K Books

No More Blue Mondays helped me in the transition to move on...I was really having terrible mondays, i didn't want to go to work anymore...This book was great, help me a lot with my decision (I made a change in carrer), this was 1 year ago, and i can truly say it help me to take the best decision and make the transition smooth. Also it is a very easy to read and apply book. The price is nothing in comparison with the benefits...i did not need any professional help...this book was enough.

No More Blue Mondays helped me get out of the rut of unproductive, self-examination and moved me to begin researching what I really wanted to do with my work life. This book very practically and very specifically guided me from frustration, feeling 'too old' or 'not qualified' to real empowerment in choosing my new direction. Sheerer very pointedly tells you to 'get over it' when feelings of self-pity become obstacles to your appreciation of your own talents and possibilites. Action plans get you moving and involved in discovering the next career step way before the process of applying for specific positions even begins. This book really helped me to know my own heart which moved me to a career path that I have always wanted. No More Blue Mondays and no more switching jobs every three years out of dissatisfaction.

Thank you, Robin, for the wisdom, practical guidance, and down-to-earth nature of your book. It had an immediate and profound impact on me personally.

Two weeks ago, I ordered your book for what I thought would be a resource for my career coaching clients. Yet I quickly realized that I was really reading it for my own benefit. I had insight after insight for myself, saw clearly how off track my business had become, and what I wanted to do to redesign it.

Your four keys to finding fulfillment at work enabled me to quickly get to the core of what was going on for me and brought to the forefront the actions I needed to take to get back on course. I highly recommend your book to anyone who wants to find more satisfaction and fulfillment in their work. In my eyes, "No More Blue Mondays" is the best career book on the market!

I always knew this was a truly great book. Now, it appears, everyone agrees with me! No More Blue Mondays was just given a Ben Franklin Award. This means that this is the top book for the year in the Career area as rated by publishing industry professionals. Read it and find out why!

I've been a career consultant since 1979, and this book is fresh! Most of the career books I've seen are filled with theory and instructions, but show little proof that it works. Here, finally, is a book that is not only right on the money, but it's believable. What I mean is that Robin's book is full of real-life examples; person after person, example after example, story after story. You get it: her "four keys" are not dreamt up in some ivory tower -- they are practical, applicable, powerful, field-tested tools to accomplish a successful career transition. They really work.

When I read other career books, my mind often says, "Well, that's nice in theory, but how do you do that in the real world?" Well, it's clear that Robin's "four keys" have played out, time and again, in real-life people. By aptly illustrating the theory, these stories activate a different part of my brain -- they get me motivated, thinking, "Hey, if so-and-so can do this, so can I!" It's not pie in the sky, happily ever after, career fairy tales. Robin's people are real. You feel their pain. You hear their discouragements, wrong turns, applaud their persistence. You follow their paths of doubt and courage, you see how human and fallable they are (just like you), and you also see how the "four keys" have guided their way out of the toughest career predicaments. And you believe those keys work for you, too!

If you're looking for a book that will have you cheering for others, and, then, soon, cheering for yourself, this is it.

I am so impressed with Badshah Khan to the point of being overwhelmed with admiration. One reason is his breadth of vision and his tolerance. At one point Gandhi asked Khan if his English sister-in-law had become a Muslim, and Abdul Ghaffar Khan replied that he did not know: "Why should not a husband and wife adhere each to their respective faiths?" (p.145) I long for this kind of tolerance in the world!

The book is an amazing story of success and failure. Khan and Gandhi succeeded nonviolently in bringing independence to India. The failure lies in the facts that: 1) Neither one of them wanted to see the partitioning in to two nations, 2) their dreams of a united Hindu-Islamic nation turned into a nightmare, 3) they both envisioned a nonviolent nation and that has turned out to be a far-fetched notion. Yet, Khan & Gandhi proved that non-violence can work, as proven again by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

As the author notes, probably no other leader suffered so much for the cause of peace and nonviolence as did Khan. No, not even Gandhi or even Mandela. I think we have in this book the profile of THE most amazing man in world history!! And the fact is that he is probably known by far less than one percent of the world's population.

I love everything Eknath Easwaran writes and this book exceeded my expectations. The stories and information are priceless - buy this book if you want to know about the life of Badshah Khan.

I request customers and other visitors to read the article by Arif H. Akhunzada titled "Bacha Khan legacy is Questionable" with caution because in Pakistan objective interpretation and description of history is mostly marred by the official stand on history enshrined in the so-called "Pakistan Ideology".

Pakistan Ideology i.e. the Idea that sparked the struggle for Pakistan is a highly communal, theocratic, and Pan-Islamist view of history that considers the people of the Subcontinent to be divided into two religious communities-Hindus and Muslims-with entirely different ways of life and very little in common to live in a single state or society. According to this ideology, the Idea of Pakistan was born when the first Arab Muslim invader i.e. Mohammad Bin Qasim invaded India (Sindh) and converted some of its inhabitants to Islam.

