Extremely well written book about John Brown and the history surrounding his life. The author brings the Civil War era (and Mr. Brown) to life, even to those readers who may not be particularly interested in this time period. Thumbs up. I am eagerly awaiting more works by this author.

The title of this review is borrowed from Derek Bok who, when president of Harvard, responded to parents who crticized a recent tuition increase. Now the review.

This is one in a series of several dozen volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarding experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section which usually includes suggestions of other sources which some readers may wish to explore.

In this volume, we are provided with eight separate but related articles in which their authors examine these subjects: "The Organizational Frontier" (Wenger and Snyder), "The Smart-Talk Trap" (Pfeffer and Sutton), "Balancing Act: How to Capture Information Without Killing It" (Brown and Duguid), "What Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?" (Hansen, Nohria, and Tierney), "Good Communicating That Blocks Learning" (Argyris), "Coevolving: At Last a Way to Make Synergies Work" (Eisenhardt and Galunic). "Organigraphs: Drawing How Companies Really Work" (Mintzberg and Van der Heyden), and "Stop Fighting Fires" (Bohn). Here are a few brief excerpts:

"As communities of practice generate knowledge, they renew themselves. They give both the golden eggs and the goose that lays them." (Wenger and Snyder)

"People will try to sound smart not only by being critical but also by using trendy, pretentious language." (Pfeffer and Sutton)

"[Organizational defensive routines] consist of all the policies, practices, and actions that prevent human beings from having to experience embarrassment or threat and, at the same time, prevent them from examining the nature and causes of that embarrassment or threat." (Argyris)

"The most effective decision makers are those at the business-unit level, where strategic perspective meets operating savvy." (Eisenhardt and Galunic)

No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of the articles provided. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify those subjects which are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. For me, one of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from various charts and diagrams included such as "How Consulting Firms Manage Their Knowledge" (on page 68). Here Hansen, Nohria, and Tierney juxtapose Codification with Personalization in areas such as competitive strategy, economic model, knowledge management strategy, information technology, and human resources. Another valuable chart is found on page 168. Bohn lists a series of "Rules of Thumb" (rational rules which create irrational results) and suggests why each such "Rule" should be carefully re-considered. Great stuff.

Even those who already subscribe to the Harvard Business Review will greatly appreciate this series because each volume gathers together separate but related articles (previously published in the HBR) on the same general subject. The cost of each volume in the series is relatively modest; the value provided is substantial. Those who share my high regard for this one are urged to read various books written by Peter Senge as well as Working Knowledge (Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak), Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Life (William Isaacs), If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice (Carla S. O'Dell et al), and finally, The Magic of Dialogue: Transforming Conflict into Cooperation (Daniel Yankelovich).

Im a teenager who happens to have a liking of philosophy,so, in response, i was given a copy of this book by my world history teacher. It amused with the various types of thought compounded in this anthology. It views the thoughts of many philosophers through a religious context(as the title notes). Noticable names are missing though,such as Immanuel Kant and russell. But was made up for by the views of lesser known philosohers. I dont what else say.Well actually i do, but my friends are rushing me off.

Mr. Brown is one hell of an author with other great books. I would like to commend Mr. Walt Brown on a great piece of writing. Also I know Mr. Brown personally and he is such a weirdo!

If you want to get to know John Brown, his family, his life, his problems and his ways, you have to read this book, from his childhood to his death in Virginia after the raid of Harper's Ferry each station of his life is shown in detail (which makes it sometimes difficult to read with pure pleasure). Before I read this book I knew about Brown as a criminal, a fanatic, a murderer may be. Yes, he was... but you have to know what shaped him to be a fanatic and a murderer. His life was a struggle for freedom, and he was beat hard by life. He came on the wrong way or better: He went too far on the right one. This is a very exciting and helpful book! Just read it!

Great book by a great author. (I loved his Marbury v. Madison: Powers of the Supreme Court, it is on ... also). In both books he takes potentially complicated subjects and boils them down to the important elements, and does it in an interesting and engaging way. I recommend this book to any teacher - or anyone wanting to understand learn more about history and law.

I have not read all of it but I have read John Brown's Prayer part and thought that it was great. I need to read the rest of it soon -Claire

This book is filled great historical information, and good black and white photos. It also contains information about John Brown's life and ideas, the abolitionists, the raid on Harper's Ferry and the results. This will be a good report resource. Also has a nice timeline. Recommended reading for the 6th grade level and up.

The pieces provided in this book are good solid pieces of music, not simply exercises. There is nothing trite or tedious. The pieces demostrate a large range of different musical and rhythmic styles and ideas which the make the learning process enjoyable. Each piece comes with background information and skills build upon each other as you go through the book.

This book, simply put, was enjoyable for two reasons. One, it was simple reading. Never does the author attempt to confuse the reader by attempting to put in complicated battles or legal matters, which might be expected. Instead, Rees puts everything in layman's terms. Second, the style of the novel is intriguing. It starts off quickly with the entrance of the main supporting character, John Brown. From there on in, the action is fast-paced with frequent delves into the necessary morality issues. But, most importantly, the novel has a very nice lyrical style to it which causes the reader to feel at ease with the novel and a part of the story. Thus, the novel is highly recommended and I look forward to Mr. Rees's further novel.s