Drafted by a committee of 19 (but sufficiently well edited to read as if it were written by a single author) this book provides a well-argued, detailed and wide-ranging analysis of the consequences of economic globalization (the term corporate globalization is also extensively used in the book) and an examination of alternatives and the action required to move towards those alternatives. It has succeeded brilliantly, and deserves very close study, whether or not you agree with the drafting committee's views.

This is no extremist anti-corporate, anti-capitalist text, although it does clearly come to the conclusion that the vector of economic globalisation that we are on is neither inevitable, desirable nor sustainable. It is notable for arguing at the level of underlying principles and their practical consequences - it makes explicit the assumptions underlying corporate globalisation and questions them. This, in itself, is a valuable service as so much of the 'debate' in the media proceeds on the basis of bald assertion of essentially fallacious economic dogma.

The report starts with a critique of 'corporate globalization'. The term itself is useful, because the term 'globalization' has become something of a 'Humpty-Dumpty' word ('when I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, neither more nor less'). 'Corporate globalization' describes a process driven and promoted by the large global corporations which, whatever its other consequences, gives primacy to the benefits that will flow to global business.

The critique identifies eight key features of corporate globalization:

1. 'Promotion of hypergrowth and unrestricted exploitation of environmental resources to fuel that growth
2. Privatization and commodification of public services and of remaining aspects of the global and community commons
3. Global cultural and economic homogenization and the intense promotion of consumerism
4. Integration and conversion of national economies, including some that were largely self-reliant, to environmentally and socially harmful export oriented production
5. Corporate deregulation and unrestricted movement of capital across borders
6. Dramatically increased corporate concentration
7. Dismantling of public health, social, and environmental programs already in place
8. Replacement of traditional powers of democratic nation-states and local communities by global corporate bureaucracies.'

It demonstrates each of these propositions and explores who are the beneficiaries of application of these policies. One of the complexities of trying to follow the arguments of the pro- and anti- globalisers is that both use statistics, both from apparently authoritative sources, that directly contradict each other. It is almost as if the two sides inhabit parallel universes that operate in different ways. Suffice it to say that the report puts forward convincing arguments in support of its case.

The critique proceeds to a devastating analysis of the impact of the World Bank, The IMF and the WTO, the three pillars of corporate globalisation, over the last four or five decades.

The report then argues ten principles for sustainable societies, as a basis for identifying ways of realising these principles in the subsequent chapters of the report. It argues that these principles 'seem to be the mirror opposites of the principles that drive the institutions of the corporate global economy.'.

One of the minor problems in the debate is that, whereas 'globalization' rolls easily off the tongue, 'the principle of subsidiarity' is neither easy to say nor obvious in its meaning. The report contains a chapter on the case for subsidiarity, and it is a strong one. The counter argument is almost entirely concerned with power. While there are many elements of conflict between corporate globalisation and the principle of subsidiarity - local control - they are not entirely antithetical. But the reach of the large corporates would unquestionably be reduced.

You may or may not agree with the arguments in this report, but they deserve serious attention. They are well and carefully argued, they represent (in fairly sophisticated terms) the views of a growing number of people around the world who believe that current beliefs and institutions serve them poorly, and they show those who wish to promote change a path for doing so.

This book is excellent for all those who think we can do better-that small farmers needn't be driven from the land, our water needn't be polluted, people need not go hungry while others are overfed genetically engineered chemically altered junk food, etc. It has great thinkers presenting clear, well thought out ideas about what's wrong and what we can do about it. It helps when getting in that classic argument of keynesianism/communism v. neoliberalism because it outlines the thrid alternative very well. I am a grad student and I used it for a paper i wrote recently refuting neoliberalism and it was very helpful. I highly recommend it! Also, look into Maria Mies. She is the anti-capitalist-patriarchy bomb, yo.

A friend of mine who is involved with Rabbi Michael Lerner's Tikkun Community movement recently gave me a copy of Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible. I'm not an expert in this field at all, but I found the book worthwhile and very accessible. (So accessible that I read the entire thing in a week!) The writers include Jerry Mander, David Korten, Lori Wallach, and many people working around the world in the anti-globalization movement.

What makes the book really important is the positive solutions and alternatives offered. The authors offer real ways to put into practice the Tikkun Community's first and second core principles (interdependence and ecological sanity, and a new bottom line in economic and social institutions).

