Daniel Taylor – författare

Innovation is all around us every day; every product we use, every piece of packaging we open, every service we experience; all of these started out as ideas that have been developed and deployed. Yet that path from coming up with ideas to having successful products in the market is incredibly difficult. Many, many more ideas fail along the way, and never reach the market.The challenge of delivering innovation is even harder in big businesses than in start-ups. These corporate giants are designed to optimize their core business, drive efficiency and have many checks and balances to avoid risk. This is the exact opposite of the mantra of innovation, yet innovation is one of the keys to business success. Great companies thrive on innovation, whilst those that fail to innovate wither and die.There are a host of "corporate entrepreneurs" out there facing the challenge of delivering innovation every day, in every big business. They are faced with unwieldy governance, political infighting, traditional thinking, bureaucratic processes, unforgiving targets, unfocused sponsorship and limited resource. All of that on top of the common challenges faced by entrepreneurs launching new businesses.In The Secrets of Big Business Innovation some of the most experienced and successful of these corporate entrepreneurs have contributed their "secrets" – the tips and tricks that make the difference between success and failure and between corporate ignominy and fame. The Secrets of Big Business Innovation sets out the secrets of establishing and sustaining a successful innovation programme and driving great innovation projects through it. The "secrets" are supported by over 100 short case studies giving real-life examples from some of the world's greatest companies.This is a practical guide that works through the typical lifecycle of an innovation programme covering where things go wrong and ways to avoid the pitfalls, whatever business you are in and whatever process you are using. With insights from New Product Development teams, Research and Development Engineers, Marketing Directors, Chief Innovation Officers, Blue Sky thinkers, Customer Insight Specialists, Consultants and CEOS of new ventures, this book is relevant to anybody wanting to drive more successful innovation in their business.

The Commandos stand out as an iconic and fascinating formation who will always be of interest to the reading public.Created in June 1940, just after the fall of France, the commandos were established as a small, elite raiding and reconnaissance force with the express intention of hitting back at the Germans when few alternatives were available. During the war the formation grew in size and complexity, taking part in the most dangerous and compelling actions, and making themselves indispensable.

A little regarded period of history, the inter-war years were crucial in forging the spirit and ethos of the Sharpshooters. At the time they were little more than a company-strength unit of the Territorial Army based in West London, with few resources, a paltry assortment of vehicles and a drill hall that had seen better days. What they did have in spades was spirit and enthusiasm. These were ordinary men in regular jobs from across London who were mainly seeking a little action and adventure at the weekend. As with any good military unit they had that extra spark that made them stand out.This account details their training, their summer camps, the routine, and their equipment. Most of all it looks at the individuals who made up the unit and made it tick.The 23rd (London) Armoured Car Company (Sharpshooters), as they were styled, was a leader in innovation and excellence, often called upon to train with the regular army. They provided escorts for food convoys during the General Strike, performed at the Royal Tournament, provided honour guards for Jubilees, Royal funerals and Coronations, and took on all manner of sporting activities, including two very active rugby teams. Towards the end of the 1930s they had begun to gear-up for war long before it became an inevitability, constantly recruiting over-strength and hiding the figures from their reluctant paymasters. When, at last, the likelihood of war was acknowledged they swiftly returned to full regimental strength and then immediately started raising a second line regiment.

The Sharpshooters archive has an incredible collection of over 8,000 photographs taken during WWII. Combining this with our Regimental records and numerous personal accounts, they tell a unique and fascinating story about the life of both the unit and the remarkable individuals who took served during the war. This second volume follows the development of both Sharpshooters Regiments from the phoney war to their first deployment overseas, two years later. The story is all the more compelling as they were made up of a blend of part-time soldiers, a smattering of professionals and numerous drafts of conscripts – ordinary people called on to do extraordinary things.1.Forging the toolThis first section looks at the chaos of the first few days of war where the Regiment had to suddenly take on – and find accommodation for – two entire regiments in the centre of London. At that time this was the only armoured brigade entirely composed of Territorial troops – not that they had anything that might resemble a tank.2\. Working UpWithin a few days they were sent to the West Country, around Ilfracombe, where they overwintered, whilst beginning the process of turning a motley but enthusiastic band of novices into an efficient fighting unit. Over the following two years we follow the story of the two regiments as they prepare for War3\. DeploymentAfter a final embarkation leave, the regiments were brought to readiness with additional personnel to bring them over strength before embarking at Liverpool.

