Organization

Provides a concise and creative discussion of the economic and political dimension of global financial reform. --David Hale, Global Chief Economist, Zurich Group

Examines G8 policy dynamics over the last 30 years with rare vigour and insight. Both a sensible blueprint for a new international financial system, and the definitive handbook for a new kind of governance within the G8 architecture. --Dr Yoichi Funabashi, Deputy Editor for Economic Affairs, Asahi Shimbun

A welcome addition to the literature on this important global network. Significant and accessible contributions to the study of the G7/G8. --Millennium: Journal of International Studies

"Watching Weather" is a wonderful introduction to weather. The authors explain the basics and build on it to cover "el Niño" and other contemporary events. The book is well designed with clear graphics and interesting sidebars. The "Rules of Thumb" are particularly helpful in gauging the weather in your everyday life. The book ends on a strong note with a sobering, but not hysterical, discussion of the Greenhouse Effect. This comes after an engrossing look at past global warmings and ice ages. The hothouse world of the dinosaurs and the glacial planet of the cavemen give you some sort of reference for modern changes. "Watching Weather" is a quick and entertaining primer if you want to start learning more about weather.

Tom Murphree and Mary Miller have explained the facts about weather in an easy-to-read text with everyday applications addressed. This meteorological book would be beneficial to middle school through adult ages. The book encourages you to watch the weather daily and try your hand at being your own local weather forecaster.

Tom Murphree and Mary Miller lay out valuable weather concepts in easy to understand terms. In fact, I've read several weather books and this rates at the top for ease of understanding, flow and entertainment...yes it's entertaining!

The graphics are very nice as well. They give it a "personally drawn" look!

Anyone in meteorology, or just wondering about weather should have this book on their shelf!

Never judge a book by its cover - particularly its blurb. On first glance, The Age of Heretics seems askew, a tract on business revolution for "corporate leaders" interested in anything but. It purportedly chronicles the "recreation" of institutions, an eccentric term when left unhyphenated. It's described in alarming code words, such as "magisterial" (read, "long"). Why would anyone bother with a book like this?

Because it's terrific. And because the bland façade is disguising a remarkable reality. The Age of Heretics offers one of the few compelling, intelligent, thoroughly researched histories of the field of organizational development. Focusing largely on the 1960s and 1970s, Art Kleiner details the origins of T-Groups, Theory X and Theory Y, scenario planning, systems thinking, and much more. He proves particularly adept at summarizing an approach or technique succinctly, as if in passing, and all the while in the context of corporate change movements. Perhaps Kleiner errs on the side of the Great Man Theory of History ("there was one man who could do it, and his name was ..."), but he does demonstrate how OD can prove revolutionary to the modern corporation. And we all know what fate befalls the revolutionary.

For that is part of Kleiner's history: how the OD early adopters so often sowed the seeds of their own downfall. Perhaps they evolved from enthusiastic to monomaniacal. Perhaps they exacerbated their cultish image by experimenting with LSD. Perhaps they merely stepped on the wrong toes. Whatever the reason, the drugs or the shoes, they blew their own trumpets, then whimpered the blues.

As the title suggests, Kleiner dubs these forerunners "heretics," and even adopts a framework of comparisons to medieval knights, millenarians, Pelagians, and the like. The comparisons don't do any harm, and may even add a soupcon of panache, although a few are a stretch. Likening twelfth-century intellectual Peter Abelard to pharmaceutically enhanced 1960s visionaries does the great philosopher a disservice, not least because he's not an ideal model of universalism and holistic thinking. One might also argue that Kleiner misrepresents Parzival's dilemma when he writes of the plight of the OD consultant who fears to lose his job. Parzival encounters an obviously suffering king and must decide whether to ask "what afflicts thee?"; the consultant encounters an organization and must first recognize that there is any affliction in the first place.

Such criticisms are minor and admiring. The Age of Heretics is what the English like to call "a rollicking good read": fast-paced, persuasive, and written for adults, not sixth-graders. (Rare is the business author who would think to describe In Search of Excellence, accurately, as Manichaean.) This is not a book for generic "corporate leaders." It's for OD professionals and agents of change. If you pitch your tent in either camp, bring this book along for companionship.

This book should remind anyone of an age to be in a position of significant and high-level corporate change responsibility of opportunity lost. In a societal post-culture where it's stylish to be outlandish, different, revolutionary and heretical, Kleiner illustrates for us the substantive difficulties faced by substantive revolutionary thinkers (and doers!) in developing the plans for socially responsible corporate transformation.

