Although there is really nothing revolutionary about "Revolutionizing IT", this is a good book for seasoned and war-torn IT professionals as well as end-users frustrated with their IT departments. It offers some *evolutionary* ideas on how to improve project and support methodologies based on the experience of the Andrews Consulting Group.

Several principles put forth are those many of us already knew but never mentioned out loud.

•Despite how much time, money, and attention given at the outset of the project, it is impossible to create a complete plan and cost estimate for an IT project.
•Any complex design will be imperfect.
•Scope control, although unpopular, is absolutely critical.
•There will never be enough resources available to build the optimum solution.

Some insightful tenets I took away.

•Those most familiar with an existing system/design are in a poor position to lead the recommendation of a new one (because of a bias)
•IT professionals like complexity and by their nature tend to bring more complexity into projects.
•Endusers should be 100% accountable for projects.
•Time is a project's worst enemy - as more time passes between approval and deployment, the number of things that can go wrong and the number of assumption that can change increases.

The authors discuss their "RITE Approach", which again is not revolutionary ... or contradictory to other methodologies, but rather offers some common sense best practices that complement waterfall, Agile, and RUP methodologies. The authors self-admittedly bash the waterfall paradigm, but then come back and confess that the waterfall is the foundation of all PM methodologies.

Good book to read to insure you're on the right track ...

This is one of the most practical books on the topic I have read, and I have been following and participating in this field, and following writing on the subject, since Fred Brooks taught us fledgling programming managers in IBM about the mythical man-month and other programming project realities.

This book is being routed throughout my IT department -- managers, developers, infrastructure and support people. I suggest they read the last chapter first as it is an excellent summary and reference checklist of the points Andrews and Johnson bring to the reader.

Key reminders and points made and expanded upon, for me, include:
1) Just do it -- the perfect solution is never available.
2) Know what goes wrong and what goes right and manage accordingly.
3) Control scope creep, probably the greatest weakness of all of us IT managers who want to be loved by our customers.
4) Managing programmers -- "junior programmers run the world" making those detailed, seemingly low level decisions that can compromise a project implementation.

This is not only a great read but an excellent reference manual for experienced and new IT managers alike -- one of those books we should each read every year! Well done, guys.

You have to like any book that is what it claims to be, and Revolutionizing IT is exactly what it claims to be. After reading this book and recently completing a 10 week course based on its contents I can say happily that it will "change the way you think about the management of any complex task, especially if it involves Information Technology."

Written for a non-technical management audience, its best attribute is the multitude of genuinely useful examples that illustrate the principles of the authors' RITE approach in detail for serious understanding. Unlike many books, especially college textbooks, these concrete examples keep the book, which is filled with good project management theory, from becoming merely a set of entertaining but impractical and vague remarks on IT as some books are.

Of course, while these qualities are helpful for the non-IT managers at whom this book is aimed, I found it to be invaluable for college students planning on entering the business world upon graduation with aspirations toward higher management. Not only does this book help future mangers understand IT, an important task in and of itself, but more importantly it's simply good advice for anyone who will be managing people and major projects in the future.

In my personal experience, Revolutionizing IT has made me very aware of the risks, and how to manage them, involved in any change to an organization that will fundamentally alter the way current staff will be doing their jobs. While this is a good reminder for experienced managers (who should be aware of this already), this advice both on how to look out for and how to deal with potential resistance and hostility toward business process changes is invaluable for future business executives. In fact, as I read the book I found myself wishing I had read it before I embarked on a particularly difficult internship which involved my writing an efficiency audit report for a department within the organization. The report ultimately culminated in the firing of the department manager.

This is a great book, easy to read and full of wisdom hard won through the experience of its authors. Put it into the hands of non-IT managers, especially the ones who are uncomfortable with IT. But first put it into the hands of young business people, even the ones who think they understand computers, because they will need the advice on project and people management.

Justin Swift
Principia College

It has some nice pictures. Plenty of guys in Cavalry hats. But I really got very little idea on what they did in Vietnam and the battles they fought. I gather they were pretty important but the book told me little.