This divisive and jingoistic philosophy very well serves the interests of the military bureaucracy that has been ruling Pakistan since inception and the allied religious and fudal classess.

As Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan espoused a non-communal approach to life in which the highest spiritual act and worship was the "service of humanity" irrespective of religious affiliation and practically upheld what he thought as the true purpose of life ( evident from his personal life and joint struggle with Hindus, Sikhs, etc. for freedom), he, therefore, is an anathema to Pakistani national elite. This elite, through a systematic campaign, has tried its best to malign Abdul Ghaffar Khan, mispresent him to the world and his own people i.e. Pashtuns, make him controversial, and permanently erase him from history and the memories of the successive generation of Pashtuns. These elite want Pashtun society to evolve the Taleban way.

There is also another dimension to all this. The political, bureaucratic, economic, and intellectual elite of Pakistan predominently comes from two communities; Punjabis and Muhajirs. The other three communities of Pakistan i.e. Sindhis, Baluchis, and Pashtuns have only peripheral rule in Pakistan. The Punjabi-Muhajir elite wants to build a Pakistani nation based on Islam and Hindustani Muslim Culture. Therefore, any thing that gives these marginalized communities (i.e. Baluchis, Pashtuns, and Sindhis) a sense of identity, pride, self-esteem, and confidence is virtually unbearable for the Punjabi-Muhajir elite that dominate Pakistan.

I will request the world not to forget Bacha Khan. The values and the view of life he upheld are eternal and humanistic. His legacy belongs to the entire humanity rather than a specific community. As a Pashtun, I believe that my people i.e. Pashtuns can achieve spiritual and material success only if they follow Bacha Khan's philosophy of non-voilence and peaceful struggle for personal and collective development. Unfortunately, initially British and later Pakistani state ruthlessly suppressed his movement and philosophy. The politics of the Cold War, in which radical Islam and Jehad were used as counter to communism, also have its share in weakening Bacha Khan's "Khudayi Khidmatgar Movement".

I will further request that readers should read anthropological studies on Pashtuns than relying on superficial views about them here and there.

This is a sweeping portrait of Badshah Khan, a courageous Muslim figure. I felt inspired as I read this touching work, though I wanted more.
I wish that Khan's autobiography, My Life and Struggles would be more readily available. Also, a more detailed biography would be helpful. This book is wonderful as an overview but one who wants to dive deeper should investigate further.
This book is an excellent introduction to Badshah Khan. It shows how one can use the bismillah (in the name of God the infinitly compassionate and merciful) as a means to internalize compassion and mercy in ourselves. This is the core of Islam and of the utmost importance today.

All the Amazon reviews for this book below perceive Abdul Ghaffar Khan superficially, only from the angle of the non-violent doctrine and rural Islamic philosophy he preached, rather than any practical political accomplishments and impact on history and his society that may have been made by him - or the lack thereof. High ideals are fine, except that they are a little ephemeral as far as practical reality is concerned - unless they help achieve something effective and concrete. And sadly this is what this otherwise good and simple man failed to do. Living in the same society as he did, I will focus on him from the angle of Pashtun social realities and issues, unlike the other foreign reviewers who are just content with the usual wishy-washy praise of his non-violent Islamic ideals. It must also be kept in mind that Eknath Easwaran is a pacifist Hindu thinker, and so has written this book mainly from the viewpoint of highlighting his pacifist aspect above all else. Which is true, since Ghaffar Khan's pacifism was largely Hindu inspired, but for Pashtuns he is basically a politician and cultural figure, and pacifism is just a facet of his character, albeit a key one. 20th century Pashtun political history is an obscure issue but still crucially important, inspite of its failed and forlorn character. I consider this book as perhaps the most useful introduction so far for the foreign reader, of the man at the centre of it - and I rate it at five stars because there are only a handful of books worth the name on the international level that deal with his doings, and this one is about the story of the man himself. Ghaffar Khan aka Badshah (or Bacha) Khan was a towering figure mainly because of his personal qualities of head and heart - infinite patience, steely determination and simplicity. He himself belonged to the Hunnish origin "Khan" Pashtun landowning class. He is acclaimed by most Pathans (Pashtuns) as being the father of their "nationalism". He founded a simple rural political-cum-cultural-cum-religious movement in the countryside to "dignify" Pashtuns and their culture and language and free them from first British and then Pakistani rule. They were known as "Red Shirts", the name being derived from their uniformed cadres and were first affiliated politically with the All India National Congress of M.K.Gandhi and later merged into and then broke with many other Pakistani groupings (when they couldn't dominate them). They were finally turned into a formal political structure of their own by 1986, which came to be dominated by his late son and daughter-in-law, and is now very much their family concern, a "lucrative" political party in the hands of his grandchildren and their in-laws and other cronies. They now use his image and "philosophy" to keep their fortunes alive. He was the key regional ally of Gandhi in his non-violent independence struggle for India. His position on Pakistan was varied and inconsistent. He had earlier tried vainly to oppose the dissolution of the Turkish Caliphate in the 1920s. All these activities earned him long spells in jail. But his anti-British stance didn't stop him from getting his sons elitist British educations and properties in Britain, as well as good political positions and alliances in later Pakistani governments.

