B Books

It is always difficult and challenging to pick up what is regarded as a classic and read through it in a naive manner, not as a specialist but as an amateur who just wants to learn. There are always surprises.
In contrast to the looser Herodotus, his near contemporary, Thucydides sought to record an "objective truth" of the great war between Athens and Sparta, in the 5C BC. He consulted multiple sources and carefully judged what to include and what not to include, ito establish an idea of what really happened. While some of the forms, such as elaborately made-up speeches as a study in rhetoric, differ from what we would do today, he set a new standard for accuracy. THe result is a work of genius, the first serious attempt at writing history rather than merely storytelling.

Reading this is not always fun. There are long sections that are lists of occurences, with references to individuals who appear and disappear without followup. But there are also penetrating analyses of remarkable characters, such as Perikles, Alcibiades, and other great generals, who became reference points to the present day. Thucydides also broached the subject of political science as history - how institutions actually functioned - in new ways, with demonstrations of how the unleashing of passions led to their corruption or distortion. Finally, there are chilling sections with timeless insight in human conduct in war, with the full horror of the breakdown of all order and law.

THis translation is also sufficintely readable, far better than the turbid one I first read in college. THucydides is quite eloquent in this version.

Recommended as one of the great classics of Western literature. It is a work of genius so great that it is still relevant and vivid.

I used this book for an introductory History class. It is a great supplement to the study of the Greek periods. It has a nice glossory in the back for unusual terms, as well as helpful maps. Some of the text is a bit dry, but the reading is not very difficult.

The history of the Peloponnesian is a brilliant account of a classic war that began as a preemptive attack on Athens by Sparta to prevent the domination of the Greeks by the Athenians. The war began in the year 427 BC and ended 27 years later with the defeat of Athens by Sparta. This history however is only up to the 21st year of the war. Although there are several translations of the work I selected the translation by Thomas Hobbes the 17th century philosopher. It is the first done in the English language. Thucydides was a soldier on the Athenian side which in a sense puts a lie to the common notion that it is the winners of war who write history. The war was finally won by Sparta, powerful on land, and an oligarchy with a communal outlook on life defeating Athens with the strongest navy in the world, and a democracy with an individualistic outlook on life. Ironically it is Sparta's eventual mastery of the sea that defeated the Athenians. Whether or not this bodes ill for America remains to be seen. History is not over.

Thucydides relates not only the battles of the war in some detail describing tactics and the individuals involved, but also the strategy and the politics. There is intrigue, treason, broken alliances, and hubris. The winners of a battle rarely show mercy and treason is dealt with harshly with often entire towns put to the sword or enslaved. Among the combatants there is respect for the strong and contempt for the weak. Truces are often held to bury the dead because the dead are respected by all.

Unlike Homer's Illiad written about one thousand years earlier Thucydides does not mention the gods as having a say in the outcome of the war. While religion is a factor it is not a determining factor in the conduct and outcome of the war. One could argue that Thucydides is a secular account of history whereas Homer is a more religious account.

Thucydides should be mandatory reading and study for all white males between the ages of 16 and 18 of above average IQ. The History will prepares them for war and instill in them the desire and willingness to defeat the enemy. It teaches contempt for the enemy which is a valuable attitude in war. Pericles funeral oration to the Athenians is the most inspiring and most moving speech ever given. The resemblance of this speech to the Gettysburg address is obvious and leads one to conclude that if Pericles could inspire Abraham Lincoln in his thinking then Thucydides' History did so likewise and influenced the strategy and the eventual outcome of the Civil War including the period of reconstruction. The contrast between the Spartan outlook on life and that of the Athenians to the adversaries in all subsequent wars up to the present war on terror is striking indeed. There are lessons still to be learned from the Peloponnesian War and woe to those that fail to learn these lessons.

The greatest of all Greek historians was the Athenian general Thucydides (455-400 B.C.E.). Thucydides' classic work, "History Of The Peloponnesian War", provides us with the historical framework for 5th century Greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. This history is by far the best account of the bitter war between Athens and Sparta as well as the only surviving contemporary record of the rise of the Athenian empire. Thucydides as a master storyteller does not just cover the battle scenes; he records the great political speeches of Pericles, leader of Athens, and Lysander leader of Sparta with great acumen. He is recognized as the first historian to actually go and get eyewitness accounts, visit battlefieilds and research documents and records. This work took him over 20 years and it shows!

The lessons he teaches about imperial over reaching and unreasonable peace settlements are prescient today as they were during his times. President Woodrow Wilson, read this book on his voyage across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference and vociferously fought the other Allies in making unreasonable demands of the Germans. Wilson learned the dangers that the world would be placed in by backing the Germans into a corner politically and economically from Thucydides book.

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history. I also recommend you read it with David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides."

No book has kept me up at night or occupied my thoughts in the past decade more than Thucydides. The story told here is stunningly and disturbingly relevant for any American. Sparta vs Athens seems an allegory for the conflict between traditional America, of our first hundred years or so, and modern, progressive America from about 1900 onward. Its no allegory of course, and the realization that history repeats itself gives the work an importance that no book can match.

I recall in college taking one of those Intellectual History survey courses required of incoming freshman. We were all assigned to read Perikles funeral oration as an example of how like our society Athens was and of course, how noble that likeness made the two societies. We weren't, of course, assigned the entire book, just the oration out of context. When I finally got around to reading Thucydides years later, I thought back to that course and wanted my tuition money back!

Read the original text. Political writers and propagandists of all stripes make reference to Thucydides to give weight to their views. Don't trust their interpretations. Read for yourself and decide. Skip the commentaries and translations and go right to page one of the text.

Anthony A. Hoekema's "The Bible and the Future" is a fairly thorough exploration of all the major issues surrounding the study of last things (eschatology). Admittedly, a three hundred page book cannot do complete justice to such a complex and varied field, yet he has given us a good place to begin exploring.

In my experience, eschatology is dominated by a sort of generalized randomness ("I don't know much about the end times, but I know I don't believe THAT...") or even a passive indifference ("I'm a PANmillennialist - it'll all pan out in the end") or even a sort of sensationalized excitement ("we may not be able to predict the day or the hour, but we can predict the week and the month"). Helpfully, though, Hoekema clears away some of the confusion, cobwebs, and craziness that is often associated with the doctrine of last things.

In his favor, there are not graphs or charts (except for a few in the appendix) to try to puzzle through. He attempts to be thoroughly biblical in his approach. He does use footnotes, but they are often short and to the point, which contributes to an uncluttered text.

Even if you disagree with an Amillennial view of the end times, Hoekema is a valuable resource - as one of my professors used to say, "The best place to start looking is a good book with solid footnotes - that will cut down hours of time doing research."

While he does engage both Postmillennialism and Historic Premillennialism, he spends the bulk of his time defending Amillennialism and refuting Dispensational Premillennialism. My guess is that when he wrote in 1979, Dispensationalism was (and continues to be) the dominant view among Evangelicals when it comes to studying end times.

One negative - because it was written in 1979, it does not engage the newest wave of Postmillennialism or Dispensational Premillennialism (Left Behind series and all that). However, the critiques of both explore the biblical roots that underlie the various expressions of the theology, so even being a bit dated, it still is worth your time.

Great book. The author treats even those with different views on the subject with respect. However his writing is to convince or persuade his readers. Good read even if you don't agree with his theology.

The Bible and the Future is the single best volume written on the wide topic of "end things" (eschatology) If you really want to understand what the Bible says about "The Day of the Lord" or Christ's Second Comng, His coming at death, the after life and so on, then this is the volume for you. It is for serious students of the Bible who want a biblical, evangelical perspective and not pop-theology. What concerns me more than anything, when it comes to the topic of the end times is the fact that what may blind the church from seeing the signs is the dispensational interpretation of scripture which has been embraced by conservative churches as the literal, authoritative understanding of the end. This view, arising out the the Plymouth Brethren church, condified by J.N. Darby and polularized by the Scofield Bible, "Thief in the Night Trilogy" and the new update of this original series, "Left Behind" does not handle the scripture properly and is itself not a conservative approach to scripture but is more in line with modern liberalism. If you find this commment strange then you need to read this book and go back to a thorough reading of the whole counsel of scripture on this topic.

Good Reformed look at eschatology, giving a fair shake to all expressions of the Christian Church in regards to eschatology. It causes us to think deeply of the nature of eschatology and why it matters for life, ministry, and life in God.

many books about the bible and end times stuff (eschatology), are goofy, fanatical and just not worth the time to read. However, this one is a gem. It is sane, well researched, well thought out and really does a great job of interpreting this biblical subject with sobriety and intelligence. This book has a commanding reputation amongst more level headed bible scholars and theologians. Even if you end up disagreeing with some of the book's material, you will learn an immense amount on the subject either way. This book will educate you on this subject. It's just packed with material. Forget the popular "prohecy" books about doomsday soothsayers and world war III, and instead read this one by a scripture honoring, intelligent theologian. I would rate it six stars if there were a six star option.

This book was an excellent read. I couldn't put it down, as with all of Jacobsen's books, I've read. I like how he writes about political issue from a perspective that is not often addressed in literature. I highly recommend any of his books to anyone who enjoys thrillers and mystery books. He does a good job of incorporating both of those styles into his writing, without making it too gory or scary. Just the right amount to keep you interested.

This was my first Clay Jacobsen book, and I'll be checking out EVERYTHING he does. A very interesting look at the polls, and just how far someone will go for a popular opinion. Hats off to anyone who dares to be like Mark Taylor. There are some issues that some people may not be comfortable with. But for those people, you have to see the whole picture, and you appreciate this book all the more. When I read about Mark trying to figure out what's just going on, the words came off the pages! Thank you, Clay! Bravo!

This is a fast paced story with lots of action.

Mark Taylor is an investigative reporter who is looking for a big story for the television 'sweeps' period. He begins looking into the opinion polling industry and encounters incredible corruption in the way that results are skewed to manipulate particular outcomes of events. During the course of his investigation, Taylor uncovers murder, kidnapping, and collusion on a grand scale. The plot explores the effects of the polling industry on the outcome of elections, issues, etc.

Christian characters and ideas are interwoven into the story during the course of everyday life.This is a great book for anyone who enjoys a page turner that is difficult to put down. It is also thought provoking for anyone who has ever had concerns about the rampant use of polling in today's political climate. Jacobsen does an excellent job of theorizing how manipulations could occur.

This is the first book I have read of this author and I have already purchased another. This was great reading with a thought provoking twist. The characters developed nicely and the story was very believable. I'll be reading many more from this author.

Having read The Lasko Interview (Mr. Jacobsen's previous novel) I was anxious to read this one as well. I reviewed this novel for Broadman & Holman Publishers because I am a buyer for a bookstore. Jacobsen does characterization and plot very well and I was pleased to discover that he did an even better job with this novel. He weaves a Christian theme into his books without making it too obvious, which is a talent not possessed by all Christian authors. The area of polls and questionnaires is one I have long been suspicious of, because they are so easily manipulated. Jacobsen does an excellent job of giving a fictional account of just how easily this can be done and at the same time giving an enjoyably exciting story behind it. He's just released his new novel (Interview with the Devil). Can't wait to read it, too!

Dr. Kernan's four years overseas, which encompasses the full length of the War in the Pacific during 1941-45 is an autobiographical treasure that is as true a war story as any can be. This book takes us not on a pleasure cruise, but a voyage into a long-forgotten world of young, Depression-era ranchers and shoe clerks turned aviation ordinancemen and pilots. These we meet, however briefly, snaking up the stairs in a long line at the New Congress Hotel whorehouse in old Honolulu, in a below-decks poker game on a rusting, inflammable escort carrier, or seen for a fleeting moment, unconscious in the gaping seas as the result of a slight but deadly flight miscalculation, sinking beneath the waves, impossible to save, gone. Those voices of the past, their thoughts, fears and dreams, are recorded here with a painful honesty and without much sentiment for, as the author admits, he never really intended it for general publication at first. Those of us who appreciate history poured straight up will be forever in his debt that he changed his mind.

War, of course, is the antithesis of wonderful, and yet Alvin Kernan's memoir is so vividly and beautifully written that I wish to have been at his side during that time. The other reviews give a sense of Mr. Kernan's story, but I want to spend my praise on his writing: clear, direct, unadorned prose, which nevertheless conveys an absolute sense of place. If you want to learn to write well, you will read this book repeatedly. If you teach writing (not making up), consider Crossing The Line as a textbook.

Highest recommendation. You can order new copies online at Yalebooks.com.

. When you think of an east coast university professor who specializes in the humanities--Shakespearean literature, in this case--you probably won't be visualizing someone who started adulthood by engaging in vicious aerial gunnery duels with Japanese fighters and otherwise living the stressful, profane, hazardous life of an enlisted sailor on three World War II aircraft carriers, one of which was sunk while he was aboard. Such is the case, though, with retired Yale professor Alvin B. Kernan, author of "Crossing the Line," one of the most interesting and often gripping sagas of navy life that I've read.
. The book came as a surprise to me, on two counts. One, I knew that Kernan had been an aviation ordnanceman on the USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway, and later an aerial gunner. But I had very little notion of the depth of his wartime experiences, not only as an aircrewman but also in escaping the sinking of the USS Hornet in the Guadalcanal battles and in a harrowing deployment aboard the escort carrier USS Suwanee (CVE-27). Suffice to say in this short review that Kernan earned a Navy Cross, a DFC, and five air medals from inside the turret of a TBF Avenger!
. And two, I had previously read Kernan's fictitious account of the Battle of Midway, "Love and Glory," which I thought was interesting but flawed in a number of regards (see my review on Amazon). For that reason, I was a little dubious about reading "Crossing the Line." Would this be another "interesting but flawed" piece of work that would cause me to keep my red pen handy while I read it? No. Crossing the Line is simply outstanding. Anyone with an interest in WWII naval air action will also want to read this book. I highly recommend it. Yes, there are a couple of minor nits that a very knowledgeable historian might want to pick, but they are so insignificant as to be unworthy of mentioning here. "Crossing the Line" will not disappoint you. In fact, you'll probably find it hard to put down.
. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

Alvin Kernan has written one of the best books on WW2 I have ever read, and I've read a lot of them. His descriptions of his wartime experiences are crisp, vivid, and relevant.

If any of us are ever tempted to generalize in a negative way about sailors in the U.S. Navy, I suggest they read this book all the way to the end. What Kernan went on to do after the war is just as impressive as what he did while he served Uncle Sam.

Alvin Kernan was a 17-year-old from a poor family when he enlisted in the Navy in 1941. He was assigned to the carrier Enterprise and was aboard on Dec 7, 1941. He served aboard carriers most of the war, including a tour aboard the Hornet and he was aboard when she was sunk. He spent most of the time with the torpedo squadrons and gives a vivid account of the Battle of Midway. Most war histories are written by or about the leaders and it is unusual to find someone who was there for all the battles but who was seeing it all from the bottom up. After the war, he went to college on the GI Bill (as did I) and eventually ended his career as dean of the graduate school at Princeton. This is a vivid and knowledgeable account of the carrier war from one who was there and is a skilled writer. Anyone interested in the navy in World War II should read this book.

One of the best books I have encountered on human emotions in relation to God's working in our lives and the failures of the human heart in dealing with them apart from God. Chapter 10 - Abandonment and Despair: The loss of hope, and Chapter 11 - Redemptive Despair: The restoration of hope, have been wonderful assets in helping others.
PW

This book has uncovered so much truth into my life and a message you will not hear from the pulpit but should. It has set me free! Incredible writing!

This is an excellent piece of work which cuts to the core of our emotional fight with God. It reflects the real struggle of Bible figures who over the ages have had the same struggles.

But in the end it will bring a deep sense of peace when the struggle is over. A great tool to understanding and working out our emotions.

This book was very good reading. It was easy to follow, yet was not shallow or filled with platitudes. It causes one to truly look at the root of one's emotions and deal with them. For too long emotions have been misunderstood. One camp says that they are evil. The opposite camp states that emotions are truth. Both are wrong, and the truth regarding our emotions comes out in this book. I was very impressed with the way the authors handled the subject and challenged the reader to look deeper, with honesty, into our emotions.

Dr. Dan Allender, makes a powerful case for the "righteousness" of emotion at its purist God given form. For most of my life I have been taught that emotion is wrong, from the devil, and from our brokenness. This book challenges that belief and has cleaned up emotion's reputation as it is usually drug through the mud of the sin we allow it to create in and through us. Emotion is blamed for the sin the carrier produces; much like Christ or the church is blamed for the sin Christians produce. Thank you for clearing up emotions reputation. This book has given me permission to feel. I now have a clearer picture of the Gospel of Christ!

I have to say this book is just wonderful! It is great as a casual read as well as excellent for the researcher and/or family historian! It helped me to fill some gaps in my families history (Daniel's sister, Sarah Boone) and gave other avenues in which to reasearch.

Wanted to read this book as a celebration of Daniels life Yet I found it to be long statements made directly following his death It is told that none ventured into writing of this man during his life I guess that makes it appealing The man had big family and was known to beat the Indians at there own gam that I found Admirable the book on a whole was simply a bore due to the accounts of how Boone tryed to purchase this or that But to those who want to build homesteads in the 1800s It will be to your liking

This is the one to get. This one, and John Mack Faragher's BOONE biography (Henry Holt, 1992). Anything by Belue is worth getting; he is precise to the point of obsession, and his works--four thus far--will stand the test of time.

Occasionally a book that has been available for a while deserves another look just because of its intrinsic value. In 1998 a book was published that combined the names of two legendary individuals who will be associated forever with the history of the American backwoods-Daniel Boone, the famous adventurer, and Lyman C. Draper, the renowned nineteenth-century interviewer and collector. It was only through the painstaking efforts of editor Ted Franklin Belue that Draper's highly significant tome on Boone finally came into being a century and a half after it was started. Before the ink was dry on the printed page, this book had become a backcountry classic. It instantly went to the front rank of Boone biographies. For the previous hundred years few but the serious historian had been drawing from Draper's handwritten manuscript on Boone; now even the casual reader would have the material readily available in print. Despite the fact that Draper never finished writing the biography and didn't take Boone's exploits beyond 1778, The Life of Daniel Boone (596 pages hardcover, $39.95, Stackpole Books) has proven to be well worth the long wait.
The book is a treasure trove of information about Boone, including such highlights as: his early years in Pennsylvania and North Carolina; activities during the French and Indian War; hunting in the Appalachian region; long hunting in Kentucky; adventures in Dunmore's War; the establishment of Boonesborough; and the first half of the Revolutionary War in Kentucky. While perusing these pages, the reader will be reminded constantly of Draper's monumental research that involved extensive travel to obtain interviews with people who had known Boone personally or with relatives and friends of such individuals. He also endeavored to collect important documents before they disappeared. His efforts were literally a race against time. Belue sets a standard for excellence with his very interesting preface as well as his editor's note (following the preface) that explains how the book finally came into being. The outstanding notes at the end of each chapter by both Draper and Belue are a further wealth of information. Draper's 44-page appendix provides a Boone genealogy and biographical sketches of many other frontier figures.
From Smoke & Fire News, November 2004, by Bob Holden

Lyman Draper wrote the single best account of the life of Daniel Boone. This source, while not well known, has been mined by virtually every biographer of Boone since 1850. This book and the biography of John Bakeless are the best two volumes ever to appear about the life of Daniel Boone. Also the Memoirs of Nathan Boone and his wife are of extreme value. These books provide the basis for the study of early Kentucky history.

When I started teaching financial planning to US Air Force officers planning on reentering the general economy it was a little known subject and you had to scout up your material from pamphlets, magazines and newspapers with help from stockbrokers.
"Ernst & Young's Personal Financial Planning Guide" published by John Wiley & Sons, which is the same publishing house that publishes the JK Lasser's tax manual puts the information all in one volume.
Of intense interest to us is the chapter on starting your own business, which as authors we are doing in our senior years. The material is geared to the younger generation who are just starting out, but the advice is sound and easy to understand without an extensive background in accounting and economics.
Financial planning is rough at this period in our history, because of the skyrocketing prices of necessary goods and services not used in the consumer price index, hence they are excluded from inflation percentage calculations. Gasoline, medicines and health care are three I can name, off hand, that affect the general population, but fall outside the index. This phenomena is not addressed in the planning guide, but then Congress has not touched it since the Johnson adminstration either. It is not something that winning the lottery will answer for an individual, but it is like trying to hold a large balloon half-full of water in one-hand and keep it round.
"Personal Financial Planning Guide' is the best we have found for a realistic look at all aspects of financial planning. The table of contents and index are outstanding for locating information.
Nash Black, author of "Taxes, Stumbling Blocks & Pitfalls for Authors 2007."

Thanks!!! Books are fantastic and came as described. Great transaction!!!!

Absolutely one of the best financial planning reference tools around! If your personally planning to restructure your financial life or hire a professional to do it for you, then this book is a must have. It provides a wealth of information as well as an extensive array of guidelines and tips for every area of your life . I especially like that it brings to light concerns of areas you may not be immediately affected by (aging parents) but should be planning for now. Having hired a professional, this book has proved Indispensable in that we have been able to knowingly select and plan individual or particular methods of approach towards our financial futures and better implement them through a professional planner!!!

I use this as a text at a university when we cover personal budgeting and finance issues during one week of class. I have used it since March 2006 in undergrad classes. Required reading includes Chapters 1, 18, and 26 along with pgs. 47-54 (Savings), pgs. 97-99 (Annuity), and pgs. 114-118 (Real Estate). Students read more of the book on their own and say this is a keeper they found to be invaluable!

Now in its 5th Edition this is still a great reference book for anyone wanting to either start on a financial plan or complete their annual review.

Updated with current information it is always a useful reference tool. Many Financial Services Professionals keep a copy handy for a quick check.

Parents would be well advised to share their copy with their children. It will give them good advice on how to start looking after their financial future.

This is a great tool for most of us to have.

Much like Gary Hamel's book The Future of Management, one needs to read this book with an open mind. It is an exceptional book and one that I am giving away to my clients this coming Holiday. It is thought provoking and enlightening. Above all it stresses that companies have a need above profit. That profit is the score, not the game itself. Perhaps had the management of Enron and others of that ilk truly believed in a purpose beyond profit, corporate America would not being wearing SOX today.

There's a difference when you fly Southwest vs. United. You feel different shopping at Costco than you feel shopping at Wal-mart. Why? That question is explored and answered in the book Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose by Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, and David B. Wolfe. This is one of those books that will cause you to think about why you feel as you do towards certain companies, and how those feelings translate into real profits.



Contents: A Whole New World; It's Not Share of Wallet Anymore - It's Share of Heart; New Age, New Rules, New Capitalism; The Chaotic Interregnum; Employees - The Decline and Fall of Human Resources; Customers - The Power of Love; Investors - Reaping What FoEs Sow; Partners - Elegant Harmonies; Society - The Ultimate Stakeholder; Culture - The Secret Ingredient; Lessons Learned; Crossing Over to the Other Side; Acknowledgements



On Wall Street, companies are usually judged on their profit. Squeeze as much out of your business as you can, cut costs wherever possible, and make sure you meet your numbers. To be sure, plenty of companies are successful under those rules (such as Wal-mart). But when you look at their performance over the last few years on the stock market, returns have been stagnant or have trailed the field. The alternative way to run a business is as a "firm of endearment" (FoE). These companies have a passion for what they do/sell, they have a strongly defined purpose for what they want to accomplish, and they look to contribute to society in more ways than just the quarterly dividend to shareholders. These FoEs, like Costco, Whole Foods, Harley-Davidson, and others, include stakeholders to mean all parts of society that they touch... shareholders, employees, the community, etc. The focus isn't on pure profit, but instead on contributing to the well-being of all the stakeholders. That's why a company like Costco can afford to pay their employees a living wage, have low turnover, and *still* turn a substantial profit. They have captured the hearts of their customer base, and that base will go out of their way to shop at Costco whenever possible. That's also why a company like Ikea can propose a new location and have nearly universal acceptance in the community, while a new Wal-mart location brings out protesters in force. There's obviously a lot more that differentiates FoEs from their counterparts in the marketplace, but once you recognize an FoE, you'll understand why they are successful by *not* following the same formula as everyone else.



It's tempting to think that all the FoEs covered in this book can do no wrong. That's not the case. JetBlue was/is an FoE that badly damaged their reputation during the winter when storms caused massive cancellations. It even led to the resignation of the CEO. Like other business books of this genre (In Search Of Excellence, From Good To Great), only time will tell how these companies will fare over the long term. It may well be that a decade from now, the stars of this book will have all fallen to the wayside. But I would venture to guess that the companies covered here will have a much larger margin of forgiveness than would other companies that are just focused on the next quarter...



This is a book that is highly recommended for anyone running a business. It should cause you to rethink the factors of success for your company, as well as point you in directions that could lead you to become an FoE in your niche.

This book identifies a batch of companies that have oriented their business model to providing a superior feeling in the minds of their customers. In many cases I absolutely agree with them.

Wegman's supermarkets for instance presents an excellent shopping experience. I particularly love their cheese department where knowledge people stand ready to discuss their magnificant array of choices and even to giving you samples to taste seemingly without end or sales pressure. In turn I buy far more cheeses than I would otherwise. We both win.

But then they turn to Wal-Mart and repeat a litany of alleged problems with employees, suppliers, and communities. My own experience with Wal-Mart is limited to one store in the small town where I live. But my experience doesn't match the alleged problems. I go there, the people, from the greeter at the door to the most junor sales clerk are friendly and willing to walk halfway across the store to help me find something. I talk to people who work there (away from the store) and they universally say that it is the best job they've ever had. Does the Wal-Mart experience depend on the store? Are the alledged problems just that, allegations? And for that matter, does every Wegman's have such an excellent cheese department? And what about Microsoft? Everyone (nearly) uses their products and most people hate the company. What does this say about their future? I guess we'll just have to watch and see.

This is a book that describes one way of doing business that has worked for a lot of companies. It provides a good insight into what these companies do.

What is a Firm of Endearment? The authors argue that their example companies share a common set of core values, policies, and operating attributes which include:

1. aligning the interests of all stakeholder groups (customers, employees, partners, investors, and society) rather than seeking profit optimization

2. below-average executive compensation

3. open-door policies

4. employee compensation and benefits are above average for their industry

5. above-average employee training

6. empower employees to satisfy customers

7. hire employees who are passionate about the company's purpose

8. humanize customer and employee experiences

9. enjoy below-average marketing costs

10. honor the spirit as well as the letter of laws

11. focus on corporate culture as a competitive advantage

12. are often innovative in their industries

Companies identified include extensive examples drawn from Commerce Bank, Container Store, Costco, Harley-Davidson, Honda, IDEO, IKEA, jetBlue, Johnson & Johnson, Jordan's Furniture, New Balance, Patagonia, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Timberland, Toyota, Trader Joe's, UPS, Wegmans, and Whole Foods.

These companies are often contrasted with Wal-Mart and the Good to Great Companies identified by Jim Collins in 2001 in terms of stock price growth.

The authors argue that there is a new level of consciousness emerging that rewards those who do good while doing well. The implication is that all firms should shift to stakeholder optimization and the cultural values identified in the example companies.

While they don't make this argument, it's clear that the authors have identified many of the mindsets that lead a company to seek optimizing results for all stakeholders.

Before you assume total cause and effect, I would like to raise some issues not fully addressed in the book:

1. This is an after-the-fact evaluation. As such, (like Good to Great), we may mostly be seeing what the leaders are proud of . . . rather than what caused their success. For example, Southwest's success is focused on their corporate culture. But the company also has a better business model than almost any other airline (Ryanair's is better) and does a better job of fuel cost hedging than any other U.S. airline. Those factors aren't mentioned.

2. These companies are almost all in consumer products or services. A class of socially conscious consumers has sprung up who look hard for such firms. It's not clear that OEM and industrial buyers have evolved their preferences nearly to the same extent. So many of the lessons may only apply consumer goods and services (except for those validated by Gallup for having a motivated and effective group of people working for you).

3. Almost all of these firms are highly effective business model innovators who have gained enormous advantages over competitors who seldom innovate their business models. As a result, they can afford practices that may or may not pay off in profit without incurring any negative reaction. The next business model innovation will pay for the cost.

I was surprised that this book didn't look at the study I made from 1992-2001 that identified continuing business model innovation as the single best factor for explaining high levels of corporate performance (see The Ultimate Competitive Advantage). The books share some examples in common (including Jordan's Furniture and Timberland), but many of FoE's examples are also superior business model innovators (Amazon, BMW, CarMax, Caterpillar, Container Store, Costco, eBay, Google, Harley-Davidson, IDEO, IKEA, jetBlue, Patagonia, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, UPS, Wegmans, and Whole Food).

4. It often pays better to serve stakeholder interests than to ignore them. Why? Because ignoring stakeholders often burdens both the company and the stakeholder with costs and experiences that neither want. This economic case for stakeholder focus isn't fully developed outside of the customer arena.

5. The book emphasizes sustainability, but much of that argument is built around companies disappearing from the Fortune 500 (something that happens whenever a merger happens . . . which doesn't mean that the organization goes away, just the corporate headquarters in most cases). In the research of my students on environmental sustainability (see Hiroshi Fukushi's work, A Strategic Approach to the Environmentally Sustainable Business, for example), it's apparent that making the environment cleaner than when you touched it is economically advantaged in most situations. The idea of sustainability is based on the outmoded notion of not doing too much damage rather than finding profits in making the world better than you found it.

But it's a good book that creates more questions than it answers. This one will probably stimulate some more careful thinking in the area of where seeking to be more considerate of others is going to create better results as well as better sleep.

In the Prologue, when discussing The Age of Transcendence through which the contemporary business world is now proceeding, the co-authors (Rajendra S. Sisodia, David B. Wolfe, and Jagdish N. Sheth) suggest that it is "a cultural movement in which physical (materialistic) influences that dominated culture in the twentieth-century are ebbing while metaphysical (experiential) influences become stronger. This is helping to drive a shift in the foundations of culture from an objective base to a subjective base: People are increasingly relying on their own counsel to decide what the truth is...That shift acknowledges a long-suppressed idea in a world largely guided by Newtonian certainty that chemistry Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine says is scattering to the winds: Ultimately, everything is personal."

Thus do the authors establish a frame-of-reference for the thesis of their book: That each stakeholder in an organization tends to thrive best when all stakeholders thrive. That is, no stakeholder group is more important than any other. "It is disciplined dedication to the well-being of all stakeholders that separates firms of endearment from their competition." Stakeholder relationship management (SRM), the authors suggest, can achieve and then sustain superior business performance that, in turn, will create n a decisive competitive advantage. They are convinced that SRM business models will increasingly be seen "as the most efficacious way to achieve sustained superior business performance in years to come" but only if (huge "if") the interests of all stakeholder groups are brought into strategic alignment.

Two Questions: Are all stakeholder groups of equal importance and do they have the same interests? Also, are all members of a stakeholder group (e.g. shareholders) of equal importance and do they have the same interests? These questions occurred to me as I read the first chapter, especially the brief discussion of the "distinctive" core values, policies, and attributes that firms of endearment (FoEs) share in common. Eventually, Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth provide answers to these questions, answers best revealed within the narrative.

If indeed "endearing companies tend to be enduring companies," how do the 28 FoEs that "made the final cut" for this book compare with the 11 companies praised by Jim Collins in Good to Great? "Over a 10-year horizon, FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies by 1,026 percent to 331 percent (a 3.1-to-1 ratio). Over five years, FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies by 128 percent to 77 percent (a 1.7-to-1 ratio). Over three years, FoEs performed on par the Good to Great companies: 73 percent to 75 percent." (FYI, there are no duplicates on the two lists.) As with the exemplary companies discussed by Thomas J. Peters in Robert H. Waterman, Jr. in In Search of Excellence, not all companies on any such list continue to meet the criteria that were the basis of their initial selection.

For me, some of the most interesting material is presented in Chapter 11, "Crossing Over to the Other Side." At one point, the authors cite Oliver Wendell Holmes's observation "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." They then quote one of my favorite passages in James O'Toole's The Executive's Compass:

"To move beyond the confusion of complexity, executives must abandon their constant search for the immediately practice and, paradoxically, seek to understand the underlying ideas and values that have shaped the world they work in. Managers who clamor for how-to instruction are, by definition, stuck on the near side of complexity."

According to Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth, the big challenge of the times is to transcend the zero-sum mindset because, given the profusion of new opportunities, absolutes (by nature limiting) are found everywhere on the near side of complexity. "They emerge from people's perennial quest for pat solutions, or `silver bullets,' as they are sometimes described. This is a key point because, as Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth explain, a zero sum mindset leads to the conclusion that one stakeholder group can only benefit at the expense of the other stakeholder groups...However, opportunities increase by an order of magnitude when the mind breaks free of zero-sum thinking."

There are specific reasons why endearing companies tend to be enduring companies and one of the most important is their having "the ability to transcend ruthless competition and embrace the fruits of cooperation [which is] the essence of evolved humanness."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Bill George's Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value and his later book, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, co-authored with Peter Sims. Also Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, Adrian J. Slywotzky's The Upside: The 7 Strategies for Turning Big Threats into Growth Breakthroughs, Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson as well as Ram Charan's Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't, Lynda Gratton's Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy - And Others Don't, Robert J. Herbold's Seduced by Success: How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning, Jack Alexander's Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation, and Michael Useem's The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide--Knowing What to Do and When to Do It.

This is a real mind-bending read! M. B. Lemanski shows himself to be a masterful storyteller with this debut work. He offers a fresh perspective on religious extremism--namely, that no one faith has a monopoly on it. The author takes us on a surprising spiritual journey in this tale about the ultimate worldwide war--Armageddon. It is surprising because the only eventual winners in this tale of the horrors of such a war are those who abandon altogether the strategy of war. It is spiritual in that the reader is deftly persuaded--both by the chain of events as well as the words and the aura of the hero Janus Philio (a character skillfully developed by Lemanski)--to reexamine his or her notions of truth and belief, as well as how one arrives at both.

Another surprise throughout is that somewhat irreverent images of established religion and oddly believable politico-religious personalities are subtly contrasted with what seems like a reverence on the part of the author for something else. It's worth the time spent to discover what that something else is--something which has eluded human beings perhaps as much as the knowledge of God.

Although author M.B. Lemanski may have portrayed the second coming in an unorthodox, and what to some may appear a disturbing way, yet the yarn has a strange plausibleness to it, for those who know the history of prophets and prophecies. He proves that mind bending can be entertaining.

Written by defense markets analyst M. B. Lemanski, The Flesh of Kings: The Final Battle Begins After Armageddon is an exciting novel about the battle for humankind's future in the wake of Armageddon. A teacher and mystic going by the name Janus Philio has claimed the title of King of kings in Jerusalem and performed miracles to help heal the world. Is he the second coming of Jesus Christ, or the latest in a series of Antichrists, or something else entirely? Preacher's son and former NFL superstar Julian "the Mighty" Quinn earns political power in what is left of America; his distrust of Philio entangled him in the machinations of a secret society set on assassinating the King of kings. A tense, action-packed adventure ensues, in this disturbing yet utterly absorbing post-apocalyptic tale.

After being disappointed so many times with the "fast food" literature available today, I was thrilled to read Mr. Lemanski's "The Flesh of Kings".
His style is reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as he literally dismantles so many of the icons of today. Human beings in his world can trust no one, assume nothing, and certainly take nothing for granted. I find this a healthy attitude from which to describe the world we see.
To me, this book is a friendly wakeup call for all of us who spend our time in the pursuit of creature comforts instead of really seeing today's world and its many dangers.
Mr. Lemanski's humor has a edge and I throughly enjoyed his book.

Wow! The Flesh of Kings is a great read. The author certainly has a way with words and will take you on an adventurous and interesting journey into the near future to examine what life might be like after Armageddon. There is an underlying message that begins to unfold near the end which is simple, something we all want and something we sometimes fail to give.The novel ends with a glimpse at "what's it all about." The author is a real storyteller. The novel is worthwhile, entertaining and will leave you with a lot to ponder.

The end of days is also the beginning of days. Julian Quinn is a former professional football player who happens to find himself struggling for survival in an area of southern California called `The Zone.' The Zone is a creation of the new order of America which came about due to a terrible war that arose in the Middle East. The country we know today no longer exists. Julian begins a journey that could only happen to one or two individuals in a millennium. Along the way he meets varied characters and is posed many questions. How will he answer them? Will mankind survive? Read this book and be carried along to its conclusion and all will be known, maybe.

M.B. Lemanski is the former head of an aerospace consultancy and Wall Street defense markets analyst prior to joining Reuters as a writer in the area of science and technology.

This is cleverly and ably crafted tale of a possible future of mankind that could arise out of the raw material of today. Mr. Lemanksi is truly a master of the English language and its tremendous vocabulary. This only adds to Mr. Lemanski's ability to weave together the different characters into a complete and congruent whole. This book is well-recommended and is worth reading even for those who might disagree with its point of view. After all, what is fiction but a way to learn and to grow.

Shwartz is a Boston trail lawyer with an unabashed love for the well-written word. In the introduction Shwartz wrote about reading, "I would read, as readers do, to tame the unfamiliar or see the familiar through new and enlightened prisms; to see how different or eerily familiar, another person's interior life could be from my own."

This is a book of short commentaries by 115 writers on the books they love most. And indeed it is hard to flip many pages without finding the word love. Shwartz set out to produce the very book he couldn't find in bookstores!

This is truly a book that your reading group could share. Buy one copy and bring it to meetings. It can give you a wealth of insights and ideas for books to read- read a book written by one of the 115 authors interviewed and then select a book to read that influenced that author. The bibliographical index is reason alone to buy this book. Shwartz has said that he always found himself asking what the authors themselves read; and here you'll find that answered both in text and in the index.

Penelope Fitzgerald, author of "The Bookshop" wrote in her commentary that "Fathers& Sons" was one of the books that made the greatest impression on her, "I still feel close to weeping when I get to the end. . . " John Irving, author of "The Cider House Rules" named "Great Expectations" and said, ". . .the intention of a novel by Charles Dickens is to move you emotionally- not intellectually . . . " And Anna Quindlen, author of "One True Thing" said, "The books I've loved most were the books I could inhabit."

Our interesting word selection was "Verity"" The quality or state of being true or real. Faithfulness to aesthetic truth.

Our favorite quote was by Anne Fadiman: "I was so ludicrously unprepared for Humanties 190 that the course nearly proved my undoing. With a doggedness born of panic, I defaced nearly every line of Aristitle's poetics with citron Hi-liter and crammed the margins with felt-tip notations."

Shwartz wrote that it was his hope that his book "might inspire people to read more. . . " Oh yes!

Anyone who has ever wanted to be a writer will hear from writing instructors all about the importance of constantly reading. Books on writing theory state the same thing as do works about writing by published authors. The importance of reading cannot be disputed, but many writers may wonder what would be appropriate to read. Fans of great writers may also wonder what would be a great next read. Ronald Shwartz has edited a book that answers these questions for all who wonder, what do great writers read and what books have inspired these writers to write?

The book includes many well known authors of both fiction and nonfiction, including notables such as Anne Bernays and husband Justin Kaplan, Robert Coles, Joyce Carol Oates, Penelope Fitzgerald, John Irving, Norman Mailer, and Anna Quindlen just to name a few. Some of the writers simply list the books, others explain why they include the books. Most of the entries are short and to the point, and all the entries are insightful. I only wish Norman Mailer had a bit more to say, but since he just published a book on writing, any questions I may have will probably be answered in that book.

Ronald Shwartz was curious about what books writers read, how and what influenced them, so he set about to seek answers. This book contains 115 different viewpoints. Each chapter, written by a different author, begins with a brief biographical blurb followed by two or three pages describing the authors' choices. Some, like Mario Puzo or Norman Mailer, were quite terse, just itemizing their choices, but most of the other entries were a bit more revealing, giving us a feel for what the books meant to them, when they read them, etc. Their passion for books and reading were truly inspirational.

I kept a pad and pen handy as I read this book to make a list of the books mentioned that sounded interesting to me. By the end of the book I had a huge list of books that I wanted to find and read.

This book not only served as a great source for recommended reading, but provided a wonderful window into all of these authors' lives.

A wonderful collection of some of the most remarkable authors likes and dislikes and what books influenced them most. From childhood memories to adult appreciation, each author shares their favorite titles as well as how they came to appreciate reading and the written word.

As a fellow author, I felt like I had a window seat into the soul of many great writers. "WAR AND PEACE" won many votes as a favored choice.

Some authors distinguish between historic works and current favorites. Most agree that readers make writers! Each author seems to highly respect the written word.

Truly enjoyed the stories told about what was viewed as the catalyst to an early appreciation of books. My only negative comment would have to be on the size of the text. Personal opinion is that with so much written word on a page, you can lose the interest of the reader. These stories should be appreciated and read.

Easy to see why this would make an excellent choice for any adult book/reading group.

the only drawback of this book is that it will rob you of precious hours devoted to reading other books! i'm being facetious, of course -- this is a wealth of reflections to (a) place by your bedside table, (b) in the glovebox of your car, and (c) dare i say, in the bathroom to savor whenever you get a spare moment -- or to enjoy simply for its own sake. it's very much like sitting down face-to-face with a garrulous, self-reflective author (or grandparent) and hearing a lifetime of wisdom squished into a few minutes. so grab a pencil -- you're going to need one! -- and mark what sounds interesting. funny how often "the brothers k" gets mentioned, "moby dick" etc. but so many wonderful surprises in store, too. thanks to kurt vonnegut's (brilliant) short essay, for example, i picked up "candide" and am much the wiser. oddly enough, no one recommends "les misérables" -- i can't imagine why not -- or "musashi" for that matter. but "the tale of genji" is recommended, so all is forgiven. "for the love of books" = beautiful!