Organizations Books

This is a good book, but the title is misleading in that it is written for the non-profit board member. A good basic review regardless.

Thank you Kay for reminding us that this is noble service. This easy to read guide is a must for any board member, new or experienced. Kay's straighforward, non-nonsense style helps the reader understand the importance of their work and the value it brings to their organization and to their community.

This is the most essesntial companion a board member could ever want. Its the best quick reference filter I've seen for leading, governing, and advising. Powerful, simple, concise, and 21st century relevance. Bravo Kay Sprinkel Grace !

We give this book to all our Board members at Board Retreats. It is a quick read and our Board members rave about it. Yours will, too.

Ms. Grace's clear and succinct guide is a must have for any non-profit library. New and seasoned board members alike will benefit from the information provided. New board members will understand their role to provide "time, talent, and treasure" to support their non-profit's mission and seasoned board members will be reinvigorated to continue their good work. It's a breeze to read and so helpful.

This short and concise book should be on the required reading list for all business school students and faculty,accountants, lawyers,CEO"s,CFO"s, corporate directors and shareholders. It emphasizes thhe view that there are other measurements of corporate responsibility than the "bottom line".

Such ideas as openbook accounting,executive pay for performance,independent outside directors,workforce diversity,and shareholder rights are advocated.

[...]"Value-led".

An extremely thoughtful, timely and portable book, very well documented. Should have been required reading for some very prominent business executives,accountants, investors who lacked perspective on what a value led organization could be. This is also important reading for the person who runs or is starting a small business, or not-for-profit organization. Particularly interesting is the chapter on E Dimension or the role the internet will play in the company's strategies. Carefully computing and comparing the cost benefits of various implementation modes is stressed. Hundreds of important issues are discussed, as for example, the efficacy of having workers tele-commute. Bloxham points out the pros and cons of these arrangements, and notes that a value led organization must weigh these factors before making a decision. Another key area is the discussion on globalization-must reading for a business person hoping to expand across national borders. If the book has a flaw, it is that the topic raised could all be greatly expanded and this reader feels a certain frustration in not being able to contact the author and discuss an issue in depth. But of course the book is intended to be an overview. On the basis of this I would also recommend the book to business students, because it will lead them to fruitful and in depth study of the more important issues facing entrepreneurship today.

Value-Led Organizations, by Eleanor Bloxham is a must for all companys, organiztions and those interested in money management. If corporations such as we have read, and heard about so often in the news these past few months had heeded what is expounded on in this book, we would not be in the terrible mess we now are. A must reading for financial people.

As an engineer I appreciate this well-organized book with its emphasis on the important elements of stewardship. It carefully explains the duties of management required for care over all of the resources entrusted to them. The key concepts of value enhancement and then implementation of the theory are dealt with in detail. Examples and illustrations abound. Yet, the book is short enough to be a good read on a plane trip. Anyone responsible for planning and executing a strategy for business success will find this book an excellent source of inspiration.

Today more than ever, corporate directors must focus their oversight efforts on organizational "value," ensuring maximum long-term returns to investors. As a guide for value-led organizations, this book is a gem: small--yet valuable, durable, bright, and multifaceted. Its 100+ pocket-sized pages compactly combine practical applications, theoretical foundations, and intelligent insights--all from a corporate director who knows how to think like a fiduciary, responding to multiple constituencies (e.g., both stockholders and employees) along multiple dimensions (e.g., both finance and ethics): 25-karat!

We teach what we know and have learned through many life-lessons. But unfortunately, our "words of wisdom" may translate as "war stories" in the retelling. "What's Your Story?" helps keep that from happening. This book helps you frame your experience as stories that can mean as much to your audience as they do to you. Wortmann follows his own formula of teaching by example, using vivid vignettes to dramatize key points. It's great "airplane reading" when you're on your way to make a speech. Keep a pen handy because you'll think of things you'll want to do differently.

Craig Wortmann has an amazing ability to connect with his readers from the very first page to the last. He reveals exercises and tips to help get the creative juices flowing so that we, too, can find our own powerful stories to tell. His acute awareness of the current state of the business world allows him the ability to offer positive steps people can take to get out of their ruts and become more effective leaders. "What's Your Story?" is a must read.