1. The Voyage OutBy liner from Liverpool to Freetown (including a ‘crossing the line’ ceremony), then on to shore leave in Cape Town, crossing the Horn and cruising up the east coast of Africa via Aden to Suez.On arrival, they have just a matter of weeks before the next big push - Operation Crusader. They spent their time acclimatising and adjusting to desert conditions, flies, navigation and a host of other desert novelties. All their vehicles were sent off to be modified for the desert leaving the bare minimum of time for squadron and regimental training.1. Operation CrusaderSoon they are Crossing the Wire to take part in the first full scale tank battle of the war. Their first actions are a nightmare from ill prepared ‘cavalry charges’, supply issues and a litany of mechanical issues with their tanks. In a month of confused fighting, they learn their trade but at a terrible cost. Nonetheless at the end of the battle the Germans quit the field of battle and the shakiest of victories is declared. Wrecked by their experiences the Regiments are pulled out of the line to recuperate.1. RefitWith some time at last to draw breath, the troops explore Cairo & Alex. They take the opportunity to evaluate what has happened and work out what they need going forwards. Whilst they are in Egypt, Rommel makes his next thrust and the Sharpshooters are pulled back into the line.1. Back into the BlueIn order to improve their understanding of the desert they take part in Arthur Columns – mixed forces sent out to harry the Axis forces. They moved up to the Gazala line, west of Tobruk, well aware that Rommel is gearing up for another attack.

It seems fair to suggest that Bernard Law Montgomery remains a controversial and divisive figure, even fifty years after his death. Some see him as the greatest military commander and strategist of his generation, others as a deeply flawed character, solely responsible for all the ills that befell the troops under his command. In some estimates he was responsible for ponderous and overly cautious campaigning where he was unable or unwilling to admit to anything that might be construed as a failure. In others that he brilliantly conserved meagre manpower resources whilst overwhelming a series of consummate opponents.Added into the mix is Montgomery’s singular character. He seems able to engender some form of adoration in some and the deepest loathing in others. Certainly, he could come across as abrasive and egotistical, abrupt and inclined toward condescension. At the same time, he was a committed and dedicated professional soldier who was widely respected and adept at nurturing junior officers. This account, then, is an opportunity to look in-depth at the three pivotal years that took him from El Alamein to the Baltic and projected him to world attention. To achieve this the reader is guided through the environment in which his tactical headquarters operated, its organisation and equipment whilst overlaying the campaigns it fought and, most particularly, the sometimes fractious relationships on which much of the history that is handed down is based.

When the Allied armies broke out from the Normandy bridgehead in late July 1944, it became of paramount importance that they quickly capture new harbours to sustain the rapid northward advance. All the Allies supplies and reinforcements were still coming in through just two places the Mulberry artificial harbour at Arromanches and the port of Cherbourg captured by the Americans and with supply lines lengthening by the day, it was essential to speedily open up ports nearer the armies. For Field-Marshal Montgomery s 21st Army Group this meant first of all the channel ports of Le Havre and Boulogne. Both cities had been declared a Festung (Fortress) by Hitler and were to be defended to the last man. The attack on Le Havre (Operation Astonia ) was launched on September 10 and was a classic example of a successful set-piece battle. After the German defences had been softened up by colossal aerial and naval bombardment and artillery shelling, a siege-train of specialised armour broke through the outer crust of the German defensive perimeter and allowed two British infantry divisions the 49th (West Riding) Division and the 51st (Highland) Division to push through the gap and methodically reduce the enemy strongholds before driving into the heart of the city. The attack on Boulogne (Operation Wellhit ) began a week later and was the task of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Another set-piece assault, it was again preceded by a devastating bombardment by RAF heavy bombers, which reduced large parts of the city to ruins, and a massive artillery barrage. Supported by specialised armour, two Canadian brigades then moved forward but the Germans resisted stubbornly and it took six days of heavy fighting before the Canadians had subdued all strongpoints and finally forced the garrison to surrender.Although both ports were now in Allied hands, it brought no immediate alleviation to the Allies logistical problems. Harbour installations had been extensively damaged by German demolitions and Allied bombardments and it would take many weeks of rehabilitation before the ports could be brought into use. Le Havre (which had meanwhile been assigned to the Americans) did not see the few first ships arriving until October 2 and Boulogne not until on October 12.As is our hallmark, all phases of the battles for the two Channel ports are illustrated with Then and Now comparison photographs.The book contains the following two stories from ATB magazine:Issue 139: The Capture of Le HavreAuthor: Karel Margry. 17,441 words, 76 black & white photos.Issue 86: Operation Wellhit The Capture of BoulogneAuthor: Ian Galbraith. 9,099 words,. 80 black & white photos