I think other Tikkun readers, progressive-Democrats, Green party members, and thoughtful people everywhere---who want to see the world change from how it is now to how it could be---would want to read a book outlining specifics of how to create sustainable energy, transportation and food systems. And Alternatives to Economic Globalization does just that. I can't recommend this book enough (in fact I've already bought several copies to give to some of my friends).

This book, is the best result of the masterminds of the state of art, and I Suggest as a read for everyone that work with this technology.

I do not read Japanese but the only available edition of this book when I needed it was the Japanese edition. I still found the book to give me all the information I needed to do what I needed to do, write an audio recording app without knowing anything about Multi-Media beforehand. I also liked that it used mostly lower level coding so that it would not be so at risk from Microsofts whims.

I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed by any Robert Simon book and this is no exception. Rather than read this book from cover to cover I use it as a reference. It is a fairly complete guide to multimedia and ODBC API calls and it is presented in a way that anyone can understand. Good job Mr. Simon!!

This book is charming and my children love it. They can never get enough rereadings and seem to laugh at all the mischief Henry manages to inflict on his family. Since Henry's parents seem to favor his brother, Perfect Peter, this is Henry's chance to star on his own. I recommend it highly.

I am 7 1/2 yrs. old and I loved this book, along with the other Horrid Henry books. Henry is horrible, especially to his younger brother named "Perfect Peter". But the things Henry does are very funny - they make me laugh. There are 4 chapters in this book. My favorite chapter is the last one titled "Horrid Henry's Christmas". I laughed when Henry switched the his name tags on the Christmas gift with his cousin "Stuck-up Steve". The words are written in British, but I understand them and enjoy learning the new words.

I've only read Ch 12 - Designing Web Applications and Servlet Patterns, via PDF online at the authors site. It's worth the price alone - I went to my local bookstore to purchase it last night - but alast the isles are full of MS C# and .NET books.

However on to what I learned from Ch 12 - the patterns that are put into action are wonderful! I've used MVC in the past - but adding the 'Command & Controller' to MVC is a real boon! I've not been successful with pattern books in the past, because they typically do not provide code examples, which I find a great learning tool [ I'm a "visual" learner ]. This book includes great code examples, the graphics are very professional, and helpful also.

4 of 5 stars - I've not read the whole book - I've got to reserve total commitment til then.

This is a very good book.
It is a must have for any serious web-application devloper.
It explains well all the subjects you need to know about servlet programming.

Buying this book saves you lot of learning-by-step time.
I really suggest this title.
Finally one book that i'm glad to pay.

This is my forst wrox book but, if all worx books are like this one, for sure not the last.

Hiya All,

I have this book for sometime now, and I think, you can't have a better book to learn Servlets 2.3 API. Specially, the Chap on MVC pattern was very good. I liked the way the book has been written. There are lots of practicle examples in the book. The Patterns have been explained in a very good manner. But my favourite is Chap 8. Its downright interesting that how you can combine a database with a JSP page to create a Web Apps. I had some problems in Running the code and had to take the help of Wrox People, But I managed it with there help. Overall, a dependable book.

Oxford provides with us concise biographies of almost 500 real (as opposed to mythical) people from the Classical Period. The biographies were written by 190 experts and range from a paragraph to several pages, covering rulers, politicians, artists, authors, philosophers and scientists. Seperate chronologies are provided for the Greece and the East and Rome and the West. Five maps are also included. An excellent reference for the student and general public.

The Oxford's "Who's Who in the Classical World" is a quick and concise, authoritative and direct, way to understand the principle people of the age. From Lucius Accius to Zosimus the historian, this reference work covers the general milieu of Greco-Roman civilization. The detailed maps and timelines are an excellent study-aid, and also make up for the lack of illustrations throughout its duration. This is an easily accessible and convenient reference tool, and for this reason it stands out above its counter-part, "The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization," which is more bulky, expensive, and less appealing to anyone simply ready to deal with real people and real events. However, this edition does to a certain extent deal with the many Mythological gods and heroes, with its in-depth analysis of Greek and Roman authors and their literature; for this, everyone will be satisfied. Despite the absence of a few influential people, the five hundred people excellently portrayed here will suffice. This reference work is thoroughly recommended.