Let us now review Badshah Khan's accomplishments - and those of his successors - for those are what really count in the historical long run. What is there visible to us that he has achieved for his people through his struggle and philosophy? Nothing but a vague demand for some sort of a "Pashtun nation" of sorts that even its proponents very conveniently refrain from defining exactly - and some sort of "unity" for the Pashtun ethnicity divided between Afghanistan and Pakistan. That was never really elaborated upon either. First of all, he desired Pashtun political union with India, after it became independent; later, he toned that down and would give the impression of wanting total Pashtun independence; otherwise, he would only demand Pashtun provincial autonomy within Pakistan; and many a time, he swore fealty to Pakistan's integrity! He is also known for his advocacy of Afghanistan as the "real" Pashtun state, and that is where he now lies buried. In the end, he merely wanted to change Pakistan's Pashtun province's name from NWFP to the more realistic "Pakhtunkhwa". That was the nature of his ever efflusive politics. No doubt he talked about some vague Pashtun independence and national self-determination, but avoided really important issues like improving and reforming their cultural quality. Otherwise he was just a popular rustic social figure, wearing the rude homespun cotton garb of a village simpleton who gave his society nothing of particular merit other than going around from village to village drinking green tea with the men and extolling the virtues of rustic Pashtun goodness and their good old rough Red Shirt camaraderie. Now let us see what effect this influence of his has had. When we look at the Pashtun society in 2006 and compare it to what it was in 1930 - at the height of his movement - we see no real changes in it at all: their dirty mud caked village roads and stinking ramshackle bazaars are the same, their rich, exploitative landowning upper and noveau riche classes, who use their educational skills and government jobs to enable their legendary corruption, plunder and pelf (and who are the local comprador dependents of US global imperialism) - are the same; the great masses of the Pathan populace are boorish vicious tribesmen and illiterate peasant artisans, cultivators and daily wagers, little better than animals in any respect, going around swathed in their rough stone age felt sheets and caps and turbans, working with much the same equipment in their fields as they did 3000 years ago in the days of their Gandhara predecessors, and living likewise: the open drains by the roadside and walls serve as the men's public urinals. The only notable differences between Gandhara and now are that there are some dilapidated roads, vehicles, electricity and various other trappings of modernity that were introduced here by British influence; and lately Pashtuns have been inundated with cell phones, in an unnatural and despicable mix that I call "neolithic globalism" - and Badshah Khan or his marvellous legacy are certainly not responsible for that. (It is because of the folly and misdemeanours of the modern world that we see the likes of backward Bedouin sheikhs sporting chunky Rolex watches and Rolls Royces, and medieval Pathan ruffians of all hues - and other such "natives" - having undeserved free access to the latest electronic gadgets and vehicles, and taking them for granted. Sad paradoxes indeed). The modern state institutions that exist in the Pashtun areas under Pakistani rule are those bequeathed by former British rule, and they exist merely as a modern verneer beneath which things go on here as they have been doing for thousands of years. With these institutions existing just as rubberstamps, the real decision making power lies with informally constituted tribal councils made up of "elders" and "influentials" and "notables" at the local level, extending all the way up. Bribery, patronage and coercion and are considered normal business procedure. Nobody pays taxes, and smuggling constitutes trade. Gun running, narcotics and counterfeiting are traditional lucrative sources of income here. Merit doesn't exist. People tend to settle all disputes personally owing to police and government ineffectiveness in such a society, and given the extreme and proud Pashtun temperament - often end up using guns whatever the nature of the problem. Grasping, greed, jealousy and lawless behaviour are customarily extolled as being "manly". "Insults" have to be avenged - often by death - and so many things are regarded as insults, that normal people elsewhere can't even imagine: for instance, asking someone to remove his car parked wrongly behind yours can be regarded by him as insulting, and among most Pashtuns in general such incidents are the norm because of their lack of adherence to and cynical disregard for proper procedure and manners is so universal as they haughtily dismiss all such procedural "fuss" as being beneath strong, clever men. Even someone overtaking another person's car is often regarded by the one being overtaken as an insult... Pashtun fracticide, treachery and tribal disunity are unparalleled and legendary. Extreme religious fervour has always been the norm in this claustrophobic society. Its conventions are extolled and enforced ruthlessly. Marriages are all arranged. Women are still bought and sold in marriage deals. Polygamy is considered normal and even a prestigious aspiration. Pashtun society is infamous for its sub-human and extreme cultural attitudes regarding its women and their rights. Afghan tribesmen use the Pashto word "kaddah" for wife which literally means "baggage" or "belongings". Women are made the cornerstone of a twisted all-pervasive male "code" of feudal-tribal "honour" that rules day to day Pashtun living, involving senseless butchery, blood feuds, duels and land and money grabbing. What is more, the women willingly and "proudly" accept their place in all this too, may I inform those shocked western and other liberals who read this! (After all, it is they who make sure to pass on these noxious traditions to their sons).

