This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future

Book Description

An inspiring celebration of courageous American innovators who are transforming the way we protect and care for the world we live in.

The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack--concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. Teresa Heinz Kerry and Senator John Kerry traveled across the country in a national campaign to see at first hand how these issues unite people across party and ideological lines. From the San Juan Basin to the Gulf of Mexico to the South Bronx, from mothers on Cape Cod to Colorado ranchers, they found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer will power to save the world they know and love. Now, in this passionate and personal book, Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the spotlight on an inspiring crosssection of these new environmental pioneers.

The book combines intensive research with keenly observed personal experiences to present a portrait of Americans devoted to the natural diversity and spectacular uniqueness of our country. It also includes an extensive guide on where and how readers can get involved.

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading.......2007-08-08

The material in this book should be put in the public's face daily via media, billboards, etc. It should be required reading. Every mother should understand that a disposable diaper takes 500 years to biodegrade (and as those chemicals in the diaper biodegrade, they pollute and cause potential carcinogens).

I would not call the book "bipartisan" as per some of the other reviews, and I think its bashing of the Bush administration (even though I am not a fan) detracted from the overall book. However, it is important reading; it had an impact on my behavior.

Stories of Hope.......2007-08-02

I was a little skeptical with this book being written by John Kerry. I wasn't sure what to expect. It gives some really good stories of everyday people who just wanted to make a change for the better. They weren't any sort of extremists or hippies. Just people with common sense and the determination to stand up for their right to live in a clean world.

KERRY gETS IT RIGHT.......2007-06-18

Kerry analyzes today;s environmental experts and gets it right. The book is passionate, well researched, spot on and well written. I was pleasantly surprised.

I think Kerry was at his best early in the book when he evaluated some of the current plans for saving the Earth. He got a little off track as the book progressed, then veered back on track in the last 100 pages.

I highly recommend this book for anybody who cares about the planet. Also recommended: "Earth In The Balance" by Al Gore. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

Encouragement for activism.......2007-06-09

This book is both inspiring and upsetting. Inspiring for the stories of success in opposing pollution and degradation of the environment and restoration to a more healthy one. It is upsetting to read of the abuses and pollution creating dangerous places to live.

It is a call to action that we all need to consider. I got many good ideas about issues I hadn't thought about and it made me think about my local situation. It's good to know people have won battles and corrected abuses.

The Kerrys continue a fine tradition of first-class environmentalist discussion.......2007-05-31

I know what you're thinking: Ol' Coffee Coaster guy there, bringing up these environmental arguments and publications, is straying in the direction of tree-hugging, snail-darter-saving, rain-forest-worshipping commie pinko ecototalitarianism. 'Has his way, the state's gonna swarm the neighborhood with carbon cops who will drag away anyone grilling steaks.

Au contraire (though I must confess lately to thinking excessively about the CO2 dumped into the atmosphere by charcoal fires). Fact is I'm simply becoming more and more aware of my accommodations on Spaceship Earth as it hurtles through the cosmos.

The Kerrys' new book picks up from a couple of other excellent books and movies on free-market environmentalism that I've reviewed hereon: Crimes against Nature by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, and An Inconvenient Truth via Al Gore...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the New Era (J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation)

Average customer rating:

Your organization needs "the "leader of the future" now, today, this moment....
weLEAD Book Review by the Editor of leadingtoday.org
Expert takes on leadership today
The Essential Leadership Guide
An awesome collection!

The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the New Era (J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation)

Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0787986674

Book Description

The Leader of the Future 2 follows in the footsteps of the international bestseller The Leader of the Future, which has been translated into twenty-eight languages, and is one of the most widely distributed edited collections on leadership to date.

In twenty-seven inspiring and insightful essays, this book celebrates the wisdom of some of the most recognized thought leaders of our day who share their unique vision of leadership for the future.

Returning Contributors: Ken Blanchard with Dennis Carey, Stephen Covey, Marshall Goldsmith, Charles Handy, Sally Helgesen, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, Richard Leider, Ed Schein, Peter Senge, and Dave Ulrich with Norm Smallwood.

New Contributors: John Alexander, Darlyne Bailey, Howard Gardner with Lynn Barendsen, Usman Ghani, Ronald Heifetz, Joe Maciariello, Jan Masaoka, John Mroz, Brian O'Connell, Jeff Pfeffer, Ponchitta Pierce, Srikumar Rao, General Eric Shinseki, R. Roosevelt Thomas, Noel Tichy with Chris DeRose, and Tom Tierney.

"Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith, one of the USA's top executive coaches, edited the collection The Leader of the Future 2. Its 27 eloquent essays provide a kind of hopeful, idealistic best-case scenario for future leaders of non-profits and businesses. This is not a cookie-cutter, how-to approach. The job of the essayists is to provide food for thought and goals. The high quality of writing here should inspire anyone who has aspirations for leadership."

—Bruce Rosenstein, USA Today

Customer Reviews:

Your organization needs "the "leader of the future" now, today, this moment...........2007-09-24

Frances Hesselbein is currently editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader quarterly. Previously, she served as CEO of the Girls Scouts of the USA and then as chairman and founding president of the Leader to Leader Institute, formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management. Her published works include this book as well as its predecessor, The Leader of the Future, co-edited with Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard, and Be*Know*Do (an adaptation of the U.S. Army's leadership manual) to which she and General Eric K. Shinseki (USA Ret.) co-wrote the Introduction as well as Hesselbein on Leadership for which Jim Collins provided the Foreword.

Twenty-seven individual essays comprise this volume. The material is organized within five Parts:

A Vision of Leadership (Chapter 1)

Editors' Comments: "[Our] book begins where it should, with Peter Drucker's vision of leadership...[His] thoughts on creating organizations that have a spirit of performance built upon the `theory of the business,' creating a positive social impact and demonstrating consistent effectiveness, challenge the reader to both embrace change and become a change leader."

