The Cambridge Companion to Velázquez (Cambridge Companions to the History of Art)

Book Description

The Cambridge Companion to Velázquez offers a synthetic overview of one of the greatest painters of Golden Age Spain and seventeenth century Europe. With contributions from art historians and those working in other disciplines, this book offers fresh approaches to the vast literature on this artist. The essays also guide the reader to an understanding of Velázquez's work--his training in his native Seville, reflections in his oeuvre of artistic currents from outside Spain, and how Velázquez's religious paintings may be understood within the religious context of Counter-Reformation Spain.

Book Description

Slinky beauties model an immense variety of clinging gowns and dresses, trim suits and coats, beachwear, capes, and other outfits. Carefully reproduced from rare issues of the famed French periodical La Vie Parisienne, the illustrations lend themselves perfectly to graphic projects calling for sophistication and feminine charm. 339 black-and-white illustrations.

Book Description

THE EISNER AWARD–WINNING, NATIONALLY BEST--SELLING MYTHOLOGY IS HERE IN AN EXPANDED LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION WITH 32 NEW PAGES.

Mythology returns, in a newly expanded edition of the book Entertainment Weekly awarded a grade of A, saying: “Alex Ross brings to his work an unparalleled sense of the real. His heroes–both super and mortal–have weight; they exist in space, and that space is affected by them in ways never before seen on the page.” And so here they are, the incomparable cast of the DC Comics universe: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, the Green Lantern, and the rest of the Justice League as you’ve never seen them before. Mythology brings together the best loved comic characters in the world, brought to life by Alex Ross, one of the most astonishing young artists working in the medium today. The award-winning designer/writer Chip Kidd and photographer Geoff Spear have teamed up to create a book like no other, with an introduction by M. Night Shyamalan, the acclaimed director of The Village and The Sixth Sense.

Ross has often been called the Norman Rockwell of comics, and this book reveals not only his lifelong love of these classic superheroes but also his vision: Mythology takes you into the studio for a behind-the-scenes look at his fascinating creative process. The combination of Ross’s dynamic art and Kidd’s kinetic design makes images from his most memorable stories–including Kingdom Come, Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, and Uncle Sam–soar off the more than 300 pages.

The new material centers on Ross’s startling new comic book series, Justice, including sketches, preliminary art, prototype figures, and more. Mythology is a book in which every page explodes with the power of the icons it celebrates.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic Review of Alex Ross' Art.......2007-08-04

It's a great work, detailing all the work of Alex Ross in DC Comics. In this book, we get the notions of how he figures out the characters, their concepts and ideologies, etc. Moreover, with this book we can see how the Art is transported from the artist's mind to the paper.
There's just one book better than this one: it's hardcover version, much more beautiful.

Alex the Great!.......2007-04-15

Alex Ross is THE comic book artist of the century. His work is phenomenal, his talent unending, and his perseverence is astounding. The images in this book are riveting to the eye and I can't help but think as I turn the pages, "How does he DO this?!" I am a portrait artist myself and can relate to the daunting task of drawing people, but this man is a genius. I HIGHLY recommend this book to every comic book fan. You'll be amazed.

Should have been better..........2007-02-16

Wow. I love Alex Ross, and he has soooo many beautiful pieces that they shouldn't have had any trouble finding classic, beautiful images.
This calandar is half filler. Some months are nothing more than pictures of toys based on Ross's paintings. That's ridiculous. I could have settled for the design art that the toys were made from, but I didn't buy a calandar of the artist's works to see lame products several times removed from the actual art.
High hopes led to great disappointment.

Stunning........2007-01-05

Ross is awesome. The 'behind the scenes' look at how he makes his paintings is very cool

rossereffic.......2007-01-05

I 'm a big fan of Alex Ross and Mythology is one of the most comprehensive collections of Ross-DC art. I can (and have) go through each page and never get enough. If it's was possible to produce a book with all of Ross's works, I would definitely buy it.

Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross

Average customer rating:

Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Cartooning | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Mythology 2006 Wall Calendar: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous calendar

Mythology 2006 Wall Calendar: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross

Manufacturer: Welcome Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Calendars | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas

Humor & Comics | Calendars | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas

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ASIN: 1932183566

Book Description

The greatest super heroes from the DC Comics universe come alive and assemble once again in this all-new 2006 wall calendar based on the critically acclaimed coffee-table book Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, written and designed by Chip Kidd and photographed by Geoff Spear. Ross's artistic genius and passion for his subjects—from Aquaman and The Flash to Shazam! and Wonder Woman—are powerfully evident in this calendar edition's thirteen selections, which include several works not found in the original hardcover book.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous calendar.......2006-02-23

This calendar beautifully and faithfully reproduces the distinguished art of Alex Ross each month with enormous, colorful pictures of the world's greatest super heroes. This item is perfect for any fan of comics and/or finely-crafted art.

Book Description

As Oscar Levant said many years ago, "A pun is the lowest form of wit, especially if you didn't think of it first." In this lively collection you'll find a hilarious abundance of pun-ishment for the millions who can't resist giving a word or phrase a twist... and ammunition for many occasions from movie, TV and theatre wags; from the wits of Wall Street and Washington... the gems from poets and pundits and some of the bottom-of-the-barrel crumbs!

Golf is like taxes. You drive hard to get to the green and wind up in the hole.

A monastery in financial trouble decided to go into the fish-and-chips industry to raise revenues. One night a customer knocked on the door and a monk answered. "Are you the fishfriar?" the customer asked. "No," the robed figurereplied, "I'm the chipmonk."

The book also contains a PUNdix, a PUNabridged dictionary and a collection of the best... and worst... jokes in the world!

Customer Reviews:

Suicide.......2007-06-04

This book makes me want to kill myself. The author should just defenestrate himself as soon as possible.

Average customer rating:

THE BEST BOOK OF PUNS
Art Moger
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Puns & Wordplay | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000IO8ZW8

The Best Book of Riddles, Puns, and Jokes

Average customer rating:

The Best Book of Riddles, Puns, and Jokes
Bronnie Cunningham
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Puns & Wordplay | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385129823

Book Description

This book shows students how to write and design effective, interactive multimedia for CDs and Web sites. It discusses scripting and conceptual development. Its writing and charting techniques make it a practical guide for students, professional writers, producers, and others looking to create meaningful content.

Customer Reviews:

Organise your Designs.......2000-04-03

I came across this book when I was going through the LEGO Dacta Learning Philosophy:background research and information relating to children's learning and development. The word is fun - hard fun, they say. It is likely that you struggled with certain problems for some time. Yet hours probably felt like minutes because you were in a creative problem-solving process that made you forget yourself. At times you were on the verge of giving up but you didn't because you had the sense of constantly getting closer to achieving your goal. You were not bored while learning. Come to think about it, you actually enjoyed learning, even though you had to work hard to get the results. Today, it is accepted as scientific fact that learning is not in contrast to having fun. In fact, being challenged to the limits of your abilities is enjoyable, and that is when optimal learning occurs. This state of mind occurs when the challenge of solving a problem is matched to the students' knowledge and skills.

Of all the books on content for mulimedia design, this book stood out in a unique way. The author tackled writing and conceptual design from a rhetorical, narrative, and associative point. A lot of stuff in the book is very well illustrated. With children's learning in perspective, this book showed me lots of scenarios like games, kiosks. Very organised in content. Its a must read for designers, who want to understand flowcharting, scripting for various scenarios.

Book Description

The fascinating stories behind more than a thousand best-loved songs from the last 50 years are explored in this entertaining collection. Intriguing background and biographical information on each song and its artist — from Elvis and Fatboy Slim to Leonard Cohen and Pulp — is included alongside more than 400 rare, full-color photographs of the musicians. Keeping in line with the way that iPods and other portable mp3 players have changed the way people listen to music — with personalized playlists and mixes just a few clicks away — this collection places more emphasis on specific songs than entire albums. The eclectic mix of profiled songs are randomly ordered, similar to a playlist, widening listeners' horizons while educating them on a variety of styles and artists.

Customer Reviews:

Eye- and ear-opening........2007-01-28

In the iPod era, it seems like everybody and their mother has a book out about "essential playlists," as if you can condense a band like the Beatles into 20 randomized gems. Interesting though books like this are, none are worth owning any more than one should buy a tracklist for a compilation CD. So why should this massive title be any different?

