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Not quite as good as his best-known book, "Guns, Germs and Steel", mostly because the first 50 pages are about Montana. Who cares about Montana? I barely even know where it is. But after that it gets wicked awesome. Unfortunately you can't really skip the Montana parts - too many concepts are introduced that you'll need later - but hey, it's Diamond; you can suck it up for 50 pages. Vikings come later. Vikings!

Jared Diamond has a gift for explaining complex phenomena to the average person in a way that is captivating and digestible. In this book, he tackles a topic (the collapse of societies) that is depressing to some and terrifying to others (I suppose it is infuriating to those who just want to be free to build a mine with no environmental protection). He manages to keep the reader's attention for over five hundred pages and leave us with hope for the future -- if we can learn the lessons of the past. He is well read and there is a lot of research behind the book. These are the chief positives. I read the book and was quite taken by it.

The negatives take a bit more time to appreciate. Although Diamond creates a fairly consistent picture that supports his five point framework, it seems that there are other versions of some of the stories (e.g., the fate of the Greenland Norse) that may not fit it so well. Indeed, if you abstract the five point framework you get something like this: there are five factors that lead to societal collapse( self inflicted environmental damage, climate change, the presence of hostile neighbors, the absence of trading partners and finally the efficacy of societies response to the previously mentioned four factors), not all apply in all cases and of course there are other factors (not featured) that sometimes apply. At that point one is tempted to ask, why is five a magic number? I believe the answer is because those are the factors that Diamond wants to talk about -- or because those are the five that the average person wants to hear about. They fit my agenda so I initially accepted them at face value. It was not until I was challenged to think of other factors that lead to societal collapse that the five point framework started to collapse for me. If the five point framework has value, it is as a literary device, not a scientific theory. If taken seriously, it is the kind of framework that finds its way into orthodoxy and creates barriers for further investigation. To me this is a fairly big minus.

Some may say I analyze too much: I should just read and enjoy. But isn't that, after all, the point of scientific inquiry? Isn't that supposed to be the basis for such a book?

I have been following the many trends on ecology, politics, and economics for many years. I'll admit I'm a complete pessimist in regards to human nature. Yet Diamond's book gives me a bit of hope that the message of stewardship vs resource consumption may be considered in a systematic way. My hope derives (ironically) from the well-researched conclusion that without a change of course, our planet's ruling class will soon face political/economic unrest resulting from widespread starvation, disease, and death.

Diamond presents overwhelming evidence from the past and current state of affairs to support this idea, without sounding preachy. The bummer is that in the past, rulers insulated themselves from the unrest rather than addressing societal problems, until it was far too late. The dying masses eventually revolted and killed the rulers along with their neighbors. Perhaps through this book (and others like it), those in power today will absorb this lesson and try to avoid the grisly finale.

The scholarship of the book is excellent, as is the writing; later chapters are somewhat more speculative about the eventual impact of humans. Some of the later chapters have a bit of a redundant feel too, as if the author makes his point a few too many times. Yet this is easily the most thoughtful book I've read on a very important topic: what happens when a society becomes it's own worst enemy due to shortsighted policy and a relatively comfortable existence based primarily on depletion of natural resources and ignorance of waste.

I recommend this book more than any other I've read in several years; it is well written, scholarly, and compelling. Enough said. You owe it to yourself to read it, and then pass along the recommendation.

I was sorry to find underlining in the book. Underlining should be revealed as part of the condition of the book,

I am somewhat surprised by the huge success of Diamond's books. They are interesting, yes, and he does address important topics. But he is not a brilliant writer, and his books are overall rather tedious (at least this is what I thought of "The 3rd chimpanzee" and of "Guns Germs and Steel").

I have not read the full book, and I am instead reviewing the abridged audio version read (very well) by Christopher Murney. I found even this shorter version rather dull. List after list of dates, names, plants, crops and animals. Prof Diamond certainly documents well the few "case studies" he presents, but he also has too much love for numbered lists ("this is due to five factors", "there are three reasons for this" etc etc) and his prose is fairly boring.

The book is interesting when it describes how socio-economic and environmental factors, as well as happenstance, determined the collapse or the failure of past societies. However, the main environmentalist message is hardly new, and the conclusions are shockingly superficial and badly justified for a book whose faults include (in other parts of the book) the supply of too much details. As others have also pointed out, the use of correlations to argue the existence of causation is a surprising let-down in the final chapters.