Leading in a Diverse World (Chapters 2-5)

Excerpt: "Leaders of the future will be progressively more cosmopolitan, progressive, diverse, and values oriented. They increasingly will come from countries with enormous growth potential outside of North America and Europe, such as the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), places where leaders must also address daunting obstacles such as poverty or environmental depredation, regardless of the sector or the focus of their enterprise." Rosabeth Moss Kanter, "How Cosmopolitan Leaders Inspire Confidence"

Leading in a Time of Crisis and Complexity (Chapters 6-11)

Excerpt: "Leadership becomes necessary to business and communities when people have tough challenges to tackle, when they have to change their ways in order to thrive or survive, when continuing to operate according to current structures, procedures, and processes no longer will suffice. We call these adaptive challenges. Beyond technical problems, for which authoritative and managerial expertise will suffice, adaptive challenges demand leadership that engages people in facing challenging realities and then changing those priorities, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to thrive in a changing world. Ronald A. Heifetz, "Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Adaptive Process"

Leading Organizations of the Future (Chapters 12-19)

Excerpt: "Leaders will need to go beyond looking at the work to be done and consider the human doing the work. They will need to understand the incredible pressures that have been brought about by globalization, technology, and competition. They will need to appreciate the hard work and sacrifice needed for professional success in a much tougher world. Leaders will need to realize that as work becomes even more important, and organizations become even more important, they will become even more important - in helping to shape the quality of life and the futures of the professionals they lead." Marshall Goldsmith, "Leading New Age Professionals"

The Quality and Charter of the Leader of the Future (Chapters 20-27)
Excerpt:

"Leaders who think like anthropologists would realize several things. First, they would realize that they are leaders by virtue of their basic fit into the cultural milieu in which they grew up and in which they are now operating. It is all well and good to note that leaders "create" and "change" cultures, as I have argued in the past [i.e. in Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2004], but first they must realize that to change culture you must thoroughly understand the culture that created you and legitimized you...In other words, leaders must be culturally self-c0njscious and be aware of the cultural layers in their own personalities. Second, leaders who think like anthropologists would be conscious of the cultural variations among countries and companies, and among occupational subgroups within their companies." Edgar H. Schein, Leadership Competencies: A Provocative New Look"

Note: Schein then explains in his essay that in addition to thinking like an anthropologist, effective leaders must also have the skills of a family therapist and cultivate and trust artistic instincts.

In the city where I live, we have a number of outdoor markets at which slices of fresh fruit are offered as samples of the produce available. In that same spirit, I frequently include brief excerpts such as these from a book to help those who read my review to get at least a "taste" of the material in question. All of the material in this volume is of a very high quality. The value of each article, however, will be determined by the needs and interests of each reader.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Hesselbein's The Leader of the Future published earlier, co-edited with Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard and Be*Know*Do (an adaptation of the U.S. Army's leadership manual) to which she and General Eric K. Shinseki (USA Ret.) co-wrote the Introduction; also Hesselbein on Leadership for which Jim Collins provided the Foreword.

weLEAD Book Review by the Editor of leadingtoday.org.......2007-06-17

The Leader of the Future 2 is a labor of love and a gift to all those who enjoy the study of leadership. This is the first book published by the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly The Drucker Foundation) since the death of leadership patriarch Peter Drucker. All proceeds support the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management. This book follows the publication of the international bestseller, The Leader of the Future.

This meditative work is the collection of 27 essay chapters that contemplate the kind of leadership needed for the future of the world. Each chapter is written by a respected leadership consultant or educator who provides their unique and challenging perspective on the kind of leader our world needs now and will need in an uncertain future. This collection of "thinkers" has varied experience in all sectors of modern society. As it states in the foreword of the book, "This book delivers a "battle cry" that will mobilize the leaders of the future to build viable, relevant organizations that will sustain us in the times ahead... Planning in the past was rigid, inflexible, and hierarchical, but planning for the future will require leaders to be fluid and flexible, and move easily across their organizations. The Leader of the Future 2 is indeed part of a blueprint for planning in a dynamic new world."

The genesis of the book was the tragic events that occurred on 9/11. Since that event a lot has changed in the world, and will continue to change in our uncertain future. The Leader of the Future 2 divides its 27 chapter into 5 interesting parts. Each part focuses on a certain aspect of leading in the future like vision, diversity, complexity, change and character. This is a book for serious thinkers and at times is not easy to read. Some of the gifted contributors would be the first to admit that writing with clarity is not their greatest personal strength. But in all fairness, they are looking back on the past with eyes toward the future and this is always an ambiguous rehearsal. The Leader of the Future 2 is brain-candy for anyone who likes to step outside of everyday thinking and ponder the "what-if" of tomorrow!

Expert takes on leadership today.......2007-05-03

In a 1964 obscenity court case, then U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote that pornography was difficult to define, but noted, "I know it when I see it." The same might be said of leadership. Since 1990, the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management) has dedicated itself to examining, defining and elevating the art of leadership through books, educational materials and its respected journal, Leader to Leader. This book is a sequel to the Institute's The Leader of the Future, an international bestseller published in 28 different languages. This follow-up volume features 27 essays on being a leader in today's complex, challenging world. We confidently recommend this leadership treatise, which presents the informed thoughts, insights and opinions of respected experts from academia, the media, business, the military, the nonprofit sector and numerous other venues. Thanks to such contributors as Stephen Covey, Howard Gardner, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, this collection of essays clearly addresses the challenges of modern leadership.

The Essential Leadership Guide.......2006-10-07

Once again, Marshall Goldsmith and Frances Hesselbein have provided readers with an essential guide to the biggest challenges and the best thinking of thought leaders and practitioners in the field of leadership. In a world in great need of leadership, this book provides an array of outstanding contributions from those who have shaped and inspired this field. This book provides a superb addition to the libraries of all those who care deeply about leadership -- and who among us does not (or should not)?

Rachelle J. Canter, Ph.D.

An awesome collection!.......2006-09-30

An awesome collection! Jim Kouzes, Peter Senge, Edgar Schein. A great list of contributors. Some of the very best thinking on leadership, strategic thinking, and change.

Senge's article on the basic fundamentals for sound leadership in a changing world is nearly worth the price of the book on its own. If that article isn't enough, Edgar Schein's contribution on leadership competencies is just excellent. You'll find yourself rethinking a number of assumptions about what leaders do.

