. First time hearing Frank Dick present. There were many good opportunities to interact with speakers and delegates. Certainly, another good learning experience.

1978 I became editor of Track Technique, at the time the premier technical journal in track and field. This gave me access to a worldwide network of coaches, athletes and scientists. The information that I received was priceless. Some was published in Track Technique, but much was material I used in my coaching and is still in my library. I was able to get TAC to make Track Technique the National Governing body technical journal. I was removed for the editorship because of my outspoken stance of the drug abuse in track & field.

Shriners Hospital in San Francisco biomechanics lab with John Hagy. From 1977 to 81 I got exposed to film analysis, EMG and use of force platform. Was able to do research on my athletes as they were used as “normal” subjects in some landmark gait studies.

Visit with Tom Tellez at University of Houston in January 1982. After a conversation at a convention in December Tom invited to spend three days in Houston. During those three days he took me through his technical model for every event. We studied film of each event. He went through cues for each event. We probably spent twelve hours a day going over every detail. I watched workouts with Carl Lewis and Tom talked me through what they were doing. It was an education. It got me back on a simpler path, I was making things too complicated and confusing my athletes. My athletes saw immediate progress from the lessons I learned. As a team we finished second at nationals and had two individual national champions. I still apply the lessons I learned then.

Project Gold leading into 1984 Olympic Games. Worked with Anne “Betty” Attwater and Ralph Mann on biomechanical analysis of sprints and hurdles. During this project getting to know Mel Rosen, Coach at Auburn and Ed Temple coach of the famous Tigerbelles and listen them talk about sprinting and training was a priceless experience. They weren’t the loudest voices in the room, but when they spoke you listened. They may not have been scientific, but they were oh so wise.

Meeting Dr. Lois Klatt head of performance lab Concordia University in River Forest Illinois. A lady way ahead of here time. Lois made me understand three planes of motion and importance of training movements not muscles and multi joint actions. The work with her was a seminal moment in my career. I now looked at movement, training and rehab with new eyes.

ASMI Pitching research with Dr Chuck Dillman and later with Glen Fleisig. I had known Chuck from when he was with USOC. It was very special experience to be on the ground floor of this research. Chuck came and met with our pitching coaches (White Sox) and asked them what they needed to know. That was why he was such a special sport scientist, His approach spoiled me. We are able to have the majority of our pitchers from 1987 to 1996 filmed and analyzed during my time with the White Sox. It helped me to clearly define what we needed to do in training. We had significant reduction in injuries as a result.

Starting Building & Rebuilding the Athlete seminar in 1992. Putting everything together in a systematic manner that I could teach in a sixteen-hour seminar. I taught this periodically until spring of 2005

First visit to Australia 1996 and the AIS in its heyday and John Pryor and Mark Andrews at Sydney academy of sport. Subsequently I have been to Australia thirteen more times and each trip has been an amazing learning experience working with great coaches and applied sport scientists.

Starting GAIN in 2007. GAIN is a community of professionals for professional development. At this stage of my career this now become my focus. It is an incredible learning community that inspires me every day and challenges me to keep learning and leading. If you have a passion for leaning, please join us https://thegainnetwork.com/

These represent the highlights. Every day for me the process of learning continues.

Easter Thoughts

Obviously with the lockdown I have had more time to think, to think about the past and the future after we emerge from this. It seems that more often than not my thoughts turn to family, my wife and children. I think a lot about my parents who passed away thirty years ago. I think of how they would reacted what they would have done. I think of how their love and sacrifices gave me the life that I have. Most importantly they give and continue to give me, and my family is the gift of love.

My parents were immigrants without any education to speak of, yet they were two of the wisest people I have known. They came to the US for the American dream and in many ways achieved it, but they never lost their old country values from Switzerland. My mother was very religious and put her faith in God. My dad went to church but was a skeptic. I like to think I got a bit of both from them.

On this Easter in very troubled times I am thinking of my friends, my family and thanking my parents for giving me the tools to cope and thrive like they did through the great depression. Reach out to those you love and tell them you love them. Thanks mom and dad and give all of us some of your strength to make it through this.