From beginning to end this book is a must read for anyone interested in helicopters and helicopter warfare! Some good photos too!jim

Required reading for Viet Nam history buffs. The Air Cavalry as only a Cavalryman knows. Ride with the crazy, really, Scout pilots as they do the impossible. The history of the Air Cav's formation and it's lessons learned in combat by one who was there. Will make you want to get your "chicken plate," helment, and grab the stick and go. Let's all meet over the valley just West of Dak To. "If you ain't cav, ---"

Thumbelina is not normal girl she is about the size of your thumb, but don't let her height mistake you she can do alot of things other people can't do. Like she can fit into small spaces that you can't. So if you like books that are about people doing extremely different things that you don't think that can do then this is the book right for you to read. This book will amaze your eyes with the colorful pictures inside, and with the amazing things Thumbelina can do.

Hans Christian Andersen's story of Thumbeline is so endearing that it's no wonder that so many authors have written their own versions of it and so many illustrators have had a go at making tiny Thumbeline come to life. This version, translated by Anthea Bell and illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger is brimming with charm, rustic folk sensibilities, kindness and compassion spiked with just the right amount of perilous adventure to make it interesting, and a lovely magical feel. The story is well told in satisfyingly descriptive language. The illustrations are superb! Zwerger does a wonderful job with all of the animal characters that Thumbeline encounters and manages to infuse them with emotion and intelligence as well as country charm. Little red-haired Thumbeline is delicate and sweet in several lovely costumes with a peasant feel to them. You know the tale...a woman tells a witch that she wants a "tiny child" and the magic gives her exactly what she wishes for, a tiny child no bigger than her thumb. Thumbeline is born from the heart of a tulip. She's so beautiful and sweet that every small suitor in the neighborhood wants her hand in marriage, including a toad, a mole and a June beetle. They are not interested in the fact that she does not want to marry them! She gets help from other wee folk in the woodland community and makes a good friend when she saves the life of a swallow. The story ends happily for Thumbeline. It may be desirable to point out to your young ones that not every unattached female needs to find a husband, especially very young ones like Thumbeline, and that kidnapping and force are not true ways to get a girl to marry you! Children are smart enough to know that but it's still a good idea to talk over the odd concepts that a child may be thinking about after you read this story. I love this old-fashioned story and this re-telling adds beautifully to its charm and therefore justifies its conception.

The familiar Hans Christian Andersen story of Thumbelina has received the royal treatment from Susan Jeffers. Her large, lovely pictures make this seem like you are stepping into the story for the first time. Thumbelina is so dainty and sweet that it's no wonder the toad wishes to marry her but poor Thumbelina has a harrowing time escaping from her warty suitor. Share a trumpet vine blossom with Thumbelina, a pair of hummingbirds and a fat bumble bee or take a ride with her on the back of a gallant swallow. This whole story is enchanting from start to finish and the pictures are a delight!

Boswell persuaded Johnson, almost age 64, to visit the highlands of Scotland with him in August, 1773. Both Boswell and Johnson wrote small books about it. Johnson's view, both in his letters to Hester Thrale and in this book, was as a social scientist cum historian, taking a clinical examination of the changes that were occurring in Scotland after the Union. Where Boswell's volume (sometimes paired with Johnson's) tends to focus on dialogs with Johnson, Johnson discusses the decaying of the clan structure, emigration, assimilation into the Union... Johnson is very careful as he describes what he sees, carefully measuring distances and relating his observations to historical context.

This review may appear with other editions, but the Oxford edition, edited by Fleeman, is a very thorough and detailed edition for the specialist. For the specialist, it's worth the relatively high price. Fleeman provides detailed notes, and appendices on the the various early editions, cancelled sheets, clans structures, etc. If you are a serious reader of Johnson, as I am, this is the edition to have.

If you are -not- a serious reader, then you would do well to buy the penguin paperback, which combines Johnson's and Boswell's volumes. The two books are fascinating to read in tandem, and it's revealing about Boswell that Johnson doesn't even mention conversations which meant so much to Boswell. In addition, the notes in the Penguin edition (by Peter Levi) are also very helpful.

The -third- part of the story, however -- Johnson's letters to Hester Thrale while J & B were traveling -- are not included in any current edition that I know of. I suspect we will have to wait for an electronic version in order to be able to compare all three resources at once.

This book was my companion on my first trip to Norway, the origin in viking times of the settlement of much of Northern Scotland and the Hebrides. I was curious to know how the region looked in earlier times and, is always the case with the writing of Johnson and Boswell, was happily entertained. If one reads only one travel book then maybe this one is the right one--maybe Lawrence's 'Travels in Italy' is second on my list.

