Organizations Books

Whether we like it or not, private schools are a big deal in Hawaii, more so than in any other state. With the roots of the issue dating back to the mid-1800s missionary days, Island parents today make difficult choices when it comes schooling their children. On Oahu alone there are 71 private elementary, middle and high schools to chose from if you decide to go that route. Thirty years ago I found myself on the same quest as Jacqui Pirl - working myself through the maze of school choices for my own children. I, too, wrote a book about it (A Guide to Independent Schools in Hawaii, now a collector's item!) Pirl has expanded on the theme in every way, and has included information on public schools as well. Her book covers every detail that will help parents make informed choices. If you are on a similar quest, let Pirl's book be your guide. You'll be extremely grateful for the deep reasearch she has done on your behalf.

This is a great book. Jacqui Pirl provides tools to look beyond the obvious choices in private education. The Guide provides excellent background information and encourages parents to consider a broad range of factors in selecting a school for their children. It's a must-read for the proactive parent.

Ms. Pirl's Guide to Private Schools in Hawaii is a well researched and well organized guide for parents in choosing a school for their children. It seems to me it would be a helpful tool to guide parents not only in Hawaii but also in any state where private schools dominate the educational systems. It is full of excellent ideas for wading through the process of choosing a school and encourages parents to remain steadfast in their search to find an educational system that best fits the needs of their child(ren).

Finally one place where you can see all the information and make the best decision for your children. I'm buying this book for all my friends.

The Parent's Guide to Private Schools in Hawaii is a wonderful, easy to read and easy to use guide. No stone was left unturned in the research done to prepare a parent to find the the best school for their child. Pirl has given parents of the Islands' children a wonderful way of educating themselves so that may choose the school which best suits their child's individual needs.

This book has everything from parent involvement to parent teacher conferencing to the very best history of parent education/involvement that I have EVER seen.

If you can't find any book by Kevin Swick, then get this one. Heck! Get 'em both! You can never do with enough ways to get parents involved with children during the early years.

This book is comprehensive and easy to follow. It is useful for understanding the various perspectives of both teachers and families. I think it is essential for new teachers, as well as those who may feel the need to prioritize and start putting families and communication first!

[...]

This text supplies new teachers with necessary information to understand the importance of parent involvement- "parents as partners"- in education.

ME ENCANTARIA QUE ME DIJERAN COMO PUEDO CONSEGUIR UNA COPIA DE ESTE EJEMPLAR TAN INTERESANTE. SOY ESTUDIANTE DE MAESTRIA Y SE QUE ME SERVIRA DE GRAN AYUDA EN UN CURSO QUE ESTOY TOMANDO ESTE SEMESTRE.

GRACIAS MIL, CARLOS A. SILVA-RUIZ

This is a very good book, it doesn't only focus on teachers but on parents and student as well. This book is easy to read, not heavy scientific language, and has very beautiful pictures. As a student and a mother I surely find everything I wish to read and know about "parents as partners in education". Thank you for a great book!

This was a wonderful read. For anyone in management (particularly human resources) this book is easy/quick to read and provides some very interesting information and practical information. I highly recommend it.

This book was refered to me by a professor at my college. I think this is the most accurate book i have ever read. It is a must read for all managers and supervisors. Job well done.

Here is a practical guide for managers that provides key insights and action steps for managers to diagnose, evaluate and effectively guide people to success in their jobs. It is easy to read and even easier to implement these best practices for setting goals, empowering people, enhancing and achieving personal and team performace, and dealing with the borderline or ineffective performers. As a management consultant and coach, I highly recommend this book to managers at all levels in the organization.

The Performance Advantage Method provides an effective guide for leaders in coaching and developing team members to greater performance and personal success. The Method is easy to understand and apply with specific leadership actions recommended for each performance challenge diagnosis. This book is a great leadership guidebook for supervisors and executives alike.

This is a "must read" for managers at all levels. It truly provides the best method for diagnosis of employee performance issues and powerful tools for appropriate corrective action.The stories drive home the key points and make it an enjoyable book to read.

Having served on several community and non-profit boards, I thought everyone always worked in harmony on these boards. But, I recently found out that's just not the case. After a couple of our board members did not see a vote go their way, they then went out of their way to "stir the pot" and not support the board decision. I needed help ... and found it in "The Perfect Board". The three pages dealing with respect and unity were woth the price of the book alone! This book should be required reading for any board member or potential board member. This primer is loaded with great wisdom!

Clemon's new volume is a wonderful tool for individuals who are about to enter a challenging and sometimes unknown world - the world of Board service. I have served on a number of Boards in my nearly 35 years of professional life, including 8 years service as an elective office holder, perhaps the most difficult of all Boards of serve on. How I wish that I had Clemon's insights during that time. Buy the book- its a gem.

The Perfect Board is a great resource and provides a list of requirements for my (future) Board Members, the legal necessities related to meetings, and decision making in groups. Most importantly, the writing style makes for a very easy and interesting read. Instead of a textbook and academic approach that typically puts me to sleep, the writing style is straightforward and practical, and this combines to keep it compelling.