The siege of Leningrad was the longest ever endured by a modern city, and the deadliest siege in recorded history. It lasted for nearly 900 days, from late August 1941 to late January 1944, bringing unparalleled hardship to the population. Out of over three million persons in the city more than one million lost their lives through cold, disease and starvation, bombs and artillery fire. The severe winter of 1941-42 was by far the worst period of the siege, when food reserves ran out, rations dropped to a little over three ounces of bread per person per day and regular supplies of water, fuel, and electricity stopped. Its epic suffering and endurance earned Leningrad the title of Hero City of the Soviet Union .This book is from an article in issue 123 of After the Battle magazine, the joint authors were Karel Margry and Ron Hogg.

In the history of Nazi concentration camps, and particularly labour camps, there is probably no place that bears the same stigma of wretchedness as 'Dora-Mittelbau' at Nordhausen. Located in the Harz mountains in central Germany, next to a quarry tunnel system in the Kohnstein mountain, it served to house thousands of slave workers for an underground factory known as the Mittelwerk, which produced three of Germany's best-known secret weapons: the V1 flying bomb, the V2 rocket and jet engines for the Me 262 and Ar 234 fighters. With over 20 kilometres of underground galleries, it was the largest underground factory in the world. Many of the inmates died in indescribable misery, being forced to extend the tunnels with meagre equipment and under ghastly conditions, sometimes not seeing daylight for weeks on end. Started in August 1943, Dora-Mittelbau in due course became the centre of a whole complex of underground factories in the Nordhausen area, with several subsidiary camps being set up. In all, of some 60,000 prisoners sent there between 1943 and 1945, 20,000 were driven to extinction to implement Nazi Germany's secret weapons programme, but they laboured late and in vain, for the products they yielded had little impact on the war. The V1 and V2 are the only weapons which cost more lives in production than in deployment: far more people died producing them than were killed from their impact in London, Antwerp and elsewhere.The history of Nordhausen, already gruesome in itself, ended in a crescendo of violence when, in the final weeks of the war, the surviving inmates were evacuated from the camps in death marches . One group of over a thousand men then became victim of one of the most horrendous of all Nazi atrocities. On April 13, 1945, just outside the town of Gardelegen, their SS camp guards, helped by local troops and Hitlerjugend, locked the prisoners in a big barn and set fire to the inside, burning those inside, killing them with hand-grenades, and shooting anyone who tried to escape from the burning, smoke-filled building. A total of 1,016 men died as a result. When discovered by American troops two days later, Gardelegen quickly became known as the site of one most notorious war crimes committed by the Nazis.In this book, Karel Margry recounts the history of Nordhausen concentration camp and of the Gardelegen massacre in full detail. Both stories are illustrated with unique Then and Now comparison photographs.The book contains the following two stories from ATB magazine:Issue 101: NordhausenAuthor: Karel Margry. 18,165 words, 118 black and white photos.Issue 111: The Gardelegen MassacreAuthor: Karel Margry. Text: 16,189 words, 78 black and white photos.Note:After the Battle s account of Nordhausen, when first published in 1998, was considered so accurate and comprehensive that the Nordhausen Camp Memorial asked whether they could translate it into German and use it as one of their brochures. Thus a special German edition of issue 101 appeared under the title Damals und Heute, which has been reprinted several times.

