Future Books

Well written - concise with little wasted rhetoric. Excellent text: I would recommend it to anyone with more than basic knowledge of leadership principles.

This work is a tribute to Warren Bennis, a celebration of his career. In praising him, he challenged those around him to address issues that continue to interest and perplex him. And, despite his years of experience and two million books of his own in print, the questions that remain are often simple and profound.

Answering these questions are top researchers, professors, commentators and consultants. The variety of authors provides a rich tapestry of information, experiences and opinions. What are the keys to great leadership? What makes one high-performing team do great things (The Manhattan Project) and another perpetrate evil (The Final Solution)? As the percent of one's life likely to be engaged in full-time employment declines (from 50 of 68 years in 1960 to 38 of 76 years today), how does this affect the way we lead and live? What happens when good leaders go bad? Is leadership aptitude widely distributed or possessed by a select few? Are business schools up to the task of developing the management and leadership talent for tomorrow?

Given the approximately hundreds of articles and dozens of books on leadership published each year, you might expect to have had these answers or at least these questions raised before. "The future of leadership" offers a fresh, readable perspective, for the business student and the manager. Sure, you might quibble with the eclectic responses and styles of this broad spectrum of authors, but the quality lies in their diversity.

The Germans call it a festschrift - a book stemming from the celebration honoring a renowned scholar, in this case Warren Bennis. The luminaries (including Bennis himself) who gathered in May 2000 at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business for this festschrift offer 19 thoughtful chapters on leadership issues. In fact, the consistent quality and creativity may pleasantly surprise you. The only exception is an imaginative, but shallow and self-absorbed clunker from Tom Peters. We [...] recommend this thought-provoking collection to students and practitioners of the mysterious art of inspiring others to follow.

This interesting work is a collection of essays by some of the world's most respected leadership thinkers. Contributors include Charles Handy, James O'Toole, Thomas Stewart, Tom Peters, Barry Posner and James Kouzes. These essays were first presented at a special conference held to honor Warren Bennis. Organizers labeled the conference a festschrift, a German word for a volume of essays assembled by colleagues to be a tribute to a renowned scholar. The essays were edited and divided into five parts:

1. Setting the Stage for the Future.

2. The Organization of the Future

3. The Leader of the Future.

4. How Leaders Stay on Top of Their Game.

5. Insights from Young Leaders.

The result is an insightful examination on the state of leadership today and the challenges it can expect to experience in the future. For example, Bennis writes the first essay and presents a number of challenging issues, including the widening disparity of talent among income levels, growing demographic changes between young and old and balancing the demands of work and home. James O'Toole looks at the organization of the future and remarks that leaders should view their tasks "as creating the systems under which others would be encouraged to do all the things that typically end up on the desk of the do-it-all leader."

The Future of Leadership is a comprehensive examination of leadership today and tomorrow provided by a number of insightful modern day thinkers. It asks some judicious questions and dares to look into the future with assurance and confidence. Some essays are better written than others, but every reader will find some valuable material and learn a new perspective from its pages.

The product is excellent/extremey informative and I'm totally satisfied with the information, packaging, and the price. However, the manner in which you advertise "free shipping" and delivery times for a lot of your products is very misleading and deceptive. On the two products I ordered it was supposed to be free shipping and I paid shipping anyway; and the time received was about 10 days rather than 5-6. This is the main reason I don't buy a lot of my books through amazon. I go to the local store, pay a little more, but I buy with confidence and know what is what when going in. No surprises.

This book is the reason why my funk drumming is where it's at today. It's a very difficult book to master, but the beauty of this book is, it's a complete step-by-step process. What you do is practice all the exercises with a metronome between 60-80 beats per minutes. Once you feel comfortable with the current excercise, you pick up the tempo just a little bit, then you move on to the next exercise. Before you know it, you're playing the techniques with more intent and conviction and it becomes a natural part of your playing. This approach to drumming is completely unorthodox to what you're probably used to. But once you've done this for a while, it becomes second nature and it becomes part of your drumming vocabulary. Get this book, work through it, and become the funk drummer that your drumming potential will allow you to become. You will not regret it!