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Average customer rating:

Rating the physical book, not the content
Pale Blue Dot
Perspective from Pluto
Let's take the first steps
A great sequel to Cosmos

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Carl Sagan
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

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Cosmos
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

ASIN: 0345376595
Release Date: 1997-09-08

Book Description

"FASCINATING . . . MEMORABLE . . . REVEALING . . . PERHAPS THE BEST OF CARL SAGAN'S BOOKS."
--The Washington Post Book World (front page review)

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.

"TAKES READERS FAR BEYOND Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity's future in the stars."
--Chicago Tribune

Customer Reviews:

Rating the physical book, not the content.......2007-07-23

First, I must say that I am enjoying the book very much. I love reading Professor Sagan's books very much. So this rating applies more to the decision of the publisher than the book itself.

I have never written a review on Amazon before, and I have been coming here for years. I had to say something about this. After I finish this, I plan on emailing the publisher with the same review.

Wow. A book named Pale Blue Dot, inspired by the famous photograph of the Earth of the same name. It is referenced in the first few chapters heavily and Prof. Sagan asks us to visit and revisit the photo several times as he builds his introduction. I think to myself "Great! Can't wait to see it. Now where is it?" This then led to the disappointing finding that there are no pictures at all in this printing. None, not one, not even just the one of the Pale Blue Dot image itself. How can you publish a book inspired by a photo and not include the picture itself, not even a low res poorly printed picture? All you get is a few instructions to look at it, but you won't be able to look at it in here. Apparently, the hardback and first soft-back printing had photos. I guess I can understand (not like, mind you) why the decision was made to eliminate photos, but to get rid of the Pale Blue Dot photo is mind boggling. Surely this decision couldn't have been made on purpose. Surely, this was just an oversight. If this was a conscious decision, then it speaks volumes about how Ballantine views this work and it makes you wonder if they have any idea why it was written in the first place.

Anyway thanks for listening.

Pale Blue Dot.......2007-01-04

This was very interesting reading. Carl has a wonderful way of relating science, technology and his vision in very understandable language.

Perspective from Pluto.......2006-08-19

As I write this review, scientists around the world are in one more tizzy about whether Pluto is a planet, and exactly what a planet is.
They are missing the boat, or spaceship as it were. Pick up a copy of Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot," and it becomes clearer. Just take the much longer view, courtesy of Sagan's vivid and creative mind.

No matter how many times I read it, the look back at our solar system by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990 stimulates my imagination in a huge way. After passing the orbit of Pluto and visiting Neptune and its spectacular moon Triton,the Voyager 1's camera turned back and took a family portrait of the solar system....caught in a mosaic of 60 pictures, saved on the ship's tape recorder and then slowly, over a period of three months, sent back to big radio telescopes on Earth.
The camera caught not only Earth (the pale blue dot), but also Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Pluo and Mars were too small and Mercury was lost in the glare of the Sun.
Just think, a look back at all of us, from a place I dream of being ---out past the orbit of Neptune/Pluto, but will never get to. It boggles the mind to even estimate how long it will take to get any human to that distant vantage point. But here it is ....a wonderful book which covers this, and so many other space marvels. Buy it and keep it close to your bed for months and months of inspiration.
Earl

Let's take the first steps .......2006-04-13

This book really focuses on something I believe is of uttermost importance for human kind: our long-term survival as a species and the essential role of space exploration. Many ideas and facts presented in Pale Blue Dot have already been expressed elsewhere, not least in science-fiction, but here they are collected and presented to us in a formidable way, with the focus on the potentially new era awaiting us where we would finally quit our Earth cocoon and start expanding through the Universe. As a scientist, I believe that this is a realistic view even if it definitely won't happen in our lifetimes. Sagan gives very convicing arguments why it is necessary to take the first steps in this direction: now, without delay!

A great sequel to Cosmos.......2005-03-09

The title of this book refers to Earth- all that our planet is in the big scheme of things is a Pale Blue Dot, as photographed by the Voyager spacecraft, departing our solar system. It's very humbling. Sagan went before his time, and didn't even get to see the landing of Mars Pathfinder in 1997, but that mission was renamed "The Sagan Memorial Mars Station." Whereas Cosmos talked about the past and future of space travel, this book talks about the future. It's written 20 years after "Cosmos" so builds upon what that book says. It used many charts and interesting pictures and graphs. This is better than "Cosmos" in my opinion, and is my favorite book ever.

The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

Average customer rating:

Fodder for consideration and debate
In depth and well written...
Over simplified
The European Dream
A Mirror for our Values

The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream
Jeremy Rifkin
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1585424358

Book Description

The national bestseller that shows how the American Dream is languishing, surpassed worldwide by a powerful alternative in the lifestyle of the new Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Fodder for consideration and debate.......2007-06-08

I'm about halfway through and have just come to the first chapter that, I confess, is leaving me scratching my head - network commerce.

Aside from that, I've found the book so far to be full of ideas to ponder and discuss with others who might be interested. Or... at least it provides more elements through which to filter/view the day-to-day news of the world.

Rifkin brings quotes and thoughts from a multitude of other writers, historical and contemporary, into a thought-provoking stew.

This is not an academic book with a bunch of substantiated and indisputable facts; rather, it offers interesting suggestions and makes conclusions based on aforementioned breadth of thought.

Easy to recommend.

In depth and well written..........2007-05-29

I think this book is for the person who wants an in depth analysis and history of the EU. The book takes into account almost every facet of EU life including markets, science advancement, social metworks, currency/finance, birth rates, etc and offers a reader a thorough history of why the EU countries think and behave as they do. Mr Rifkin takes us back to the 12th and 13th centuries for some of the analysis, which is great, but for the casual reader, can be too much. I found Mr. Rifkin's analysis and writing very well in hand and very informative. I learned much about the EU from reading this book. I would recommend this book for the people that have a strong interest in Europe and want to further understand its people. Good book.