The Age of Heretics is almost unfairly engrossing (I read it in a single sitting). Its superb and nuanced documentation at times reads almost like an additional narrative. And Kleiner's wonderfully accessible writing makes this intellectual history of organizational development speak to those otherwise put off by the cerebral work.

Oddly, those most in need of a recovery of revolutionary spirit or heretical passion - contemporary OD/MD/HR executives- won't read it. After all, even though interesting history, it is still history and those folks are now too busy figuring out what happy face button everyone can wear for the fiscal quarter. On my read, this is the lesson of Kleiner's history; that is, abandoning the revolutionary, hopeful,Pelagian spirit and resignation to work within the system enables the system to eat you.

Also oddly, Kleiner's history will likely be dismissed by socially conscious and critically-minded business/organization/management Marxist academics, as just not explicitly critical enough of the "one-dimensionality," technocracy and precipitous consumerism of the capitalist system, which is of course what identifies the work of McGregor, Lewin and the early NTL'ers as heresy. The lesson from Kleiner's work here is that even small scale revolutionary efforts establish precedents for larger ones, and that it's better to try something than simply continue to pontificate - as academics devoted to studying the corporate organization critically are prone to do.

Consequently, both groups miss a valuable history of the connection between the serious committed efforts to change society through corporate transformation by these early renegades and the larger macro socio-philosiohical pronouncements of counterculture theorists. Indeed, Kleiner's book is voraciously consumed by an audience with a particular spirit. Unfortunately, that is few of us. I suspect I speak for all of us in that audience in suggesting that the sequel - The Hour of Reconstruction - is eagerly awaited.

Just for the record--I've worked with Art in the past. But that has nothing to do with my admiration for this book, which provides a brilliant and passionate intellectual trip through the history of corporate vitality today. This book gives the social, historical, and cultural background to the emergence of most of today's wildest corporate excursions. Above all, this book explores how business (that domain so many of us care deeply about) can regain it's "vernacular" roots--reaching back to recognize and re-form some of the meaningful "community" ties it once had. I urge anyone who cares about business as a place where personal growth takes place, where work is more than a mere job, and where groups of people achieve great things, to read this book.

Animal Rights - A Beginner's Guide is a great book for everyone from vegetarians to vegans to environmentalists and even to skeptics! Chapters cover:
1. animal rights (why do animals have rights? What animal rights is not, etc...)
2. Violence towards animals (speciesism, selective compassion, the foundations of cruelty, etc..)
3. Companion animals (attitudes towards them, puppy mills, trapping animals, being a responsible caretaker, etc...)
4. Vegetarianism (what is it? why is it important to animal rights? Health factors, etc...)
5. Factory Farms (what are they? the cost to family farms, environment, consumers, and animals)
6. Research, Education, and Testing (vivisection, animals in classrooms, military research, product testing...)
7. Wildlife in crisis
8. Animals in entertainment (circuses, zoos, TV, etc..)
9. Taking action (steps)
10. Animal Advocacy Organizations
11. Vegetarian organizations
12. Products and services
13. Further reading
I found that ALL the chapters had helpful details to spread the word to other people. It's not just a book for vegetarians, it's a book for everyone; so that everyone can see how we exploit animals, the environment, cover it up in the name of science, and what we can do to stop it. A GREAT resource book for beginners and non-beginners.

This book is an amazing copulation of the many current and pressing issues in animal welfare and rights today. It is easy to read yet packed with information regarding almost every area of animal welfare. It presents the issues and exposes some of the aweful truths behind the topics discussed. In addition, each chapter has information on what you can do to make a difference. Whether you're a beginner or a long time activist this book is a must have. The resource listings alone are more valuable than the cost of the book!

I had to do a research paper during my freshman year of college and her book helped me out immensely along with educating, and entertaining me. She really puts the issue of animals rights in resarch out in the front. She is a wonderful advocate and author.

"This fieldguide is for all change champions who are learning about, seeking to, or who are in the midst of leading social or organizational change...The purpose of this fieldguide is to provide you with all of the necessary elements to implement a best practice change or leadership development initiative within your organization or social system. Contributors in this book are widely recognized as among the best in organizational change and leadership development. They provide invaluable lessons in succeeding during crisis or growth modes and economies...Within the forthcoming chapters, you will learn:

*Key elements of leading successful and result-driven change

*Tools, models, instruments, and strategies for leading change

*Trends and research on innovation, change and leadership

*Critical success factors and critical failure factors

*How to design, implement, and evaluate change and leadership initiatives (pp.viii-xi)".