In short, Pashtun society is a lowlife jungle society in every sense of the word, at a time in history when all should know and do better. It is stuck in a time warp. All this is what Badshah Khan (and now his brood) endorsed and glorified as the "Pashtun nation's precious cultural identity", a situation to protect and be proud of. His non-violence was mostly a tactic for political activities against the British, and later the Pakistani administrations. And not all of this was non-violent either, if one cares to read about the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre of 1930 and the Baburra massacre of 1948, where he got hundreds of his uniformed cadres slaughtered as they were preparing for confrontations. No doubt the reader will come across gushing, over-reverent Pashtun views regarding him. (An example is a Pashtun's Amazon review for the 1998 edition of this book, on a separate webpage). But these are worthless tinsel, the bombastic rigmarole typical of the blustery and exaggerated Pathan mentality and "public morality" that they show to others, especially foreigners. You can ask me instead about what Badshah Khan & Co. accomplished. I belong to the same provincial district as the Badshah Khan family, called Charsadda, and my family is even distantly related to theirs.

So honestly, what did this man achieve in his society that merits such a fuss? His successors are nowadays typical Pakistani politicians, who run an opportunist business venture of a party devoted to robbery and thuggery. That is what characterises Pakistani politics nowadays. Not only have things not changed in Pashtun society, but they have in fact taken a turn for the worse since America revived and equipped Islamic fundamentalism here to counter the USSR in the 1980s. Whatever little cosmetic good 100 years of British rule did the Pashtuns in Pakistan has now been effectively wiped out by that. Badshah Khan could not give his people what their British "oppressors" had given them, and he merely created a cheap circus troupe, a cheerleading carnival performing in red uniforms for the benefit of bored peasants and later, corrupt politicians. Although he himself definitely had a strong character, with a deep sense of genuine personal committment and he suffered greatly for his rustic nationalist causes, that alone amounts to nothing on the real level as he had nothing significant to offer and improve his society with other than calling for some ephemeral nationalist unity based on a decidedly decrepit culture. If Pathans honestly realise that, then there might be some hope for change in their dark lot. If not, then they should happily keep Badshah Khan as their icon along with their pathological, medieval state of being for as long as they exist. It is indeed sad to see how the exaltation of the lowest common denominator factor pervades all affairs of life globally nowadays - whether that means praising rarified ideals, or eulogising inferior and bad culture among other things. After 9/11, these negative potentials become very clear indeed.

I have 3 favorite novels which I reread every couple of years. Like old friends, I know that I can always turn to them and be sure of several hours of deep pleasure. This is one of those novels. PASTORAL was written during World War 2 and concerns two young people who are serving in the military, but as the title indicates, this is not your typical war novel. Peter Marshall is a veteran pilot of an RAF Wellington bomber, even though he is still a very young man. The flying scenes are excellent, filled with suspenseful atmosphere and excitement. But when he is not in the air, he is the kind of person who takes delight in the simple pleasures of life, rambling over the countryside and fishing with his crew. And after he meets a lovely WAAF officer, Gervase Robertson, who has just joined the signals staff at his airbase, it doesn't take him long to fall in love for the first time. The love story of these two rather innocent and ordinary young people is as real as you'll find in literature, perfectly tracing the progress of their attraction and growing feeling for each other, all intensified by the immense conflict in which they play their small part. True to that time, this does not mean that they are in bed by the second date--no, these are typical, decent youngsters who accept the idea that that sort of thing must wait until marriage. Gervase does not want to give up her part in the war effort to get married, and the tension begins to affect Peter's flying and his relationship with his crew. As one of the senior officers complains exasperatedly, "The great adventure on this station isn't bombing Germany. They don't think anything of that. Falling in love is the big business here." Eventually we see that maybe falling in love is the big business after all, as the young people come to exemplify all that is best, all that is worth fighting to preserve. Nevil Shute wrote several excellent novels, but I believe that this is his best. It is a shame that it is so hard to find, but used copies are available--and well worth the hunt.

Nevil Shute seems to be a very underrated author. After his On the Beach and A Town Like Alice, the rest of his works are almost totally ignored by both the critics and the public, which is a pity as almost all of his works are finely written and have something worthwhile to say.

Pastoral was written during WWII, and from a purely British viewpoint, unlike so many of the war books that were written long after the conflict by so many Americans. As such there is a totally different atmosphere to this book, a quietness, an acceptance of the conditions and requirements of the war as just something that is there, part of the daily routine. And it is within this atmosphere that Neville constructs a fine love story between the very experienced bomber pilot Peter Marshal (at age 22!) and a W.A.A.F signals officer, Gervase Robertson.