"The Perfect Board," is a book written for those who want to become an effective member of any Board of Directors. In essence it is a self-help book chock full of essential guidelines to be an effective leader.
However, this work is written in a cleaver way, as it is told in story form when a young woman named Rebecca is about to be promoted and is unsure how to proceed. In her quest to do the best job she can, she seeks out help and is lead to a man, EJ Cummings, who shares with her a book which he is about to release. In this book he shares the principals that he has learned through years of dealing with this facet of business. This information gives Rebecca the knowledge and confidence she needs to perform the task before her.
In giving this work a storyline with characters that are about to embark on this journey, author Calvin Clemons puts this self-help book many notches about any other. The personal touch it brings allows the reader to absorb more of the information in the work, allowing a relaxed read instead of feeling you must obtain every morsel, great move on author Calvin Clemons part.
I believe this book will help many and is definitely packed full of some great principals that definitely should be followed.

This book expertly and effortlessly summarizes the attributes of winning boards and board members. It's an appealing and comprehensive work-yet the book manages to be bite-sized, which is exactly what busy readers want these days. Its content applies to both the non-profit and for-profit worlds. Just about everyone serves on a Board of one kind or another, so just about everyone should read this book!

I'm an avid reader of family business books, and I recently re-read Perpetuating the Family Business by John Ward and found myself tabbing numerous pages that contained insightful and important ideas that just about every family business can put into practice.

Ward begins by laying out his conceptual foundation for familes, which contain his "Four P's" - 1. Policies before the need; 2. sense of Purpose; 3. Process; and 4. Parenting. Understanding and practicing the four P's should provide families in business with a decent start in the right direction toward developing a sustainable and successful family and business.

The heart of the book contains Ward's "50 Lessons" for family businesses, broken down into three sections: lessons for owner-manager businesses; lessons for sibling partnerships; and lessons for cousin collaborations. At the end of each section he briefly applies the lessons to the story of two media families: the Och-Sulzberger family (of the NY Times) and the Binghams (the Southern US media family) for illustrative purposes. Below I've set out a few of my favourite lessons from the book.

Lesson 2: Irrevocable Retirement.
Ward highlights the importance of family businesses establishing mandatory retirement policies for executives. As he states: "While a mandatory retirement date addresses the delicate issue of the leader letting go, it does much more than that. The value of a mandatory retirement policy is that it creates the opportunity for more changes in leadership in the later stages of the business." Family member executives in family businesses often have a hard time 'letting go' of the enterprise, creating all kinds of problems for the next generation of family (and non-family) executives who's professional and personal development is often retarded as a result. Also, mandatory retirement will force family executives to find a 'life beyond the business' - perhaps turning towards a leadership or mentorship role in the family or community - that will continue to provide them meaning in their lives.

Lesson 4: Principle of Merit.
Ward argues that families should put in place policies that focus on competence and earned privilege and discourage paternalism. Merit should impact many areas of family business decision making, including what roles family members should play in management of the business; determining compensation; selecting successors; who serves on the board; etc.

Lesson 5: Attract Most Competent Family Members.
As Ward observes, family businesses often fail to attract the best family members into the business because the most competent family members often have opportunities elsewhere. He states that failing to adopt the Principle of Merit (Lesson 4) will result in the business attracting the least competent family members while those who are the most competent search for opportunities outside the business where their competence will be recognized and rewarded.

Lesson 10: Understated Wealth.
One of the most complicated issues for larger family businesses is how to deal with the privileges and responsibilities of wealth. Ward doesn't suggest that families pretend to live in poverty, but suggests that living beneath one's means is a good route to take. He warns that families who do not practice this concept can run into the situation where the salaries of family members in the business can escalate rapidly and compromise the business.

Lesson 12: Graceful Pruning.
The idea of discouraging family shareholders from exiting the business is one that many families often follow - especially once ownership has left the founding generation. Family members often ask questions such as: Why should my kids be able to sell their shares and walk away from the business I've built? or, Why should my nephews be able to force my children to buy their shares and put them and the business in a problematic financial situation? Ward argues that mandating that shareholders wishing to exit do so at a discount to their real value is a bad policy for family businesses to adopt. According to Ward, families should make it as easier for individuals to sell their shares (even offering a premium to their value) as doing so will allow unhappy family members or those not engaged by the business to leave freely, resulting the family being owned by family members who genuinely want to be owners.

Lesson 16: Selective Family Employment.
According to Ward, it is better for families to set policies that create higher standards of entry for family members wishing to join the business. Doing so will encourage the most competent family members to join the business and will preserve upward mobility for able non-family employees. Increasing the amount of outside work experience and education over generations should result in increasingly selective policies.

Lesson 25: Legacy of Values.
In my opinion, the concept of a shared set of values is probably the biggest factor contributing to the sustained success of select family businesses. Ward states that the business should serve as an example of the family's values, and also that the business can contribute to the values of the family.

Lesson 28: Spirit of Enterprise.
Families that consider themselves as being "in the business of business" are more likely to be successful over the long-run than families that are strongly tied to the specific business that the founder created. While attachment to the original business is common, and selling the business or re-orienting it in new business areas might be troubling for those who built the business, they should see their success not as creating a business that does a particular thing, but creating a family that shares their love of enterprise.

Lesson 45: One Family.
This is probably one of the hardest lessons for many families to adopt. Many families that extend to a sibling partnership and beyond tend to adopt practices and policies that view the family as 'factions' or 'branches' - e.g. allowing each branch to nominate it's own director. Ward argues that families should avoid this state of mind and the practices that go along with it. Instead, he suggests that families should view themselves as 'one family' regardless of which branch individuals originate from. Adopting the 'branch' theory results in too many family members on the board, promotes tension and rivalry, and allows family feuds to continue. A family that adopts a one family approach should be comfortable with one family representative on the board of directors, knowing that the individual will represent the interests of the family and will not be motivated by self-interest.