The answer is simple. In its size lies content... Creswell says something about each song. It's more like a book of brief stories, as opposed to the bound grocery lists similar titles offer... you get recommendations and reasons why. See, this book is like talking to your friend about music... he'll tell you he's just discovered Portishead, you'll share that you've lately been really into Neil Young's latest, and perhaps after you'll go home and check out what the other was hyping.

There is plenty of hyping going on in here, too, with 1001 tracks waiting for you to discover them. Neither the songs nor the artists are all the same old standards... you'll find, for example, Pearl Jam's "Alive," but I was all the more pleased to find a young woman named Thea Gilmore listed within... a name which might be more well known in England, but is not as well known here in the US. If you're looking for the Great American Songbook, you'll be disappointed. Of course, if you're looking for songs that classic, that well known, what more new can be written? The title states that these are great songs. This is, of course, debateable, but what is not debateable is that these are not necessarily the greatest. This book isn't meant to be a top 1001 of all songdom... it is meant to simply be 1001 songs that the author feels are truly great. I'd recommend this book to any avid music fan, anyone who enjoys learning about music they didn't know before, and anyone open to hearing that which may not be familiar... that is the niche it serves. If you need a countdown, look elsewhere, and if you can't look past the classics, Michael Buble will have a new CD soon enough.

One star?.......2006-11-02

I love this book. I rate it five stars because it tells the stories behind all those great songs. It's answered a lot of questions I've had. I know I'm not one to judge a book that has mostly oldies- I'm only twelve years old- but it's a great book and I recommend it to music experts and newcomers alike.

If You're Looking to trap a clap..........2006-09-08

It would seem impossible for a book running close to 900 pages written by an "expert" with over 30 years experience in his field to be total rubbish, but "1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time", comes surprisingly close. Let's begin with the title. I can grant the "1001" without taking the time to count them (No, they're not numbered... nor in any discernable order for that matter) but then things get dodgy.
Leaving aside the questionable grammar of the subtitle, Mr. Cresswell seems to believe that "all time" begins almost exclusively with the rock era.Look in the, woefully inadequate, index and you'll find Britney Spears, but not Sondheim; Radio Birdman is here-but no Richard Rodgers; You will search in vain for Irving Berlin or Cole Porter. Surely at some point in "all time" they wrote something "great"! But, in a way this is just as well, since my random "landings" on such non-rock era pieces as Rhapsody In Blue (hardly a "song") and Over the Rainbow, are so error filled that they're laughable. (For the record, Gershwin's "Swanee" was not introduced in "the world's first musical film" in 1919/20-when George would have been 21-but in a stage show. And OTR was not written as a disguised protest song-Harburg never disguised his protests-but precisely as a book song for that particular place in the film).
Further problems evolve with even finding any given song except by dumb luck. A case could be made for indexing the above Over the Rainbow under Judy Garland, it was her signature song and neither Harold Arlen nor E.Y. Harburg, the writers,make the cut. But to list I'm a Believer solely under the Monkees, when its composer, a fellow named Diamond, has recorded it numerous times, completely belies the title of the book since we are now not even examining "Songs" but recordings.
Space prevents much further comment so let's end on a positive note. With Amazon's discount, the book makes an affordable, and not unattractive, doorstop.

Average customer rating:

Tremendous value

It's Crazy!

Random House Monster Crossword Puzzle Omnibus, Volume 1 (RH Crosswords)

Manufacturer: Random House Puzzles & Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crosswords | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Random House Mammoth Crossword Puzzle Omnibus (RH Crosswords)

Random House Crossword MegaOmnibus, Volume 2 (RH Crosswords)

Random House Crossword Mega Omnibus, Volume 1 (RH Crosswords)

Random House Monster Sunday Crossword Omnibus, Volume 1 (RH Crosswords)

A Slew of Crosswords: 500 Challenging Sunday-Size Puzzles

ASIN: 0812932137
Release Date: 1999-09-01

Book Description

Never accomplished before... Never attempted before... Never dreamed of before... The Random House Monster Crossword Puzzle Omnibus contains a jaw-dropping one thousand crossword puzzles! For this price, this is one monster solvers will fall in love with.