As perhaps is typical for war-time love stories, the war itself provides the conflict, the friction between the lovers, as Peter is duty-bound to continue flying bombing missions, and Gervase believes her own duties are important to the course of the war, and should not be given up merely to get married. Her decline of Peter's offer of marriage sends Peter into a mental tail-spin, seriously impacting his efficiency as a flyer. How this conflict is resolved and the events that happen because of this conflict form the main portion of this book. Before reaching that point, however, we are treated to a view of English morality and customs of the day, a code that says one mustn't go off alone with a member of the opposite sex, that married woman are expected to keep house, not have jobs, where the woman must defer to the man. A view that might seem dreadfully stifling and old-fashioned to a reader of today's world, but it shown in such a non-obtrusive way that the reader can accept it without question. Until, that is, the reader finishes the book, and realizes that Neville has been quietly showing (and mildly satirizing) both the good and bad qualities of such a code. This is typical of Nevil's writing - his points are made far more by showing, rather than telling, always a mark of a fine writer. Also noteworthy is the attitude towards the war that is displayed by all the characters here - that death is an everyday happening, but it won't happen to me, it only happens to someone else. An attitude that seems to belong to every young person.

Nevil's prose style tends towards the descriptive, especially of the countryside and everyday actions. His dialogue in this book is loaded with English slang, very typical of actual speech patterns of the day, but this does at times make it somewhat hard for the poor modern American reader to decode what is being said. And some of Nevil's expertise as an avionics engineer shows in his descriptions of the aircraft and the functioning of various parts of these machines, at times obviously assuming that reader knows more about aircraft than is normally the case. These, however, are very minor negatives, almost totally subsumed by the engagement of the reader in the story of these two very well realized characters.

One decided negative that has nothing to do with Nevil's writing ability is the production quality of the hardbound reprint edition. The typeface used is very close to an old typewriter font, with thin serifs and a fairly small point size, and the printing press seemed to have severe difficulty with maintaining an even ink flow - at places the print fades to near illegibility. This all makes for a very rough impact on your eyes. A pity that this fine work has such a botched job of production.

Regardless of the quality of the printing, however, this book deserves a look, if nothing else just to see how a romance really should be written, as opposed to the material that passes for 'romance' on the book racks of today.

What is most remarkable about Pastoral is the way it manages to blend love and tragedy in an almost seamless manner. What would have been a rather conventional love story is transformed into something very different by the ever-present risk of death. RAF pilot Peter Marshall and WAAF signals officer Gervase Robinson go through an awkward and sometimes amusing courtship seemingly unconcerned about the fact that each one of his bomber missions over Germany could very easily be his last - indeed, some of the characters we meet during the story are lost over Germany. That they are able to function in a reasonably normal manner in the most terrifyingly abnormal of circusmstances is a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. In a way, this foreshadows Nevil Shute's much later book On the Beach, in which people are able to function day-to-day despite knowing that the world is soon coming to an end. A lesser writer than Shute probably would have made Pastoral heavy-handed and preachy, but there is almost none of that. All in all, a superb book, a truly timeless story despite its setting.
As an aside, the last few paragraphs of the story make me wonder whether it is based on true events.

... and bringing it to the flight station marks the unusual beginning of an exquisite and delicate love story between RAF pilot Peter Marshall and flight officer Gervase Robertson.

The story takes place in the midst of world war II terror and describes, in spellbinding detail, the flight missions over Germany, the dangers of cross fire and courage, during times when others have fear.

Peter's cockiness (not always at the right times), competence (in dodging enemy fire and bringing his crew home), and courage (in face of danger) win the reader's heart and make him a hero at his home station, even though he comes very close to losing is all: his aircraft, his crew and Gervase.

A marvelous story, despite its unusual start: catching a fish!

Perhaps this is Nevil Shute's best; his detail about the cold technicalities of cockpit war activity, set against the depths of an unforgettable love story makes "Pastoral" stand out above anything to be imagined. He just never ceases to surprise his readers!

This is, in my opinion, Nevil Shute's best book, surpassing even such justifiably popular titles as "On the Beach" and "A Town like Alice". With restraint and a simple, moving style Nevil Shute brings out the best in human spirit by telling this story of young people rising to the dangers and challenges of war and prevailing through dedication, comradeship and love. Why is a book like this out of print when bookstore shelves are full of stories about addicts, perverts and criminals? We desperately need more people like Nevil Shte's characters to serve as role models.

Personal Balanced Scorecard is excellently on time and on target. It is one
of the first tangible and useable means to provide for a person the
opportunity to create, follow, measure and improve his own agenda. With
PBSC, we start the long way towards a society in which the person will
become the central focus point, with a responsibility that will be larger
than ever before. In a world that will be more complex and tougher than seen
and experienced so far. PBSC will make the current but more so the next
generation better and stronger for the "personal age" that is about to
arrive to all of us.-- Professor Roel Pieper, Chairman Favonius Ventures and
former Vice President of Philips Electronics and Compaq Computer Corp.