As with many epiphanies in life, this one had to be delivered by, of all things, a book about how stories "ignite performance." I never paid much attention to my use of stories or their power until I read Craig Wortmann's book. Like a new car owner who spots their recent choice EVERYWHERE, I am now gratefully aware of stories and their powerful role in our lives and work performance. I have even a few times chuckled aloud as I witness a story capture an audience or even as I begin one to a few listeners. But more importantly, Craig was spot-on with his thesis that "we become more aware of our stories, and that we embed our stories in our communications, because this is a great way to...manage our information and increase our performance."
Craig makes his argument carefully, taking the reader by the hand. He takes his time stating the problem, and then turns on the overhead light for us just when we need it: the answer to all those bits and bullets and cacophony in our busy lives is...the story. That's right, what has warmed us and kept us safe since childhood is the key communication element in our adult world! Like all great leaders, Craig also models the behavior he is recommending; "What's Your Story" is awash in steady argument, clear communication and story-after-anecdote-after-story. This is a great read for anyone looking for that communication elixir or that missing leadership piece. Great work, Mr. Wortmann. Now you have one more story to tell!

As a new business owner, I found the book to be very helpful. As we grow, I've used Craig's techniques to to develop a unique story that will establish our identity.

This is a great book about a simple concept - which is why it so valuable! Stories provide context that help us all learn. This book provides very helpful suggestions for how to use stories to affect behavior in any organization. I highly recommend it!

Immensely "Readable" guidelines for writing all types of fundraising materials. Barbato has written a timeless, easy to follow handbook that holds a special place on my reference bookshelf.

I took this book, along with many others on fundraising, out of my local library. Though I'm new to raising funds, I've made much of my living writing articles and books; I wasn't sure it would have much to teach me.

This book was so startlingly useful that I had to buy it. It will likely become your most dog-eared fundraising guide.

When I am on deadline and desperately in need of help, "Writing for a Good Cause" is where I turn first for guidance, solace, or inspiration (seeing as how our office manager objects to open containers of alcohol at one's desk). Not only is this book full of incredibly practical writing tips in handy list form, it is also very funny and a page turner.

The heart of the book is a clear guide to how to write a great proposal, but other valuable topics are covered, including newsletters, case statements, interviews, and the like.

In one section, the authors mix genuine examples of great fundraising writing with an imaginary proposal to fund the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. They not only convince you to help build the Brooklyn Bridge, you're ready to buy it.

The bridge is not for sale, but this book is. It is well worth its price of two fast food lunches. Buy it, read it, and be happy.

Not surprisingly, this book provides advice that -- if applied literally -- will assist you in writing excellent proposals to fund your non-profit organization's ventures.

Surprisingly, the advice contained herein -- if made more generic in your mind -- is excellent advice for entire areas of your life. Sounds hokey, true. But honestly, boiled down the advice can be listed as:

1. Identify what the problem is. Do your research until you really understand the causes of the problems and their many effects.

2. Identify how you will know when you have made the problem better. How will you know when the problem has been alleviated? What intermediate steps need to be taken? How will you measure your progress along the way?

3.Identify what tools are available, and which are still needed, to move towards a resolution, or diminution, of the problem. Be specific here. Vague generalities are useless, but the brass tacks of a solution are absolutely priceless. Who has access to these tools? Who can make difficult things easy?

4. If you are asking for someone to help you with this problem, present the whole equation to them in a light that makes the most sense to *them*. This doesn't mean to lie, or exaggerate. It only means to focus your proposal in a way that makes them see it most personally.

5. Proofread what you have written, to be sure it says what you want it to say. Then proofread it again. And again. Get it right, because it is a hard and fast representative of you. This should be true in everything concrete you put out in the world with your name on it.

Now, all of this can be applied to writing a grant proposal. And much of it can be applied to the other things in life. Filling a job position, finding a home, working out a deteriorating relationship, educating yourself or your children ... you name it.

It's so rare that a book directed at an audience of specialists resonates with so much broadly applicable truth ... and it was such a delight to find it. I plowed through this book last night, reading every word, applying its advice mentally to all sorts of issues in my own life. I am pleased to report that it opened my eyes to solutions that had eluded me until now.

Wonderfully written, amusingly told, full of great advice to writers of all persuasive materials, this book is a gem.