Quite a while back I posted a review of the Oxford edition of Samuel Johnson's writings in which I included a short review of the Penguin edition of the Sctoland journey/journal. Reposting that review to the newest edition of the Oxford book, it occurred to me I ought to place this review where it belongs.

There is little with which one might compare these two wonderful pieces of writing today -- and yet to some extent they are, each in its own way, foundations upon which much of modern writing has been built. Johnson is here, if not at his finest, still nearing an apogee of clarity, lucidity and intellectual rigor. Boswell is making his initial foray into the published first-hand journal, written only half-a-thought out of the public eye, that would eventually lead him to write his enormous and enormously popular Life of Johnson.

Reading the two interlaced is an utter delight -- moving from the formality, grace and power of Johnson to the smaller, more intimate pleasures of Boswell gives one the feeling of having captured, in the adventurous peregrinations of these two inimitable characters, the very breadth and depth of eighteenth century English writing. (I must point out that the Penguin book does not print the two Journals in interlaced fashion, but with a little effort the reader can move between the two so as to get the efect of Johnson and Boswell speaking in turns on the same topology, if not always the same topic...)

To love and admire Johnson, but not appreciate the brilliant, even if much different, stylistic inventions of Boswell seems to me somewhat perverse. Certainly Boswell had his shortcomings, but half the joy of reading and 'knowing' Johnson and his circle comes from appreciating the little peccadilloes and foibles that each displayed in his turn--not the least the Great Cham, Johnson, himself. Having said that I hope I may be allowed one short comment on Frank Lynch's review below. While meaning no disrespect to Frank it seems odd to me that he would note that Johnson does not comment on conversations that Boswell took as very important. Johnson knew of Boswell's journals as they were being written and encouraged Boswell to publish them. Moreover, Johnson was writing a topographical piece and not the more intimate "Travels with the Great Cham" journal that Boswell was writing.

In the long run, that Boswell found these conversations important is what delights us -- his ability to possess and bring weight to the smallness of life contrasts wonderfully with Johnson's ability to enlarge and ennoble life -- and the reflection is an interesting one when we find some of the Great Cham's noble thoughts somewhat bitterly missing the mark while Boswell's little thoughts can roll about one's mind for a very long time.

I cannot think of either of these two men that I don't see Thomas Rowlandson's wonderful caricature of the two walking arm in arm -- the older man a head taller, wagging his finger and pontificating casually and brilliantly on some weighty matter, and the other rolling along beside him smiling with sweet admiration and pride of association. To read Johnson and bypass Boswell, is to find one great treasure and forsake another.

If I must add one small quibble it is that the notes to the Penguin edition seem rather eccentric -- more the product of a dyspeptic travel writer than a Johnsonian scholar.

I liked this book because it gave me what I needed to know to comfortably pass the 50-634 exam without getting bogged down with too much detail. I used it as a study aid along with my class textbook and selftest software. Good discussion on time synchronization, WTM.NLM, and merging. There are questions at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book that can be used to really test your knowledge. Would be better if these questions were on CD or the publisher's website. I liked the treatment the book gave regarding an IP environment - it enabled me to answer two or three real exam test questions that I otherwise may have missed. I really rate this book at 4 1/2 stars, almost a 5. The Cram Sheet of key facts provided at the front of the book is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else; it's OK for a quick review before you go into the exam but don't rely on it for anything else.

I read the David Clarke 4.11 books then decided to switch to the CNE 5 track. I read this book one time through with no other reference to any CNE 5 book and I aced the exam. This book actually covers more than the Test Objectives. Excellent book.

Ages 3-8 yrs. A tender, warm story spoken through the voice of a grandaughter to her grandfater. "When I am old with you, Grandaddy, we will play cards all day underneath that old tree by the road." When I am old with you, Grandaddy...[etc]." Neat pictures that blend well with the story. It's a nice story that makes for a great bedtime read.

This beautifully illustrated book brings back fond childhood memories of the precious childhood moments spent with a loving grandparent. Many people, young and old alike, can relate to this book because of its simple, yet touching message. The young child in the book could be a girl or a boy, depending on the reader's preference. This book is an excellent example of multicultural literature to be enjoyed by all who pick it up.

The data is very detailed and comprehensive indeed.