In this context, D. Ulrich, M. Goldsmith, L. Carter, J. Bolt, and N. Smallwood (the editors) divide this invaluable book including twenty-two chapters of 'best practice' into three sections: (1). Transformational and Large Scale Change, (2). Fundamentals of Leading Change, (3). Transformational Leadership and Sustaining Results. They say, "we have different interests, clients, and approaches. We have each experienced successes and failures while hoping only for success. The failures were almost always failures to make correct assumptions about the fit between type of intervention, organizational system, and situation. It is these failures that help us learn; they make us humble and open our minds to different approaches...This fieldguide presents you with an array of choices for how to approach many complex situations. You will find many ideas that you can adapt to your own situation and needs. And, when you do lead change, lead with the same passion, humility, creativity, and commitment to stakeholders, customers, and excellence that have been exhibited by the change champions contributing to this book (from the Introduction)."

In the last chapter of the fieldguide, 'You Can't Be a Champion Unless You Keep Score,' John Sullivan focuses on importance of measuring results. He says that "If this were the Olympics, it would be obvious to all that you couldn't become a champion without measuring results. In fact, the definition of a champion is 'the one with the best results.' In the general business world the use of numbers and metrics is part of life...Within all major firms all projects, products, and business units are evaluated on the basis of numerical results. However, in direct contrast, we within HR resist using metrics, almost like developing them was the equivalent of a root canal...The Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index study demonstrated that the potential impact of people programs on a firm's overall market value could be as high as 47 percent. The road is clear and the time is right. HR must now seize this unprecedented opportunity to adopt metrics and to become the next 'corporate hero' (pp.279-283)"

Therefore, after saying "metrics are the fastest and the cheapest way to change behavior in business," he demonstrates:

I.Nine reasons to utilize metrics: (1). Meeting your goals, (2). Driving improvement, (3). Obtain funding, (4). Early warning a.k.a 'smoke detectors,' (5). Understanding critical success factors, (6). Shift to fact-based decisions, (7). Metrics change behaviors, (8). Eliminate confusion, (9). Builds coordination/cooperation.

II.Eight steps in developing metrics: (1). Select a metric for each program goal, (2). Choosing between soft and hard metrics, (3). Understanding the different categories of business impact, (4). Selecting simple but attention-getting metrics, (5). Understanding the characteristics of great measures, (6). Selecting from standard HR metrics, (7). Selecting from advanced metrics, (8). Building the business case for increased HR funding.

III.Eleven decision factors for approving HR projects: (1). A low initial investment, (2). The project has a high ROI, (3). Similar projects implemented elsewhere have a high success rate or a low risk of failure, (4). The project starts right away without a long delay, (5). There is a short payback period, (6). The project has a complete set of accurate results metrics and a method for collecting metric information, (7). No new headcount is required, (8). The project has negative consequences for failure built in, (9). The program gives us a competitive advantage over other firms, (10). The program can demonstrate that it increases worker productivity, (11). A project team is credible and has high success rate on previous projects.

Finally, Sullivan writes, "HR professionals understand that the world of business has recently lost its tolerance for decisions made without facts and for programs that don't produce measurable results...Metrics can provide you with the opportunity to be superior performer by letting you know unambiguously where you are and how far you have to go. Your future path is clear; you can't become a champion...without measuring your results (pp.297-298)."

I highly recommend this invaluable fieldguide to all change champions of the future.

This is like a conference within a book without the travel and expense - I learned from the top thought leaders in the field such as David Cooperrider - the creator of Appreciative Inquiry, Marshall Goldsmith - one of the world's top coaches and experts on behavioral change, Jerry Sternin - the founder of applied positive deviance, Louis Carter - one of the foremost experts in best practices in leadership and organization development, Kathleen Dannemiller - the creator of whole scale change, Dave Ulrich - one of the world's top 5 management educators ranked by Business Week, Lawrence Susskind - the Director of the Consensus Building Institute at MIT/Harvard, the well known futurist Ryan Matthews, the world's leading expert in succession planning Dr. William Rothwell, Dr. W. Warner Burke, the award winning teacher and consultant and many more! Any organization that does not have a copy of the fieldguide in their organization will seriously lack competitive advantage.