Excellent book with very practical tips on writing to get funded. There are many grantwriting books and resources available, but this is one of the better that I've found for writing persuasively for major gifts. Great practical advice on formulating winning proposals, concept papers and other grant writing tools. Definitely recommend to grantseekers of all levels.

Fun romp featuring repo men (and women) of DKA as heroes versus gypsy clans. The king of American gypsies has died, and the clans from around the US are vying to have their leader be selected as the new king. To this end, they are stealing Cadillacs left and right in order to show up in the proper style at the big gathering where the new king will be selected. Lots of fun to be had as Gores skillfully describes scam after scam after scam, both by the gypsies and the repo men. Both groups are sympathetically portrayed for the most part, and the background detail about modern gypsy life is interesting in its own right.

This book is full of heroes on all sides as DKA agents and gypsies strive to outwit each other throughout a very funny story. 32 CADILLACS is the best entry in the entertaining DKA series.

This book explores the world of gypsies, scamps and thieves and the offbeat group of Private Investigators who pursue them.

Always planning the next con, theft or bunko, a band of gypsies in San Francisco pull off a perfect crime. Using four branches of the same bank, slick tactics and phone banks, a group of gypsies manages to steal 32 cadillacs, all in the same day.
Facing a million dollar loss, the bank hires DKA, a local PI firm, to recover the stolen cars. Tipped off that a gang of gypsies was responsible, the DKA operatives, or repomen, start a chase that follows the cars across the US. Using very unconventional methods this quirky band of PIs, who are rejects and misfits, must use their wiles to "outcon the cons."

What makes this story really outstanding is the background tale of the gypsy life, description of how the cons are done and the plotting of the PIs to get the cars back. There is lots of action too including breakneck chases and escapes, including one where a DKA agent must leap into a car while his rear is filled with buckshot.

My favorite character is Ken Warren, a repoman with such a severe speech impediment that he barely communicates. But with extraordinary skills in hunting down and absconding with cars that no one else can get, he earns the respect of his fellow DKA agents.

A fun ride which I highly recommend.

... I found it to be a nice treat.

It was an interestinglook at the workings of the repoman and an enlightning look at the gypsy lifestyle.

The members of the DKA agency were wonderfully drawn characters...very Runyon-esque. The gypsy characters could not have been more colorful. The plots and sidebars were neatly tied together.

There is a lot of humor mixed in with the crime, trackdowns, deceptions, double dealings and repo procedural. This would make a great movie. The action never stops and Mr. Gores does a great job of putting the reader inside the mind of the players.

"32 Cadillacs" was very entertaining and my initial Joe Gores book. I feel like I have discovered a new writer and look forward to more fun reads by Joe Gores.

Why Joe Gores isn't a better known author is a complete mystery to me. Ok, Ok, he's won 3 Edgar Awards and all, but still you don't hear his name mentioned too often when asking for recommendations. His DKA Files series are full of action, humour, cons and scams and in short are pure entertainment. Well, no matter, I've discovered him now and I'm here to tell you that the series, and 32 Cadillacs in particular, is one that's not to be missed.

For the first time, the DKA Agency is pitted in a head-to-head battle with San Francisco's Gypsy community following a Gypsy scam that had netted a grand total of 31 Cadillacs. This is a once-in-a-lifetime job, recover the 31 Caddys for a nicely negotiated fat fee. But the Gypsies are crafty specialists of the long con and are exceedingly difficult to track down, so the recovery process will require the DKA team to use every resource available as well as every underhanded trick in the book.

To give you a head start, I'll introduce you to the central DKA characters. They are, Dan Kearny, Giselle Marc, Patrick O'Bannon, Larry Ballard and Bart Heslip. And two new characters are added to the staff, Trin Morales, a sleazy Latino who failed on his own as a PI, and Ken Warren, the genius carhawk with a killer speech impediment. Both bring tremendous dimension and entertainment to the DKA team.

But the real stars of the book are the Gypsies, colourful in character as well as in their various ingenious scams. Although they're such big thieves that they'd make a kleptomaniac look like a saint, you can't help but like them and hope that every now and then they'll catch a break.

Joe Gores is an author who has walked the walk, having been an agent in the real life DKA Agency. His first-hand knowledge and experience is apparent as his agents work through their cases. Rumour has it that the Larry Ballard could very well be modelled on Gores himself.