This book has given me so many different approaches to examine my system and the phosphorylation events involved. this series is always good about specificity of the techniques. for instance, it talks about how to design the best amino acid sequence for testing for phosphorylation with gamma ATP. pick this up whenever you can afford it!

As a longtime gamer of Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay (WFRP) since 1990, this book is a bit of a letdown, considering the fine material produced by GW in the past (Enemy Within, Death of the Reik, Power Behind the Throne).

This book is the Hogshead version and consists of the first 2 parts (Fire in the Mountains & Blood in Darkness) of the Doomstones campaign (a 4 part adventure).

While it has some interesting ideas and locales, this campaign is not much more than a refined 'hunt the magic bauble' so popular in Fantasy rolegaming. The players are on the trail of an ancient Dwarven artifact of 4 parts with incredible elemental powers. There is some investigation but this book is are really more appropriate for the combat-oriented player.

Strange message sends PC:s to very hard journey to the Vaults. They must try to find long lost and forgotten Doomstones. But there were people who made all they could to prevent anyone gaining them. PC:s face many different and tough enemies and allies during their quest. This adventure is designed to players who solve problems with axe or sword. Enemies are designed so that this quest is not recommended for players in their starting careers. Opposition is very powerful indeed. Doomstones: Fire and Blood would be better if there were more challenge for brains. However Fire in the Mountains and Blood in Darkness are still good adventures.

Chooses to spew venom at the US for it's policy towrds NK. Highly ignorant of some serious revelant facts regarding North Korea's devlopment before the Korean War, and uses every possible chance to spread his own brand of anti-US propoganda while claiming to be "objective"

10 will get you 20 that this book can be found in most North Korean Book collections, its that distorted.

Unlike some other books about Korea, this book gives an objective account of Korea's political troubles. Much of its content is about recent Korean history. There are lots of discussion regarding N. Korea atomic developments and its consequences to the rest of the world. The author made a great effort to explain the truth and shows that people should not be blind to accept media's biased reportings.

This book is an excellent source of information about the reality of the Korean problem. The author explains the difficulties Korea has gone through since ancient times, primarily focusing on recent history. Chapter 1 offers perspective and history of N. Korea's nuclear ambitions. Chapter 2 and 3 describes history from ancient to annexation by Japan. Chapter 4 explains Korea under Japanese rule. Chapter 5 explains the origins of the division of the peninsula, Chapter 6 deals with Korean War and Chapter 7 explains the aftermath of the war. Strongly recommended!

This is the only book available for those few who manage to actually see some of Suzuki's incredible films. If you've managed to catch Branded to Kill or Tokyo Drifter at a festival or on video release, here is a starting point to chase down the rest of the films by Japan's most startling director. Amply illustrated with stills (B & W only, unfortunately as you miss the bold colour compositions that became a Suzuki trademark), and covering a selection of his films from 1959 through to 1981, with a complete filmography and a little background on the director, this book covers enough ground to give you a good sketch of the man and his work. However, there is still room for someone to write an English language definitive Suzuki reference.

With an output of 40 features in a 10 year period from 1956 - 1966 Suzuki was an incredibly prolific studio director for Nikkatsu (who specialised in Yakuza and "Roman Porno" -ie Romantic Pornography, or soft porn). However, he got increasingly sick of the hack scripts he was assigned to and began to turn his routine genre films into fractured, eccentric pieces full of visual bravado, garish colour, overtly theatrical staging and acting heavily influenced by Kabuki. He pushed the envelope too far with Branded to Kill and got the boot for making "incomprehensible" films. It seems that he was actually the victim of a cash crisis at Nikkatsu - he later sued for wrongful dismissal and won , but was rewarded with a blackball by the industry and a 10 year hiatus churning out essays and advertising to survive.

He is still around, doing occasional cameos (Cold Fever, playing Masatoshi Nagase's grandpa), scorning journalists and writing the most caustic advice column in Japan, "Ask Seijun".....

Simons is very critical of the Bush & Clinton Administrations, as well as Arab dictatorships. He exposes much of the hypocrisy of western Realpolitik as applied to the Gulf. But is it really a surprise that big powers have selfish interests? Simons gives an excellent historical context but is weak on current trends and economics. He offered little productive insight or proposals to resolve the situation. I hoped for more commentary from the normally insightful Tony Benn in his too-brief introduction.