I particularly liked the argument that more environmental-friendly policies could be obtained if more information were provided to the consumer, and I agree with the argument that it is the consumer who should pay for the cost of the environmental damage produced. In this way, higher prices will lead to lower demand, and we will stop free-riding and bequeathing the environmental costs to our descendants. However, once again, this is hardly a particularly deep point, and it's something that one can easily understand by him/herself. Rather harder, maybe, would be to find ways to counter the efforts of powerful lobbies that want to avoid regulations which would provide the consumer with better information.

Anyway, despite all the above shortcoming, this is an interesting book, and even if I don't feel like recommending it highly, I still think you won't waste time by reading it. I am, however, happy that I decided to buy the abridged version!

If you had any other books in this little series, you'd probably already knew what I found out after I got this book - they're just illustrated children's songs. The illustrations are cuter than anything, but this one starts off with a separate page for "head," then "shoulders," and "knees," etc. but then starts sticking them all on one page. And the last few words of the book are on the back cover. I don't know why they tried to push the song into too few pages (see "Ten Little Fingers (Board Books for Babies)" for what happens when it's done right), but the results were less than stellar. I give it three stars mostly for the illustrations...

This was purchased for a friend to give her granddaughter. It was colorful and sturdy. She was very pleased with it.

This book became one of our favotites at 4.5 months. My son loves looking at the pictures and hearing the song. We have this and row row row your boat. He chooses these two often when choosing stories, and he's only 6 months. The babies in the book are really cute!

i got this book to complete a 4-for-3 deal, so i wasn't expecting much. however, my 13-month-old daughter and i both love this book! i sang the song while flipping through the pages in the beginning, and now she brings me the book whenever i sing the song. i didn't realize that my daughter could associate songs with specific items until now! don't worry if you don't know the song, because they even included the melody notes on the back cover (of course, that means you need to be able to read music or play an instrument). the book is twice the size of many of my daughter's other board books, but she doesn't seem to have much trouble turning the pages as long as the book is on the floor.

This book surpassed my expectations. It's written with such simplicity and the illustrations are very well done. It even includes the words and musical notes for the song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Our grandson is 19 months old and I'm sure he's going to love it!

This is absolutely the best book on basic economic thinking. It is filled with sound logical arguments for free markets. This book should be the starting point for anyone interested in politics and politically economy.

Milton Friedman is "way out there" for many, but his debating skills are solid. I used arguments in this book during debates in grad school and easily hammered classmates who couldn't figure out how to argue against the "green pieces of paper" statement when they were arguing on how the U.S. should eliminate our trade deficit.

Milton offers you the tools and answers to hammer most any college socialist.

Arguably Friedman's magnus opus, Free to Choose is a book that will radically change the reader's way of thinking. Admittedly, before reading this book I would have been proud to vilify the free market. Like so many others, I fell victim to the demagogues. Free to Choose revolutionized my ideas about the role of government, and how intervention is inherently inefficient. Frieman's ideas are undoubtedly controversial, but Friedman himself was no polemicist. He would look down upon today's radio scum, like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. In fact, Friedman would look down upon most modern conservatives. He proudly acknowledged that he was in fact liberal (in the term's classical usage).

Free to Choose brilliantly reveals how over-regulation, astronomically high spending, and an ever-growing bureaucracy have impeded freedom. In the chapter "Created Equal", Friedman summarizes his entire set of ideas in a few words. He says that today many are pursuing "equality of outcome" rather than what the Founding Fathers pursued - "equality of opportunity."

A more essential guide for those of conservative and libertarian leanings I can't think of.

Friedman, in his traditionally accessible, though brilliant, way elucidates economics, politics, and freedom in a timeless classic.

Would buy again and again.

The relationship between freedom and economics is undeniable. Also undeniable is the relationship between government and freedom. Milton Friedman brilliantly makes a clear persuasive case for the perpetuation of free markets and the elimination of big government, as a means of augmenting freedom worldwide and as a result expand prosperity. Although this book is over 27 years old, the economic principles of this book are as timeless as Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations".