However, I found that the secular data, AD2000 on Thailand is a bit out of date, especially concerning the Government, the Legislature and the Political divisions (which should be 73 provinces instead of the 7 provinces published)

I also found the number of Christians in Thailand a bit too exagerated, especially the number of crypto-Christians (at 570,000 in mid-2000), Independent Christians (at 735,801) and Protestants (at 303,000).

The number of Catholics (at 255,000) and Anglicans (at 465) in Thailand in mid-2000 are quite accurate.

There should also be more frequent updates.

Almost 20 years ago the initial edition of the WCE was a great advanbce in religious information and statistics. The second edition (now 2 volumes) reflects much of the change in the religious scene in the last 2 decades and that alone is worthwhile. What is interesting is that the projections made 20years ago for the year 2000 have often turned out to be 'spot on' and this adds to the value of the work. I commend this latest effort w/o reservation and look forward to updates more frequently. Religion is one of the things that everyone shares-we all have it. This book should be in every library-esp. religious ones.As a priest who follows and studies and interacts with this world I can recommend it most heartily!

David Barrett and Todd Johnson at the World Evangelization Research Center in Richmond, Virginia have just completed the 2nd edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia. This 2,400 page, 2-volume reference set tells the status of Christianity and of evangelization in great detail for every country, people, language, city, and province in the world -- together with a trove of other information, statistics, and resources for the decision-makers in the world of missions. A companion CD, the World Christian Database, is planned to follow. This particular work, when complete, will help facilitate the analysis now missing from this monumental enterprise, a truly impressive work of religious, especially Christian, demographics. There is really nothing like it in terms of sheer raw data.

I read this book a few years ago as a requirement for my Master's degree in public administration. I read along with interest because the story that unfolded read like some sort of sordid drama, like something you might see on prime time television. It had suspense, intrigue, and some of the most stunning ups and downs. And all this from a book that attempts to comprehensively explain the hopeful beginnings and hopeless endings of the Clintons' (both Bill and more specifically Hillary) attempts to implement universal health care in the United States. Think back, if you will, to the campaign promises Bill Clinton made in his first campaign. He vowed to fight for universal health care. Many Americans like this idea, but when it comes right down to it, most Americans do not trust the government to provide their health care and also feel that government intervention in private health care makes the system... socialist. Bill wanted to change this, and when he was elected, he appointed his wife, Hillary, to chair a committee to research and implement this new universal health care system. However, this was his first mistake. The American people at that time were very suspicious and skeptical of Mrs. Clinton, feeling that she did not embody what a First Lady should be. They also felt that she had demonstrated no real qualifications for this appointment. The writers of this book document the controversies and problems brilliantly. I felt confident about the facts... until I was happily reading along (the book, despite its daunting length, reads through smoothly and quickly) and found a most glaring and heinous error. The writers were discussing the positions of Fred Grandy, who, after leaving television, went on to represent his home state of Iowa in Congress. We all know Fred Grandy as Gopher on the tv show Love Boat. But this book said that he had been a star on the show Gilligan's Island! I started to exercise real doubt and skepticism about a book that managed to get through all stages of editing with such an easily spotted error on its pages. Whatever the case, if you want to know how the plan was formed and how it was unraveled quite easily not just by opposition Republicans but also by Hillary herself, you should indeed read this. Hillary and her policy wonk friend Ira Magaziner had many opportunities to compromise on some of the points in their health care plan which would have made it an easier sell to Republicans. In fact many Republicans offered to work with Hillary and Magaziner, but the stubborn duo insisted on having the plan intact... and ended up getting nothing. As did the American people.

If you read this book in the wrong frame of mind, you won't like it. The wrong frame is to believe that it consists of honest reporting about the U.S. health care system, and the Clinton health bill of '93. It's mainly not reporting. It's advocacy.

The key is found in the intro, where the authors define "The System" that rules USAmerica -- which includes the Presidency, the Congress, the media ... AHH! The fact that they think the media is part of the govt., just not elected, is itself worth the price of this volume.

Taken in this vein, it is quite good. We must have a national health system like a European country's , because ... well, because they feel embarrassed that we aren't like Europe. That the U.S. was settled, predominantly, by people who WANTED NOT TO LIVE IN EUROPE is unimportant to Johnson and Broder, who know better than to take the this self-govt. nonsense seriously.