This book is an absolute steal for the price. It is extremely generous in the information it provides. There are 22 chapters of the best theories, practices, and examples in change/business management and leadership/organization development -- with an eye towards getting results that matter for you and your organization. This book has already helped me to make my job more valuable inside of my organization - as well as helped me to better understand how to get my ideas implemented faster - and improved my chances of getting a promotion! Thank you to the publisher and editors for providing me with a book that has far exceeded my expectations.

"In its broadest sense, a game involves procedures or strategies for gaining certain ends. The game of business is to use resources (people, money, ideas, equipment, and tools) to gain certain ends desired by the organization. For a corporation, the objectives of the game are to increase profitability and shareholder value...Whether it is recognized or not, all organizations operate under a 'game plan'. The 'organizational game plan' consists of the basic concept of the game being played as well as the fundamental strategy for playing the game...No matter what game an organization chooses to play or how it chooses to play it, there are certain periods in an organization's life when 'the game' (either the game itself or how it is played) needs to be changed. This occurs when there have been major changes in the economic environment, or some kind of revolution in technology or the nature of competition. It can also happen simply as the result of significant, rapid organizational growth...As used in this book, the phrase, 'changing the game' has a dual meaning. First, it refers to changes in the game being played by an organization. This involves changes in the business an organization is actually in. In addition, the phrase also refers to changes in the way the game is being played (i.e., how a firm operates). Both are major aspects of a business and both can require major transformations, either at different points or even at the same time. These transformations are the focus of this book and define what we mean by 'changing the game'...During the past few years, there has been increasing use of the terms 'transformation' and 'change' in business literature. Some people unfortunatelly use these terms synonymously. That is not the way we will use these terms in this book...Our focus in Changing the Game is on transformation rather than merely incremental changes" (pp.4-9).

In this context, Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle:

* describe 'pure' types of transformations, including what they have termed Transformations of the First, Second, and Third Kinds:

1. Entrepreneurial transformations to professional management including the special case of family business transformations - First Kind (more detailed discussion and examples of this kind see Chapter 3).

2. Revitalization transformations of established companies - Second Kind (more detailed discussion and examples of this kind see Chapter 4).

3. Business vision transformations - Third Kind (more detailed discussion and examples of this kind see Chapters 5-6).

and note that actual organizations sometimes engage in compound transformations, consisting of more than one type of transformation simultaneously.

* present a framework that managers can use to understand and plan what must be done to build an organization with a high probability of long-term success, and examine four critical factors that influence the design of a successful business enterprise:

1. The 'business concept' that defines the business a company is in.

2. Six key 'building blocks' of organizational success.

3. The 'size' of the enterprise.

4. The 'environment' (markets, competition, and trends) in which the enterprise will exist.

* focus on the strategic transformational planning process in order to provide a tool for assisting in the process of managing transformations.

* examine how to design an organizational structure that will support a firm's transformation.

* examine the issues involved in transforming an organization's structure after a strategic transformational plan has been developed, and show that the choice of the form of organization to help implement a transformational plan is a strategic issue in itself.

* focus on the behavioral aspects of organizational transformations, and describe the important role leadership plays in not only helping to transform the behavior of individuals within an organization, but in changing the overall game that the organization is playing.

* discuss two additional, powerful tools -performance management systems and corporate culture management- that can be used to transform the behavior of all employees within an organization.

* present ten key lessons for Managing Transformations and Changing the Game.

Finally, they argue that "unlike chess and the NCAA basketball tournament, business is a game without an end. There is no national championship tournament for business. The game goes on and on. In a sense, a basketball program is like a business. A given team may win a championship one year, but there is always the next year and the next and the next, just as in business. As soon as one profitable year is completed, the next emerges. There is, however, one constant in the business game year after year: the need to understand the process of managing organizational transformations. Accordingly, the final lesson is: adapt and increase the probability of future success; or remain fixed in the existing paradigm and risk failure. The game is there for the taking".

I highly recommend.

Not only is this book written in a clear and crisp manner, but the tools described in the book are practical to use and the results easy to interpret.

How do you begin to look at your business "on the horizon"? The company's management team must create a "map" which will lead the organization to it's objectives. Eric will ask you "by the way, do you know what your objectives are?" He really helps you clarify and organize. As Yogi Berra once said "If you don't know where you're going, you're probably going to get there"!