The book covers topics, such as socialized medicine, which is even more popular today, due in large part to the propaganda promulgated by the sensationalist media circuits. Of course, Americans do not want socialized medicine so proponents are euphemistically calling it "universal healthcare". Mr. Friedman expressed that "in our opinion there is no use whatsoever for socialized medicine. On the contrary, government already plays too large a role in medical care. Any further expansion of its role would very much against the interest of patients, physicians, and health care personnel." This book was written almost 3 decades ago when the expenditure of healthcare was huge, however, not as appalling as it is now at close to 15% of the country's GDP. There are many factors involved in the rising healthcare costs, not the least of which is the government's inability to operate any activity cheaper and more efficiently than the private sector. There are no exceptions to this. None! Unfortunately, the tendency of government is to increase funding for programs that don't work. If it isn't working, then it must mean it needs more funding, is the philosophy of government. This clearly goes counter to the much more efficient private sector where costs are controlled in order to attain a dirty little concept called profits. It is in the self-interest of people and companies and not their benevolence, that most of the freedom and economic progress is dependent upon, according to Adam Smith and Milton Friedman.

Mr. Friedman was a radical free trade crusader and the evidence espoused in this book is overwhelmingly effective at convincing most open-minded individuals. Friedman goes on to write "Wherever we find any large element of individual freedom, some measure of progress in the material comforts at the disposal of ordinary citizens, and widespread hope of further progress in the future, there we also find that market activity is organized mainly through the free market." He goes on to warn us that "Wherever the state undertakes to control in detail the economic activities of its citizens, wherever, that is, detailed central economic planning reigns, there ordinary citizens are in political fetters, have a low standard of living, and have little power to control their own destiny." He further declares that under such governments impressive monuments may be produced and a certain class may enjoy a full measure of material goods, however, ordinary citizens will become merely "instruments to be used for the state's purpose" and will receive only what is "necessary to keep them docile and reasonably productive."

Friedman also covers topics on education, consumer protection, inflation, unions and what he believed, at that time, was a "turning of the tide" into a more free market based mentality by the general population. This period, however, was when Carter was still in office and Reagan was coming in with his message of small government and as a result reduction in taxes. I'm afraid that we are again seeing a turning of the tide, this time, unfortunately, we are headed into larger government and more social programs, due in large part to the short memory of the American public of what communism used to be and the continual romanticizing of socialist countries that provide its population with cradle to grave social programs, almost always at the expense of freedom and progress. We must be careful!

This book is a must-read to gain a fundamental understanding of economics, and as a reminder of the basic economic principles that have made America great. Enjoy!

Dr. Friedman is plainly an educated and articulate man and his arguments have a seductive veneer of logic to them. The tragedy is that his interpretations are extremely selective: he focuses exclusively on what he perceives to be the strengths of the free market, while completely disregarding its costs. In this respect, he shares the mentality of the fundamentalist. Anything that ever goes well, he attributes to the free market; anything that ever goes wrong, he dismisses as either an aberation, a reflection of inadequate adherence to his core belief system. He has thus created a logical closed loop, which admits no possibility of his starting assumptions being flawed.

Which is highly unfortunate, as he makes a great many assumptions, such as costless mobility of labor, perfect information, and the eventual trickle down of wealth, which are empirically unsound. If a worker loses his or her job, Dr. Friedman assumes that, somehow, that person will be able to find a bigger and better job elsewhere. How? Where? How is that person going to find the wherewithal to pay for the additional training and/or education needed for that real or imaginary bigger and better job? How will s/he pay for rent, food, transportation, health insurance, childcare, etc., while looking for this bigger and better job? Such trifles are plainly not Dr. Friedman's problem; nevertheless, they do pose a whopper of a problem if you're the person who's lost your job.

Likewise, Dr. Friedman simply takes it for granted that companies will behave honorably, will have access to perfect information, and consumers will never be misled or swindled, but will unfailingly shape the market based upon sound decisions. Wow. Must be a nice planet Dr. Friedman lives on. On this planet, companies make rash and/or unethical decisions on a daily basis which are based upon poor information and/or immediate short term gains, for which the general public bears the cost.

