The age recommendation on the book is for 5-8, but unless the child is reading at a first or second grade level, he/she probably won't be able to read the bold-print paragraphs without considerable help from the grown-up. Still, the pictures are big and colorful enough that they should keep the child's interest even if he/she isn't reading along...

"For those willing to give it careful reading and study...The Bittersweet Century will serve as a useful springboard for understanding the role of science and technology in the current public policy environment...." --Perspectives on Political Science.

"[The Bittersweet Century] is not for mere reading but for studying, underlining, reorganizing the way we think about what is happening today in America.... A towering critique of liberalism by a radical, brilliant author." --Book Reader.

"'The bittersweet century' of Goldstene's title serves as the leitmotif for a series of short, reflective essays decrying the United States' deviation from a truly egalitarian democratic ethos. Liberalism, Goldstene contends, has foisted on the United States a system of elite rule founded on the superior claims to knowledge of the few and supported by the corporate organization of technology.... Goldstene draws messages of optimism from modern biology (which has undermined the basis for racist and hereditarian thought) and from relativity and quantum physics (which has subverted positivist and privileged claims to knowledge). 'The logic of science,' he concludes, 'results in democracy'--a sweet promise that offsets the for him bitterly elitist impulses of the twentieth-century United States." --American Political Science Review.

"The Bittersweet Century is the most original and thought-provoking-book to emerge since the publication of John Rawls' Theory of Justice (1971). This reviewer not only finds Goldstene's newest work pregnant with powerful political thought, but he believes it should be recommended heartily for economists, historians, psychologists, and sociologists. All will find it provocative and instructive. Political science can only hope that Goldstene will inspire a renewal of democratic theorizing and that The Bittersweet Century will herald a renaissance of democratic thought." --The Social Science Journal.

"In his new book, Paul Goldstene replies to criticisms of his widely-dicussed The Collapse of Liberal Empire (1977).... The Bittersweet Century is the sort of book often called 'provocative'.... [It] raises important issues." --The Australian Journal of Politics and History.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in Jungian psychology is bound to have a few books on their shelf published by Inner City. The series started by Toronto analyst-publisher Daryl Sharp in 1980 now has 80 titles by 39 Jungian analysts, notably several each by Marie-Louise von Franz, Edward F. Edinger, Marion Woodman, James Hollis, and Sharp himself.

Inner City's focus from the beginning has been on promoting the practical application of Jung's work by educated readers who may or may not be in analysis. As general editor, Sharp has proclaimed his faith in the importance of symbol and metaphor as a way of understanding "the modern mind," whether through dreams, fairy tales or alchemical parallels. True, there are some titles with special appeal to professional clinicians, but on the whole Inner City has left that field to others and concentrated on the psychological implications of issues that confront each and every one of us every day.

This orientation is typical of the so-called Zurich School and reflected in the fact that Inner City's stable of authors were for the most part Zurich trained and have a background in the humanities.

Personally, I have read and profited from many books published by Inner City. My only complaint has been that they bring them out faster than I can read them! Just as I'm about to catch up, I'm presented with another gem that is added to the "gotta read" pile, many of which, alas, I've never gotten to. This Cumulative Index was compiled for readers like me, and I must say it's a godsend.

Since Inner City Books claims sales to date of over a million, I imagine many others will welcome this guide to where to find what, with some 15,000 entries, generously cross-referenced. Particularly helpful is the Key at the bottom of each page.

You may scratch your head over what it means to be "Jungian," as I have, but you won't find a better overview of the scope of interests involved, and where to find it, than in Inner City's Cumulative Index.

For the more technically inclined reader the detailed discussions of data warehousing, data mining and analytical tools and techniques are accurate and up-to-date. I especially liked the focus on data quality, which is a much larger issue than many suspect. I also liked the 12-stage CRM strategy that is given.

Overall, this is an excellent book for IT professionals who need to understand the high level technical issues, as well as the business ramifications of implementing and supporting a CRM system. For IT management and business professionals I prefer "The CRM Handbook" by Jill Dyché, which explains much of the technical material in business terms, and takes a stronger business perspective. However, that reflects my personal preferences and opinion - the bottom line is this book does an excellent job of covering the full spectrum of CRM and does so in easy to understand language.