In summary, I think Ward's book presents many interesting lessons and can serve as a very good resource for new ideas for families seeking to improve the governance, communication, and ownership of their family and business.

By 'clear' I mean relatively easy to read, this is not a textbook. Dr. Ward says himself that it is the most personal book that he's ever written, and I would say that it is his best. Because it is insightful.
One example: of the Five Insights and Four P's, one is 'Policies before the need'. This is something that I've been begging business families to do: establish a policy manual with rules for this and that occasion. Just because your family business is relatively small and simple today does not mean that you can delay.
A problem with other books on the subject is that they are written with a certain kind of family business in mind. This one, however, mentions the first three stages of family business evolution, and lists the 50 lessons under one stage or the other. Most helpful!
Appendix C: A Family Business Checklist made me stop and say "Hey, this question isn't for my business yet." but that only means that if the question and its answer is not appropriate for your business yet, it is still beneficial to start planning and educating. In other words, what is not needed by one generation is essential to the next.
Families in business: listen to this wise man, communicate, and educate.

It is simply the best book about Family Businesses that I read. Besides that, it is one of the few books in this field that has a conceptual structure.
It will be helpful to all people interested in the perpetuation of family businesses.

Well written and researched, "Perpetuating the Family Business" is a "must read" for anyone interested in passing their own business on to the next generation. John Ward is not only experienced, but insightful regarding the dynamics that make or break families and family businesses.

In a short book, John Ward offers many key findings & synthesized concepts (often surprising, even counter-intuitive) without wasting readers' time but with true-life examples enlivening his conclusions. His research & concisely presented insights match the multi-generational history of our multi-$B family holding company. This work should be on best sellers lists, not only because it is the "Built To Last" for private business, but also because it includes management principles that could be used in public companies seeking to endure.
C.U.

It's about time! A book that brings together the great minds of philosophical thought and their theologies in a cronologically ordered system. This is a great resource for those interested in this field. It logically brings together a history of thought from Plato to Satre and explores in a way that is not over the abilities of most college graduates. I recommend this book for those who want to put together these two disciplines in a historical context but not to the depth of reading all of the original authors. Some prior reading of the classic works in philosophy and theology is recommended in order to be able to fully utilize this resource.

Not only does Diogenes Allen deliver what he promised (i.e., an explanation of those philosophic systems pertinent to theology) but he delivers a history of philosophy (albeit restricted) from the pre-socratics to the present that is easily understood and enjoyable!

this is a good book for diving into the crux of philosophical issues in relation to christian theology through the centuries. A very good overview and in some detail. This book is not for beginners though, despite it's medium size. One needs to have some philosophical and theological familiarity in order to plow through this work. Another good one, and a bit more manageable, is: Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul.

"Philosophy asks unanswerable questions; theology gives unquestionable answers." Quoted in John Caputo, Philosophy and Theology,



Prologue:
Before starting this book review, I acknowledge with Sir James Jeans, "I need hardly add that my acquaintance with philosophy is simply that of an intruder, and nothing could be further from my intentions than to pose as an authority on questions of pure philosophy." Preface, Physics and Philosophy. It is also in order to share with Rev. Sidney Griffith, ST, Catholic U. of America his declaration in a book review, "One does not mean to complain immoderately, nor to appear ungrateful for what is on its own term a good study of a timely and an important topic; nor does one want to review a book the author never intended to write."

Theology's Philosophic Languages:
Since the Council of Chalcedon in 451, there has been a division within the Orthodox Church due to differing Christological beliefs (in theological confessions of the nature of the Christ). In recent decades, members of the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches have met, coming together to a clear conviction that both branches have always maintained loyalty to the same Orthodox Christological faith, with an unbroken continuity of the apostolic tradition, though they may have used differing terminologies in different ways (of differing philosophical traditions). The 'Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue' between the Eastern and the Oriental Orthodox Churches' has stated after fifteen centuries that, "On the essence of the Christological dogma, we found ourselves in full agreement. Through the different terminologies used by each side, we saw the same truth expressed!"
This could have been a very good reason for Professor Diogene Allen to write his book in order to explain "How Philosophy Shapes Theology,'" as written by Frederick Sontag fifteen years earlier. But did the eminent Princeton philosophy professor provide what he promised, in the title, to clarify Christian dogma with the tools of them prevailing philosophic systems?

Faith & Understanding:
Faith in search of understanding, therefore, writes Jaroslav Pelikan, had the duty of clarifying these various senses in which words were used. he quotes Maximos Confessor, "To say something without first distinguishing the meanings of what is said is nothing less than to confuse everything" and to obscure instead of clarifying. ... but one had to be careful to note the distinctive meaning acquired by such philosophical terms when they were employed for Christian doctrine." The Christian Tradition II
"Philosophy and theology enjoy a peculiarly intimate relationship because they have been traditionally concerned with many common issues: the existence and nature of God, the postmortem survival, free will and human responsibility, and a host of questions about ethics of life and ways of living. Such familiarity breeds territorial disputes and theologians have sometimes been annoyed with us for messing with their stuff." Harriet Baber, Professor of Philosophy, U. of San Diego