Customer Reviews:

Tremendous value.......2000-10-14

This book is a tremendous value -- 1000 puzzles that are New York Times quality. It'll keep you busy for a long time!

It's Crazy!.......2000-04-27

It's crazy to have 1000 daily sized (and high level)crosswords all in a single book! Such a tome! This book is utterly for crossword fans.

Random House Monster Sunday Crossword Omnibus, Volume 1 (RH Crosswords)

Average customer rating:

Great value
Monster
Gosh, A must buy for crossword fans.
Contemporary Masterpiece

Random House Monster Sunday Crossword Omnibus, Volume 1 (RH Crosswords)
Stanley Newman
Manufacturer: Random House Puzzles & Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Puzzles | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0812930592
Release Date: 1998-11-03

Book Description

How big is a 500-puzzle Sunday omnibus? Over 60,000 clues and more than 150,000 boxes make this America's biggest crossword book and its best value, too!

Customer Reviews:

Great value.......2007-04-26

Took the advice of another reviewer and am glad I did! The puzzles aren't so hard that you feel defeated, but just difficult enough to get your brain really working. None of those 3,4,or 5 letter easy answers! All Sunday-sized with themes! Only one small drawback related to the book's layout: all the puzzles are positioned in the lower right corner of each page; makes writing in answers a little awkward. That aside, I'm having a blast with this book!

Monster.......2006-08-19

Excellent crossword book. Puzzles are not extremely hard but just difficult to test your brain.

Gosh, A must buy for crossword fans........2000-11-29

I rarely solved sunday crosswords--- it took too much time. But puzzles in this gorgeous book are so good that I can not help but looking up my dictionary and encyclopedia over and over, trying hard but happily to fill each box. This book contains not only tremendous number of puzzles(500 in all!) but also in very high quality. Let me introduce first pages: the puzzle no.1 is by Mike Shenk, no.2 by Merl Reagle, no.3 by Trip Payne, no.4 by Stanley Newman, the incredible editor of this book, himself, no.5 is by David A. Rosen.... These names are so thunderous and famous in this field. I adore Stanley Newman for editing such a high-level collection of puzzles, offering endless joy for crossword fans.

Contemporary Masterpiece.......1999-08-25

It's a great collection of puzzles not only in sheer quantity but quality as well at an almost unheard of price (less than 4 cents/puzzle!). These puzzles are a great example of the new breed of constructors who rely more on clever wordplay than arcane knowledge. The difficult, on average, is a little less challenging than the normal Sunday NY Times. Stanley Newman shows again why he is one of the most respected crossword puzzle editors and a very fine constructor in his own right.

Book Description

Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere. Yet in these days of Enron and what VISA CEO Dee Hock calls our "era of massive institutional failure," Greenleaf's seminal work must reach the mainstream now more than ever. Servant Leadership helps leaders find their true power and moral authority to lead. It helps those served become healthier, wiser, freer, and more autonomous. This book encourages collaboration, trust, listening, and empowerment. It offers long-lasting change, not a temporary fix and extends beyond business for leaders of all types of groups.

Customer Reviews:

Still Ahead of Its Time.......2007-07-07

Even after 30 years, this book is still decades ahead of its time. Corporations and individual leaders are just beginning to understand the power that is bestowed upon them by using these concepts and are even slower to react. For the time being, this book will have to reside in the philosophy section since it's practical use is limited to individuals, not entire cultures; corporate or otherwise.

This book is recommended since it will challenge you to change your focus of leadership from self to subordinate, from getting power to sharing it, and from clique to community. "Primus inter pares" (first among equals) is the central theme running throughout the book and although the theoretical construct is worth exploring, the cultural change necessary for it to gain a foothold is immense and will take decades if not centuries to overcome.

Greenleaf is of the opinion that for this cultural change will happen, it will most likely happen within the confines of large corporate atmospheres, not churches, foundations, or universities. Unfortunately, it's like a scale with greed and hunger from power on one end and servant leadership on the other. I'm not sure "The Prince" will lose his weight anytime soon.