Thoughts on Getting Better

My passion and focus are on getting better at getting better. The longer I coach, the more I realize that we can’t rely on doing more of the same old things we have been doing and hope to get our athletes better. We must use the time and resources better to get better. Here are some thoughts, ideas and concepts I have culled from some of my research and practice on learning:

The learning process is based on acquiring new habits and changing old habits

Practice does make perfect; practice only makes possible – no guarantees

Perfect effort creates a positive climate for learning

Drills do not equal skills. Use drills selectively and prescriptively

Start with a technical model of the skill and then let the athlete express their interpretation the model. At best the technical model is a framework. Never fit the athlete to a model.

Explicit learning is acceptable in the early stages of learning to guide the athlete and move them forward. Gradually switch toward implicit learning by giving the athlete more difficult movement problems to solve.

Talk it (clear explanation), chalk it (demonstration) and Walk it (imitation) – then let them spread their wings and fly.

Massed practice yields short term results but does not stick

For learning to be durable it must be hard

Practice is an and opportunity to get better

Learn to interleave – practice a skill for a short-focused period of time, leave it go to something else and come back to it. Do this several times in a session.

Law of Threes – This relates to the concept of interleaving, it is something I came up with that works for me. Practice a skill for three minutes, move to another skill for three minutes. Repeat these three times and move to other skills. I then come back to original pair as many as three times.

It is not the time you put into practice, it’s what you put into the time

Have clear specific measurable objectives for each session. Evaluate the planned versus achieved results in practice.

The coach is the catalyst that directs the athlete’s attention to the appropriate action.

Feedback must be appropriate for each specific situation and learner. Limit the amount of feedback, be specific and on point.

Vary the type of feedback

Timing and frequency of feedback – With an experienced athlete it is not as effective to give immediate feedback. The beginner on the other hand needs more immediate feedback.

Encourage the athlete to rely on their own intrinsic feedback, not to rely on the coach. Feel it! Develop their own error detection and correction process.

Here are some resources that well help you get better at getting better:

Berthoz, Alain. The Brain’s Sense of Movement. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 2000

Brown, Peter C., Roediger III, Henry L., McDaniel, Mark A., Make it Stick – The Science of Successful Learning. The Belknap Press of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2014

Chow, Jia Yi. Davids, Keith. Button, Chris. and Renshaw, Ian. Nonlinear Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition – an introduction. London, England: Routledge Taylor & Francis group.  2016

Davids, Keith. Button, Chris. Bennett, Simon. Dynamics of Skill Acquisition – A Constraints-Led Approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishing Company. 2008

Dweck, Carol. Mindset – The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House. 2006

Farr, Steven. Teaching as leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2010

Gabbard, Carl., Leblanc, Elizabeth., and Lowy, Susan. Physical Education for Children-Building the Foundation, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1987

Gilbert, Wade. Coaching Better Every Season. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishing Company. 2017

Lemov, Doug. Woolway, Erica. Yezi, Katies. Practice Perfect – 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, California. 2012

Leonard, George. Mastery – The Keys to Success and Long-term Fulfillment. New York: Penguin Books USA.1992

Magill, Richard A. Motor Learning and Control – Concepts and Application. Ninth Edition. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007

Nater, Swen. & Gallimore, Ronald. You Haven’t Taught Until They Have Learned – John Wooden’s Teaching Principles and Practices. Fitness Information Technology. Morgantown, WV. 2006

Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind – Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York: Riverhead Books. 2005

Renshaw, Ian. Davids, Keith. Newcombe, Daniel. Roberts, Will. The Constraints-Led Approach – Principles for Sports Coaching and Practice Design. London, England: Routledge Taylor & Francis group.  2019

Renshaw, Ian. Davids, Keith. and Savelsbergh, Editors. Motor Learning in Practice – A Constraints led approach.  London, England: Routledge Taylor & Francis group.  2010

Wulf, Gabriele. Attention and Motor Skill Learning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishing Company. 2007

Zaichkowsky, Leonard and Peterson, Daniel. The Playmaker’s Advantage – How to Raise Your Mental Game to the Next Level. Gallery Books, Jeter Publishing. New York. 2018

The Learning Journey – Clinics, Symposia & Other Resources

From the time I committed to be a track & field coach in January of 1968 I started the learning journey. Last post I talked about the books that were learning resources that influenced me. In this post I will talk about the Clinics, symposiums and other resources that were influences in my development, particularly in the first twelve years.