In the world of organizational development and organizational change, many
theorists have provided models and guidance on attempting to change the
culture through leadership development and instilling a sense of personal
responsibility in all employees. However, no theorist has provided an
infrastructure such that the process that will change the culture is
embedded in the organization. The Personal Balanced Scorecard process is
integrally linked with organizational goals within individual performance
plans for every employee to ensure change actually occurs and far richer
outcomes are realized. It is critical in this time of globalization to take
advantage of the intelligence of every employee and find ways of engaging
them as a whole human being. We have used the PBSC ourselves and we have
used it with clients and we've seen it work.-- Regina M. Bowden Ph.D. and
Eleanor Lester ABD, Organizational Change Managers, Michigan

Personal Balanced Scorecard provides a roadmap for the organizations of the future! Hubert Rampersad is one of the great thought leaders that is both helping organizations increase effectiveness and helping people have better lives. He is helping make the world a better place, and is one of the few consultants who look at the entire picture - not just a small part. --Marshall Goldsmith, recognized by the American Management Association as one of 50 great thinkers and leaders who have impacted the field of management over the past 80 years. He has appeared in: The Wall Street Journal - as one of the top ten executive educators, Forbes - as one of five most-respected executive coaches and The Economist - as one of the most credible thought leaders in the new era of business.

Personal Balanced Scorecard offers individuals a sense of hope and a pathway
to get there. Ultimately, all change is individual and personal and this
book offers a practical guide for helping people turn personal missions into
personal improvement actions. The frameworks and questions focus attention
on the right issues in the right way. --Dave Ulrich, author HR Value
Proposition, partner The RBL Group, and Professor Ross School of Business,
University of Michigan, USA.

Personal Balanced Scorecard is an outstanding contribution to the field of
self- mastery and personal transformation. Written from a pragmatic
viewpoint, this book is likely to help set your agenda for a radical shift
from systems-driven change to selfled change. I often ask, if livelihood is
for life, what is life for? Dr. Hubert Rampersad's work explores that
question deeply and comes up with startling answers. ---Professor Debashis
Chatterjee, Head, Centre for Leadership and Human Values, Indian Institute
of Management, Lucknow, India and author of Leading Consciously.

It contains all that you need and nothing you don't for using SQL plus utility effectively. It also has lot of examples.

I have used Pete's book for over a year now, and I find it a strong sourcebook. Unlike many of my other source books, this book gives the actual text of the commands that are necessary to accomplish the job.
I place this text at the top of the Oracle books I have.

Pete's cookbook is an excellent resource which I highly recommend. What makes the book 'work' for me is there are many superb examples of both simple and complex practical SQL and SQL*PLUS problems and solutions. In addition to being humorous, it is easy to follow and to understand. When I am trying to get a task done by a certain deadline, I don't have time to wade through miles of explanation. I need the answer YESTERDAY and the SQL COOKBOOK does that for me. I also teach Oracle courses and my students really love the book too.

If you're thinking about buying this book, you might want to know what's in it. This book is about 250 pages, and each page contains one example of something you can do in SQL*Plus. There is only a small amount of explanation about what the example does, often only a sentence.

The examples are all things that people who work with Oracle might want to do from time to time, but might not know how to accomplish.

So this book will be most appreciated by someone who already has a certain amount of experience with Oracle. If you use the Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced categories of Oracle knowledge, I'd say the people who would most like this book are those who are at least half way through the Beginner stage, up to people who are just entering the Advanced stage.

If you are a rank beginner to Oracle, you will not understand many of the examples. For instance, the page for Using Array Processing merely demonstrates, for SQL*Plus, the command SHOW ARRAYSIZE. That's all! If you already know what array processing is, and just want to know how to determine what arraysize is currently set to, then the command shown will be helpful. But if you don't know about array processing in SQL*Plus, what's the use of seeing this page?

Most of the book is like this. In fact, imagine for a minute there was a SQL*Plus expert in your office, and every day several people came over and asked, "I'm stuck on one point and was wondering if you could tell me how to...." Now suppose that expert typed a few commands, showing the person how to do the specific thing they were asking, and then saved what he typed. After he had 250 commonly asked questions, he put what he typed in a book, one per page, adding a title to the page and maybe one sentence of explanation.

That's exactly what this book is. It assumes you already have a certain level of knowledge about Oracle in general, and about SQL*Plus in particular. If that's true for you, then great, you'll appreciate these 250 techniques and tips, because they're things you'll probably want to know how to do. But even if you have a year or two of experience with Oracle, you'll probably find you have to look in the Oracle documentation for a fuller explanation to make sense of some of the things in this book.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. It could be a great way to learn. In fact, if you're a rank beginner, you might still like this book if you're the type of person who likes to dive right in and start typing commands to see what they do. Just be aware that you better have the Oracle documentation CD-ROM handy, because virtually none of the great commands and techniques shown in this book are accompanied by any explanation other than the occasional sentence.