Servant leadership is a hopeful dream that will take a lot of work to be popular in practice instead of in an MBA program or on a large scale. Until then, it will have to be one person at a time. The question is, will it be you?

It's only communication if the message is received.......2007-02-23

I found the ideas in this book rather interesting. However, it's a tough book to get through. Greenleaf's writing style is difficult to follow, this is not an easy read. I would not recommend Servant Leadership to someone who is looking for quick practical advise on honing their leadership skills. In my opinion, this book is better suited to those who have an academic interest in the subject. Additionally, it's been ~30 years since this book was published, many of Greenleaf's ideas have filtered into more contemporary texts. I compare it to the music of Jimi Hendrix. While he is the brilliant innovator of a genre of music, 30 years later today's broad audience doesn't understand the context of his work, but can find and enjoy his influence in the music they relate to today.

Not For the Weak of Heart.......2006-06-08

Servant-Leadership is rapidly becoming a popularized term and a popular concept to bandy about in many circles.

This is the book that started that trend.

Published originally in 1977, it contains articles and concepts that found their germination in the turbulant decade of the 1960's. While you might imagine from the term "Servant-Leader" that the ideology of this book stems from religious conviction and it certainly does include that, you may be surprised to read in the first chapter of the book that it finds its inspiration in literature. Specifically, the Servant-Leader who captured Greenleaf's imagination and catalyzed the writing of this book was the fictional character Leo in Herman Hesse's "Journey to the East."

More surprises remain in store throughout this book that challenges concepts seemingly ingrained in human nature and counter-intuitively argues for several revolutionary premises, not simply on the basis of morality, but rather effectiveness and societal need.

In particular, Greenleaf argues that the advent of big business, large institutions, and corporate growth requires a paradigm shift in the view of leadership. Contrary to the anti-authoritarianism so ingrained in the 60's, Greenleaf argues that large organizations hold tremendous promise to accomplish correspondingly large results. What is needed are leaders who will embrace the organizations and see them almost as separate entities, living organisms as it were, love them, care for them and serve the population within and without through them.

The qualities that Greenleaf profers as indicative of such growth and service are:

1. Do those served grow as persons?
2. Do they, while being served become healthier wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
3. What is the effect on the least privileged in society?
4. Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? (Greenleaf 1977/2002 p.27)

In practical terms Greenleaf argues strongly for such Servant-Leaders to rise up and shake off the traditional trappings of leadership within archaic and dusty organizations and equally archaic leadership models, where the emphasis has been upon elevating managers to de facto leaders of these institutions and instead, elevating Trustee's and Board Chairpersons to reject passivity, reject the role of a rubber stamp and exert leadership that embraces values, takes risks and empowers people.

It is a clarion call to activist leadership that feels very much a derivitive of the 60's altruism, yet rejects the across the board discarding of all institutions as irretrievably corrupt and inherently in need of dismantling.

This 25th anniversary edition issued in 2002 comes after the fruits of this call have culminated in Servant-Leadership's adoption as a legitimate and growingly influential leadership model in both academic, private and public sectors.

The influence of this concept and the leadership institutions that are adopting the model in their training and operations is remarkably going beyond its author who passed away in 1990.

Notable as well for its forward by Stephen Covey and an afterword by Peter Senge, this edition should be a welcome addition to the leadership library of every student and participant in the leadership melieu. Whether you accept and adopt the premises contained, there is wisdom and insight for all who wish to read. Answers in some context are given, but more importantly, tools are provided with which to frame the question for those moving forward.

I highly recommend this book as an indispensible tool for understanding the leadership issues and needs of this generation.

A Challenging Read.......2002-07-18

If you are looking for a leadership book with a different approach from the usual leadership book, and one that is intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking, then you should definitely read this book of collected talks, essays, and articles from Robert K. Greenleaf.

Armed with varied and extensive civilian leadership experience, Greenleaf boldly took me on "a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness." This journey challenged me early on when Greenleaf stated that the traditional hierarchical leadership used in most organizations, one person in charge as the lone chief atop a pyramidal structure, is the likely cause of most of our leadership problems. Greenleaf favored another, less frequently used tradition where the principle leader is "primus inter pares" - first among equals.