This book is really great if you're curious about linear and new orleans style funk, and want to find out what it's all about. The exercises and techniques at the start of the book wont overload you so that you lose your interest, but they get progressively harder to ease you in.

Great for building up independance and thinking a bit differently about how you look at the kit, and even better for leading up to David's other book, Code of Funk, which puts the exercises into song context. There's loads of groove exercises and random ideas for you to build on and David explains all his concepts really well.

I'd say its best if you're already an intermediate drummer before getting this book.

If you really wanna funk and improve your coordination of all your limbs on the drumset this is THE BOOK to get to it. It's a killer. Every page is a challange and you really feel how you are growing with every page. And the best thing is, it's fun to play all this stuff that David wrote and it's useable in your everyday drumming. Everything is special and has a magic touch. There is nothing to compare to it on the book market to my knowledge. If you want to make some giant steps forward it's a must!!

" Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralising. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends." That profound quote from Oscar Wilde leading off the robot section tells you that this is not simply another stylish, colour- drenched coffee table collector's book, but one which marries brief text and evocative photos to cast its subject in a new light. "This book celebrates the design, novelty and colour of these highly fascinating toys," the authors write, exactly the same elements that readers and collectors find so fascinating.

In 225 pages, they present hundreds of colour photos of rare and iconic robots and space toys, along with brief informative blurbs. A rare feature is a listing of manufacturers' marks, both fascinating and helpful in identifying toys. Another rarity is the many photos of original boxes, along with numerous colour and style variants. Amazon suggests you buy this book along with Blast Off! I'd make the same suggestion. Blast Off! has lots of reading, unusual in a collector's book, while the stunning photography and layout lift this British book well above the ordinary.

I have to agree with the comments made by the author himself, both " ...informative & visually stimulating ...". If that was what he set out to achieve by writing this excellent book, then he has surpassed it. Superb colour pictures of the type of tin robots & space toys we all played with in our younger days brought the memories flooding back. For collectors of this type of toy, this has to be a classic. Clear photography, excellent description of each toy, rare items and original boxes and a desirability guide. A must for both new & experienced collectors alike !

Altho I'm not a Space Toy collector, this will be on my shelf just for the quality and quantity of the fantastic vintage graphic images of the toys and their boxes.

For the Space Toy afficianado, this has the best, large scale, clearest photos I've seen. Thee is brief, but concise information on each toy that includes the size, maker, year, country, desirability, & description. There are several pages of trademark logos. It's a real trip down memory lane and should serve as one of the top ranked refrence books out there.

The authors have done a superb job in presenting a classic piece of collectible reference. The book is filled to the bubble with all the greats and done with taste and care. One of the nice sections is a complete listing of toy manufacturers trademarks. No effort was made to price the robots and space toys, which I'm gratefully thankful for, since any attempt would certainly have dated the work. As a collector this will be one of my future guides as I pursue what has become a rewarding if albeit expensive pastime! Bravo...and my compliments. To all others the least bit interested...get this book!

Great insight on the end times & what will transpire & how to prepare the remnant

This is a "real" life stirring book. It is present truth, scripturally sound. I found it to be a manual of prevalent information; Christ-centered and prophetic in its content. I found myself praying much of what I was absorbing from its pages - it is actually, to me, a intercessory handbook for this season. I couldn't put it down. Bought copies for friends. It is well written, an eye opener - NEVER boring! I recomment it to anyone who feels desert dry - it is an oasis!

Everyone in the world needs to read this book.

Chuck Pierce is a voice crying out in the wilderness, "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord."

There is a prophetic voice emerging out of mainline Christianity today and Chuck Pierce is one of those Prophets. He captures, in one volumn, the heart of God and what Christ is doing in the hearts of this generation in preparation for His soon return.

Chuck Pierce opens a window into the Spiritual realm easily understood by anyone. He speaks of intercessory warfare and explains God's strategy in tearing down strongholds of the enemy.