Because Dr. Friedman ignores such inconvenient realities, he views the world through rose-colored lenses and is blind to the dismal performance of his ideas whenever they have been implemented as policies. In every instance around the globe, the inevitable result of Friedman's radical ideology has been a tiny handful of predatory capitalists becoming richer than kings while the rest of the country sinks into abject poverty. Dr. Friedman's ideas, in every instance where they have been applied, from Chile to Argentina to Russia to Poland to South Africa to SE Asia - the list goes on - have unfailingly produced huge surges in unemployment and poverty, wholesale selloffs of the country's natural resources and other assets, and, of course, the adoption of repressive measures by governent to force the unpopular policies upon the unwilling populations. How ironic that Dr. Friedman describes himself as an advocate of free choice, when he has personally advised governments around the world to coerce their citizens into accepting his disasterous economic "reform" programs. Not surprisingly, Dr. Friedman doesn't wish to discuss the victims of his ideas, or, insofar as he recognizes them at all, he condescendingly dismisses them as the tragic cost of "progress." Progress for whom? Again, Dr. Friedman doesn't concern himself with such details.

The central flaw in Dr. Friedman's ideology is that he takes no account of wealth distribution. If an economy increases in efficiency, Dr. Friedman claims vindication. But if the benefits of any such increase go exclusively to a tiny minority while the vast majority of the population experiences a sharp reducation in quality of life, how has any overall increase in efficiency improved matters? Dr. Friedman seems to assume that the billionaires his policies create will reinvest their wealth into their local economies. Yet, empirically, we find once again that such is not the case. Billionaires invest their wealth where they can gain the greatest return on their investment. Why then would they want to invest in their own countries? The people who live there, thanks to them and Dr. Friedman, are unemployed and too poor to be able to afford to buy anything. The country's natural resources have already been privatized and sold off, what's left in the smoldering husk Dr. Friedman leaves behind to entice investment?

In sum, what Dr. Friedman describes as freedom of choice is an attempt to legitimize and apply a palatable facade to a wild west approach to economics, in the which the strongest and most ruthless rise at the expense of the weak, a kind of economic Darwinism. It's not without logic, but the cold, cruel, heartless world Dr. Friedman has to offer is a pretty terrifying place.

Once you get past the first few chapters about whether or not you're serious about changing your life, The Pathfinder takes you on an interpersonal journey that few books offer. I would recommend this book not only to anyone that is questioning or moving in the direction of a career change, but also to anyone that is looking to improve their personal goals.

The Pathfinder changed my career and my life. The activities in the book helped me navigate through my unconscious assumptions about my life, and connect my vision of my future with my career goals. Completed the exercises in the book -- particularly the life timeline -- led me to an epiphany about how I wanted to spend my life at work. Nick Lore is a master career coach, even in book form. The Pathfinder is a must read for anyone who wants to have it all at work and in life, but may be stuck in their current career.

When I first got this book years ago, what I learned helped me make a significant change in my life and career. Little did I know that, years later, I'd be back reading it again. Both times I had to really take myself in hand and actually do the work of seeing where my interests and skills overlapped, what I wanted now and what would help me achieve it. Both times what I learned in the process was a surprise to me, and gave me that "aha!" feeling to set me on a new path (first time) and renewed path (second time). Well worth it.

If you're not experiencing turbulence and dynamic change, you must not be paying attention. The tectonic plates of human endeavor are shifting. As Nick Lore notes in his seminal work, The Pathfinder, we're witnessing an unprecedented explosion of career options and the old ways - serendipity, tradition, dumb luck - of choosing or re-choosing which career might fit are no longer sufficient.

Eight years ago, I used The Pathfinder when it was clear to me that, after 10 wonderful years, I'd outgrown my career as a diplomat. The Pathfinder's engaging inquiries and exercises and Lore's delightfully engaging style, led me to identify the outlines of the private sector role that would challenge, enrich and fulfill me for most of the last decade.

But I'm a serial adventurer, and its out on the edges of dynamic change that I'm most at home. There are big waves building in the world of work and I'm ready for a new challenge. My second time through The Pathfinder - I'm three weeks in - I'm discovering even deeper insights and am designing a new list of commitments to suit who I've now become. With a steady guide like Nick Lore I'm ready to tow-in to the really big waves - the ones most fun to ride!

If you're ready for work you LOVE and you're prepared to confront yourself - strengths, proclivities and foibles - squarely and honestly; if you're willing to engage in a rigorous and engaging exploration, then there is no better route to professional fulfillment than The Pathfinder.