The Foundation of Theology:
Many contemporary theologians regard North African Tertullian as the first Western Christian to write theology, defending Christians against the hostility of the Roman Empire, while he argued against Marcion, Praxeas and theosophical fantasy. But the first great systematic theologian, is reckoned by most as Origen of Alexandria, (ca. 185-214), who invented the word theologia, he constructs on the foundations laid by Clement, in late second century Alexandria, who wrote a substantial trilogy of which Paedagogus an ethical guide, and Stromateis which he wrote to provide biblical themes in the language of Greek philosophers. Origen, no doubt, is the father of Systematic Theology, the church's scientific language; he is par excellence the founder of both speculative and Patristic theology brought to perfection three centuries later, while retaining the seal of his genius. Most distinguished and influential of all the theologians of the early church, were his pupils, including Athanasius, Basil, the Gregories, Dedymus the blind, Cyril of Alexandria, Augustine, and Pseudo Denis Areopagite. Origen was the first to establish church doctrines laying the foundations of the science of Biblical criticism, of the Old and New Testaments. He built on earlier generations of Alexandrine philosophers, Philo, Athenagoras, Pantaenus, and Clement, who struggled with the problem of defining a philosophic basis for an intellectual expression of Christianity. Together with Amon Saccha, his pupils Plotinus, Longinus and Origen contributed to develop Neo Platonism, the vehicle of Alexandrine theological expression, and Orthodoxy until Thomas Aquinas retrograded to Aristotelian philosophy. Eusebius of Caesarea, Church historian and Origen's admiring biographer, who lived a generation after, devotes nearly all of Book VI of his Ecclesiastical History to the life of Origen.

Issues for Clarification:
The book failed to underline that Christianity is a Hebrew Messianic hope expressed in Greek ideas by the Oriental Church fathers, who were well versed in the Hebrew Scripture translated in BC Alexandria (the Septuagint). Christian Theology was established by the great Alexandrine Origen, whom the author ignored, adopted by his disciples allover the Mid Orient. They debated the basic Christian Doctrines led by the Antiochine school in Aristotelian language, against the formidable theologians of Alexandria who utilized its own Neoplatonic terms to establish and defend Christian Orthodoxy. Neoplatonism(Middle Platonism) was in fact an Egyptian reformation of the archaic Greek philosophy by Amon Saccha and his school in the early Christian Alexandria.
Augustine is a good example. He was converted from Manichaenism to NeoPlatonism on reading Victorinus, Origen's student, before becoming a Christian, and his views on Free Will and Predestination were never considered Orthodox by the Eastern Churches. As for Thomas Aquinas, Allen may have raised him from a dumb Ox to the holy ranks of the Ibis of Theology and Philosophy. He tried to defend him as the rescuer of Aristotle from Averroes, and failed to mention what is common knowledge, that Aquinas used John Philoponus commentaries on Aristotle. These are few examples of his reluctance to provide the full story, when Walter Kaufmann warned three decades earlier, "It is easy to underestimate the originality of St. Thomas because he seems to synthesize Scripture and Aristotle, making ample use of all the labors of his predecessors. Butas Gilson says..., St. Thomas made "Aristotle say so many things he never said." Critique of Religion & Philosophy, pp.144

Philoponus' Scientific Revolution:
"To treat the nominalism of the fourteenth century in a chapter ... may seem strange," is what the crafty author wrote, pp.151, and he is right. He quotes the eminent historian H. Butterfield for an assessment of the scientific revolution. Butterfield who though started logically with the historical importance of Philoponus' Impetus Theory, as the breakthrough point in the obsolescence of the body of Aristotelian physics, he failed to identify Philoponus, who effectively deconstructed it into rubble in sixth century Alexandria. In 'The Copernican Revolution', Kuhn wrote on page 119 that, "John Philoponus, the Christian commentator who records the earliest extant rejection of Aristotle's theory, ..."
It was known when this book was written, that John Philoponus (490-570), was not only a millennia ahead in his scientific genius, but was equally so in articulating Orthodox doctrines, of 'Creation ex Nihilo,' and the 'Resurrection.' His 'Diaetetes', was adopted later, by John of Damascus in his 'Doctrina Patrum.' In the 'Tmemata,' his polemic against Chalcedon, written at the time of the second Council of Constantinople (553), he implied a condemnation to the Chalcedonian pseudo-Nestorian expression, by citing Cyril's twelve anathema. He condemned the Chaledonian canons and criticized Leo's Tome exposing its philosophical inconsistency, and theological weaknesses.

Theology & Postmodern Philosophy:
Recent strides in physics and developments in philosophy have superseded some of the scientific and philosophical concepts that were foundational for the modern world view. So, Whitehead, in a most explicit statement on the end of the modern era, in a critical evaluation of William James' essay on 'Existence of Consciousness, 1904' where Whitehead infers as the denial of any difference in its essence from the core and milieu of the physical, suggesting that, with his formulation of a dualism between matter and mind, can be considered the thinker who pioneered the modern epoch, with his challenge to Cartesian dualism, starting a new chapter in philosophy. Having categorized the thought of that period as distinctively modern, scientific philosophy, Whitehead own philosophy, that united the philosophical implications of relativity and quantum physics wrapped into James' rejection of dualism, implied as distinctively postmodern, without using the term.
We are suspicious of religious authority since the 'Age of Reason', but we despair of the rescue of reason. Kant foretold us, the present legacy of postmodern skepticism, that theology must be confined within the limits of reason alone. Yet, Nietzsche has demonstrated that a boundary guard reason has failed to deliver on its promises, for its claims are but disguised power plays. Accordingly, it would seem that neither philosophy nor theology can avail, and we are left merely with a heap of unanswerable questions striving to shout out unquestionable answers.
This above paragraph summarizes the second part of his book, which is well written, but too condensed to be of help to the seminarian who looks for modern philosophy to understand the Postmodern theological currents of the day.