He talks about and explains the coming Apostolic Church Government and the raising up of Prophets who will and are admonishing us to prepare our hearts before God.

Chuck Pierce has defined in depth what God means in His Commandment to 'Love God first with your whole heart and soul, and your NEIGHBOR as yourself.' Jesus Christ longs to share the fire of His love with us. Embrasing Him intimately is key to our growing up in Him.

Chuck Pierce shows us the way. One small paragraph sums up the whole of his prophetic message here:

"As we learn to operate in our gifts, the Body of Christ will function as it was meant to. No demonic force, including lawlessness, will be able to stand against a fully functioning Body of Christ. Operating properly in the gifts will lead us back to love (1 Cor. 13:1010), where we can work together according to the heart of God." (Page 203-204).

The title describes this book perfectly. Alot of my questions concerning the "rapture/end times" were answered.

The title describes this book perfectly. Alot of my questions concerning the "rapture/end times" were answered.

A very well writtin and easy to understand study of postmillenialism theology. I would strongly suggest this book to any premillennialist and fans of the popular Left Behind series. This book will definitely open up your mind and cause you to investigate the reality of this theology.

In A Future, A Hope, An Expected End, Pastor Wayne Rohde brings insightful scholarship to the rather contentious subject of dispensational premillennialism. This is the commonly held view that the world is in irreversible decline, leading up to the Rapture of the Church, widely known as the "second coming" of Jesus Christ. He asserts that this theological doctrine, propogated only recently in the nineteenth century by Plymouth Brethren founder John Nelson Darby, is a potential self-fulfilling prophecy of spiritual disenchantment.

Seeing this dangerous trend, Rohde states, "Already we are hearing dates [of the coming Rapture] regularly set and passing unfulfilled." "As a consequence, church attendance may even rise for a time...with fear rather than faith as a motivation." "When the predicted time comes and goes with no Rapture, those new [churchgoers] will leave as quickly as they came in. Worse, they will now have been "innoculated" against the truth of the Church and the Word of God, believing them to be unreliable." Rohde believes that the alternative ideology to embrace is the Biblically taught view established in the 1st century at the beginning of the Christian Church, today referred to as "postmillennialism." This is explained as "...the expected return of Christ [is] only after the Great Commission is fulfilled and all of Christ's enemies are put under His feet by the Holy Spirit empowered Church."

A Future, A Hope, An Expected End studies the contrasts of the opposing doctrines, and presents them in a well organized format, easily accessible through the table of contents pages. Rohde's compelling arguments will challenge the reader to explore their own core belief structure. The book will be an excellent reference tool and is an affordable gift for those interested in dispensational studies.

This is written by a professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis. The guy has a Ph.d from Berkeley. He has taught a course called "Futures and Options Markets" for about 20 years. I took the course and read the whole book. Now that I am several years out from then and have learned a lot more about the subject, I have realized this book was way above average. The best selling books are not always the best. It doesn't go into depth about how to write options or use different derivative strategies, but it does provide a very secure introduction into the subject of futures and basic hedging with options. Basically the best read I had in my undergraduate years.

Extremely fast delivery and product as advertised. Would do business again.

An outstanding introduction to futures and options markets, clear, concise and bursting with examples and current issues and controversies. Unlike most futures and options textbooks this text focuses on all types of assets - commodity, financial, energy etc. The book's blend between theory and applications and examples is outstanding. The applications, which are an intergral part of each chapter makes this a must for students and established researchers who want to gain a full understanding of the current state of the futures and options industry.

The word BORING is what usually comes to mind when I read textbooks for my classes. They are not something I look forward to because I typically drift off into never-never-land. Usually they're missing some dynamic, and as a result they just don't seem to capture my attention.

However, this textbook sparked a DIFFERENT reaction in me. First off, I found the futures and opinions market interesting and the material in the textbook easy to understand. It was teeming with examples and diagrams that enhanced my grasp on the fundamentals behind the market. Unlike other textbooks, I found that I ENJOYED the reading. In particular, I enjoyed the numerous real-world applications provided in the boxes throughout the chapters.