What is serious is that the USAmerican public rejects 'socialized medicine.' So instead Clinton wrapped it up in his mess of a bill, and then tried to scare us into panic over our health care, saying the system would collapse if we didn't give control of it to the govt. Not true, and Johnson & Broder know it, but hey, can't let truth stand in the way of ruling.

Frequently THE SYSTEM is unintentionally funny, too, as when the authors take a break from reporting the 'horse race' political aspects of the story to criticize the media for concentrating on the 'horse race' instead of the policy substance, after which they trash the only attempt ever made to discuss the policy substance (Elizabeth McCaughey's famous piece in The New Republic) and go back to reporting the horse race. You sort of wonder if they read their own manuscript.

But have some sympathy. They do mention the policy substance from time to time -- our rulers think we spend far too much money on foolish things like attempting to save the lives of premature infants. Those resources should go to more important things, like health care for "homeless, drug abusing gay and bisexual men of color." I mean, would you want to defend THAT openly?

It's also very useful in assessing the nature of liberal bias in the press. The last chapter of the hardcover first edition, on sale in 1996, told us about good Pres. Clinton's attempts to 'save' the federal budget before runaway health care spending wrecked it, and evil House Speaker Newt Gingrich's attempts to 'cut health care spending,' when in both cases they were trying to do the same thing -- cut the rate at which spending on health care would increase in the future. That's one way you bias coverage -- describing things in such a way as to create the desired reaction, which in this case was to get us to run out and vote Democratic.

The last chapter of this paperback edition mentions the Kassenbaum-Kennedy bill, passed by Congress and signed by Clinton. All mention of it was carefully left out of the first edition. That's another way of biasing coverage -- leave out the 'unimportant' stuff that might confuse the citizenry.

And if you practice your critical thinking skills as you read, you will learn a lot about the chaotic way Clinton ran his administration, how the Democrats lost control of the House after twenty straight wins, why the bill was so complex, and other fascinating stuff.

What you won't learn how the Clinton health plan would have worked, of course. Obviously, they were afraid of your reaction if you found out. That is probably the most important information in the book.

The Clinton Health Care plan was a bold, dramatic attempt to transform the American health care system to take into account the fact that while America may provide the best health care in the world, far too many of its citizens are unable to afford it. Clinton's attempt, probably the most dramatic attempt at a government program since the Great Society, failed miserably and helped to elect a Republican Congress.

The battle the voters didn't see was the important one- the battle which nearly sank the Clinton Presidency and destroyed its ambitious health care proposal. The powers arrayed against the Clinton plan were formidable and well-financed, aided by the Administration's mind-numbing blunders.

"The System" has the entire story- the high hopes, the stunning reversals, the industry's toxic reaction to reform. The Clintonites quickly found that the old adage is true. No good deed goes unpunished.

"The System" is a very good book at who really calls the shots in American government and how little power people really have against the special interests. More valuable than ten years of civics lessons.

This book provides an excellent introduction to ASP.NET and would make a good text for a ASP.NET101 class. It assumes no prior knowledge of ASP. It assumes no prior knowledge of any programming language. It does not make use of the VS IDE. There were 13 authors plus 4 other contributors, even though only 7 persons are included in the photo printed on the cover (I wonder who got left out). However, the editor and technical reviewers did a good job of bringing all the material together and providing a remarkable degree of consistency. Some others found the style to be choppy. I thought it was fine because of the disjointed nature of the topics. Each chapter is pretty much independent of the other chapters (see the list of chapters at the end of this review).

A reader should finish this book with a basic understanding of C#, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, OOP, Event-driven programming, data structures, components, assemblies, custom controls, error handling, debugging, web services, and security. Highly recommended for someone starting from scratch -- or with only a brief introduction to programming. Someone with programming experience will find about one-fourth of the book to be too basic. Someone with prior experience using an OOP language will find about one-third of the book to be material they already know. Still, it provides a useful introduction to ASP.NET; especially in regard to the structure of ASP.NET and the use of server side controls. Many bits of wisdom can be found throughout the book -- such as on Page 141, "DataStart and DateEnd are better than StartDate and EndDate, as these two related methods will then come next to each other in an alphabetically sorted search."

The Index is 28 pages and very useful.