Over simplified.......2007-05-11

As an American who has spent 5 years living in Belgium, I found Mr. Rifkin's book to be oversimplified and full of stereotypical errors. The first big one was assuming Europe, as a whole, is one monogamous culture. Each country has their own set of beliefs and ideologies, and while these states reconcile their differences vis-a-vis European policy, it is totally inaccurate to refer to a 'European dream' as a pan-continent phenomenon. A simple example would be to compare any two states. Belgians are very different from the Greeks, the Spaniards different from the British, the Germans different from the French.

This isn't just a language issue either. In Belgium, where the people living in the south speak french and the people in the north speak dutch, a distinct difference is made in their culture compared to their 'linguistic parents.' Simply put, call a Walloon french or a Fleming dutch, and you will have greatly insulted them. To bring this back home, it's like referring to Americans as North Americans. The US isn't the same as Canada, and it certainly isn't the same as Mexico. Does an American like being called a Canadian? I think not. This is just the same as grouping A Romanian in with a Swede; While they come from the same continent, they have different beliefs and cultural values that very few people are willing to give up. However, these states get along and have healthy, normal relations that insure peace and prosperity for its citizens.

As for calling the American dream obsolete in favor of a 'European' one, I would have to completely disagree. This is a matter of interpretation. One poster said that the American middle class is bound to economic enslavement. I beg to differ. The whole point of the American dream is to have the freedom to move away from it. Sure, you can work to get into the US middle class and live a comfortable life, or you can go out on your own and make your dreams come true. Many western European nations have a much larger middle class, where wealth and equality are much more evenly distributed. However, for those who want to break out, they are much more restricted in how they can. And this isn't to say that there is a right one or a wrong one, it's just a matter of opinion.

In the end, America isn't dying. Sure, the American dream is unique to America, but that's our culture, and, as we have painfully learned throughout history (Vietnam, Iraq II), it's extraordinarily hard to kill an idea. This book, in my opinion, is detrimental to American opinion on the 'outside world.' My recommendation to any American who wants a real take on the way the world is shaping, is to go live abroad for a while. The world isn't going to bite, and no one will single you out for being an American, unless you do something stupid, in which case you're singled out for being stupid. The world doesn't hate us, it's just the foreign policy they don't like.

The European Dream.......2007-05-07

A very thought provoking book all Americans should read. This may give readers a different world view.

A Mirror for our Values.......2007-04-18

When I read this book, I realized that in spite of my self-image as a very individualistic person, my values themselves are very predictable and derivative. In spite of the fact that I am in the secular minority in America, I can absolutely see how everything I -- and we -- value are a result of cultural evoluation. Duh. Oh well, just when you thought you were unique.

In addition to helping you understand why you value what you value, this book will also help you see the downside of the cultural evolution and values of America. It puts into words something you probably suspect, but haven't been able to put a finger on: that the leadership in an increasingly interdependent world will not arise from within this culture.

Vision of the Future (Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn, Book Two)

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!
Romance...the Star Wars way
I couldnt wait for it to end
A must read for Star Wars fans!
really boring

Vision of the Future (Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn, Book Two)
Timothy Zahn
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553578790
Release Date: 1999-09-01

Amazon.com

Timothy Zahn finishes the two-part Hand of Thrawn series with Vision of the Future. In the first book, Specter of the Past, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo battled the minions of the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn, long presumed dead. In the sequel, our heroes must prevent civil war and ensure that Thrawn's plans for a triumphant Empire are thwarted. Intergalactic intrigue, space battles, and heart-pounding action will thrill Star Wars fans in this eagerly awaited novel. Zahn is one of the most popular interpreters of the Star Wars universe with good reason.

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Grand Admiral Thrawn, long believed dead, has returned. Civil war is imminent in the New Republic. And what--or who--is the Hand of Thrawn? Vision of the Future is the conclusion of the two-part Hand of Thrawn series, written by Timothy Zahn, Hugo Award-winning author of the original trilogy based on the Star Wars films. The book is read by Tony Award-nominee Anthony Heald, who uses his theatrical talents to perform everything from love scenes to fight scenes as the story unfolds. His range of voices--from the "distinctive, somewhat prissy" voice of C-3PO to the gruff cynicism of Han Solo--is complemented by selections from John Williams's score and sound effects from the Star Wars films. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney

Book Description

Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn brings his epic two-volume series The Hand of Thrawn to an explosive conclusion with a discovery that rocks the New Republic to its foundations--and threatens to resurrect the Empire.

The Empire's master plan is under way. The New Republic is on the verge of civil war and the rumor that the legendary Admiral Thrawn has returned from the dead is rallying the Imperial forces. Now Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and their allies face the challenge of their lives. They must infiltrate a hidden fortress filled with Imperial fanatics, rendezvous with a double-dealing Imperial commander, and journey into enemy territory to learn the identity of those responsible for an act of unthinkable genocide. But most important of all is the truth about Thrawn. In his hands--alive or dead--rests the fate of the New Republic.

© 1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM
All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......2007-02-13

If you've read other Star Wars novels by Timothy Zahn, you know he's the best author of the novels. Do yourself a favor and read the Thrawn trilogy. I'm still hoping Lucas will come to his senses and make a movie from those books.

Romance...the Star Wars way.......2007-02-07

I really like this book. Personally I am a fan of Luke and Mara and I have to had this book, I wanted to know how they end up together and even if some fans think they were more rational than passional, I think it is the Star Wars way for romance. They are two strong characters, they couldn't have a typical romance! I think it was very "in character" for them. The story is fast and entertaining, I like it, a lot.

I couldnt wait for it to end.......2006-05-18

I'm amazed at some of the positive reviews. This book was so boring. Probably one of Zahn's worst books, although i havent read all of them yet. To many things going on at once, no real connection to the main story. Which seemed to be the return of Thrawn. And how did it end? With a DUD. Simply horrible.

A must read for Star Wars fans!.......2005-08-24

This book was great. It was longer than most Star Wars novels (almost 700 pages), but well worth it. I read it after the NJO so I could see a lot of fore shawdowing for that series and also the new Dark Nest trilogy. You will enjoy this book.

really boring.......2005-05-18

the irritating writing style continues...unfortunately this time there is no attempt at a storyline and no interesting characters. we don't really need to be informed every time someone has to 'connect to the force', or runs through jedi meditation techniques, etc. it has to be implied at some point really.