I believe the greatest asset in this book are these real-world applications like: how price movements in the orange juice markets market could forecast freezing temperatures better than the U.S. National Weather service, to the enormous role hedging plays for the airline industries. By intertwining stimulating examples into the required nitty-gritty, it held my attention. I thought reading this textbook was both educational and FUN. It sparked in me a new-found enthusiasm in futures and opinions.

I love having a model to make things develop from. The FUTURE model is great to take hold of the paradoxes contained in every second's "todays world".

At the (true) beginning of the new millennium I was eager to see how Dr Dixon's predictions compared with reality. Therefore, I read once more "Futurewise". Result: continuous astonishment how much of what he predicted has become true - in many cases at an even more accelerated pace than originally assumed. This result merits a huge "bravo".

This incisive analysis of today's trends leaves you with a breathtaking panorama of the future, and the hope, knowledge and energy to shape the new world coming.

Through detailed analysis of the 'Now' Patrick Dixon has created an accurate and colorful mosaic of our tomorrows.

If you want to intelligently invent your own future, this is the guidebook!

Dr Dixon has defined six "faces" of global change that he identifies as being: Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical and Ethical. When we take the first letter of each of these faces of change, we derive the word FUTURE. Fast - with technological advancement we are seeing the deployment of information at speeds that are now measured in microseconds. Trends are becoming more unpredictable because of the FAST nature at which the key trend indicators now move. Urban - As the world's population grows, more and more people are drawn to the life in the big smoke - ie. cities. With a predicted increase in population by some 3 billion extra people - the concept of the megacity, which are now prevalent especially in Asia, are becoming more and more a reality but on a wider scale.

The book goes on to explain the other faces of change. What are the choices for us now that we need to at least consider for the future? How does this affect your career? What about your family and your children? What are your plans for the future?

If you drift through life and just accept change without really knowing that change is happening, then you must read this book. Be one step in front of change, rather than be gobbled up by the rapid global change that is happening right before our eyes.

Are you ready for the future?

Day after day many of us read about the destruction of our planet: farm land covered over with environmentally unfriendly golf courses and asphalt or destroyed by huge pesticide driven agribusinesses; water supplies contaminated with arsenic and ecoli; air polluted with everything from asbestos to zinc; wetlands destroyed by pesticides and developers; dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico; old growth forests pillaged by greedy corporations; and thousands of species of plants and animals on the brink of extinction including the Orca Whale symbol of the West Coast Indians.

GARDENING FOR THE FUTURE briefly describes these destructive practices (and cites Al Gore's EARTH IN THE BALANCE) but it also shows us a better way. You should continue to support those organizations waging the good fight in Washington and elsewhere -- AND buy this book, read this book, and light one candle by turning your own yard into a living example of a better way. You can do it. I've done it and it works. Not only that, once you get your yard converted you will never have to mow grass again.

I've been farming organically for ages and had encountered and put into practice many of the ideas put forth in this book but this book brings all these ideas together. The authors have assembled thoughts of the "experts" in fighting the environmental battle on the homefront--your yard. Think Victory Gardens. Each of us can make a contribution to the "war" effort. Each of us can begin to turn our garden plots, no matter how big or small, into a "piece of the action" -- gardening for the future of the earth.

You can grow vegetables organically and replenish the soil and eschew the use of pesticides and herbicides and other killers -- I know I've done it. And, I've done it in on a several acre spread out in the countryside. My neighbors who had abandoned the "old ways" for modern chemcial solutions looked on in awe as the bad bad bugs beat a hasty retreat from my garden to theirs.

But most important, as Paul Mueller, one of the experts cited in this book says, "Gardening is not just about having tomatos and peppers and flowers -- Gardening is about empowering -- planting a seed and watching it grow -- no matter who you are it makes you richer and deeper and more understanding of all the cycles of the universe and of your relationship to them."

The authors describe their contributors as the "Dream Team" Bill Mollison (Tasmanian permaculture expert); John Jeavons (soil growing in very small spaces); Masanobu Fukuoka (a plant pathologist promoting natural farming); Alan York (a viniculturist involved in biointensive gardening); Alan Kapuler (a biologist and Seed Exchanger); and Wes Jackson of the Land Institute.