As a final word, if there are any Donald Westlake fans out there who have read and enjoyed his Dortmunder book Drowned Hopes, I would urge you to read this one too with a brilliant crossover of storylines. This book was an absolute pleasure to read and, I know it's a much-overused catch phrase but I would term it a "must read book".

I read this book after reading Thomas Ricks' "Making the Corps" so compared to that book, I was a bit disappointed.
The book had some useful information, but didn't tell you that much about boot camp. In addition, there are billions of sections. Almost every two paragraphs is sectioned under a new heading, which annoyed me.
Though it didn't give me quite what I wanted, I did learn some useful information about preparing for boot camp, and the appendix is wonderful! With the phonetic military alphabet, army ranks, workouts, PFT info, useful charts, and much more!

Pretty useful for someone who wants to learn about preparing, but I recommend "Making the Corps"... read about it at: http://www.aaronsinfo.com/makingcorpsreview.html and there's product link to it's amazon page to look at reviews or purchase it.

I purchased this and a another basic guide book for my son before he left for Army basic training. This one by far, is the most easy to read and covers more of what you really need to know. This book is geared for army enlistees and not those of other branches, so if you're going into the marines, etc., you will be disappointed, so buy a different book.

The book answered questions that his recruiter seemed to be unknowledgeable about or reluctant to answer. One of the most significant, that he could earn his first stripe before leaving for boot camp; which he was able to do.

I truly believe this book gave my son a better understanding of what to expect, a better list of what to take and not take with him and how to conduct himself once he arrived at basic. I wish I had a book like this to read before I went through basic years ago, but reading it brought back memories and a lot of a-ha moments.

This should definitely be in every recruiter's library and on every future Army soldier's must read list!

I am SO glad I found this book before I left for BCT this Winter! It had the perfect combination of brevity, subject knowledge, and personal experience. The book contains exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. He starts out with Recruitment, moves through the entire enlistment process, and then breaks down the current Army BCT experience. I enjoyed reading it, but was only able to truly appreciate the knowledge when I was going through the training. I felt like I had already experienced much of it through the book, and felt much more confident in my ability to handle the change from civilian to soldier.

Since my MOS is the same as his, I sent him an email when I was at AIT. Not only did he respond, but we talked several times over the phone about the combat medic training, and he was able to refer me to some more excellent reference material that made the training much more understandable. He also talked to my younger brother over the phone about BCT (he leaves in June), and reiterated some of the things he talked about in his book. It's nice to have someone put their money where their mouth is.

This book isn't just nice to have; it's a necessity!

As someone who aspires to join the military one day and has read many BCT survival guides, I can proudly say there is no better book on the market than 63 Days and a Wake-up!!! It is intuitive, astounding, and to the point. Specialist Herbert did a remarkable job writing this must have book. It's as if you're already at BCT and know what to expect. Like Don says, he won't give you a 300 page book that contains 40 pages of substance. Every page is of helpful material to get you ready for RECBN/BCT or so you can just have a better understanding of what it's like. Starting with the recruitment process and ending with life at BCT, every single aspect is covered and explained. What I look for in an Army BCT survival guide and have not found in the many I have read are the helpful hints and tips found in this book for while you are in training or in the preparation process. It's easy to see that the Specialist wrote much of this while at BCT. Even if you're not interested in joining the Army, I would recommend this to anyone to better understand the "Army Strong Process" and for anyone seriously considering it, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS BOOK!!!

After reading this book, I immediately e-mailed Specialist Herbert and complimented on it. I also asked him if it would be okay if I could talk to him sometime with questions about the Army I had. He responded the very next day and gave me his phone number. I called him with the questions I had and not only did he answer all of them but he couldn't have been any nicer and insightful with the information he gave me. He is a truly outstanding guy and the best warrior America has to offer. I can't wait and look forward to the sequel to this book coming out soon!!!