Epilogue to a review:
This good introduction to philosophy falls short, according to the book scope intended for explaining any of the basic Christian Doctrines. While the first part took many pages in explaining irrelevant concepts, the second part of the book, though well crafted, is too concise, and not as thorough as Colin Brown's 'Philosophy & The Christian Faith,' or could hardly be recommended to serve as introduction to Malcolm Diamond's Contemporary Philosophy and Religious Thought. A pitfall of the suggested reading list, of which a majority is overlapping, was to ignore Walter Kaufmann's Critique of Religion and Philosophy, and the indispensable reference work of Yale's Jarslav Pelican, 'The Christian Tradition', in 5 volumes.

Allen, of Princeton Theological Seminary, writes here of the interrelatedness of philosophy and theology within the history of Christian thought and ideas. He covers the important influence of philosophical thinking on theology from the early years with Plato and Aristotle up to today. A must read for all serious about maturing in their theology. A very helpful book for those wanting to begin the process of being theologians themselves. We are in Allen's debt for writing such an informative and readable book.

I decided to read The Politics of American Religious Identity after reading a recommendation of it by Elder Oaks in his interview for the PBS documentary The Mormons (http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f11cb868474e3110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD).

Flake's book is a fantastic read of a very fascinating period in Church history. I was struck by her account of how the Church's leadership's understanding of what it meant to be "Mormon" and the Church's core beliefs in the nature of God, priesthood authority, and revelation really came into focus during this time. In her description of these events--from the view of what I assume is a non-Mormon scholar--one can see the divine hand of revelation as God worked through President Joseph F. Smith and the Quorum of the Twelve to refine the Church and its people.

That said, it is a wonderful piece of scholarship and a enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

This is an excellent book by an expert historian on the events that began the integration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into American life. Kathleen Flake discusses in detail the three-year-long hearings to determine if Senator and LDS Apostle Reed Smoot should retain his senate seat.

This book is not only about Reed Smoot, but also about then Church President and Prophet Joseph F. Smith. Perhaps Smith is the most interesting person in the book. His 5-day testimony before the Senate committee shows the quandary of demonstrating that the church was no longer teaching polygamy without alienating church members who were then praciticing that doctrine, which many believed to be the crowning revelation of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Perhaps today's faithful may be surprised that the LDS presidency and quorum of the twelve performed plural marriages after the 1890 Manifesto. (An apologetic treatment of this era is located on the FAIR LDS web site under the title "Polygamy, Prophets, and Prevarication.") Despite his careful statements as a witness (to the point of deception), Smith satisfies no one: not the senate, not the American public, and not the Church membership.

The 1900-era LDS church is also an interesting element in this book. The tension between the pioneer generations and their offspring over polygamy and the 1890 Manifesto fits the enduring theme of generational conflict, but also the ability of the LDS church to evolve in response to changing societal conditions.

Joseph F. Smith ultimately led the church through the transition away from polygamy and into American Life by focusing on the First Vision of the church's founder, the Prophet Joseph (who was Joseph F. Smith's Uncle.) To understand why this was effective you will have to read the book. Flake's discussion of Joseph F. Smith's eventual success in this regard is insightful and was a new wrinkle to me. Not only did Joseph F. Smith lead the church away from polygamy but he also revitalized the church's European missions, changed the policy of the "gathering to Zion" into one of building an international church; and encouraged church members to reject their isolationism and engage with their fellow Americans. Joseph F. Smith's support of Smoot's senatorial service while Smoot retained his role as Apostle proves to be a stroke of genius and ranks as perhaps Joseph F. Smith's most daring and visionary act as the President of the LDS church.

Reed Smoot is shown to be a remarkable individual. His senate career was almost 30 years long and in that time he became one of the most powerful senators and an adviser to three presidents, all the while serving in the highest quorum of the LDS church. I would have welcomed more biographical information about Smoot. Indeed this is the one shortcoming of the book.

With regard to religious bigotry in America, this book is poignant. With the candidacy of Mitt Romney, a faithful Mormon, we see the same accusations that were raised 100 years ago against Smoot: Questions of allegiance to the United States, dark implications about sacred LDS temple ordinances, suggestions that the LDS church is a subversive organization that aims to undermine the U.S. government.

It is not surprising that these repeatedly discredited accusations are once again being made by Protestant Churches and individuals. Flake shows that the Smoot Hearings were initiated, articulated, and sponsored by the Protestant churches and leading ministers of the day. Such is the state we once again find ourselves in 2007.

The drive to unseat Smoot ultimately failed for a number of reasons, including a natural inclination of Americans to allow freedom of religion, a movement away from Polygamy by the LDS church (after which the accusations against Smoot changed to questioning his loyalty to the nation), and also by Smoot's engaging personality and exemplary service as a senator.

I would like to believe we have come a long way as a tolerant nation in the past 100 years. However, it appears that we have not.

I've grown up in the LDS church, served a mission, am married in the temple, but I never really knew much about church history past 1847 and the arrival of the saints in the Salt Lake valley. I've started to become more interested in how the isolated Rocky Mountain church has grown into the worldwide organization that it is. At the same time, I'm also interested in politics, having studied law. This book was a real eye-opener for me. I found the explanation about the church deciding to reach back east across the Rockies to find acceptance to be very interesting. I also learned a great deal about Joseph F. Smith. He realized that the controversy surrounding polygamy was so great that it was taking away from the mission of the church to continue to proselytise and grow the kingdom.