Visions of the Future: Chemistry and Life Science

Average customer rating:

Visions of the Future: Chemistry and Life Science

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Visions of the Future: Physics and Electronics

ASIN: 0521805392

Book Description

What does the future of science hold? Who is making the discoveries that will help shape this future? What areas of research show the greatest promise? Find definitive and insightful answers to such questions as these in the three volumes of Visions of the Future: Astronomy and Earth Science, Chemistry and Life Science, and Physics and Electronics. Representing a careful selection of authoritative articles published in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions--the world's longest-running scientific journal--the chapters explore such themes as:

The Big Bang

Humankind's exploration of the solar system

The deep interior of the Earth

Global warming and climate change

Atoms and molecules in motion

New materials and processes

Nature's secrets of biological growth and form

Understanding the human body and mind

Quantum physics and its relationship to relativity theory and human consciousness

Exotic quantum computing and data storage

Telecommunications and the Internet Written by leading young scientists, the timely contributions convey the excitement and enthusiasm that they have for their research and a preview of future research directions. J.M.T. Thompson is Professor of Nonlinear Dynamics and Director of the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics at University College London. Professor Thompson has published widely on instabilities, bifurcations, catastrophe theory and chaos. He was a Senior SERC Fellow, served on the IMA Council, and, in 1985, was awarded the Ewing Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Currently, he is Editor of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions (Series A) which is the world's longest running scientific journal.

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Leading young scientists, many holding prestigious Royal Society Research Fellowships, describe their research and give their visions of the future. Re-written in a popular and well illustrated style, the articles are derived from scholarly and authoritative papers published in a special Millennium Issue of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions (used by Newton, this is the world's longest running scientific journal). Carefully selected by the journal's editor, Professor J. M. T. Thompson FRS, topics include studies of atoms and molecules in motion; new processes and materials; nature's secrets of biological growth and form; progress in understanding the human body and mind. The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the young authors for their work in Chemistry and Life Science. Two companion books cover Astronomy and Earth Science, and Physics and Electronics. All are definitive reviews for anyone with a general interest in the future directions of science.

The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era

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The Future Is Now
There's definitely a theme here
A Well Articulated Roadmap--By Those Who Have Been There
"Leadership must be learned and can be learned"
the best of the leader books

The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era

Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
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The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the New Era (J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation)
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The New Global Leaders: Richard Branson, Percy Barnevik, David Simon and the Remaking of International Business
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Images of Organization

ASIN: 0787909351

Book Description

Leading-Edge Thought From the World's Best Business Minds "A one-stop shopping guide that shows how leaders can be successful in the year 2000 and beyond."
--American Society for Training and Development

Discover what Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Peter Senge, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and other business-world luminaries have to say about the direction of leadership for the future. The Drucker Foundation brings together the best business minds in more than 30 never-before-published essays, each one offering a special perspective on leadership and a unique glimpse into the future.

Customer Reviews:

The Future Is Now.......2005-01-07

The Drucker Foundation in 1996 asked leadership experts and proven leaders in the private sector to contribute to a leadership compendium, the proceeds of which would be donated to charity. The theme is clear from the title: what will the leader of the future look like, and what skills will he or she need? Over 30 authors answered the call and together provide a surprisingly consistent - if occasionally contradictory - view of tomorrow's organizations and their leadership needs.

The benefit of this approach is that it forces the authors to cut to the chase. Far too many leadership/management books waste space with folksy anecdotes and maddening metaphors. These are, thankfully, generally absent from The Leader of the Future, leaving almost 300 pages of substance for the reader. Another plus is the reader's ability to find new leadership authors that appeal to him or her that might otherwise have gone overlooked.

According to these experts, the business world is changing at a pace not seen in generations. (This refrain, I admit, gets old rather quickly and makes the experts seem like leaders of the past at points.) In order for organizations to survive and thrive, they need a new type of leadership. Today, CEOs and heads of organizations are the leaders. Tomorrow, they argue, CEOs will need a new set of skills, and anyone at any level in the organization will be called on to lead. Globalization, technology, mobile jobs, and an unprecedented amount of information mean that no one person can be "the" decisionmaker. Instead, organizations need to behave like market-economy nation-states: they need to be less hierarchical, allow internal competition, give their employees more decisionmaking authority, and train their employees to make informed decisions.

The idea of training is key - virtually all of the authors agree that leaders are made, not born. At the same time, they argue that all leaders have certain qualities, including high energy, vision, and other qualities that are hard to teach. Perhaps this is why one chapter focuses on the underanalyzed quality of followership. Certain segments are broad and theoretical, others offer concrete proposals to develop leaders of the future.

What does all of this mean for the average reader? Many organizations are still hierarchical with strict rules and regulations. There is, one could argue, only so far we can go towards decentralizing, flattening and empowering. But that would be yesterday's way of thinking. The leader of the future will find ways to work within these constraints, will have a vision of the organization that will guide him or her, and will allow for the empowerment of subordinates. This somewhat populist view of the leader of the future will at a minimum provoke the reader to consider what kind of leader he or she is and whether he or she is prepared to be a leader of the future.

The Leader of the Future is one of the few books on leadership that is worth buying. Borrow it or buy it, but read it today to be prepared for tomorrow.

There's definitely a theme here.......2002-07-25

"The Leader of the Future" from the Drucker Foundation and edited by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard is a management "sampler," comprising essays from academics and corporate CEOs about leadership, or specifically the kind of leadership that will be required for success of organizations in the future.

Clearly, the writers do not believe in "closed" management (the direct and control sensibility of the days of yore). To a one, they advocate investing in those below you, creating leaders in all sectors and at all levels, trusting, collaborating and "leading with vision." Some particularly interesting essays were "Leading from the Grass Roots" by Sally Helgesen, "Leadership and Organizational Culture," by Edgar H. Schein, the "father" of organizational psychology, and "The Ultimate Leadership Task: Self-Leadership" by Richard L. Leider. In general, the section with essays entitled "Learning to Lead for Tomorrow," which was about education and executive training and development was the most engaging for me.