As an Army Recruiter I cannot stress enough the importance of being ready, not only prior to training - but before you make the decision to serve. I am going to recommend this book to every potential soldier who walks through my door. It is the best source of information on the "New Army" BCT out there (it's even better than the Army literature). I have shown it to 2 of my Soldiers who just returned from training and they both said the book was right-on. The best way to describe the book is "the kind of information you can't appreciate until you go without it". With just a few pages assigned to each different, but important phase of enlistment (Recruitment, MEPS, Travel, Personal Business, etc..) Herbert does a better job of describing the processes than the Army ever has done - and we own the business!!!
I have been using the book as a tool to help future Soldiers understand what they can expect. I loaned it out to one of my warriors who wanted to know more about BCT before they committed to sign, and he brought it back the next day and was ready to sign-up. The book answered his questions and made him more comfortable in the decision - which is very important!
You should be comfortable with your decision to join the military, and this book will help you make the decision - one way or the other - with confidence.

The Accountable Organization: Reclaiming Integrity, Restoring Trust by John Marchica (CEO of FWI, a medical information services firm and one of America's fastest growing companies) offers insightful analysis and solid advice, enhanced with personal testimony and an informed expertise with respect to the vital connections between corporate integrity, accountability, and trust that is essential to success in today's post-Enron business culture. Offering readers a practical and actionable guidance on how to identify a company's values and purposes, then integrating those values and purposes into a strategic plan to serve as a focused "roadmap" for execution, The Accountable Organization should be considered rquired reading for all supervisory and management level employees of national and international corporations -- an on the mandatory reading list of every MBA candidate in the country!

The author shows how developing a corporate culture of trust and integrity will return profits by building raving fans - not only with his customers, but also with his employees. In this day and age where these factors are sometimes taken for granted, it is refreshing to have an example that we may follow.

This book gives practical examples in which we can model our own organizations. The positive ideas gained from this book are a must for all leaders and individuals in the workplace.

As a consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with John and his company FWI, and I can offer the perspective of someone who has seen him put into action the principles he writes about in this book.

Mr. Marchica lays out how it's important to conduct business with accountability, integrity and trust, but he's just as quick to point out that you still must take risks and be creative. The scandals and the slow economy are turning too many companies into wallflowers afraid to dance.

I'm using this book in my organization and I recommend it to anybody that wants to make a difference in theirs. You can easily apply these ideas to any level within a company. The positive results will spread the idea to all levels.

The Author offers a cerebral, but pragmatic approach to defining and applying concepts like "integrity" and "trust" (too often just rhetoric) in the modern business enterprise. His views on risk and trust completely changed my approach to marketing. Well thought out, insightful, academic, but with very practical applications. A must read not just for executives, but for everyone in your entire enterprise

The Accountable Organization is a timely book by John Marchica. It speaks to the heart of what has given corporate America a black eye. The value however is not just pointing out the problems that we are all seeing resulting from corporate leaders making self serving decisions. Rather, the book provides valuable insights into what any company of any size needs to do to be accountable to all its constituents, customers, shareholders, investors, employees and suppliers. Moreover, the result is not just being a good corporate citizen but the result is a very successful company. Success that works for all constituents. The Accountable Organization is a must read if you want to take your company to a higher level.

Workers these days are like snow shovels in a South Carolina blizzard - not enough to go around. Some of the causes are simple statistics: economy up, unemployment down, working-age population falling, employers' demand outstripping supply. But others are cultural. Large corporations, the traditional source of jobs, are often perceived as uncaring engines of depletion, exhaustion, and downsizing. The young are choosing options, from lifestyle to stock, while workplace veterans opt for the dignity of early retirement over the desolation of forced termination. Employers' alternatives are stark: expand their supply, increase their appeal, or prepare for shortfalls and belt-tightening. Recruitment, retention, recession - remorse.

Were companies to examine their own assumptions on hiring and firing, they would find a pervasive and self-destructive premise: old is bad. But as Beverly Goldberg argues in _Age Works_, employers - indeed, society as a whole - have built this premise on an ill-considered, ill-defined congeries of prejudices and presuppositions. Believe it or not, Americans age 55 and above take fewer sick days, adapt to new technologies successfully, and are more loyal to their employer than are their colleagues thirty years younger. And perhaps more importantly, they may be the only untapped workforce available. As hidebound organizations throw fortunes at untested youth, others more far-seeing (including Travelers, GTE, and Baxter Health Care) actively recruit, train, and depend upon senior workers. In a shrinking labor market, corporations and their HR departments may find a surprising competitive advantage in coaxing older employees away from the brink of an often sterile and impoverished retirement.