It was also interesting to see how members of the United States Senate were actually arguing that Mormons didn't deserve the basic rights of citizenship that we take for granted today. Even in today's heightened sensitivity to different religions of the world, I don't think anyone would suggest that non-Christians duly elected to public office should not be seated in the office to which they were elected. Yet many believed that Reed Smoot should have been ineligible to serve because he was Mormon. Ultimately he was seated due more to political pragmatism rather than because of a true belief in the First Amendment.

Kathleen Flake does an excellent job of presenting all sides of the issues, and provides a large amount of sources in the endnotes. I would definitely recommend this book to all members of the LDS church to help understand how today's worldwide church grew from that small group of "peculiar people" in 19th century Utah.

This is a superbly written book, and one of the few works of professional, objective history that examines 20th century Mormonism. Flake's central thesis is that pressure from the US Government in the form of the Smoot hearings forced the church to abandon polygamy once and for all. Faced with the loss of its most cogent identity marker, the Mormon hierarchy needed to find a way for the Latter-day Saints to distinguish themselves from other denominations. They did so by emphasizing the restoration message contained within Joseph Smith's 1838 account of his first vision. By pointing to the vision's statement that Mormonism was a unique restoration of primitive Christianity, the Saints were able to set aside the practice that had made them unique up to that point: polygamy. Flake's arguments are basically sound, but somewhat overstated. For instance, the first vision had been used for this purpose since at least the 1880s, and she selectively sorts through the existing scholarship on the vision to skirt this fact. She also places too much emphasis on the symbolic importance of the centennial of Joseph Smith's birth and the monument that commemorates it. Nevertheless, this book easily joins the pantheon of "must read" books in Mormon history, and no student of the early 20th century church can fail to grapple with Flake's conclusions. An excellent and highly recommended work.

This is a superb book.

The book brings history to life as it clearly and cleverly recounts a demanding and difficult time in Mormon and US history. It weaves together the social, political, and spiritual themes in an easy to read and engaging way. It offers remarkable insights on how religion and politics co-mingle. It brings to life Senator Smoot and his demanding role as senator and religious leader. It offers insights into the operations of the Mormon church as it dealt with a sensitive and important issue. It offers insights into the political process at the turn of the Century and how political processes are shaped by individuals. Dr. Flake has a unique ability to bring history to life and to help us learn from this history. This book is academically credible and yet easy to access.

About middle east arm goups this is the book that give historical valuable, especific, updated info and a broader outlook aboout the espectrum.

Profiles in terror is a well organized standard reference book for anyone who wants to study the subject of Middle Eastern terror.

I read a fair number of books on military history, foreign policy, current events and radical islam in the course of my work and personal interest. Most books on terrorist groups and movements either come across as laboriously-researched, dry analytical tomes or sensationalistic 'heat-of-the-moment' rush jobs where fiction and editorialization fill in the factual gaps. This book doesn't fall into either category.

From reading 'Profiles In Terror,' it is obvious that Mr. Mannes has a well-grounded understanding of the Middle Eastern and Islamist terrorist groups that he writes about. Furthermore, much of his public-sourced information is extremely well-documented and, if anything, is a great suggested reading list if you want to see the extremely fine minutiae regarding these groups. Furthermore, the information is presented clearly and in an interesting manner such that the book is useful for professionals, but not at the exclusion of the average reader's interest.

All of the 'major' groups are covered: al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc, but Mannes also takes the time to discuss groups that are relatively unknown to the public, such as Jemaah Islamiya, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (KDP) and Force 17, amongst others. In addition to the well-written and thorough chapter on the terrorist groups covered in the book, the author included separate resource listing for each group (extremely valuable). Mannes also lays out a very specific chronology of significant events and attacks for each group. And thankfully, unlike so many other contemporary books on current events, there is a VERY detailed index, itself 31 pages long.

This book is definitely worth picking up, whether your interest is professional or just personal curiosity.

This is a TOur De force in writing on terrorism. Many books purport to tell the 'inside' scoop on terrorist organizations, or try to give you some mammoth amount of info about each group, which is so impossible to digest, while other books try to 'balance' terrorism by showing hat 'all sides are terrorists'. But book gives you the straight dope, the who, the what and the how. From the leaders to the methods to the motives this is an insider's account. One will learn about the rise of Hamas, about the truth of Force 17 and about why George Habash is a Christian who turned to Communism. The only middling problem with this book is it cannot anticipate the terrorist of tomorrow. But it will remain the standard until the face of conflict changes.

Seth J. Frantzman

Middle East and U.S. national security expert, and former director of research for the Middle East Media Research Institute Aaron Mannes presents Profiles In Terror, a straightforward profile of twenty modern-day terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East and the regional groups affiliated with them. Including detailed descriptions of each group's ideology and objectives, history, leadership, organization, external relations, financial support networks, target and tactics, and much more, Profiles In Terror is filled with crucial information for anyone researching modern history, crucially interested in American security or striving to better understand the darker side of world politics. Highly recommended.

Recreating the Corporation is Ackoff's best work on utilizing the use of systems thinking to understand how to make not only pieces of companies better, but how optimizing the entire company can lead to dramatic improvements. Those who know Ackoff's work will appreciate his freshening of material contained elsewhere and the addition of new concepts to make the framework wholistic.

I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government

Since Peter Senge eloquently introduced business readers to the importance of systems thinking in The Fifth Discipline, companies have been grappling with how to apply that aspect of the learning organization. In Re-Creating the Corporation, Russell Ackoff has written the most complete description of how such an organization can be created.