Theory of Track and Field class taught by Red Estes was the foundation for everything I have done since. We had to prepare a detailed notebook of each event. In addition, we had to show proficiency in each event so that we could demonstrate for our athletes. I continue to use the lessons learned in that class today. Good old-fashioned pedagogy never goes out of style.

In January of 1968 Red Estes, organized the first Fresno State track & Field Clinic. Red was a University of Oregon graduate, so he was able to bring in Bill Bowerman, who was the iconic coach at U of O. The other speaker was Ken Shannon, who was the field event coach at UCLA. Both were great. Terrific presentations with great information. I have to say it was Bowerman who sealed the deal on me becoming a track coach. He was so inspirational and passionate I decided that night that I wanted to be a track coach. I have never looked back! Each subsequent year I would go back to the Fresno Sate Clinic each January. Later in the seventies I was honored to be asked to speak at it. In February of 1970 I attended my first MTSAC Clinic where I first heard Tom Tellez. The MTSAC clinic became an annual event for me, there was always a great lineup of speakers willing to share. 1972 Olympic Trials Clinic was held in the morning during the trails. The presenters were top coaches, it was my first exposure to coaches from other regions of the US, up to that time my main exposure had been to coaches from the west. AAU Learn by Doing Clinic in July 1972 organized by Fred Wilt. This was five-day 12 hour a day clinic attended by every coach who did anything in track in the US for the next thirty years. The evening session with Tadeusz Starzynski, Joseph Schmidt’s coach was a highlight for me. A terrific insight into a system not dependent of heavy weights.1976 Olympic Trials Clinic was another experience much like 72 Trials clinic. This time I my depth of knowledge was a little greater and I could ask better questions.

Track Technique edited by Fred Wilt. Issues that I found particularly useful were: #33 Javelin Throwing Russian Style by V. Mazzalitis, detailing Janus Lusis training and #34 The high Jump by V.M. Dyahov detailing Brumels training. In 1978 I was honored to take over as Editor of Track Technique. Assuming that position gave me access to coaches and information worldwide that was amazing.

Meadowbank Convention notes from an annual seminar held in Edinburgh every year. It was put on by Scottish Athletics and organized by Frank Dick. Eventually I was able to obtain most of the notes from each annual convention. I found these notes really informative because they had speakers from the eastern bloc countries that I would not normally have access to. In fact, there are presentations from those notes that I go back to periodically.

Athletic Journal and Scholastic Coach were sent to our athletic department each month. Even though they were multisport journals they contained a wealth of information. There were tremendous sequence photos of technique in all sports that helped to understand athletic movement.

Athletics Coach was the technical of British Amateur Athletic Board. Tremendous articles by top British and European coaches. The BAAB also put out a series of instructional manuals that were indispensable to me, particularly because they all included teaching progressions

Modern Athlete and Coach published by the Australian Track Coaches Association. It was edited by Jess Jarver who was a native Russian speaker, so the translations published were very accurate. A great journal.

USTCA Association Journal which consisted mainly reprinted clinic notes.

Research Quarterly published by AAHPER. A good source for research articles in physical education.

8mm and Super 8 films sold my Ora McMurray were invaluable. There was no YouTube, so we depended on Ora and his network of contacts throughout the world for high quality film of the best in their respective events in action. In fact, with my first paycheck as a teacher I paid $495 for a Kodak M95 projector that allowed me to stop, start and reverse film so I could study technique films. In addition, there were sequence photos shot and developed by Phil Bath that came in rolls you could take them out to the track. They were of unbelievable high quality and invaluable for the athletes to see good technical models.

The 1976 Olympics were a great learning experience for me. I tried to be first at the practice track in the morning and last to leave in the evening. What an education, getting to see the top athletes in the world with their coaches training and warming up for competition was invaluable in my development as a coach. Finally attending the 1978 Commonwealth Scientific Congress in Edmonton was an eye opener for me and to what science could potentially do. Top scientists and coaching presenting were not only informative but inspirational.