Eager to dismiss this challenge to their standard practices, naysayers and doomsayers will demand proof. Fortunately _Age Works_ reads more like a position paper than a business book, and like any good position paper, it's loaded with facts. Age Works is the ideal volume for anyone itching for a statistical analysis of the American workforce 1950-2050, in all its hues and strata. Arguably Goldberg's love of statistics verges on addiction, but in the pharmacy of authorial dependence, statistics are a pretty benign habit. More distracting, although again less than fatal, is the book's policy-wonk style. Goldberg stands foursquare in the school of tell-`em-what-you're-going-to-tell-`em, tell-`em-, tell-`em-what-you-told-`em, and _Age Works_ sometimes reads like an executive summary that cannot bear to end.

Nonetheless, _Age Works_ is a cogent, serious, undeniably well-supported piece. Even those who resist the proposed solutions (admittedly the book's weakest section) will find the diagnosis difficult to dispute. Like it or not, America's workforce will continue to grow smaller and grayer over the next twenty years. And by the time the population bounces back, corporations' hiring practices will have appealed to all ages - or to none.

I read Age Works with great interest since I have been involved with this problem for 25 years and have recently published a web site exclusively for older workers. It is a free non- profit referral service. Go to seniorjobbank.org

For a decade we've heard a steady chorus of despair about the graying of America--that graying means paying, in the words of one leading credit. Beverly Goldberg, in this carefully researched, tightly argued, fluidly written, and ultimately extremely important book, shows us a different path. She demonstrates that older Americans are a potential boon to the economy and to the bottom line of forward thinking companies. She shows that they are a group that brings considerable experience and great stability to those that will make use of their talents. And she supplies a roadmap for how we can get there--as indivuals, as companies, and as a society. A great read and a great contribution to the growing body of literature about navigating what may well be the great demographic transition in our country's history, the aging of America.

Since the idea of totally retiring is not something that appeals to me, I found the suggestions for building different kinds of flexible work arrangements very thought-provoking. The numbers in the first couple of chapters will help build a compelling case for allowing those who want such arrangements to have them. I also found the stories of those who wanted out fascinating-they are an indictment of companies for the ways they handled downsizing and mergers. It clearly is time for all businesses to rethink their dealings with the people who work for them and to reconsider the value of older workers.

If managers think they have problems attracting and retaining human capital in today's economy, they haven't seen anything yet. Get set for the massive wave of retirements over the next ten (10) years. Beverly Goldberg conveys a compelling picture of why managers need to learn the value of recognizing, retraining, and retaining older workers. Age Works is a wakeup call to those caught up in the wastefulness of our "throw away" society. Older workers are a precious resource that can ill afford to be squandered. Ms. Goldberg demonstrates a better path and presents concrete ways for managers to benefit from the graying of America.

A very clear and practical view of the Balanced Scorecard tool. The text has the right amount of theoretical background and gives very enlightening exemples and advice to those interested in this field. However most of the exemples comes from private sector and non-profit organizations. Little from government and armed-forces.
But in general terms this is an excelent book. I recommend it.

This book is informative and keeps your interest. Lots of case studies and examples. The author keeps the focus on why scorecards should be used and places emphasis on how to keep them useful.

Balanced Scorecards make lots of sense for the For-Profit world for which they were originally developed. What makes this book so good is that they have concentrated on what makes Non-Profits different and how to conceptualize how the BC works in that arena. The book is well written and easy to understand. It is a must for all non-profit execs.

Very helpful approach in developing a measuring tool for monitoring ministry growth and tracking to Vision.

Managers face competing interests in running a company. Their compensation programs are set to try and focus their performance, but if it is only set on revenue the company might end up losing money while paying the top executives big performance bonuses. If it is on net income, they can manipulate the accounting by cutting the heart out of future business, again, damaging the company while getting a big paycheck. If you put them on straight salary, you won't be able to hire most of the best talent. So, what do you do?

The Balanced Scorecard was originally created in the private sector to create management goals that, yes, balance a variety of factors. You use historical and industry data as well as current performance metrics. The interests of shareholders and stakeholders are also balanced in some way, as are any other combination of factors that can help managers get a better picture of what matters to the success of the company and the benefit of its owners, its employees, and its stakeholders.

This book takes this tool and shows you how to adapt it to public sector entities and nonprofit agencies. Paul Niven draws on his years of experience and shows you how to tweak the model and use it to increase your organization's effectiveness. He also takes us through the success story of Charlotte, North Carolina.