Throughout the book, Greenleaf made a compelling case that "primus inter pares" exists in important places with conspicuous success. With my leadership experience rooted in the traditional military hierarchical structure, at times it was difficult to understand Greenleaf's perspectives on the first or second read.

Greenleaf's insights into the servant as leader (one who makes sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served) in the first chapter lays the foundation for his subsequent chapters: the institution as servant, trustees as servants, servant leadership in business, servant leadership in education, servant leadership in foundations, servant leadership in churches, servant leaders, servant responsibility in a bureaucratic society, and America and world leadership.

With all the recent attention focused on moral and ethical breakdowns within some large and powerful institutions (Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson, the Catholic Church, etc.), this book's continued relevance is obvious. Overcoming my challenges in reading this book was definitely worth the effort.

The best book on Leadership.......2001-10-02

You only need one book on the purpose and spirit of leadership and this is it. The single first essay is all that is really needed, yet Greenleaf offers several alternate versions for various professions and walks of life. Stick with the first and any specific one that applies to you.
This is why leaders lead. No tricks, no help here for someone wanting to learn leadership tricks to advance or get ahead. If you have a cause, if you want to serve, then this is for you. Corporate ladder climbers and greedy chumps need no waste their time.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP A Journey Into the Nature Of Legitimate Power and Greatness

Average customer rating:

Not a Book for the Weak of Heart

SERVANT LEADERSHIP A Journey Into the Nature Of Legitimate Power and Greatness

Manufacturer: Paulist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: 080910220X

Customer Reviews:

Not a Book for the Weak of Heart.......2006-06-09

Servant-Leadership is rapidly becoming a popularized term and a popular concept to bandy about in many circles.

This is the book that started that trend.

Published originally in 1977, it contains articles and concepts that found their germination in the turbulant decade of the 1960's. While you might imagine from the term "Servant-Leader" that the ideology of this book stems from religious conviction and it certainly does include that, you may be surprised to read in the first chapter of the book that it finds its inspiration in literature. Specifically, the Servant-Leader who captured Greenleaf's imagination and catalyzed the writing of this book was the fictional character Leo in Herman Hesse's "Journey to the East."

More surprises remain in store throughout this book that challenges concepts seemingly ingrained in human nature and counter-intuitively argues for several revolutionary premises, not simply on the basis of morality, but rather effectiveness and societal need.

In particular, Greenleaf argues that the advent of big business, large institutions, and corporate growth requires a paradigm shift in the view of leadership. Contrary to the anti-authoritarianism so ingrained in the 60's, Greenleaf argues that large organizations hold tremendous promise to accomplish correspondingly large results. What is needed are leaders who will embrace the organizations and see them almost as separate entities, living organisms as it were, love them, care for them and serve the population within and without through them.

The qualities that Greenleaf profers as indicative of such growth and service are:

1. Do those served grow as persons?
2. Do they, while being served become healthier wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
3. What is the effect on the least privileged in society?
4. Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? (Greenleaf 1977/2002 p.27)

In practical terms Greenleaf argues strongly for such Servant-Leaders to rise up and shake off the traditional trappings of leadership within archaic and dusty organizations and equally archaic leadership models, where the emphasis has been upon elevating managers to de facto leaders of these institutions and instead, elevating Trustee's and Board Chairpersons to reject passivity, reject the role of a rubber stamp and exert leadership that embraces values, takes risks and empowers people.

It is a clarion call to activist leadership that feels very much a derivitive of the 60's altruism, yet rejects the across the board discarding of all institutions as irretrievably corrupt and inherently in need of dismantling.

The influence of this concept and the leadership institutions that are adopting the model in their training and operations is remarkably going beyond its author who passed away in 1990.

This book should be a welcome addition to the leadership library of every student and participant in the leadership melieu. Whether you accept and adopt the premises contained, there is wisdom and insight for all who wish to read. Answers in some context are given, but more importantly, tools are provided with which to frame the question for those moving forward.

I highly recommend this book as an indispensible tool for understanding the leadership issues and needs of this generation.

Average customer rating:

Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
Robert K. Greenleaf
Manufacturer: Paulist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QXJ4D0

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