I bought this book because I read a very engaging portrait of Marshall Goldsmith in the New Yorker in April, who is a very successful "executive coach," helping executives with personal problems in their organizations turn their relationships around. The book overall had a kind of hypnotic effect, as it repeated the same message throughout. Here's a representative excerpt:

"The challenges ahead will require leaders to identify, promote, reinforce, and live as role models of key core values; inspire diverse groups to common, shared action in which they trade some of their autonomy for a long-term greater common good; and give their best efforts in pursuit of that common good." This is from an essay by George B. Weber who is listed as the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

It's mildly interesting. I would recommend reading it in bits between other, different books.

A Well Articulated Roadmap--By Those Who Have Been There.......2001-06-24

This book is an outstanding compilation of 31 articles, by current and past organizational leaders, futurist, authors, etc., who share their knowledge and experiences. As they point out, the leader of the future must be serious about communication and not just pay it lip-service, they must share as much of their power, as possible, with members in the organization to make it a more powerful organization. This open communications and power sharing leads to a learning organization, that is inculturated to adapt to the changing enviornment and more importantly help "lead-turn" the organization to ensure a sustained competitive advantage.

"Leadership must be learned and can be learned".......2001-06-07

'The Leader of the Future' adresses a significant and timely topic. It should be on every manager's must-read list.

Peter F.Drucker writes in his foreword, "Leadership must be learned and can be learned-and this, of course, is what this book was written and should be used for." And hence, he defines simple but basic characteristics of effective leaders:

1. The only definition of a 'leader' is someone who has 'followers.' Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers, there can be no leaders.

2. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. 'Results' are.

3. Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set 'examples.'

4. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money. It is 'responsibility.'

After this excellent foreword, Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard divide this seminal book into four parts. Here, they note that "These parts have been chosen in a somewhat arbitrary manner. We deliberately gave the authors a free hand, and our revisions have been only mirror. The authors are all experts in their own right, and we wanted you to hear their views in an unfiltered form."

It is a great chance to read never before published essays of 37 distinguished authors under one roof.

Highly recommended.

the best of the leader books.......2000-09-15

Having read about 6 leadership books in a row, I can say with this limited perspective that this is the best overall. These are great essays by a wide variety of major leaders -- every person has something significant to say about leadership and taken together, the reader can put together a detailed and rich picture about what makes a real leader. One encouraging thought is that great leaders benefit by having and creating other leaders -- no need to fear too many good leaders. So, everyone can benefit by learning how to become a leader and the change will be better for everyone involved. Each essay is short, so taken together, they are very digestible. The writing is good all around, but it's really the insights and examples from proven leaders that makes this so easy to use as a blueprint or study of leadership. Top notch ideas, well presented. Any one who serves or hopes to serve as a leader would do well by reading this book.

The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of Christianity

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Progressive Christianity
Thoughtful & Thought-provoking
Faith for the 21st century
The Phoenix Affirmations
Welcome to Progressive Christianity

The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of Christianity
Eric Elnes
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0787985783

Book Description

The Phoenix Affirmations, named for the town in which the principles were created and the mythological bird adopted by ancient Christians as a symbol of resurrection, offers disillusioned and spiritually homeless Christians and others a sense of hope and a more tolerant, joyful, and compassionate message than those we often hear from the media and some Christian leaders. These twelve central affirmative principles of Christian faith are built on the three great loves that the Bible reveals: love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self. They reflect commitments to environmental stewardship, social justice, and artistic expression as well as openness to other faiths. Transcending theological and culture wars, inclusive and generous in spirit and practice, these principles ask believers and seekers alike to affirm their Christian faith in a fresh way.

Customer Reviews:

Progressive Christianity.......2007-05-21

The core values of Christianity are challenged in this summary of what many of today's Christians think and believe today.

Thoughtful & Thought-provoking.......2007-03-29

I won't go into much detail on the theology of this little book -- suffice it to say that the size of the book has nothing to do with the HUGE impact these affirmations will have on fundamental/conservative/evangelical/liberal Christianity. The thoughts expressed here are those of a "new" look -- progressive Christianity and so challenge the core beliefs of Christianity that the thoughts expressed here would be difficult to accept for any of the "normal" theological liones of thought.

Having said that, however, these affirmations are, as the authors clearly state, only a beginning in the process of discovering what Christianity will have to be about if it is to survive into the 21st century. Read this book with an open mind and heart and it will affirm and challenge you. Coming from an evangelical background, it was both challenging and frightening -- but not in a way that was altogether negative. Judging from the thought that went into these concepts, and the wave of interest they are generating around the USA (the world?), the church is alive ... and growing. It will truly be exciting to see what Christianity wil be like in the 21st century!

Faith for the 21st century.......2006-11-05

This book is an excellent summary of what thoughtful, progressive Christians are thinking today. It is [rpvocative, not exhaustive, in laying out an agenda for living out one's faith in this complex contemporary American culture. Both as an individual study and as a group discussion, the author helps Christians to articulate a stronger faith and non-beleivers to see a way to amke sense of the Christian gospel.

The Phoenix Affirmations.......2006-11-03

The Phoenix Affirmations was a real eye opener for me. It has caused me to look at Christianity in a whole new way. For me this book paints the future of the Christian church.

Welcome to Progressive Christianity.......2006-09-03

Eric Elnes is just one of many Christians trying to change the discussion of Christianity and Christian values in American culture today. This small book, built around the 12 affirmations he and colleagues, friends, and co-religionists in Arizona have put together, is a fine summation of what many Christians today would like folks to understand should be the character of 21st century Christianity. It is a book whose ideas resonate with those in other faiths as well. It should be an invitation to those who have walked away from the church to reconsider their faith and return to work with others to make sure the church is tolerant, inclusive, compassionate, and is a church that takes faith, prayer, and the Bible seriously (if not literally in the last case). Each chapter covers an affirmation, treating it in most cases with an incident drawn from Elnes's pastoral experiences. It is an easy read. Give it your consideration.