If you are interested in this model and are a governmental agency or a nonprofit organization, this is a fine resource.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

This is a great book for all Christians to read. It puts creation back into perspective and establishes all the solid biblical proof for why creation had to exist in both space and time. Unbelievers will scoff but in this book believers will be reminded of who they are and where they came from.

One of Schaeffer's best that I have read.He looks at the start of time for us not God, since God is eternal.It really made me stop and think. Also to look at Genesis in a whole new way

It definitely would have gotten 5 stars had it been a little longer and more detailed. Here is my report on it for a class I had:

Perhaps no chapters in the whole Bible are as important to our faith than the first eleven chapters of Genesis, discussed in this book. These chapters provide the foundation for our faith, and our understanding of reality. In this book, Francis Schaeffer examines some of the concepts which come from these chapters. He also emphasizes the need for the belief in the actual historicity of these chapters. I think it has become common among Christians to try to “spiritualize” these chapters; to say that they are not historical, but are meant to convey general truths. Schaeffer, however, sees the absolute necessity of the belief in the historicity of these chapters.
First, we have the foundation for the belief in creation by a personal God (in contrast to an impersonal one). Many, including pantheists or deists, believe that the world was created (or at least “formed”) by an impersonal being(s). However, this does not adequately explain personalness of mankind. If God is not personal, then there is no basis for man being personal, and since man is indeed personal, we would have to conclude that the belief that an impersonal being created the universe does not provide a proper explanation of reality (Schaeffer 20-21). In Genesis, however, we have the explanation: we are told that a personal God existed in a triune nature, communicated within the trinity, and specifically created the universe, and mankind, in order to communicate with us on a personal level (i.e. God talked personally with Adam and Eve) (21-22).
Adding on to this, since God created us purposefully, not as an accident, and in his image (imago Dei), we have in Genesis the foundation for the belief in the intrinsic value of mankind. Today’s culture, with its belief in the evolution of man (whether they believe that there was a God who started the process or not), has no real basis for claiming that humans are somehow valuable (46). Indeed, many have realized this, and now claim that humans and animals are just as valuable. We can see this is organizations like PETA, who often put the rights of animals before the rights of man. The refutation for this is found not only in the imago Dei of man, but in the dominion mandate, when man is given dominion over all the animals of the earth. This does not mean we should treat lightly our responsibility to care for creation, but it does mean that man’s rights should come before animal’s rights.
Also, within the Genesis account of the creation of mankind we find the creation of woman from man’s rib. This is the foundation for the unity of man and woman, the unity of mankind. Other worldviews have some problems explaining why humans should be united. After all, we do not see animals of the same species united in quite the same way that humans do. Why is it that mankind cares so much about fellow men? We find the answer in Genesis: we were created to be united (45).
Another important foundation in Genesis which Schaeffer pointed out is the foundation for moral absolutes. If God did not create everything, then we do not have a basis for deciding what is right and wrong, and we must then believe that whatever is is right (48). In Genesis, however, we have a basis for denying that what is happening in the world is the way it should be, while other worldviews cannot even claim that there is a way it should be.
We find the explanation as to why things are not the way they should be in the account of the Fall. Since that time, creation is marred and man has lost some of his capacities. If we do not acknowledge this account, we once again have no basis for saying that the world is supposed to be different. If we do not acknowledge the Fall recorded in Genesis, we must conclude that humans are the way they are supposed to be. Perhaps this is why people deny the intrinsic value of man: because they do not acknowledge that he is not supposed to be a corrupted being, they do not know that he does not act according to how he was created to act. They then see a corrupt being often bent on self-service and other evils, and, with no knowledge of the Fall, why should they not conclude that, at the very least, humans are not a whole lot better that animals? In the Genesis account, however, we find that man has fallen, but that he still retains the imago Dei, even though it is much harder to see now.
Also found in the Fall is the explanation as to why the four separations of man exist: man from himself, man from man, man from nature, and man from God. Man is separated from himself, which is seen in psychological problems (98). Man is separated from man, which is seen in wars, strife, alienation, etc. Man is separated from nature: he has lost some of his dominion over it, and nature itself is sometimes used as the vehicle of judgment upon sin (100). . Most importantly, however, man is separated from God, he can no longer communicate with Him on the level that he was created to communicate on.