Recently I was between jobs and deciding what my next career step would be. A friend of mine had read the Pathfinder and recommended it as a great aid for helping me with my decision. Indeed it was!

I found the book to be extremely helpful. Nick does a great job laying out a practical, easy to relate to, process for self discovery and defining what's important to you in a career. Key was Nicks abililty to bring attention to and explain psychology of making a change. This was a straight forward look into the internal conversation people have with themselves about any change. Very Helpful! The notion of "yeahbuts" is so true and once understood liberating and helpful to make progress.

I got tremendous value from the Pathfinder. Nick is having a dialog with you and brings the coaching process to life. It's like you learning about yourself while you writing your next chapter in life. At times the assignments are tough....if you don't do them you won't get the same value from the process and you will end up making decisions by default. Which is probably why so many people are unhappy in their current jobs/career.

After the book, I enlisted the services of the RockPort Institure, the company Nick runs provides career coaching services. Part of the serviec invloves an in depth teting process that is truely revealing and critical in undertanding you and what type of career/role you are best suited for. If you have the interest, read the book than enlist the services of the Rockport institute. I've taken many tests and done all kinds of profiling over my career, this was by far the best!

I hope my feedback is helpful.

Good luck in pursuit of a new job/career....

I have no doubt that Ben Carson is an excellent neurosurgeon, but what comes across in this book is little more than opportunism, self-promotion, and bone-headed conservative ideology gussied up in a feel-good self-help package. His vaunted best/worst method of assessing risk might sound good on paper, but you need only read through his own real-world applications to discover just how ridiculous and useless it is. In omitting the far more important factor of likelihood from his risk assessment analyses, he betrays a simple-minded black-and-white worldview more befitting a fundamentalist crackpot than a scientist worthy of attention and respect. Do not buy into this garbage.

Dr. Ben Carson helps his readers take a fresh and balanced approach to understanding risk - real risk, perceived risk, risks that we all take (and avoid) as part of normal everyday life. As enlightening as that was, I found myself being surprised as I discovered another message in the book. This surprise began as disappointment. Part way through the book I was disappointed because nearly all of the examples Dr. Carson used resulted in moving forward, following through with the action, taking the risk. I felt he was being unrealistic - where were the real life examples that resulting in the considered action or risk not being taken? But as I read further I started realizing that more often than not, God is probably calling us to action, calling us to move ahead, calling us to wisely and carefully work against our cautious nature and clearly take some risks in life.

This is an insightful, engaging, life changing book that is both easy and fun to read. I recommend this book for anyone stuck in a rut wondering what's next and especially for those who have spent a life time playing it safe for no other reason than fear.

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know life is an uninterrupted sequence of guaranteed risks. Ben Carson, in Take the Risk takes his role as a neurosurgeon up a notch as he reveals how operating in sync with your grey matter will draw you toward diving into the risks that are worth taking and passing on the ones that take you on a downward spiral.

He acknowledges that everything is risky. Even to resolve to do nothing can be a hazardous choice. Tied to real life stories as concrete proof, he proposes we apply what he calls Best/Worst Analysis to the options we face. Simple enough that a child can easily adopt, it asks these 4 questions: What is the BEST thing that can happen if I DO this, what is the WORST thing that can happen if I DO this, what is the BEST thing that can happen if I DON'T do this, and what is the WORST thing that can happen if I DON'T do this. For those more complex questions, he recommends we consider who, what, where, when, why and how in the context of the Best/Worst Analysis application. He advocates that removing our egos from the equation often leads to the best answer by replacing emotional investment with logical thinking. What works every time with this model is that it causes you to pause and think before you make your move...or choose to stay put.

Take the Risk uncovers the evidence that by using your brain to bring risk factors into sharp focus, fear and foolishness drift out of the picture. The result is a vibrant illustration of an exciting life made possible by the brush of intelligent risk taking. Ben Carson makes the point that when we zoom into what defines success, we find that it involves risks taken and overcome. So get yourself into the picture, read Take the Risk, and imagine using your insight to capture your wisest decisions.

ben carson, in case you haven't heard of him (i'd only vaguely heard of him), is a world renowned neurosurgeon. i mean, world-renowned, like, he's one of the top pediatric neurosurgeons in the world. and, he's probably the number one neuro-dude when it comes to separating conjoined twins, joined at the skull. oh, and he grew up in a poor, single mom, household, on the tough streets of detroit.

so it's fair to say the guy knows a thing or two about considering risk.

this book is a story-rich explanation of how to consider risk, and how to make risky decisions. it's especially worth the read for anyone struggling to make a tough decision, and i've already recommended it to a couple people.

there are a few places where i felt the book wandered a bit -- i didn't think it was helpful to hear the long-ish excursions into the author's politics (deep into the book, and neither helpful nor necessary) as examples of risk.