This book is filled with ideas and plenty of practical examples. Everything from garden design to plant breeding is covered by numerous experts. You don't have to be a genius or work 12 hours a day to make this happen. The only thing you give up is that awful environmentally unsound lawn. I've done it. My neighbors are doing it. You should see the birds who come to our place.

A MUST READ! This book should be required reading for all people everywhere! Gardening for the Future of the Earth is very easy to read and very easy to implement. It tells us not only what is wrong, but actually gives ways (easy, do-able ways) to do our part in helping and healing the earth. We all to need to do our part and we need to do it **before** we don't have any parts left. I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I have.

Howard Shapiro has done the organic gardener and the "thinking about it someday" armchair novice a great favor. He has read most of the good books for you; extensively interviewed and visited with the giants of the subject; and, he has added his own considerable wisdom and experience with Seeds of Change, to provide us with a great, concise volume on sustainable gardening and systems. "Gardening for the Future of the Earth" is also very serious about its title; Shapiro sprinkles the text with anecdotes and data about the huge genetic, environmental, health, and cultural impacts of modern chemical factory farming - his personal time line is 20 years until the world, all of it, is in serious trouble.

It has taken me over 7 years (and several hundred dollars) of intense interest and reading: to be exposed to Bill Mollison, the Tasmanian curmudgeon and genius who coined the term permaculture; to find his mentor/idol, Massanobu Fukuoka, the author of the "One Straw Revolution" and pioneer of intercropping rice and barley in Japan; to heed the teachings of John Jeavons and his Bio-Intensive, double digging techniques- a savior in the gumbo clay soil of Austin, TX; to uncover the amazing, successful, and almost occult practices of the Biodynamic techniques from the brilliant but difficult writings of Rudolph Steiner in the 1920's; to kindle an interest in perennial farming systems, which was Nature's way in our Midwest (prairie) until two centuries ago from Wes Jackson of the Land Institute in Salina, KS; and, to just start to fathom the import of Alan Kapuler's words on the crisis that is upon us in bio-diversity and the declining gene pool.

A whole library in one volume! A pleasant read! You will have no doubt that there is a problem, but there are solutions......and they are not coming out of our major research labs and campuses. They are coming from the grass roots. To quote Shapiro: "gardeners know a lot more about soil than laboratory scientists!'

This is a truly wonderful book and a very good read for anyone interested in the well being of the earth. Subjects such as permaculture, improving soil, water harvesting, seed saving and the importance of seed diversity are all discussed here with input from some of the masters on these subjects.

This book is not only a reminder of the damage that we have done to the earth but also an inspiration so that we may change our ways and improve the environment. One quote that stuck with me from this book is from E. O. Wilson ..."what humanity is doing now in a single lifetime (to our planet) will impoverish our descendents for virtually all time to come." Having said this, take this book, read it, practice what you have learned and share this info with all you know. As individuals, we can do our part to make a difference for the future.

Much appreciation goes to Seeds of Change organization for their efforts in bringing the importance of seed diversity and other environmental issues to our attention. I think they've done a great job with this book.

On a similiar subject, I found "Gaia's Garden" and "Forest Gardening" both to be very good reads as well.

In Great American Deception you will find pages and pages of Truth. Like Newton, Martin Luther, Plato, and Aristotle, so is this work of Ravi Batra's something western society should understand to be important from an early age. Unfortunately a title like "Great American Deception" isn't so endearing to Patriots. Yet the information and reasoning inside the book are some of the most important things Patriots can know.

The primary fallacy Batra points out is the gospel of free trade. The economic theory behind free trade rests on the assumptions that winners compensate the losers. Most early 20th century advocates of lowering tariffs were advocates of progressive income taxes. Modern proponents are into lowering tariffs, lowering progressive income taxes, and borrowing a lot of money from our trade surplus partners.