A system is any grouping of parts that is influenced by its parts and requires their coordination to create the best result. A car is an example. You can take the best transmission from one type of car, the best engine from another, and the best brakes from a third, and they will not work together. This is a typical quality of systems: If you optimize any part of the system, you reduce the effectiveness of the whole. But most organizations are set up to seek optimization of the part rather than the system, creating disasters like the car example I just used.

Although he makes only limited reference to it, Professor Ackoff is clearly influenced by complexity science. He has created fractals (small versions of the whole that scale up and down) in his organization, and is trying to expose the widest number of people to the widest possible perspectives on the systems issues of an organization.

The book is designed as a series of essays to explain what systems are and how they operate; processes for planning, design, implementation and learning; organizational designs that apply the concepts of democracy, economy and flexibility; and an overview of the weaknesses of management fads and panaceas, and the benefits of working on organizational and transformational leadership instead. His goal is to create an organization that is as stable as possible in order to create an organization that is as flexible as possible. Let me explain. He wants to avoid reorganizations of roles and jobs, but he wants the organization as a system to evolve rapidly and easily in serving stakeholders.

I found the concepts to be quite consistent with the realities of a wired world, by putting a structure and a thought process together that will provide a context for gaining benefits from enhanced communication. Basically, the structure relies on creating a three dimensional organization -- one that relies on input (functional) units like purchasing, finance, and legal that are primarily used internally, output (product or service creating) units such as the manufacturing activities, and market or user defined (customer or geography) units. Most organizations emphasize one of these three dimensions or the other. By keeping them in place in a balanced way, the idea is to avoid needing to make adjustments to create or abolish any of these types of units.

A second major innovation to aid this organizational structure is the idea of using interacting boards to supervise each unit. This creates more participation, more democracy, and more interconnection across the organization.

To this, Ackoff combines a common process for systems solution creation and implementation that all would learn in the organization.

With organization, thinking, and doing processes in place, he then proposes that organizations go for transformational change rather than incremental change.

I found the book to be full of fresh thinking and interesting examples of how this can be applied based on Mr. Ackoff's consulting experiences with his well-known, long-term clients like DuPont and Anheuser-Busch.

For those who want to learn more about systems thinking at the micro level, I suggest reading the sections on that in The Fifth Discipline Field Guide. That will help you understand the concepts much better than the material in this book.

While I agree with the concept of keeping the organization as stable as possible, I found the proposals here to be a pretty ponderous way to accomplish that end. I suspect that simpler versions of this concept could work almost as well in coordinating systems thinking, and might work much more rapidly. For a newer, smaller organization, the structure would be overly complicated.

My own idea is that companies should move beyond organizational design and problem-solving structures as their focus to concentrate instead on creating an overriding mission, vision, strategy, tactics, and means of implementation (with employees and stakeholders who are energized by this diretion) that are all-encompassing in perspective and in providing direction, and perpetual in appropriateness. Then, by focusing on the key points of potential progress, the organization should constantly make large improvements in its business model that are more adaptable to the changing business environment. I think this concept of the organization that I have just described is easier to understand and apply once it is formulated in an organization than the ideas described here from Re-Creating the Corporation.

Even though I disagree with the proposed solutions in this very interesting book, I gave the book five stars for raising most of the right questions. We learn more from good questions than from the first sets of proposed solutions, and I hope that others will take these questions seriously and pursue them as well.

After you have read this book, ask yourself where in your organization you are pursuing optimization of an area or a part of the organization's activities. When will that optimization be harmful? How can you prevent that harm? What means of coordination could create a better combined result for your organization?

I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government

"This book is a product of applying systems thinking to the management and organization of enterprises". Russel L. Ackoff writes, "therefore, an understanding of the nature of systems and systems thinking is essential for understanding what this book is about. Although most people can identify many different systems, few know precisely what a system is. Without such knowledge, one cannot understand them, and without such an understanding, one cannot be aware of their implications for their management and organization and for treatment of the most important problems that currently face them" (p.5).

Thus, he firstly argues that a system is a whole consisting of two or more parts that satisfies the following five conditions:

(1). The whole has one or more defining properties or functions.

(2). Each part in the set can affect the behavior or properties of the whole.

(3). There is a subset of parts that is sufficient in one or more environments for carrying out the defining function of the whole; each of these parts is necessary but insufficient for carrying out this defining function.

(4). The way that each essential part of a system affects its behavior or properties depends on (the behavior or properties of) at least one other essential part of the system.

(5). The effect of any subset of essential parts on the system as a whole depends on the behavior of at least one other such subset.

Hence, Ackoff summarizes his argument that a system is a whole that cannot be divided into independent parts without loss of its essential properties or functions, and additionally argues that when the performances of the parts of a system, considered separately, are improved, the performance of the whole may not be (and usually is not) improved.

Within this general framework, he:

* defines four different types of systems, and shows their effects on organizations and the way they are managed (more detailed discussion see Chapter 2):

(1). 'Deterministic', systems and models in which neither the parts nor the whole are purposeful.

(2). 'Animated', systems and models in which the whole is purposeful but the parts are not.

(3). 'Social', systems and models in which both the parts and the whole are purposeful.

(4). 'Ecological', systems and models in which some parts are purposeful but as a whole have no purposes of their own.

* by considering three primary forms of traditional management and planning (reactive, inactive, and preactive) and their deficiencies, discusses systems-oriented/interactive form of management and planning.