BUT, the book has two significant strengths:

1. it is full of wonderful stories. seriously. rarely have i read a book with a single propositional or methodological point that has so many engaging stories. we see carson's risk-consideration formula played out in dozens and dozens of examples -- from his own life, and in the world around us. examples from his childhood, and lots of examples from the risk-filled world of pediatric neurosurgery. carson's a good storyteller (honed, i'm guessing, over years of speaking to teenagers -- nothing hones storytelling skill like speaking to audiences who aren't impressed by your resume), and effectively wields this throughout the entire book.

2. carson unveils a simple, yet very helpful, process for considering and deciding on risk. he calls it the bwa, or best-worst-analysis. many of us, i'm sure, when attempting to make a difficult decision, have made lists of pros and cons. carson's bwa approach is similar, but takes things a bit further. simply put, the bwa is:

- what's the best that can happen if i do this?

- what's the worst that can happen if i do this?

- what's the best that can happen if i don't do this?

- what's the worst that can happen if i don't do this?

of course, he gives chapters full of nuance to this. but i have actually found myself using this little memorable (the fact that it is simple and memorable is part of its strength) approach since i've been reading the book, a bit at a time, over the past month or so.

carson also ties all of this in with his christian faith. he doesn't overdo this point (i assume carson has gone into this in more detail in some of his earlier books), which is good. but it is very interesting to hear some of his story (again, great examples of considering risk, in stories like the one where he considers whether or not to be a part of a panel on science and faith at a prestigious gathering of minds), especially given his scientific cred.

anyhow, take the risk is a helpful book. it's not a "you must rush out and read this now" book. but it's helpful, and an enjoyable read thanks to the stories. it's one i'll continue to recommend to people who are struggling to make a decision.

This is the best book i have ever read!!! Now we just have to see when it works.

Well we started to use the methods in the book. My husband skipped right to the part on what to do to concieve the sex you want. I tried to read the whole book. There is just a lot of junk before you get to the good stuff. I won't be able to tell you if it worked or not though, we got pregnant before we got to try the methods.

We are getting ready to put this book into practice. There is a lot of history included, and it is interesting and well written. When you finally get to the method, it is easy to follow and well outlined. At 36 I learned a lot more about my body and how my cycles work by reading this book. With my second child I had to follow chart my BBT and it never really worked well since my cycles seemed so irregular. This book made it clear what to look for and I found out my ovulation is not as irregular as I had thought. So after two boys, we are almost ready to start trying for baby number three. I would love to have another healthy baby... but it would be nice if we had a girl. Be very careful to understand, you should want another baby - boy or girl- and this book may aid in tipping the scales toward one or the other. We will see...

I have not read the updated version, but my husband and I read the book 18 years ago and gave birth to a boy after having two girls. It's not a guarantee, but might help sway the odds. The book is prefaced with the warning that if you would be devastated to get the sex of child you were not trying for, don't even try. Very informative, and if the revised version is like the original, the chapter on myths is hilarious and worth the price of the book. Good luck to all.

After researching for a few months we decided to go with this method. We followed it,giving attention to every details. We really wanted a boy, had my sano yesterday and we're having a boy....our family is now complete with a boy and girl. :-)

I liked this manual for quick reference during the class. But when it comes to doing homework, it should be better. At the end of each chapter there is a homework. Sometimes these drawings are labeled differently than the drawings in the chapters themselves. Also, sometimes it's hard to find the answers for the homework questions. I supplemented the info with the textbook from the same author, which would sometimes leave me in the same confusion, or I would use the internet, or the other workbook.
In overall is a decent instruction tool, but some people may find it very difficult. I got A's in both lab and lecture. But I worked hard.

AP Book: Book had more damage to it than thought. Mulitple red markings on back, ripped pages, and flimsy cover. Shipping was great.