There is nothing better than hearing Ken Hutcherson preach and the only thing that comes close is reading his books and imagining him saying it. An incredibly gifted communicator with great Biblical insights. You will get more out of this book than any other book written about the church or the book of Acts. A great commentary on Acts and also just an enjoyable read. You've got to read it and then go find him on the internet and listen to one of his sermons. You'll love it.

"Hutch"'s love of Christ and his straight-talking humor shine through his scripturally based look at the first church described in Acts. I "happened upon" this book in search of why I feel incomplete in my large denominational church, and I have come to discover through Brother Hutch's spirit-guided analysis that several crucial elements are lacking in many churches. If you also feel that there is something missing in your spiritual growth and experience in your church, this book will help you to see what is lacking by looking at God's holy word in an honest light. I highly recommend it to those in any church who are seeking to be part of God's power here on Earth.

I read this book, and I found it to be a wonderful piece of literature. One that is designed to help "The Church" come back to the model of the New Testament, to be a Church that is dynamic and Pro-Active; a Church where GOD is at the Helm and where lives are being dramatically changed; a Church where traditionalism, where it does not stay true to the Word of GOD, is shown the door; a Church where Denominationalism is eliminated; where racism is non-existant (and shown to be the human institution it is); in other words, this book guides us through a book (the Book of Acts) in THE Book (The Bible), and shows us that we are not all we could be because we have drifted away from GOD to do our own thing and that we should get back to GOD and line up with HIS Will and do HIS Thing.

Frequently organizations face the challange of what not to do. They tend to believe in the person presenting the idea, rather then creating a rigorous process for evaluating the options before them. Companies adopting best practices in managing their investment options realize substantial gains in their long term bottem line. This book quantifies this performance difference, and what the best practices are across a range of industries.

Why aren't organizations more rigorous in selecting projects? The book outlines several barriers which are extremely relevent:

· It will make a popular champion look bad,

· Organizational resistance to change, or cannibalization of an existing business for a new opportunity,

· We confuse the urgent with the important,

· Its hard to agree on measures and success criteria

· People are afraid of making the wrong prediction, so they don't make any,

· Its hard to normalize results from different contributors,

· Business plans are not integrated with new project activity,

· Power and politics, a methodical evaluation leaves no room for interpretation and "behind the scenes" trade offs between groups and individuals,

· Lack of strategy.

The best practices outlined in this book are backed by substantial research. I would have like to have seen a few additional chapters on application of best practices in real companies ... a case study of a turn around.

Thank you very much for sending me a copy of The Smart Organization. I have completed only two chapters, but find the book to be thoroughly engaging. Especially, the six dimensions of decision quality.

My current job is proving to be a daily "case study." The ideas contained in the book have come to life, helping me to better understand my environment at work and make better decisions along the journey.

Focusing on large R&D intensive organizations, this book explores nine key principles that make these enterprises effective, such as: open information flow, systems thinking, and continual learning. The author's emphasize the decision making process as a means of changing and improving overall organizational performance. If you are seeking new insights into how strategy is developed, excellence can be achieved in decision making, and organization renewal can be realized, you will find this book enlightening and fascinating reading. The insights offered here are by no means limited to high-technology firms; they apply to any organization seeking to be successful in today's fast-paced markets. This work includes an organizational IQ test (a diagnostic tool) for identifying root causes of the barriers to improving decision processes. There is an impressive amount of knowledge about organization to be gleaned in The Smart Company. Whether you are a technology -based bus! iness or not, you will find many nuggets in this work. We highly recommend it.

A Good Read...Even for a Southern-California WASP

Even for a young woman who's attended only a handful of Catholic masses, had never heard of St. Benedict, knows she should keep a diary, but doesn't, and grew up where "the desert meets the ocean" (a place that the author initially hated), The Abbey Up the Hill was a pleasure.

Bonomo is open enough to talk about her own demons and the painful and boring parts of worship and devotion, while at the same time underscoring the fact that she takes all of this stuff seriously. She is on a path, though it isn't her first, and it may not be her last.

With this book, I saw, smelled, and tasted the monastery. I felt the sharp winter winds coming off the Pacific as Bonomo journeyed along the prayer path, and my own fingers started tapping in agitation as she struggled through yet another trying service. I also experienced her pleasure as she curled up in the oversized chair in the oblate library for her private study, and was touched by the true reverence she feels for her abbott.

Although the ritual and Catholic "baggage" is foreign to me, the basic search for meaningful connections, affirmation, and a sense of home that Bonomo describes speaks directly to me, and to anyone who ever felt they still had something to find.