Lead author Karel Margry, with material by Winston Ramsey and Charles P StaceyEditor: Daniel TaylorText: Approx 63,000 words in main account plus 31,000 word in captions.Up to 700 images including maps, photographs and illustrations. Of these, around 120 may be in a colour section making up the concluding section of the book.The book comes in three distinct sections the first is an in-depth analysis of the German 'Westwall' defence system built between 1936 and 1944. This includes the build phases, the organisation of the workforce and the political background. The second section looks at the Allied campaign to overcome the defences of the Siegfried Line through the winter of 1944/45, focussing on three major operations by the US, British and Canadian armies. The third section deals with the perception of the Westwall in the eighty years since the war and then outlines a battlefield tour guide of those elements that still survive.

On January 12, 1945, the Soviet Red Army unleashed its winter offensive, launching strong forces on either side of Warsaw, and within a couple of days crushed the German forces defending the line of the river Vistula and began streaming westwards. The Russian Army began a great dash across Poland, leaving behind a few small pockets of enemy resistance and cities proclaimed fortresses by Adolf Hitler. Within a little over two weeks the Soviet forces reached the river Oder and established several bridgeheads on its western bank. The Oder was the last great river crossing barring the way to Berlin, just 60 kilometres away, and the Germans mobilised everything in a desperate effort to defend the river line and prevent a Soviet march on the capital. This book brings together three After the Battle articles by Tomasz Zgoda, documenting the advance on the Oder and the long-draw-out struggles for the bridgeheads over it. It has been re-edited and enhanced by Daniel Taylor and features 152 pages lavishly illustrated with maps, wartime photographs and their modern equivalents.

On January 6, 1975, Nottingham Forest were thirteenth in the old Second Division, five points above the relegation places and straying dangerously close to establishing a permanent place for themselves among football's nowhere men.Within five years Brian Clough had turned an unfashionable and depressed club into the kings of Europe, beating everyone in their way and knocking Liverpool off their perch long before Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United had the same idea.This is the story of the epic five-year journey that saw Forest complete a real football miracle and Clough brilliantly restore his reputation after his infamous 44-day spell at Leeds United. Forest won the First Division championship, two League Cups and back-to-back European Cups and they did it, incredibly, with five of the players Clough inherited at a club that was trying to avoid relegation to the third tier of English football.I Believe In Miracles accompanies the critically-acclaimed documentary and DVD of the same name. Based on exclusive interviews with virtually every member of the Forest team, it covers the greatest period in Clough's extraordinary life and brings together the stories of the unlikely assortment of free transfers, bargain buys, rogues, misfits and exceptionally gifted footballers who came together under the most charismatic manager there has ever been.

We establish wills to pass on our possessions and property to family members and friends, but what about the things that really matter: our values, beliefs, wisdom, and stories? Those are the things of lasting significance, the things that make up a spiritual legacy. Daniel Taylor, a heralded teacher, bestselling author of Letters to My Children (over 50,000 sold), and a proven master of preserving spiritual legacies, shows how anyone--not just professional authors or those who consider themselves creative--can preserve and pass on their vision of life.No matter what age or stage of life you're in, creating a spiritual legacy both enriches your own life and blesses the lives of those you love. Chock full of practical guidance, exercises, and examples, this hands-on book helps ordinary people identify wisdom and core values and articulate them in an enduring story form. Taylor promotes the importance of spiritual legacies and shows how to express them not only in writing but also using audio-visual formats and crafts.

Villers-Bocage has, for years, been the battle that confirmed the reputation of Germany's greatest tank ace, Michael Wittmann. In this book the battle is analysed in depth for the first time through detailed examination of the images taken by war photographers after the town was captured by German forces. The claims made of the battle are re-appraised, and the arguments set out in dozens of published accounts have been compared with primary evidence never utilised before, and evaluated anew. Perhaps the two most striking �revelations come from German sources. First, graphically, by the study of the 100 photographs taken by the Germans the day after the battle. Secondly, from Wittmann's own account which refutes many of the claims of historians attempting to glamorise the action.