Market Research Best Practice: 30 Visions for the Future

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Market Research Best Practice: 30 Visions for the Future
ESOMAR
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

ASIN: 0470065273

Book Description

Market Research Best Practice is a compilation of the best discussion papers, case studies and methodologies from the ESOMAR publishing and event programme over the last decade and more. Market research is adapting to an increasingly competitive, demanding and globalised business world and, as the world's leading market research organisation, ESOMAR is providing the platform to showcase latest advances and best practice.

In the pursuit to define and illustrate 'new' market research, this book provides a unique source of ideas and practical examples of what research has to offer business and how research can influence the way results are tracked, insights are generated and ultimately decisions are made. Market Research Best Practice draws on recent successes to explore how research is evolving to meet market needs and how good research practice fits into modern business.

More than 50 authors have contributed their work to this collection - all papers were first presented at ESOMAR events and many contributions have been past ESOMAR award winners. To find out more about the ESOMAR Membership, the worldwide code of practice and the range of events and publications, visit www.esomar.org.

Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief

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Amateurish approach ruins promising text
The Gnostic Revival
Unveiling the Way of Organic Light, Transentience and Sacred Ecology
BRILLIANT
Thank God for Buck Teeth

Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief
John Lamb Lash
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green
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ASIN: 193149892X

Book Description

Basing much of Not in His Image on the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic writings, John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. They burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. But as Lash reveals, when the truth is the planet Earth it cannot be hidden or destroyed.

Not in His Image delves deeply into the shadows of ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spirituality—the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia—and chronicles the annihilation of this Pagan European culture at the hands of Christianity.

Long before the birth of Christianity, monotheism was an anomaly; Europe and the Near East flourished under the divine guidance of Sophia, the ancient goddess of wisdom. The Earth was the embodiment of Sophia and thus sacred to the people who sought fulfillment in her presence. This ancient philosophy was threatening to the emerging salvation-based creed of Christianity that was based on patriarchal dominion over the Earth and lauded personal suffering as a path to the afterlife. As Derrick Jensen points out in the afterword, in Lash's hands Jesus Christ emerges as the agent provocateur of the ruling classes.

Customer Reviews:

Amateurish approach ruins promising text.......2007-07-08

I came to this book with high hopes, as there are all too few works which take full blooded `anti-Abrahamic' approach to the subject, preferring to try and amalgamate Gnosticism and mystery religions to some grand new age vision shared by Greeks and Jews, Hindus and Christians. And Lash starts off doing a pretty good job, showing just how crazy and evil the Jewish `god' is, along with his later Christian and Islamic transformations.

In his picture, (compatible with the approach of de Benoist and the other European neo-pagans, who are not mentioned in the text) the destruction of the Second Temple led to the creation of the Jewish mentality, in which temporal triumph (a la Rome and other normal people) is replaced by an eventual otherworldly triumph after the destruction of `this world' -- i.e., apocalypse. Like his hero D. H. Lawrence, he suggests that the Jews co-opted the personal transformation offered by pagan mysteries into an endlessly pre-empted national triumph and fleshly rebirth in a new world. His analysis of `the redeemer complex' is intriguing, as is his use of it to explain how Christianity `triumphed' -- by first violently destroying pagan cultures, "turning them into victims," then offering a "reformulated justification of the victim role" which promised that "they would ultimately be saved," a brilliant way to co-opt victims into future victimizers. And his suggestion that the origins of contemporary suicide terror lie in the Jewish Dead Sea cultists is profound, not cheap and easy sensationalism. As my friend Alisdair Clarke has speculated on his Aryan Futurism blog, is there not the suggestion of something deadly, radioactive perhaps, an ageless evil, almost Lovecraftian, sleeping under the sand of that quarrelsome land with its dead sea and endless tribal violence?

Alas, although I obviously endorse much of this book, I find that it fails utterly, when judged as a work of scholarship. Lash, whatever his real qualifications might be, writes like an autodidact, with all of the related faults. No wonder the King of Autodidacticism, Colin Wilson, contributes a blurb saying `Lash's historical and anthropological erudition are [sic!] breathtaking." I'm afraid that grammatical solecism is typical of the book's problems.

First, Lash exhibits the bad habit of citing only evidence that supports him, rather than dealing with (apparent) anomalies. Thus, he suggests that the patriarchal god arises from the Jewish patriarchal family, as if most, if not all, pagan societies were not. Tell that to the Roman pater familias!

More seriously, Lash avoids all discussion or mention (although I'm going by his unreliable index here, see below) of the mysteries of Mithras, even though this was an official religion of the Empire (before Christianity), gave Christianity a run for its money, and last left us the most extensive records of all the mystery religions (such as the famous Mithraic Liturgy, available in the Mead anthology Lash constantly refers to). Could this omission be due to the fact that the Mithras cult does not fit into his simple patriarchal Christianity vs. Goddess/Gaian mystery paradigm?

However, I lost all confidence in Mr. Lash after turning to his `suggestions for reading and research' at the end. First, I only found this at the back because Lash fails to include the bibliography I was looking for, thus making it impossible to track down what editions he's using. The page numbering of my Penguin edition of Lawrence is certainly not his, for instance. I might let that scholarly flaw pass, however, if the "suggestions" were not so flawed as to be insulting. I don't mind his self-described "idiosyncratic" approach to selection and evaluation. I mean that he fails the basic test of being correct about things I know about, thus raising the issue of what he's wrong about elsewhere, where I have to rely on him.

Thus, we read the following incredible claim: "Unfortunately, the sole existing English translation [is] by the English Platonist Thomas Taylor....' Now I have only to half turn to my bookshelf to see the pricey but available paperback of the Clarke/Dillon/Hershell translation, along with a number of works, such as Shaw's Theurgy and the Soul which give quite adequate accounts and many excerpts from Iamblichus. This is not buried in obscure scholarly publications. All Mr. Lash needed to do to verify this claim, or to find himself a better translation, was to do what I did: search Amazon.com! How lazy and incompetent is this guy?