If you are the type who likes to read complete explanations, I'd suggest the SQL*Plus book by Gennick. Whatever, this is a good book, it's just that you'll probably need some background before you can really appreciate and make use of it.

Got to be the worst cover ever - even though its his daughters idea sorry! I cover it in brown paper at client sites. Its an excellent dip in and read and contains solutions to many commonly experienced problems both for experience and neophytes alike. For me its a MUST HAVE. I can give it to very inexperiened developers rather than explain for the n'th time how to define your editor in SQLPLUS for example.

Howard Latham Editor Oracle Scene.

This book is just too awesome for words! The author was led by the Spirit to write this, and it encouraged me greatly in my prayer life. I would recommend this book for anyone who is seeking after God and desires to be in HIS presence more! This is a book that is good to own, and you can read more than once!

This book is awesome for anyone interested in becoming a poweful intercessor in the master hands. The writer uses her own experience during prayer sessions. The book will teach you different moves of God through his Spirit in prayer, so that one may not become use to God Spirit operating in the same way. I would recommend reading this book as it will take you into a higher dimension in prayer

I came across this book in the local Christian bookstore, and I must admit...I did not know what to expect. Most of the books I have read about prayer and interecession were either too technical or too basic. I had many questions like...was what I was experiencing scriptural or was I just nuts?!?! This book answered all my questions. This is an excellent book for the everyday intercessor while addressing many things us "crazimatics" experience in prayer. This is truly an anointed book, and I recommend it for the beginner or seasoned intercessor.

Good book! If you desire to take your intercession life to a new level buy this book. It will bless you. It deffinately filled in some missing pieces for me.

This book is one of the most detailed prayer books that I have ever read. Whether you are new to the Body of Christ or are a mature believer, this book will give you an opportunity to examine your personal prayer life and will encourage you to hear the voice of God more at all times. Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking questions that help you assess your current understanding of prayer. Barbara Wentroble leaves you wanting to know more about God and about His purpose for your life.

A textbook approach to globalization, however, much of what is found in the book is based largely on organizational theory. Probably a good all around book for the person without a background in that discipline or area of study.

Loved the book, and it arrived on schedule. I work for a large multinational and this really hit home.

If there are 10 management books you must read, this has to be part of the list. Once in 5 years come books like 'Competing for the Future' and 'The Innovators Dilema' that completely change strategic thought and lay open fresh paths to explore. The Quest for Global Dominance is one such book.

Globalisation is clearly going to be the most important item on the agenda for every corporate for the next decade. Every manager is going to face serious challenges in this front. This book prepares you to prepare for these challenges and win the globalisation game. Too good to be missed.

As Jeffrey Garten explains in the Foreword, this recently published Second Edition offers "not only updates, not only new examples, and not only a more confident analysis. There are three entirely new chapters." Given all that has happened since the first edition (2001), these are indeed welcome additions. Anil Gupta, Vijay Govindarajan, and Haiyan Wang focus on four tasks essential for any company to emerge and stay as the globally dominant player within its industry:

1. "One, people must ensure that their company leads the industry in identifying new marketing opportunities worldwide and in pursuing these opportunities by establishing the necessary presence in all key markets."

2. "Two, people must work relentlessly to convert global presence into global competitive advantage."

3. "Three, people must cultivate a global mindset."

4. "Four, in developing global strategies, people must take full account of the rapid growth of emerging markets, in particular the rise of China and India."

As the co-authors would be the first to acknowledge, it is quite easy to offer prescriptions such as these. Presumably they agree with Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution is hallucination." After briefly but precisely identifying the "what" of "transforming global presence into global competitive advantage," the authors devote the bulk of their attention to explaining the "how." They intended that their book be broad in its coverage of issues relating to the creating and exploiting of global presence, and, that each chapter would focus on a specific action-oriented issue such as building global presence, cultivating a global mindset, or the dynamics of global business teams.

While citing real-world initiatives by several dozen exemplary companies (e.g. Cisco Systems, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Ikea, Marriott, Microsoft, Nucor, Procter & Gamble, and Wal-Mart), the authors address key questions, issues, and challenges such as these:

Which five imperatives drive the pursuit of global expansion?
Under which conditions are alliance-based entry modes more appropriate?
Under which conditions is accelerated global expansion more appropriate?
When location decisions are made, which criteria should be considered?
Which four factors drive the speed with which to cultivate a global mindset?
What are the most common barriers to effective and efficient knowledge transmission?
How to maximize knowledge accumulation and mobilization?
What are the primary reasons for the failure of a global business team (GBT)?
How to overcome communication barriers within a global organization?
What are the major benefits to be gained by early globalization?
What is a "two-track strategy" and why should it be executed in both China and India?

