I read this book almost a year ago, and the reason I decided to write this was because I was surprised and glad to see it available in a mainstream source. The book is about a specific, terrifying incident of American statesmen illegally giving top secret American (military) information to Israel. The author is not a professional writer, so it has its flaws, however, one must admire the courage it took for him to write it. The establishment does not appreciate criticism against Israel, an issue which the book also touches on but not nearly in depth enough. Unfortunately, the book probably isn't believed by enough people

Dr. Green does an exceptionally admirable job here in undermining the official figures which are supposed to measure poverty in the United Kingdom. He sets out, in clear and concise detail how the figures reflect something quite different from poverty as the average man or woman on the Clapham omnibus might know it. He goes on to show how poverty has come to mean some sort of reliance on the Nanny state where more and more people receive some sort of handout from the state. From this it follows that people are undermined by their reliance on the state and the culture of the victim has replaced self-help. He concludes his work by setting out how earlier generations sought to help the poor by encouraging and educating them to help themselves rather than just dipping a hand in the pocket and giving people cash.

Shifting our view away from the domestic scene for a moment, it is interesting to contrast this view with the dominant view among aid workers in less developed countries. One often hears charities talk about teaching people to fish etc and the impact that will have on the survival and future development of threatened people's. Yet in the developed world the cry is always for more resources.

Green's work is really part of a bigger picture. The sad fact is that in the so-called developed countries the state has taken over the rearing and development of people. Through the device of dealing with poverty the state has extended it's tentacles to reach almost everywhere in society. Income transfers have shifted resources through a bureaucracy which has grown apace from all sections of society to other sections. State education and healthcare, with their attendant administrations, have brought almost everyone within it's grasp. With every increased or extended benefit, with every increased tax break, opposition is weakened. The economics of politics helps us to understand this process.

Green raises a standard around which free thinking men and women might gather. Alas, there are very few who can rally without declaring an interest. Like drug addicts, we all may want this to stop but we need our financial fixes so much that we cannot endure to go without because it is so hard. Our politicians, even those with convictions , have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo or even expanding and deepening the role and extent of the state.

This book does a great service in bringing this issue to the wider public. It is long on description and short on prescription. What the world needs is men and women not mice. How are we to travel to an independent and living future? That is the question which must be answered.

This book has lovely ideas for decoarting using natural materials. I found many of the ideas could be done very inexpensively.

This was the first Thoreau's book I read, and it inspired me to read some other of his writings. They are all inspirational, above average, writings. Well, about this book, a strong critic to United States government of his time (why not to extend that to ours, since it seems not much has changed...). He takes a position against slavery, as well as the war with Mexico.
I believe this is one of the most well written works fighting for the liberty of expression and against slavery I ever read.

His ideas about an unexistent State are at least discussible, since it seems very difficult to people live without any organizational structure. But, of course, we SHOULD discuss about State's authority, as well its limits...
Thoreau's own natural life was his inspiration, and (as we can see in his texts) he loved nature, and he spent a lot of time of his life around it. He liked freedom, and in this work he depicts his ideas about freedom, and how it should be applied to him, as well as all mankind.

As a contained classroom teacher, I am always searching for good reference material for my classroom. This geography would be an excellent edition to my class library. The text is readable for 4th through 6th graders. The illustrations are beautiful, and the maps are accurate. This volume contains a "world" of information that would interest students and be useful for their research.

Another book on welfare reform. Dr. Green invokes a long tradition of writers who care about those less able to help themselves but who believes that the best way to help is to help people to help themselves not merely to give handouts.

If this book were only about this then I would heartily endorse it and probably award it five starts. Unfortunately there is another issue which is cleverly incorporated into the text but is really a distinct issue in it's own right which is the thorny issue of what is euphemistically termed lifestyle choice.

The book has much to commend it. Clearly the author has looked into this very seriously and drawn heavily on his work on mutual and friendly societies in arriving at his conclusions. He makes a good case for the ending of the payment of welfare benefits as we know them and the substitution of government assistance whilst restoring independence. There is further work to be done in this area and, in particular, the transitional arrangements to that position but generally speaking he sets out a good case. It seems to me too that there is scope aplenty for some serious research into the costs of social administration involved in taxing incomes and earnings and the payment of social benefits out to millions. How can we as post-modern societies continue to rob Peter to pay Peter and Paul too? However, I digress.

The issue of lifestyle choice is clearly an anathema to the author who sets out his stall for the restoration of the traditional family, a theme which provides a unifying link to the publications of the Health & Welfare Unit now CIVITAS. He attempts to convince libertarians that the family is an essential prerequisite to the maintainance of a free society but does not address any of the fundamental issues which confront such a position. The argument is a crucial one and one which is at the crux of the debate about what sort of society we want. Yhere is a rather unholy alliance of ethical socialists, traditional conservatives and the Christian right who together are campaigning for the restoration of the family as a centrepiece of government and state policies.

This is not the place to debate that issue but in a way it underpins Green's position. His thesis seems to rely on the unstated assumption that for his scheme to work it requires a traditional family structure of the single breadwinner and a stay at home parent. At a stroke this would cut down significantly on the payment of welfare benefits, reduce the demands for childcare and have important implications for all other aspects of social policy.

The problem with this assumption is that it would require the equivalent of putting the genie back in the bottle. However, while this would be popular in some sections of the policy wonk community it would probably dismay many in business who have come to realise the important and growing position of women in the workforce. That said one can conjecture a future in which it is the woman of the household who goes out to work whilst the man remains at home and rears the children.

Food for thought but then one should be careful what one wishes for!

No one can claim that German intellectual history is an easy subject to wade through; this treatise is a good introduction to the important role that Hegel played in the formation of later 19th century German thought. While the translation is a bit balky at points (translating from German to English is no easy task in academic works!) it gives a good introduction to the basic ideas behind some of the more seminal thinkers of the German intellectual milleau through the late 19th century and is a fine basis for moving on to other books on the periods following. It is at times a bit unclear; this is not a book for beginners or the generalist but one for those who are already somewhat familiar with philosophy and the terms of debate. Still recommended reading to understand more fully the foundations of the later German state and history.

Green gives a very thorough and comprehensive introduction to the mechanical behavior, fracture mechanism and structural characterization of ceramics. As an industrial scientist, this book has greatly helped me in understanding the origin of failure in various materials and optimizing the microstructure of the ceramic to improve its mechanical properties. Figures and photos are concise and illustrative. The comprehension exercices at the end of the book could be helpful to the student I once was.

This book was one of my references for a course in the Religion of Biblical Israel. It was pretty helpful as one of a collection of resources.

I had the fortune to attend the course in Linear Robust Control with Dr. Green at Cornell University and used the book as a text. This book is perfect if you have a good understanding of linear algebra as well as optimal control theory. Some of the proposed problems are (I remember the headaches) of high dificulty but having the book along with some good papers written by the autors, makes them much easier. Because of the dificulty of the subject, I read several other books and none was better that this so if you really want to learn Linear Robust Control and care about mathematic rigurousity, this is the book for you. It is best suited as a companion for a course in robust control since the book is not easy at all.