Not My First Rodeo

In the past fifty plus years I have had the opportunity to see a lot and experience a lot. I have seen great coaches and terrible coaches. I have observed great practices and training sessions. I have observed and been subjected to practices and training sessions that I would not subject my bitterest enemy to. Why am I writing this? I am writing this because I see the current generation of younger coaches acting like they invented the wheel. What I see today in training, there is very little that is new. It is fifty-year-old or older stuff repackaged and made glitzy posted on Instagram or YouTube. I have learned that ultimately what works are those methods that are grounded in fundamentals and do not stray from the basics.

I am seventy-two years old and have been coaching for fifty years. Before that I played American football and competed in the decathlon. I am still learning and trying to grow professionally and personally. I have learned that the only way to grow is to stay curious, always ask why. Be acutely aware of what you know and what you don’t know. Be willing to experiment, to make mistakes, admit the mistakes and learn from the mistakes. I have learned that just because you can measure something does not make it meaningful. Certainly, I always need to be informed by numbers, but to default to my intuition and experience if there is any doubt.

My mission in life going forward is to share what I think know, what I don’t know as well as my experiences good and bad. To share what I am learning and why to help others get better at what they do. I know for sure there is no one way, there are many roads to Rome, some are more direct than others. Lest we forget we are coaching people who play not machines or robots. I am looking forward to a few more rodeos!

We Have It Backwards

Today we spend an inordinate amount of time and effort preparing the path for the athlete. We make sure that everything is controlled. We make the path smooth and straight when in reality the path is circuitous and crooked with many detours along the way. What we should be doing is preparing the athlete. Get them ready for the bumps and detours. Build adaptability and robustness that prepares them for any path and obstacle in their way. Lest we forget that the goal is to grow and nurture and adaptable athlete who can thrive in the competitive cauldron.

What is your filter?

I am currently reading Zucked – Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee, it is very revealing and disturbing. Naturally it got me thinking about my own filter. How do I sort through the tsunami of stuff available in the space of sports performance, athletic development, sport science and coaching? Wading through the training porn, misinformation and outright stupid stuff is not an easy proposition and I am very selective in who I follow and what I read. Training porn just like porn is seductive and addictive. It disturbs me to see so many coaches consume this stuff like it is gospel, especially if they find a research article to validate it. How are some of the things I do and people I respect do:

Start with well-defined and articulated core beliefs.

Have a working compass oriented to true north.

Be an informed skeptic - Ask well informed pointed questions?

Recognize that there are no absolutes – context is ALWAYS king.

Follow your gut instincts - If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Make sure you are not part of a filter bubble or an echo chamber – seek outside and diverse opinions to validate or invalidate the ideas.

Have go to experts that will give a straight answer. I have my own experts (In most cases world recognized) in Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, Skill Acquisition, Coaching, Athletic Medicine and Rehabilitation. If they don’t know they will refer me to someone who does.

Everything old is new again – know history and know who the historical game changers were in your field. Much of what is portrayed today as new and innovative has been done before. Isometric training was used extensively in the early 60’s.

You are only an expert if you are willing to share your failures and your successes.

Last but not least what are they selling? When you see headlines like this: “The Money Lift: How a Top-Flight Trainer Discovered the Most Important Exercise Every Athlete Should Do.” Click off that page and barf.

Wake up! Don't be afraid to call bullshit on the bullshitters

My 2018 Best Books

 Of the 150 books I have read in 2018 these are my selections for the best. It is an eclectic collection reflecting my various interests. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for good reading. This year I did not pick a book of the year. Too many good ones to pick out one book.

The Culture Code by Dan Coyle

Endure – Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything – Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin SJ

Master of Modern Soccer – How the World’s Best Play the Twenty First Century Game by Grant Wahl

The Playmakers Advantage by Leonard Zaichowsky & Daniel Peterson

On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis

Human Movement an Integrated Approach by Joseph R. Higgins

Boyd, The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

Franklin D. Roosevelt – A Political Life by Robert Dallek

Our Towns – An Ongoing Journey into the Heart of America by James and Deborah Fallows

Thinking in Bets – Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

The Barcelona Way – Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture by Damian Hughes

The Browns of California – The Family Dynasty That Transformed the State and Shaped a Nation by Miriam Pawel

Vietnam – An Epic Tragedy, 1945 to 1975 by Max Hastings

The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene