Networks Books

I am part of the management team for a Community Mental Health Center in East Central Iowa. We are a not-for-profit organization, but in today's world of shrinking resources and tight money supplies, we are very cognizant of how we spend money. 'NetProfit,' by Kathleen Watson, has been very helpful in informing (and reminding) me of how to engage most effectively with other professionals, potential clients, and the community in general. Ms. Watson's style is clear, focused,and often humerous...a point not lost on those of us who deal with issues of mental health! I believe 'New Profit' can help others who work in service organizations to maximize their networking efforts.

Kath Watson's book and workshops really fine-tune the networking process. She shows and tells all, with great humor and gentleness.

Reviewed by Steven King, MBA

It is an exciting time in American history to be involved in business. Listening to the evening news might make one conclude that any entrepreneurial enterprise is doomed for extinction. As a business educator, I am constantly amazed by the successes of budding entrepreneurs. They prove that, in spite of the denigrating comments about our economy, many can do quite well in business for themselves.

Educators try to demonstrate for students "why" being an entrepreneur works: it is pure capitalism at its best. "Living the American Dream" is possible, after all, if someone is willing to invest enough blood, sweat, and tears. To this educator's chagrin, however, most of what is taught is steeped in theory and reticent in substance. You want to be an entrepreneur - then you figure out how to become successful at business.

Apparently Kathleen Watson feels there is too much fluff available on the market. Her insightful book, Net Profit, provides an amazing resource that illustrates the need to be proficient in business networking. Not only does she write about what it takes to be successful-she provides "action steps" in a convenient check-the-block format. New entrepreneurs and existing business owners will be pleased by its practicality.

For instance, most business professionals have had the experience of being at a convention and enduring a conversation that has "run its course." Instead of languishing, or worse-cutting off a potential asset by thoughtless redirection - she empowers readers by providing convenient exit strategies. Actual, polite examples of things you might say that demonstrate your professionalism while honoring their humanity are presented. It is obvious that Ms. Watson writes from experience on how to get the most out of every networking opportunity.

Who needs this book: Anyone that wants to be successful in business. The title's play on words is fitting: want more profit-then network (for Net Profit). If your business is just beginning, or needs a "shot in the arm," you will not be disappointed by this resource.

This just might make it onto my required reading list for business education.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

This book is a must have for networking. It is clearly written, easy to use and has great insights into networking. I thought after 25 years of networking I had a firm grasp on the basics, but after reading Watson's book I realize I have so much more to learn. I have been using her techniques, and getting amazing results. Great book! I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to meet anyone in business.

Netlab implements in Matlab most algorithms presented in Christopher Bishop's excelent book Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition

Nabney's book is an indispensable guide if you want to go into the inner workings of Netlab.

Recommended.

Amazingly compact book and MATLAB toolbox that provides an exceptionally clear introduction to a core collection of pattern recognition tools. This text and the related MATLAB toolbox ostensibly accompany Chris Bishop's text _Neural networks for pattern recognition_ and brilliant as that book is, this is the perfect supplement that does so much more than just implement the algorithms (and not just for MATLAB users but for anyone who appreciates the merits of learning by doing). From the introductory chapters on MATLAB syntax and optimization (clearer and more useful than the _Numerical Recipes_ version) you know you are in for a breathless ride but the examples and demos are perfectly chosen to illustrate the relative merits of the different approaches under consideration.

The chapter titles are

1. Introduction
2. Parameter optimisation algorithms
3. Density modelling and clustering
4. Single layer networks
5. Multi-layer perceptron
6. Radial Basis functions
7. Visualization and latent variable models
8. Sampling
9. Bayesian techniques
10. Gaussian Processes

The MATLAB code is elegant and well-commented and lends itself to endless tweaking and experimentation. I wish I had written this book. Congratulations to the author and hope there is another book on the way.

This is actually a must-have book for those who want to study pattern recognition.

i first bought the book by Bishop (Neural Network for Pattern Recognition) and anyone who have read it can tell u how excellent that book is. This book has a little bit less theory and more on implementation which is perfect for me. This book include all the topics covered in Bishop and then some. How the book is organized, and how concise, easy to understand the material is at the same amazing level as Bishop's. I believe implementing and practicing things u learn is key to understanding them.. if you just look at how things are implemented, things would suddenly become 10 times clearer for you.. often to your own amazement (that you can actually understand all those stuff). this book is extremely useful even if u dont have matlab (just look up the syntax at mathworks web site), cuz matlab code is straightforward to understand. and the material included is very up to date and cutting edge indeed. i highly highly recommend it.

"George Varghese has had a remarkable impact on the real world of networking with his algorithmic innovations over many years. The networking research and development community is fortunate that
he has now distilled his knowledge in this very readable, insightful, and much-needed book." -- Yukuen Lai

Varghese explains a very specialised but critical field. He presupposes on your part an already extensive knowledge of TCP/IP and its routing protocols. The book usefully offers on its inside cover 15 principles for overcoming network bottlenecks. It seems fair to say that the bulk of the book is devoted to explaining and using these ideas. Undoubtedly, other books have elucidated most of these. But maybe not as explicitly and cogently as Varghese.

One key motivator mentioned in the text is to defend against network attacks. For this, it helps to be able to quickly analyse as many IP packets as possible. Perhaps an unfortunate commentary on today's Internet, inasmuch as this will be the most important reason for some of you to get this book.

This is an excellent, excellent text. Techniques and principles for building high performance distributed systems are hard to come by except through experience and talking to experts. There's a lot of knowledge in the community but this book is the first time to my knowledge that someone has collected it and presented it in a coherent framework. Even if you don't work with low level stuff, this book will help you learn to think in a "systemsy" way about high-performance designs.

The book describes in an unique way some of the algorithmic and system implementation details of network appliances. Some of the chapters (packet classification, forwarding and traffic measurements) might be know to readers familiar with the SIGCOMM and Infocom conferences: these chapters are excellent tutorials to some very advanced networking topics and can help readers to better understand papers from the main author published at Infocom/SIGCOMM.
Its probably the best networking book I've ever read....and I read a lot.

Overall I give this book two thumbs up. Here are a few things I got out of this book:

Under the section titled "security policies and operations lifecycle", I found the introduction very helpful. I like the way the topics are broken down into business needs, risk analysis, security policy development, followed by the operations lifecycle that included information on system monitoring maintenance, compliance checking, and incident response.

Under the section titled "what is a security policy", I also found this section helpful and the simple statements describing a security policy as a formal statement of rules where people are given access to an organizations technology information assets, was very concise and understandable.

Under the section titled "security policy enforcement considerations", I found it interesting that this was broken into several different sections of real-time technology enforcement, passive technology assisted compliance checking, non-technical compliance checking, and contractual compliance checking. This little section made policy enforcement crystal clear while providing a practical outline for policy enforcement.

Another helpful feature of this book was on page 45 where an outline of best practice steps are given. These four steps to building a best practice for security provided a decent roadmap for developing a practical security policy.

Under the section "secure networking threats", the descriptions provided for the attack process and attacker types was very enlightening. I also found it interesting to read about the Script Kittie, Crackers, and Elite network attackers.

The section also described vulnerability types as software, hardware, configuration, policy, and usage, which I also found to be a great outline and organized structure for understanding where these vulnerabilities lie.

Also in this section of "secure networking threats" on the summary page on 115 I found the attack summary table with scoring to be a very ingenious tool. This table breaks down the following attack elements and rates them according to detection difficulty, ease-of-use, frequency, impact and, overall rating. The following attack elements were included in this table: Buffer overflow, Identity spoofing, war dialling/driving, virus/word/Trojan horse, direct access, remote control software, probe scan, rootkit, Sniffer, application floating, udp spoofing, rouge devices, Web applications, data scavenging, man in the middle, distributed denial of service, TCP spoofing, Arp redirection spoofing, TCP Syn flood, IP spoofing, IP redirection, Smurf, transport redirection, MAC Flooding, Mac spoofing, network manipulation, and STP redirection. All in all I felt this was a very comprehensive list.

In the section titled "general design considerations", this section provided a fantastic overview of how to control physical access to facilities and the different methods for doing so including lock and key access, key card access, and key card access with TurnStyle. The layer 2 security considerations section covered a great bit of detail concerning general Protocol considerations as well as the Cisco specific protocol considerations.

In the chapter "Identity design considerations" the descriptions were also very helpful and understandable. This section outlined the basic foundation Identity concepts describing the differences between device and user Identity. On page 324 a great outline of the chain of events for Identity and authentication, authorization, and accounting is outlined. This step-by-step explanation was very helpful in understanding this process.

In chapter 14 the "campus security design" section, a very good explanation of what campus networks are made up of was given on page 536. This portion of the book also describes the campus trust model and expected threats. The threat mitigation and Identity considerations were also outlined in a very simple to follow way.

On page 541 the network design considerations for the campus are very well outlined with layer 2 considerations including explanations of stateful versus stateless ACL's and L3 versus L4 Filtering.

Overall this book is exceptional in the way it describes complex information and breaks down this information into simple to understand concepts. The applied knowledge questions at the end of each chapter were also very helpful along with the appendix B where the answers to these questions can be found.

This book is an outstanding education tool as well as a reference bible for network security.

This comprehensive textbook is ideal for information security architects tasked with designing secure networks, both as a teaching text and as a reference. It covers:
- Good practice network security design guidelines ('axioms')
- Purpose and definition of network security policies
- Good advice on designing the network security system (i.e. the overarching network security architecture into which individual network devices must fit) from the ground up (i.e. physical security to application security, OSI layers 1 to 7)
- Specific technical advice on configuring network devices for
security ('hardening')
- Technical descriptions of the vulnerabilities in network services, accompanied by advice on how to secure them
- Typical design considerations for network perimeter ('edge') security, internal network ('campus') security and remote access (teleworker) security
- Secure network management and network security management (compared and contrasted in 40 pages)

I appreciate the author's emphasis on architectural security design but he also succeeds in giving a reasonably comprehensive introduction to more specific elements of network security. This is not a hand-waving helicopter-overview of the topic but a far more substantial tome. At the same time, the clear writing style, simple diagrams and nuggets of practical advice make it an enjoyable read.

The book is liberally sprinkled with URLs to useful additional resources and the author maintains a website with up-to-date links and a sample chapter (www.seanconvery.com).

Each chapter concludes with exam-style review questions (with answers) and further questions intended to stimulate the reader to think about the material in their local organizational context. The topic almost inevitably involves loads of acronyms so thankfully a succinct glossary is included.

Three network security design examples (mini case studies) towards the end of the book demonstrate the techniques previously described. These are good for getting readers to practice thinking like a real network security architect.

Despite being published by Cisco Press, the book is not specifically about Cisco products. However, the examples and several of the security features are Cisco-specific. Given the market presence of Cisco, this is not a serious drawback but a little more balance would have added credibility (e.g. security vulnerabilities in LEAP, Cisco's wireless LAN authentication protocol, are not described but merely hinted-at).

All in all, this book has already proved its worth to me. I read it cover-to-cover in a couple of days and have already started using it as a reference. Recommended reading for those with a professional interest in information security architecture.

Welcome to the twenty-first century in the world of computers and networking. With more issues occurring that have negative affects on the environment that information technologists work in, the knowledge of information security is slowly becoming critical. Sean Convery presents a detailed guide into the world of designing a secure network environment. Within "Network Security Architecture", Sean delves into the whys, the hows, and most importantly the cause and effect. As you examine the table of contents alone, it becomes clear that he has spent a great deal of time researching and detailing numerous different components of a network environment that have to be examined and considered for proper network security.

A close look at the book's table of contents will point out different areas that any Network Engineering individual from the Junior Administrator to the Senior Architect needs to be knowledgeable in. Sean examines policy, threats and the technologies available, he details how to harden devices and describes items that need to be considered in designing either new networks or enhancing existing ones. For these reasons alone this book is necessary for anyone that manages any portion of a computer network. This book offers far more than an education of network security. It is clearly designed not only to educate individuals, but provide a single reference for all network security areas as well.

Like many Cisco Press books, "Network Security Architectures" chapters are divided into three sections --: an introduction, the body, and finally a summary. It is these summary sections that help the most. In For example, in Chapter 6 on pages 262 thru 264, the concept of Design Consideration is summarized with charts. Where individual summaries appear light or limited, the book enhances the information covered in a section called "Applied Knowledge". This section helps individuals quickly implement what is covered in extreme detail in the chapter. Don't just look at the summary and applied knowledge sections, because this would not do all the hard work Sean placed in the book justice. For instance, in Chapter 5 on Hardening Devices, Sean provides clear examples on how to configure devices for security and hardening. This topic alone has not similarly covered since O'Reilly's book on "Hardening Cisco Routers" and that one did not go to the level of how to configure the devices fully.

As anyone that is familiar with Cisco Technology and Cisco Systems knows, they routinely publish various "SAFE" documents on topics. This book takes input from those documents, combining them with other both real world examples and theory to provide a greater combined presentation. Like any Cisco documentation this book can either be read in its entirety from cover to cover or only the sections that are needed now. But as you read the book you will realize that while "SAFE" documents focus on key issues, this book details not only the issues and the possible alternatives, but provides reasoning for implementing the recommendations in clear English. Convery's book is both an excellent resource and a great guide. Its ability to present both the Cisco and the real world philosophy on network architecture is critical for all that work in this arena.

As I mentioned previously Convery, uses the Cisco "SAFE" documents as guide points, but those are only detailed references. His book takes them to the next logical level and as such I could spend hours and pages detailing all the other reasons someone should acquiring a copy of this book, but the key reason I believe is that it is a clear consolidated source to design, implement and support a secure and highly available network. But the simple fact is in this day and age with more and more Viruses, Worms, Trojan horses, Network Probe attacks and numerous other problems in the growing Internet can anyone not afford to plan a "SMART" and "SAFE" network architecture? That is the real question that should drive someone to consider this book for there library and refer to it on a regular basis. I know I have already.

I highly recommend this excellent reference book for networking and security practitioners in any size environment. The investment will save time and money, even if only a few of the recommendations are implemented. You will find yourself referring to it frequently.

I have read many books in the Cisco Press and this one is up there with the best in terms of practical use, technical depth and ease of reading. The author does a great job of laying out the book in a logical manner that is sure to help Security Architects take on the daunting task of network security design with a higher level of confidence. As a systems engineer responsible for large network designs, I have found this book to provide very good information for many scenarios, a multitude of good links to provide additional resources for discussed topics as well as out of scope topics, and also a good supplement for the backround knowledge required for the CCIE Security exam, for which I am currently preparing for. I consider this one as much a must have as Doyle for IP Routing or Clarke for LAN Switching.

Raymond Santini CCIE# 12315

I can't say much else except - you need at least one of these in your library. In the toolbox of every network engineer should be a journal, one that's kept up to date with problems and solutions that you run into on a daily basis. You'll save a lot of time and effort later on trying to remember "Gee, how did I fix that problem a year ago?". This is a nice hardcover bound book, and will stand the test of time. Buy some of these!

I have been using mine for a month. I wish I would of had one for the last 10 years. Go buy a few

The writing is really fine. Someone worked so hard on this manuscript. Very helpful book. A must read.

I really liked this book. I zoomed through it and understood every word. The explanation of virtual text on page 42 was especially good.

This book skips the jargon and spells everything out -- Yet has key details for intermediate or advanced readers.

I found this book very informative, a great resource on any IP QoS related topics, including very thorough explanations of how different protocols and parts of theirof came about. It is remarkably comprehensive and free of little typos and inconsistencies that seemed to have become almost a rule, based on my other recent readings.

I highly recommend it for anybody who is working in the IP networking environment.

The book - Networking Quality of Service and Windows Operating Systems provides an in-depth introduction to Quality of Service followed by a set of theoretical applications of QoS mechanisms to network engineering scenarios.

The beginning of the book contains the requisite presentation of QoS queuing mechanisms, and IETF work in both the Integrated and Differentiated Services areas. There is also a good discussion on the issues surrounding policy management in QoS enabled networks.

However this books' primary value (and worth its price alone,) are

1) it's discussion of the Quality of Service implementation on the Microsoft Windows 2000 platform. It is essential for anyone developing and hosting QoS enabled applications on the Windows platform. It provides in-depth discussion of the Windows Generic QoS API, QoS Service provider, as well as the traffic control API, and traffic control components including a great discussion on the internal queuing for QoS enabled applications. In the final chapter, the author covers Microsoft value added services for Quality of Service with a discussion of the Access Control Server (ACS) and Subnet Bandwidth Manager(SBM).

2) the authors' intimate knowledge and vision really show with his introduction of a Quality/Efficiency Product (or Q/E product) for QoS enabled networks. This idea is outlined in chapter two, and further referenced in threads throughout the remaining chapters of the book and provides a measurement tool for determining the efficiency of the network over differing QoS mechanisms. The Q/E product - if automated - would go a long way to providing networks with dynamic tools for near real-time QoS provisioning processes inside the network. The Q/E product could provide the foundation on which policy automation and dynamic resource reconfiguration could take place. The Q/E product for a network could be adjusted when promoting applications into or demoting applications out of the QoS space in a network. The impacts of which would be known to existing network SLA's. Although this idea is in its infancy, it provides food for thought to those doing future network research and development in the area of QoS tools and automation.

I highly recommend this book to Networking Engineers, Application and Network Developers, as well as Network Performance and Management planners.

Over the past year I've read a lot of material regarding QoS. I wish this book was in print when I first started researching QoS! This book is very well written and comprehensive. Not only does it do a excellent job of explaining how QoS is incorporated in Microsoft Windows, it also provides in-depth information regarding all the protocols and mechanisms that make up QoS. This book ties it all together very nicely.

This is a good reference for those looking for a "how to" guide on basic networking. If you want to become a "guru", this book is not for you.

Lots of deatils and lots of the technical info that you actuallu use at work.

As an intermediate to accomplished unix user, I found this book to be by far the best book on unix networking. Newcomers to networking will discover a pearl of great price. The author is truly an expert in the subject matter, and presents it in a clear and understandable fashion. The diagrams in the earlier chapters are priceless in solidifying understanding of TCP/IP stack, other protocols, and how they function in a network. Having built this foundation, the author adds to it in the 2nd half of the book by discussing networking in a Unix environment. He does a superb job (down to which files you need to configure, and how) on implementing DNS, NIS, NFS, and Remote Utiliies. This book is a constant reference and teaching source for me. Execellent book, well written, It's music to my ears, thus I gave it a GRAMMY!

This is an excellent reference for beginners through intermediate level, the information is presented in a logical progression in clear, concise language. A BIG plus is that all pertinant RFCs are referenced, so the reader can go directly to the source for in depth explanations on a particular topic. All the fundamentals are covered (Ethernet, TCP/IP, NIS, NFS). I bought this book several years ago when I first began exploring the UNIX network environment, and I still refer to it often as an intermediate level user. If you are a beginner and are curious about the workings of the UNIX networking environment, then you'll love this book!

Networking: A Beginner's Guide, Fourth Edition is the ideal place to start your way into the networking world. By reading this book i made my way up and now i'm studying for my Cisco CCNA exam. Definately recommended.

This book is great for everyone who wants to learn about networking. Amazingly it covers a variety of topics easy to understand and follow. I recommend this for for everyone who wants to learn key concepts about networking.

Note that the sub-title of this book says that it is a Beginner's Guide. It is designed for people who understand computers and have some experience in using operating systems such as Windows, Mac, or Linux. It starts with this base and talks about how to interface these systems into networks.

One thing that I like about this book is that it starts with an overview of what networking is, how the company will benefit, what the goals of establishing a network might be. From there it goes into the types of networks, i.e. peer to peer, client/server. I often find that this overview, what should be the first 40 pages or so of the book, is missing. Here Mr. Hallberg does an excellent job of providing the basic understanding of 'this is what I'm trying to do.'

After 38 pages (not quite a full forty pages, but close) he begins to get down to the nuts and bolts like cabling, repeaters, hubs, switches, and firewalls. From there he goes on about like you would expect to more advanced topics until the basics of networking are pretty well covered.

One particular strong point is the chapter on Network Disaster Recovery. You're going to have a disaster, it's just a matter of time. Having a place to at least start looking for how to recover is very good and not common in beginning level books.

One point I would like to see more of in a beginning book is security. Windows XP has some security features built in. A discussion of using their firewall vs. a hardware firewall would be good. And some discussion of keeping the salesmen out of the accounting package would be nice. Perhaps in the next edition.

Conclusion: A Very Good Place to Start.

It's difficult to find a networking book that covers the basics in comprehensive detail without weighing in at 1000 pages. But this one does a very good job... Networking: A Beginner's Guide (4th Edition) by Bruce Hallberg.

Content:
Part 1 - Networking Ins and Outs: The Business of Networking; Laying the Foundation; Understanding Networking; Understanding Network Cabling; Home Networking; Understanding Network Hardware; Making WAN Connections; Understanding Networking Protocols; Exploring Directory Services; Connections from Afar - Remote Network Access; Securing Your Network; Network Disaster Recovery; Network Servers - Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask; Purchasing and Managing Client Computers
Part 2 - Hands-on Knowledge: Designing a Network; Installing and Setting Up Windows 2000 Server; Administering Windows 2000 Server - The Basics; Understanding Other Windows 2000 Server Services; Introducing Windows Server 2003; Installing Windows Server 2003; Setting Up Windows Server 2003; Installing Linux in a Server Configuration; Introduction to Linux Systems Administration; Setting Up a Linux Web Server with Apache
Glossary; Index

This is far more than a quickie home networking guide designed to allow you to hook up your wireless laptop. Instead, it's more designed for someone who is interested in learning how to set up a full network and administer it much like a professional would. Hallberg covers everything from cabling on up to the actual network operating system. While the chapters on Windows 2000/2003 aren't designed to be comprehensive reference manuals, they are complete enough to get the fledging network administrator up and running. The information is solid and readable, and working your way through the material would yield a solid foundation from which to start a career in network administration. And you can do so without getting bogged down in endless details that would be beyond you as a starter...

I found this book to be very useful, providing clear background and easy to follow steps to order, plan and install a network either at home or in a small office. It covers both the DSL and cable flavors of broadband internet service, wired and wireless networks and security and virus protection -- everything one needs to setup a safe and sound home or small office network. It even provides straightforward directions for setting up computers to share printers!

I found the figures and troubleshooting tips to be especially helpful. In particular, showing how to recover when my DSL provider goes on the fritz (which, unfortunately does happen from time to time).

I highly recommend this book for readers looking for a practical, no nonsense, easy to follow guide for setting up home and small office networks and safely and securely connecting them to the internet.

"Networks in a Flash" is a great book on home networking that is easy to follow! There are easy to follow "recipes" for almost any home situation. I connected all my computers on the second floor of my home and the basement to a wireless D-Link router. The book covers versions of Microsoft Windows from 98 through XP. I created a network with old and new computers. My latest addition was a Windows XP laptop that was very easy to add in both a wired and wireless access mode to my network. The book emphasizes security and easy of use. I recommend it.

This book has been my "answer guide". I used it to network my Windows ME and Windows XP computers using a Linksys wireless router. I found the instructions in this book easy to follow. I was able to set the security settings on the wireless router to keep my home network safe from intruders. I was also capable of using a USB wireless adapter to quickly connect a desktop computer in another room to the Internet. In addition, I was also able to figure out how to share my printer with two computers! GREAT BOOK AND EXTREMELY EASY TO FOLLOW!...

As a social scientist, somewhat wary of the escalating technology, I found this book easy to read and understand. Even though I have only one PC, I wanted to have the protection and security that a router provides behind my cable modem. With this security arrangement and the virus protection software on my computer, I have been virus free.

The book gave me a high level of understanding of the internet and was easy to follow.I highly recommend this book to any novice.

An excellent book of our environment & life's cycle of altering changes that have already happened & will happen ahead in our journey of life. Really make you think!

Drawing a comparison between the period 2000-2020 and 1900-1920 when the US underwent a major change from an agrarian to an industrial economy, the authors describe the changes that are already happening or they expect that will happen in the next coming years. The role that the car industry played in the early 20th century is played nowadays by computers and Internet. Although not much is new (other books such as "The Third Wave" have explored similar changes), the book is worth reading because we have not really absorbed many of these changes and we are only half way through this important transition period.

As many books and reports written by consultants the main ideas are reiterated, so one could glean the essence of them with a book half its length.

Some of the ideas are controversial. As a European that is in some aspects already in the future described by Draves and Coates (we have universal health care service and we have relatively good trains and even high speed trains, but we are still building freeways) the announced demise of the car industry is hard to swallow. Also, proposing the Segway as a vehicle for taking us to the train station and doing errands in the neighbourhood is not, I believe, a good solution. A scooter (and there are electric ones) can take two people seated and there is room between the driver legs to put your groceries. And saying that the only popular invention the car industry has made since 1984 is the cup holder is a gross understatement.

Another thing that surprises an European is that many Americans (according to the authors) are now not capable of reading cursive. Well, handwriting is not going to disappear in the world, so is the US creating a generation of computer literate, but handwriting illiterate, people?

There are some apparently contradictory statements. The authors say that a college degree will be needed to find good employment, only to tell us later that computer savvy boys, even if they are high school dropouts, are offered seven jobs when they are looking for one. Some explanation about this would be appreciated.

It is clear that the school system (as the political system and many other of our institutions in the Western world) needs a profound review. There are good ideas in the book, but a deeper discussion of what school system the authors propose would be also appreciated, although there are some hints in the last chapter. They claim, anyway, that it is not the students (particularly the boys) that are failing, but it is the school system, still geared to educate the perfect 8 to 5 employee of the industrial age, that is failing. And they suggest that what was formerly thought as cheating should be emphasized: students should help and learn from each other. Cheating becomes collaboration. But another (apparent) contradiction appears here. In page 249 the authors claim that education is leading the business sector in becoming web based only to tell us in page 259 that secondary schools nowhere come near expectations for their students in the 21st century.

Looking back one hundred years (as the authors do) also is an exercise of humility for the West. The situation of women then was not that different of their situation today in Saudi Arabia. A certain degree of patience is needed if we want that a modern democracy be instilled in much of the Arab world.

In the old times companies were focused on products, now they are focused on customers. Decisions have to be made by frontline employees and they have to be made fast. Workers must have all the information to make these decisions. Technology is changing very quickly. The typical pyramidal organization that has functioned so well during centuries (remember the Church and the army) is no longer valid. Pyramidal organizations will be transformed into real and virtual networks, some of them only for the duration of a project. We know this is already happening for Hollywood movies, so, if you are an entrepreneur or businessman, you should read the book and think how all these changes will affect your company. The authors recommend that you do not invest in buildings (there are already too many in place and Government is due to vacate quite a few). Besides, companies have to invest substantial amounts of money in technology and people, so there are less resources for buildings which are hardly needed for telecommuters. You should also pay your people not for their time, but for the outcomes of their projects. Companies will be divided into small units with dedicated tasks (customer service would be an example). Business units will be internet connected to other business units and each business unit will have to report to the others. By extending the workspace to cyberspace, you will be able to use talent (perhaps in a temporary basis) that would not be available in your hometown or region. One of the key leadership skills of a manager will be to find talent. The activity of a company will gravitate around teams that will work on projects. These teams will disassemble when the project is finished and new ones will be formed. The structure of the companies will be highly flexible, dynamical, constantly evolving. A project like the ipod from Apple would, I believe, be an example. The value of a new member of a team will be in great part his network of connections.

Another example of apparent contradiction: businesses will not be interested in long term investments in workers education, since, at least, knowledge businesses will be organized into short term projects and, once finished, people will move on (page 198). But in page 199, when discussing the interesting idea of Individual Learning Accounts, Draves and Coates tell us that businesses will be interested in investing in these accounts. It is a little confusing and would deserve an explanation.

To sum up: this book will open your eyes and brain to the spectacular changes that are already happening, of which, many of us are not fully aware. I would recommend to the authors a revised version due in 2010, when we will be half way into the critical period they are trying to describe.

If you haven't had the opportunity to hear and see Bill Draves speak about Nine Shift, then please read the book. The same energy and passion that Bill brings to his presentations seeps out from between the pages and infects you with his vision of the 21st century!

My community was fortunate to have Bill Draves join us on January 17th, 2006 to talk about Nine Shift in general and how it applies to our community, Rutherford County, NC, specifically. Bill brings to life a lively description of how some 75% of life changed in the first 20 years of the last century and insightfully points out the eerie similarities in the first years of the 21st century.

The book, like his presentations, is full of interesting stories that help to illustrate the changes that occurred 100 years ago and the changes that we are experiencing today. And while I may never visit Manhattan, Kansas, I've been there in spirit thanks to Bill's delightful recollections of his visit.

Read the book and discover how some 75% of our daily lives is in the process of changing. Read the book and discover the nine major shifts that are occurring right now as you read this. Read the book and come explore the excitement of the 21st century!

This is a "future shock" book explained with such clarity that no one can leave the book without some awareness of their own experience with change. I heard the author speak at a lecture two days ago. If you get a chance to hear him in person, I urge you to do so. The book begins with the turn of the 20th century and a small town in Kansas with four department stores and an opera house. It describes the trends that caused this very small town to have these amenities. It then goes to the turn of this century and shows parallel rapid changes in our own society and the impacts these are having on our work and personal lives. I found the most interesting parallel was the comparison of the death of the horse and buggy in favor of cars to the death of cars in favor of TRAINS! (And not for the reason you think!!) This is an easy to read and understand book. It is a book you will not be able to put down. Short chapters allow you to read in spurts. Pictures and quotes add to the interesting tale of the turns of centuries.