However, we also find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that God can communicate to us, even though we are not perfect. Schaeffer points out that after Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves, they communicated with God (60). Sin does not stop communication with God, it merely hinders it. We also find the foundation for the belief that God would redeem his creation. In Genesis 3:15 we hear of the “seed of woman” who will crush the head of Satan. We believe this to be Jesus Christ. Already in Genesis the foundation was being laid for the redemption of creation, and the solution to the separations of man (108).
Finally, we find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that history is going somewhere, and it not merely cyclical (Eastern thought), static (existential thought), or eternal (naturalist thought). It has an absolute beginning in the creation account, and is headed toward a set end (Revelation).
These are just some of a multitude of foundations and explanations in Genesis 1-11 for what is believed in and seen even in today’s world. There are numerous others which I did not have time to cover, such as the basis for the division of human history with Cain and Abel, the (possible) basis for mythology in Genesis 6:1-2, the foundation of languages with the Tower of Babel, etc., so I attempted to cover the ones I thought were most important. These foundation and explanations are vital to the Christian worldview, and this is why Schaeffer is vociferous about believing the actual historicity of these chapters. There are two major reasons why we must accept their historicity. First, if we do not accept these things as historical events, we lose the foundations. They cannot simply be spiritualized, because they then lose their validity as explanation for the real space-time world. Secondly, if we are Christians, we must accept the historicity of these chapters, or else our faith will be undermined. Jesus, as well as Paul and the other NT authors treat these chapters as historical events. If we deny that these are historical events, we must conclude that either Jesus was wrong, or that the gospel writers misquoted him. Either way we lost the foundation for our faith: if Jesus is wrong he cannot be God, and if the gospel writers are wrong about this we cannot know that they are not wrong about other important events which they record. In essence, we either lose the belief in the deity of Jesus or we lose the belief in the reliability of scriptures, which I would contend results in the downfall of Christianity. Neither option is acceptable, so we are left with only one option: to accept that the first eleven chapters of Genesis must be understood as historically reliable by Christians.
Unfortunately, this has not been my experience in church. I went to two different churches in high school, and both presented different views on Genesis 1-11. The first, my home church, refused to take an official position. They claimed (and taught) that we did not know whether it really happened the way Genesis describes, and that it was probably just a story to tell us that God created the universe. The rest of Genesis (as far as I know) was affirmed, but I seriously doubt that the importance of it was realized. The other church I went to strictly followed the account in Genesis, and they were militant literal, seven-day creationists. They also never mentioned the importance of that belief, nor of the rest of the belief in the historicity of the rest of Genesis. While reading, I have frequently come across interpretations which reject the historicity of Genesis 1-11. The most notable example that comes to mind is C. S. Lewis, who rejected at least the historicity of the story of Noah, saying that “Jonah and the Whale, Noah and his Ark, are obviously fabulous; but the Court history of King David is probably as reliable as the Court history of King Louis XIV.” (Clives Staples Lewis. God In the Dock, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 58.) I think that it is very important that we realize that this is not an acceptable interpretation. We have already looked at why these chapters must he seen as offering real history, and now we need to make sure that this information reaches the people in our church congregations. I have yet to hear a sermon in church dealing with this issue, which is not good, since it is the foundation of our faith. This needs to change, and we need to go back to Genesis in our preaching so we have a foundation for the rest of the story.

Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-84) was an American Evangelical theologian and philosopher whose works were very influential on Evangelical thinking. In this fascinating book, Dr. Schaeffer takes a look at the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis, which many Christian thinkers seem to find irrelevant to a truly Christian worldview. On the contrary, Dr. Schaeffer shows that the early history of man, as contained in the beginning of Genesis, is crucial to understanding why man is the way he is, and how God works with and through man.

I must say that this is a truly mind-expanding book that goes a long way towards giving the reader a truly Christian view of the man and the world that he inhabits. I mean, how is man "fallen," and what was and is his relationship with God? These are crucial questions to understanding the very foundational concepts of our religion, and the answers are contained in this book.

This is a great book, and a true classic of Christian thought. I do not hesitate to say should be read by all believers.

Christianity contains the answer to the modern man's questions. This book provides the foundation for Christian belief and the understanding of an infinite personal God who is there.

A must read...for all