Gupta, Govindarajan, and Wang are to be commended on the wealth of information they provide and, especially, on the rigor of their analysis of that information. All three are pragmatists. What has worked for other global companies that have transformed their global presence into global competitive advantage? What lessons can be learned from those initiatives? In this context, I am reminded of what Peter Drucker once observed: "We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don't spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop. Half the leaders I have met don't need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop." All of the observations and suggestions that Gupta, Govindarajan, and Wang include throughout their narrative share a single purpose: To guide and inform the process by which correct decisions can be made, decisions that will address what not to do as well as what to do. Although their book is a "must read" for C-level executives in companies that seek to transform their global presence into competitive advantage, I think it should also be read by C-level executives in other (non-global) organizations that are within the supply/value chain of those companies.

I also highly recommend Friedman's aforementioned The World Is Flat 3.0, Victor Fung, William Fung, and Yoram (Jerry) Wind's Competing in a Flat World, C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage, and Operation China co-authored by Jimmy Hexter and Jonathan Woetzel.

If you're looking for a detailed book on globalization that has the qualities, depth, and approach of a college textbook, here it is. The book was written by two professors who met, and discovered a synergy for writing, while they were students at Harvard. They've developed a style that presents their points in a well-organized fashion, with sufficient illustration and documentation to validate the authors' points. The examples they use are well-known companies that have achieved global dominance; now we know how they did it-with plenty of information and understanding between two covers of a modern book.

The book is organized into nine chapters, each strong enough to be a stand-alone publication on its own. We start with Rising Up to the Global Challenge and then move into Building Global Presence. Appetites whetted, we now get a comprehensive case study: Lessons from Wal-Mart's Globalization. Exploiting Global Presence comes next, followed by a chapter on Cultivating a Global Mindset. This is primary theme of the book; it's a mindset that enables dominance.

Chapter 6 gets into some how-to: Building a Global Knowledge Machine, sharing vital information and understanding across national boundaries and cultural divides. The authors then concentrate on the Dynamics of Global Business Teams and Changing the Rules of the Global Game. The final chapter is Globalization in the Digital Age, keeping us right up-to-date and reminding the reader that this topic is real and "present" in today's organizations. A bibliography and two indices follow the footnotes section.

The ordinary lay reader will have trouble with this book. It is an academic work. However, for senior executives, marketing professionals, and students of globalization, this book will be a treasure. Those involved with graduate education in business should not miss this book. It will be valuable reading for self-growing executives engaged in executive MBA programs, giving them solid knowledge and insight to apply in their real world of global growth and dominance.

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

This is terrific if you have any desire to learn the personality types around you.
Take a break from guessing... give yourself a tool.

Not a big book, but large on the value that it brings to the workplace. Highly recommended and well worth its cost.

This is a small book that goes to the point, It have a section for each type of personality that have a small description of it, the way that they solve problems, their style of leadership, their creative expression, how do they work on teams, how the have to deal with stress, how they learn, and tips for personal growth. Also in the later chapters, this book have two pages that describes the team roles that each personality prefers.

I am a certified instructor for Myers-Briggs and have read many of these books about type. This one has it all! It's easy to use as a reference and practical. I reccommend it to anyone who uses Myers-Briggs at work.

I receipt the book very quikly and in excelent conditios of use, as a new book.

Reinforced Concrete: Mechanics and Design (4th Edition) (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics)

I think this book is very good quality, and shipping is not bad...

I have the 2nd edition of this book which I loved. This edition is excellent and is easily the best text on Reinforced Concrete there is anywhere.

This book is the best for those who want a deeper understanding of reinforced concrete design.Since the author presents a step by step way to introduce the concepts,the reader is able to get a more detailed information and retents more concepts instead of procedures

This book was already one of the best concrete design texts and is even better with the addition of the new co-author James Wight, who adds valuable information on the design of concrete structures to resist seismic forces. There are a few minor errors in the examples that still exist from the 3rd edition, but they are minor and the examples are detailed enough that the corrections are usually forthcoming. I recently finished a MS in Structural Engineering focusing on concrete design and this book (3rd edition) was one of the 2 or 3 that I found myself referring to most often.

I receipt the book very quikly and in excelent conditios of use, as a new book.

Reinforced Concrete: Mechanics and Design (4th Edition) (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics)

I think this book is very good quality, and shipping is not bad...

I have the 2nd edition of this book which I loved. This edition is excellent and is easily the best text on Reinforced Concrete there is anywhere.

This book is the best for those who want a deeper understanding of reinforced concrete design.Since the author presents a step by step way to introduce the concepts,the reader is able to get a more detailed information and retents more concepts instead of procedures

This book was already one of the best concrete design texts and is even better with the addition of the new co-author James Wight, who adds valuable information on the design of concrete structures to resist seismic forces. There are a few minor errors in the examples that still exist from the 3rd edition, but they are minor and the examples are detailed enough that the corrections are usually forthcoming. I recently finished a MS in Structural Engineering focusing on concrete design and this book (3rd edition) was one of the 2 or 3 that I found myself referring to most often.