Here are the chapters:

1) Getting Started with ASP.NET.
2) Anatomy of a ASP.NET Page
3) Forms and HTML Server Controls
4) Storing Information in C#
5) Introducing XML
6) Control Structures and Procedure Programming
7) Even-driven Programming and Postback
8) Introduction to Objects
9) Shared Members and Class Relationships
10) Objects in ASP.NET
11) Objects and Structured Data
12) Reading from Data Sources
13) Manipulating Data Sources
14) ASP.NET Server Controls
15) Reusable Code for ASP.NET
16) .NET Assemblies and Custom Controls
17) Debugging and Error Handling
18) Web Services
19) Configuration and Optimization
20) ASP.NET Security

Jim Holloman
Atlanta, GA
...

I was hoping to get an insight on ASP.NET when I purchased this product, as an experienced developer I would say that this book is too basic for me. This book can be great for a beginners who are just getting into making websites dynamically.

One thing I found somewhat bothering was the fact that it's quite jumpy. In some parts of the book there are portions that say "we will get to this on chapter blah" and what bothered me was that the concept was used in previous examples. An average reader, in my opinion, would want to examine the code and see how it works. The likely chance that he/she will read through the other chapters and look back is less than likely. More than likely they will get confused if they tried to jump through some sections to understand this certain porton. For example, in one of the first 3 chapters they used IF statements in the examples to explain some of the Radio Buttons Functionality. Now someone who doesn't know C# out of the bat will be confused!

Read this book for an overview only...

Excellent resource for all ASP.NET AND C# beginners. as well as a quick reference for C# and some ASP.NET basic configuration. These guys did a great job in putting together a logical sequence of chapters that will help the reader successfully learn to code basic ASP.NET web pages using C#. I especially like the general overview of the C# language and Object Oriented programming.

Know what you are buying, because some readers commented it was "A bit too basic" and that is probably a technically correct statement however relative to your level of expectation.

I used it to first phase into ASP.NET for which it was extremely helpful. Later in the development cycle of my initial application the book lost its use but I keep coming back to it for quick reference.

A must for anyone coming from a classic ASP development environment into ASP.NET, C# and Object Oriented Programming. Worth every penny.

Chic Simple is a book of glossy pictures and bad text. The writing is poor in both substance and in its unreadable graphics. The text full of senselessly varying fonts and styles. There is good information squeezed in tiny print in the back of the book, but that is obtainable from any of the clothing books out there already. If you like gazing at men's clothing, though, it's a nice book to thumb through for a few minutes. It will provide you with some nice visual examples of how to put together outfits. However, a good salesman could do the same. I don't understand the rave reviews given to this book. It's not bad but it's not great either. If you're looking for real understanding of clothing beyond pictures, go elsewhere.

I have found this book to be a good general resource for information regarding mens fashion and grooming. (The checklists are VERY helpful) The book has good overall advice with one exception. The authors claim that the perfect tie is the black knit tie your mother tied for you on Sunday morning. As an adult I don't know if I would want to shop in a clothing store that sold black knit ties, much less wear one in public... With that said, the book provides ample information in an easy and visually pleasing way. I would suggest this book to any man who is interested in becoming more informed about laying the foundation of a stylish wardrobe.

This book is *the* reference guide for the man pursuing that elusive, important goal that separates a real man out from the philistines around him: the quest for the perfect, stylish wardrobe.

This book was given to me as a 21st birthday present, which was shortly before I finished university, and I have found it to be an invaluable resource in building a good wardrobe and in discovering a good sense of style as I've set out to forge my own way in the 'real' world.

The book presents a very detailed examination of classic men's fashions in various aspects of life and their corresponding wardrobes: work, leisure, sport, winter, summer, accessories, ties, cufflinks - and so on. This book gives you an insight into what defines the classic fashion in each of these areas and gives some tips and general rules about how you should construct your wardrobe in each of them.

The book is also very 'cool' - it is very well presented with lots of great photos and illustrations. The variety of classic quotes from books, films, etc that are used to illustrate various points work really well and help to maintain your interest and the sense of coolness about the book as well.

It should be noted that this book is not an exhaustive guide to what is fashionable, and is almost quite the opposite. Rather than focusing on clothes or wardrobes that are fashionable, this book presents only those things that are never likely to go out of fashion (like the classic two or three button, black or dark blue suit, or a well-made trenchcoat). So, don't buy this if you're looking for an analysis of the latest in men's fashions, but do buy it of you are into timeless classics and don't plan ever to go out of style.

This would also make a good companion piece to other books on "how to be a man", and in fact it does address this question in part as well.