* discusses five aspects of interactive planning in separate chapters as follows:

- preparing the state of the organization or a situational analysis (more detailed discussion see Chapter 4).

- determining ideals, objectives, and goals or ends planning of the organization (more detailed discussion see Chapter 5).

- identifying the gaps between what the organization is and is now doing and where it wants to be and to be doing (more detailed discussion see Chapter 6).

- considering resources such as money, plant and equipment (capital goods), people, consumables (materials, supplies, energy, and services), data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and asking and answering following questions:

i. How much will be required, where, and when?

ii. How much will be available at the required time and place?

iii. How should each shortage or excess be treated? (more detailed discussion see Chapter 7).

- implementing and controlling with learning and adaptation (more detailed discussion see Chapter 8).

* describes and explaines circular type of organization as a democratic hierarchy.

* discusses internal market economies as substitution of the centrally planned and controlled economies within the organizations.

* discusses the multidimensional design and organization that eliminates the need to restructure when internal or external changes require adaptation, and argues that "the circular organization, the internal market economy, and multidimensional design can all be combined in one organization. The power of each is significantly enhanced by its interactions with the others".

* examines currently popular panaceas such as downsizing, TQM, continuous improvement, benchmarking, and process reengineering and the reasons they fail, and argues that "there are no simple solutions to complex problems. Furthermore, since problems are interdependent, their solutions should be. Interdependent problems constitute messes, systems of problems. Therefore, their solutions must also form a system. A system of solutions is a plan, and plans are complicated, not simple. It is not possible in a few minutes to find behavior that will resolve, solve, or dissolve a set of problems that took years to cultivate".

Strongly recommended.

Since time immemorial man has had the God-given drive to be free. Afterall the primairy obligation of man to believe in Christ is impossible unless he experiences in his heart freedom of conscience.
Jesus Christ came to set man free - free from sin and free to choose. Verduin shows how it was Jesus himself Who laid the foundation for freedom of religion and how his faithful followers have always been guardians of this right even to the point of paying the highest price.
This is really is a wonderful book for anybody who cherishes this foundational and God-given right. If you like this book you certainly also want to read The Anatomy of A Hybrid in which Verduin shows in a structured and comprehensive way how God has introduced this right in the world.

This is must reading for anyone fed up with political Christianity. Verduin unmasks many of the myths about the Reformation which the mainstream Protestant churches fail to teach.
"Stepchildren" is a term Verduin uses to designate the more radical front of the Reformation which was later scorned and persecuted by the officially sanctioned Protestant churches. Verduin avoids the term "Anabaptist" because this underground dissent of Christendom went all the way back to the days of Constantine and had no official founder or name. Known throughout the centuries as Donatists, Waldenses, Cathars, or Anabaptists,the "stepchildren" had the greatest influence in securing the religious liberties we enjoy today.
Verduin spares no criticism of the Reformers, ie Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, who merely replaced Roman Catholic theocracy with one of their own. Originally allied with the "stepchildren", the Reformers became their bitterest enemies when they allied themselves with the governing authorities and used civil and military force to coerce believers.
It was the "stepchildren", many of whom emigrated to the American colonies, and not the Reformers, who had the greatest influence upon religious freedom and separation of church and state which was later incorporated into the First Ammendment of our Constitution. The First Ammendment, once and for all, ended the notion that America would ever become a "Sacral" or theocratic society tied together by one religion.

Reverend Leonard Verduin devoted his life to serving the Lord. He died in Nov., 1999, at the age of 102, still working on his writing until the last couple of months of a rich, God-Fearing life. This is just one of the books he wrote in an effort to inform his fellow-man of the true history of Christianity since Jesus Christ brought Salvation to this world. Leonard was a Fulbright scholar who not only spent a full year researching the original ancient and pre-modern records in Europe, but also devoted decades to research in many facets of history and other subjects. He had a truly idetic memory and could perfectly recall everything he ever read. He was a brilliant linguist, who read the texts in their original forms. He translated many works. He dedicated his life to the Lord at an early age and steadfastly held to the course. If you want to truly understand Christianity's history, this book is a must-read, together with his book published in 1998, "That First Amendment and the Remnant". His other works are also first-rate!

Around 10 years ago I borrowed a copy of this book to read.
After reading it once I borrowed it again to re-read. The author
did a great service in uncovering the European historical records on Christian sects which, during the 400AD to post-Reformation period, were accused as 'heretics' by the 'church'(the one wielding worldly power and influence). It is an excellent scholarly book(the author has the entire text and footnotes in the original languages) covering in detail much of the historical context for the doctrinal fight which the followers of Jesus Christ have had in 'contending the faith' since the Apostle-age. Highly recommended!!- and I hope it's obvious historical value can merit a reprinting.

If you ever wondered where Theonomists, Christian Reconstructionists and other right wing civil-violence supporting movements came from this is a must read book. Verduin successfully seperates the wheat of peaceful Christianity from the chaff of civil-religion and demonstrates how vastly more wise step-children can be from parents. Anyone who has ever been surrounded by a person who believed they had a divine mission to govern the world will get a kick out of this book (no pun intended). A must read for religious libertarians, but be prepared to have your saints soiled. "The Reformers and Their Stepchildren," reads like a horticultural digest, and Verduin, the Sunday morning tv-religion gardening expert, demonstrates that in the war between weeds and crops, you better be scared. Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Sikh or Confucian, the weeds and flowers raised in this garden are perennial. -Two Thumbs Up for the Flowers