The Abbey Up The Hill: A Year In The Life Of A Monastic Day-Tripper by lobbyist and speech writer Carol Bonomo is her personal memoir and testimony as a recovering alcoholic and depicts her compelling quest for spiritual enlightenment. It was her restless search for a spiritual home which brought her into contact with the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as an attempt to become a lay associate of the Franciscans, and then, at last, to a Benedictine abbey where she found her spiritual home, a state of acceptance, and a hard won wealth of personal insight. The Abbey Up The Hill is recommended as an emotionally moving, sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant saga presented with a reverent love and a spirit of appreciation.

I wasn't sure I'd like this book. Raised Catholic but no longer practicing, and not much of a seeker after things spiritual, I had little in common with the author but being a speechwriter and having a couple of friends who were helped by Alcoholics Anonymous. So, why read it? I'm curious about how people go about finding meaning and purpose in life -- whether in real life or in fiction, whether in religion or therapy, whatever it takes. In this quest to follow someone's personal journey to find meaning, I was not disappointed. As the author "chases the choices laid out for her" by her spiritual guide, Abbott Antony, I was drawn in by her disarming honesty about herself. The confessional nature of the book, however, is not expressed in a self-indulgent way. Far from it! The disarmingly honest moments are humorously self-deprecating in a way that I found more refreshing and engaging than Kathleen Norris's account of her sojourn with the Benedictines in Cloister Walk. With Abbey up the Hill, even if you know next to nothing about the Rule of St. Benedict, the Twelve Steps in AA, Episcopalians, or any of the other touchstones the author uses to fulfill her self-described "need to put things into her own words in order to trust them," you will not be lost in allusions, or illusions (for that matter), for long. While a chapter may begin with a reflection on a passage in the Rule that does not seem very clear at first, her journey through memory to find meaning or relevance to her own life never fails to draw you in and take you along. Even obscure allusions or difficult-to-comprehend Biblical passages, which may be off-putting at first, gradually become illumined as the author searches for, or sometimes seemingly stumbles upon, just the right metaphor or anecdote to make the meaning clear. It is her grasp of metaphor and analogy that I admired most. Her metaphors are not designed to impress us with their cleverness but seem to appear to her mind's eye as though a lamp comes on unbidden to elucidate self-discovery. Through her self-disclosures, you feel you're experiencing the journey to understanding along with her as you follow her thought processes. The symbolism she chooses seems ever so precise in characterizing the new insight gained. As she searches for understanding in her own "remembered-in-tranquillity" mistakes, misjudgments, and missteps, your understanding takes shape in step with hers. Advice: Don't be stalled by allusions that aren't clear at first. Persevere. By the end of the chapter, the point will be clear. She gets you there every time. In short, I recommend this book very highly.

Mr. Burke, being none other than Jason Burke, roving correspondent for THE OBSERVER et al. Anyone familiar with his bare knuckle style a journalism will appreciate most of the contents of this book. Sloppy editing aside. most of the book is straight shooting, nitty-gritty kind of stuff. As is the case with most journalists unto writers, the intro and conclusion sound hurried and cut off. Parts of the body wrap you up and take you there. Even though, there is still a sense that Burke is holding back, or is being held back. I bought the book because I'm a fan of his column. I would make it required reading for Midlle East/Near East History 101. Experts delve with discretion.

Thematically and factually Burke has done it better than any of his peers. This is a must read.
He glosses over a few things (why the Pentagon changed his name from non-threatening Osama to icky and frightening sounding Usama, as well as the fact there's no Iraqi terrorism against the US) perhaps in a bid to be non-partisan, which he is.
But his intensive research and unique and thoughtful assertions that militant Islam is so much bigger than Al Qaida, and his exploration of Al Qaida itself as a vague sideline player challenges the dumbed down childish media image of the organization. And he does it all without recourse to "send a message" "wake up call" mindless cliche drivel. This book is the "anti Fox news" without being partisan.
There's no better book on this subject, and I've read almost all of them.
David Anderson, JD, BA ( Middle East politics), NYC

We keep forgetting that Al Qaeda remains the main enemy - and this book reminds us that it is still there (18,000 Al Qaeda operatives remain at large, uncaptured and fully operative....). It is therefore essential reading for anyone interested in what is really going on in today's world, and has the advantage of being written by one of the best and most thorough journalists around. Buy it, be duly alarmed and remember, as the recent bombings in Baghdad remind us, Al Qaeda remains our enemy no.1; Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)