The real kicker is that Republican Candidates who spend the most time calling on Patriotism and "sacrifice" have so far done the most to avoid Patriotism, Sacrifice, and Service. What are Patriotism, Sacrifice, and Service? They are moderate protectionism, higher tiered income taxes in times of War or economic distress, and enforcement of anti-monopoly principles.

Batra explains why free trade and regressive taxation have not led us to the nirvana of universal prosperity promised by establishment democrat and republican politicos. He presents an overwhelming mass of evidence to bolster his conclusions. Dr. Batra is a brilliant and incisive thinker who really is concerned with the welfare of the little person. To read this man is to know that the elites in the media, financial, and political spheres are lying, self-serving tyrants. Read this book -- and learn the reality of modern American economic history, a reality that is intentionally obscured from our view by the powers-that-be.

Dr. Ravi Batra has, since the late 1970s, been offering some of the most thought provoking analysis of economic developments in the US and the world at large. In 1984, he suggested that increasing concentration of wealth was behind the speculative bubble in asset markets (The Great Depression of 1990). In 1990, the Federal Reserve proved successful in infusing the economy with money (and low interest rates), thereby saving the banking system from collapse, while ensuring a repeat run-up in stock prices. While this action by the Fed helped stave off Batra's prediction of an economic collapse -- he may very well still turn out to be right -- just witness the unfolding crisis in Asian stock and currency markets. In the 1990s, he has also warned about the effect that free trade in goods (and a free flow of investment) are having on manufacturing employment as laid-off manufacturing workers are re-employed in the services sector at, typically, a much lower wage, thus explaining the drop in real household incomes of American families since the early 1970s (The Myth of Free Trade). In The Great American Deception he warns us about the unfair shift of the tax burden from corporations to individuals in recent decades and its likely effect on the economy. One could say that he confirms Oswald Spengler's insight that when big money calls the shots the sole purpose of commercial laws and regulations is to accommodate the desire of the large moneyed interests to accumulate more wealth, no matter its effect on society at large. Dr. Batra is a great thinker with vision and the courage to state necessary truths, no matter how controversial. Indeed, if it weren't for thinkers like him we would be at the mercy of CNN and Business Week to understand what's really going on in the world. This is a book that shines the light on complex problems, but with simplicity of exposition and plenty of factual substantiation. A must read for concerned citizens.

The author tackles the big economic thinkers and ideas, one by one. He has done amazing historical research in order to debunk all the popular myths about the economy, myths he feels are perpetrated by economists beholden to rich clients. He takes no prisoners in his attack on regressive taxes and free trade (you know, the money goes out but it doesn't come back). Better than a boxing match.

I can't believe I've never heard of this book before now. I was very impressed with how concise Feeney describes the details of derivative pricing with regard to settlement value. Most books on derivatives fail to make the distinction between theory and practice. Feeney does this very well.

This book is useful for someone looking to either learn about or brush up on the financial derivatives markets

Wow, wow and more wow! This book totally rocks the house! Talk about some solid partial differential equations... this one really socks it to ya! I couldn't put it down. I wouldn't put it down. I couldn't believe that anyone would write a book as wickedly clever, funny, witty and engrossing as this.

I've read all of Feeney's works... and I mean ALL of them. This one is clearly the best... no question. No question at all. If you want to read some great finance... if you're really ready to enjoy the best there is... then you're ready to read Feeney.

Great ready for the read of your life. Get ready to see the world a different way. Get ready to go really, really deep into the financial corners of your mind. Travel to your limits and push past them to where you thought it was impossible to go. Learn about yourself, learn about the world, learn about what it takes to be a financial guru.

Feeney - the great mind of finance bringing us insights to share with the next generation. Bravo!

Perhaps the most interesting and compelling finance book I've read in decades. Feeney takes even the most complicated ideas and brings them down to levels that even I could understand. Very well written, insightful and full of telling comments on the markets from one of its true masters. I highly, highly reccomend this book to anyone even remotely interested in the world of finance. I, and all of my colleagues who have read the book, can hardly wait for the sequel... sure to be as fabulous as this version. Two Thumbs Up!