I ordered straight from Amazon.com, best thing I couldve done, got the book in a timely manner, and the book was in great shape. I needed this book for a class and its perfect.

this book has good detail and explainations to help you understand the A&P if your teacher isnt good. helps me out in college!

I'm doing my MBA and the marketing prof. wanted us to read this book. The only claim I can make about the book is, it is a little out-dated. Some of the companies given as examples are either not existing anymore, or are far from where there were in terms of what it is and what it is all about! The book came in exactly the same condition as it was said to be. Thank you Amazon as being the rescue team of our family :)

Helps provide a clear model for analyzing companies and developing corporate strategies. In many ways, it is a more accessible take on Porter's Competitive Strategy.

Treacy and Wiersema make the case that the value of a product or service to a customer can be categorized in terms of efficiency (eg. low cost, on-time delivery), innovation (eg. latest technology or fashion) and/or customer intimacy (eg. customized solutions). They go on to argue that delivering each kind of value requires a different organization and culture, and hence the most successful companies are those whose business strategy is focused on delivering a particular kind of value to the customers that appreciate it the most, while remaining competitive in other areas. The analysis is accompanied by case studies of AT&T Universal Card, Intel and Airborne Express. The core idea of the book is valuable and 200 pages is plenty to explore it in detail.

The book reemphasizes the importance of product or service leadership, customer intimacy, and operational excellence. Organizations willing to be "anything for a buck" will find they loose touch with their customers quickly as they thinly apply talent and resources to serve everyone averagely.

Unity of purpose is also essential; a successful firm must act together to consistently and successfully compete. The book is good reading for managers and marketing professionals that need to review their business focus and the alignment of tasks, processes and competencies supporting that focus. The book offers materials to be used in team exercises.

Best Marketing book I have ever read, I will keep this book forever. This is a must read for anyone in the marketing field. This book provides great examples along with real life examples.

Small Giants is a set of stories about a selected group of outstanding companies that have had the option of very fast growth, but instead have chosen to be great rather than as big as possible. Each company described, has defined their own meaning of greatness.

Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI was determined to serve the best sandwiches known to man. By many accounts he achieved that goal. So much so, that the opportunities to expand seemed countless. Nevertheless, Ari applied the brakes. With a manageable 7 locations he could say "I look forward to coming to work even more now than I did in the beginning. I'm having more fun and I'm more at peace with the realities of life. Success means you're going to have better problems. I'm very happy with the problems I have now."

Ari and others in the book have learned to say no to too much growth. The problem is that many others haven't. Even if the entrepreneur knows his team and resources can't handle the growth, he plunges forth anyway. For someone that has struggled their whole career to grow the business and add customers, turning down business feels immoral; wrong on many levels.

Jay Golz of Artist Frame Service struggled with this. "For me, it was having to do as much as I could. I was always worried. Am I missing an opportunity here? Am I leaving money on the table? How do you turn that off? How do you keep the success bug from becoming the success disease?" Like many driven entrepreneurs, Golz suffered from a major disability, his own blindness to what he had accomplished.

As Golz hit 40, he began to understand better the impact he had on his employees and clients' lives. His mission turned from fully leveraging all opportunities, to quality of life for his team and his family. He no longer had to chase Gates and Dell.

Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing "got it" from the beginning. Perhaps it was because of watching his family in the famed appliance company. He consciously strived to keep his headcount as low as possible. He wanted a culture "where everyone knows they're all interrelated and where, as far as possible, everybody is in charge, and nobody is looking over anyone's shoulder and there are no time clocks."

The themes of success, balance, quality of life, and transcendent values, echo though all of these small giants. Entrepreneurs who discover that people trump profits, and that the profits come anyway when the mission is on target. Growth is good, but not always and at all costs. Good growth is always good. Small Giants helps define what good growth really is.

Small business owners may associate themselves with the stories in this book but that is all who should read this book. It is not for general reading. One very shameful point I noticed in this book is the special mention when the business owner was a Jew. He specifically mentions it if not obvious from the name of the business owner (in the case he/she happens to be a Jew). Shame.

Bo Burlingham has done a great job assembling a group of companies that shunned the normally accepted path of explosive growth in order to truly be great at what they do. The variety of companies and industries profiled are helpful for CEOs of any size firm in nearly any vertical to take nuggets of wisdom from each and piece together focus areas for transforming and "culturalizing" their business. While not a recipe for success, "Small Giants" instead provides useful insights that can be used as a catalyst for change in an organization.

I did not understand why I was reading this book when I was reading it. And after finishing it I do not know if I learned anything from this book. Some small business owners may see themselves in this book, but that is it. This book just confirms the fact that "one size does not fit all". Success is so subjective. Different subjects have taken different approach and no reason was given as to why that was the best approach. Approach was solely the pick of the business owner.
This book is a waste of time. I read it just because it came free from Zecco. The book has no flow or continuity. It looks like author is just trying to merge different stories into a book format. It would have been better if this book was in a case study format.

One of the most fascinating things about Bo Burlingham's book is that it presents a more complete look at one of the most popular human organizational structures: the private corporation. It's within the context of the private, closely-held company that we appear to be experiencing a trend of hybridization between non-profit and for-profit goals. This book will provide you with many examples of the well-balanced private corporation, seeking to identify their own metrics for success based on their own personal beliefs.

It is this reconciliation of work and personal values that is a common theme for Burlingham - these private companies are the artistic creations of their founders, and an inspiration to entrepreneurs who hope to maintain their creative freedom. The significance of small, entrepreneurial companies and their non-profit activities is simply that it allows society to be governed and aided from the bottom-up, by great leaders who are acting on their very best nature. The companies here give meaning to their employees' lives, and foster a genuine work environment, while at the same time projecting their values into the community.

In economics, supply and demand is everything, but these ideas have been interpreted to be wholly significant only to goods and services that someone can profit from financially. In this far more flexible and personalized knowledge economy the private freedom to do good, and to do so by one's own definition, represents a new and wonderful power. As the companies in Small Giants exemplify, this power is robbed by investment bankers, shareholders, and advisors who have a one-dimensional definition of success, and an interest in growth for growth's sake.

With my own company, I plan to spend an enormous amount of up-front effort clarifying the kind of contribution I'd like to make, and ultimately turn SelfReliant into the same sort of "small giant" Burlingham's promoting. Great companies should always represent a point of view and I can only hope mine will be as compelling as those represented in Small Giants.

Applying economics to politics has always interested me, but this author failed miserably at it. He talks way too much about economists and how they are perfect and skips the interesting topics.
Miracle of aggregation and supply and demand politics peaked my interest, but he just skimmed over them.
The polls he give about opinions from "smart" people and dumb people are really sketchy in my opinion and not worth it.
All in all, very interesting thesis, very boring book.

Okay, all hyperbole aside, Dr. Caplan raises some excellent points, but everything he raises has been said before, critiqued before, and thoroughly proven and/pr dis proven over years of debate. It's almost as if he cut, copy, pasted Thomas Friedman's political economic rants and those have been debated ad-nauseum in most intellectual circles. The truth is, he has a somewhat different approach to the same ideas but in the end it just comes off as parroting, and ultimately the read is a waste of time.

In many ways, libertarian ideas have been winning in America. Oh, you wouldn't know it from reading the leading lights of libertarian dogma. There's always someone out there trying to turn your community into a police state or destroy your hopes of prosperity. But for the most part, free-trade ideology has been winning.

And people aren't happy about it.

This has absolutely nothing to do with free-trade being a flawed, or at the very least questionable, economic policy. No, it's because voters are stupid.

Thus, the thinking patterns of libertarians are pretty much the same as those of liberals.

A. Your disagree with me.

B. Your disagreement isn't really a disagreement, but a symptom of your stupidity.

This book simply ignores the many RATIONAL arguments against unfettered immigration and unrestrained free-trade. Gas prices, for example, are skyrocketing due to increased demand from China. Why is there more demand in China? Because we are buying so many of their exports, they are getting wealthier and more capable of energy consumption.

So gas prices are going through the roof.

Is this an "irrational" concern?

Hardly.

The argument may or may not be flawed, but it isn't irrational.

The conclusion:
1. Accept that a fair democracy will still make bad mistakes
2. Improve public education, especially when it comes to teaching economics
3. Teach your friends, family, acquaintances how the economy works

This book does a great job approaching irrationality in microeconomic terms and applying it to everyday situations. I'd strongly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the economics of market situations.