Later, Lash asserts that Harold Bloom gives a "brief, sober, no discounting passage on ... entheogenic practices." Now this intrigues me, so I consult Lash's index to find what he has to say himself. No entries on etheo-anything! And yet, here is at least one right before me. Did it slip by, because Lash in fact never discusses entheogens elsewhere in the text? No, in fact, a few pages later is a whole section of "suggestions" on the subject!

And here is where I throw the book aside onto the `read when bored and nothing else is around` pile. The section is entitled "Entheogenic Theory of Religion" and states "There are hundreds of text-heavy sites and heady forums dedicated to entheogenics on the Internet, but, unfortunately [there's that word again, always a clue to a howler on the way -- Lash mistakes his laziness for empirical restraint], they are all orientated toward recreational use of drugs and sacred plants, rather than sacramental use."

All? All? Now in elementary logic, I learned I could refute an `all' statement by finding one counterexample. Again, is it some obscure site? Well, how obscure is something on the Internet going to be? Get on the Google, as our president would say, and 9 hits come up for "entheogenic theory of religion" (the title of his section, remember), two of which lead to Michael Hoffman's Ego Death website, where his epochal article "Entheogenic Theory of Religion and Ego Death" can be found, along with hundreds of pages of articles and links to similar material. And needless to say, all the really new and useful books are unmentioned as well. Clark Heinrich, anyone?

Alas, Mr. Lash, as Housman said of incompetent textual critics, "the world is no feather bed for the repose of sluggards." If you want convince anyone but the most credulous, or the already convinced, you will have to do more work than this.

Three stars, but only for the Hebrew-bashing!

The Gnostic Revival.......2007-05-18

I first encountered the work of John Lamb Lash through his website, (...), when he posted a series of pieces on "2012" -- the end of the Long Count of the Mayan Calendar -- from astrological and historical perspectives. In his essays, he defined the characteristics of various "end-time tribes" that were embodying aspects of futuristic consciousness. I began a dialogue with him on this subject, and he sent me his new book, Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief (Chelsea Green, 2006). This work is a tremendous achievement that reframes the debate about monotheism, offering a radical perspective on the destructive effects that have been unleashed by religious ideologies over the last two millennia.

Not In His Image attacks the salvationist theology of the Judeo-Christian tradition from a Gnostic perspective, making a devastating critique of the moral conditioning and deep-buried suppositions of this heritage, which has shaped the modern Western psyche. As substitute, Lash presents a counter-myth and alternative cosmology drawn from the tradition of Gnosticism, featuring the goddess Sophia, who plunged from the Pleroma to become the physical and generative Earth, and the Archons, soulless off-planet entities who use the human propensity for error to lead us into increasingly destructive deviations from our evolutionary path.

The populist and academic conception of Gnosticism considers it a radical offshoot from Christianity that was stamped out as the Holy Roman Empire gave way to the Dark Ages. Lash has a different perspective. In his view, the Gnostics were the inheritors of the wisdom and initiatory training of the Mystery Schools that flourished across the Classical World. This learned, pagan tradition had roots in the shamanic practices that predated the rise of Greece and Rome, and could be considered the indigenous spirituality of Europe. In some respects similar to Buddhism, the Gnostic tradition valued philosophical debate and direct mystical experience over received wisdom and authority vested in religious hierarchy. Lash connects Sophia to the modern "Gaia hypothesis," developed by the scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, and argues that the Gnostic seers of the Mystery Schools were "deep ecologists" who taught "coevolution with Gaia." The alienation from the natural world and the body that developed in Christianity was the result of a deception, leading to the "enslavement of humanity to an alien, off-planet agenda." The Gnostics understood the basis of this error, and were persecuted for voicing their opposition to it.

Lash is ruthless in analyzing the moral precepts and core concepts of the Old and New Testament. He shows the ways in which these texts were designed to appeal to the highest aspirations and ideals of humanity, but subtly twisted to create impossible incongruities. Humans were tricked into trying to conform to an inhuman code of perfection, which doomed them to continual failure in relation to an absolutist abstraction. Borrowing a concept from Tibetan Buddhism, Lash suggests substituting the concept of "basic goodness" for "original sin," and argues that Gnostics were horrified by the Christian belief in the redemptive value of suffering.

He argues that the moral ethos expressed by Jesus Christ -- the "Divine Victim" -- in the New Testament has the unfortunate effect of aiding what he calls our "victim/perpetrator" bond. The concept of "turning the other cheek," for instance, only makes sense in world without aggressors. This precept instills a sense of otherworldly superiority in the victims of violence, while it helps the agenda of those who seek to dominate. "The ethic of cheek turning is utterly wrong because it obliges people who are not inclined to harm others to rely on those who do harm to embrace the same practice of nondefense."

The commandmant to "love thy God with all thy heart" is similarly distorted: "Who really needs to be commanded to love?" Lash asks. "We love spontaneously, through the power of love itself, which cannot be commanded." Throughout the Gospels, Lash finds "a monumental effort to convert the human mind to the bad faith of betrayed humanity." In our secular culture, it seems, the belief in a salvationist power that will liberate humanity at some future point has been transferred, unconsciously, from divinity to technology. In order to reconnect with our earthly powers, we have to deprogram ourselves from all concepts of a redemptive or divine force waiting outside of this realm.

While Lash evinces a tendency to romanticize traditional and indigenous cultures, while ignoring some of the progress made by modern civilization, his critique still goes to the heart of the crisis of our current world, where disconnection from nature and entrenched belief systems have brought us to the brink of global chaos. It seems that we can't find our way forward until we find our way back, utilizing that discriminatory intelligence -- what the Gnostics called "nous" -- that is our particular human gift.

(...)

Unveiling the Way of Organic Light, Transentience and Sacred Ecology.......2007-04-01

Not in His Image is indeed one of the "most important books of our time", or of any time. John Lamb Lash has created a textual masterpiece of historical documentation, mythopoeic vision and penetrating critique of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. Lash digs deep into the roots of Paganism and skillfully reveals how the Gnostic tradition pre-dates and stands separately from the then emerging Christian religion. The Pagan Mysteries and Gnostic wisdom celebrated and honored the divinity of the Earth, and by so doing were anathema to Christianity. The subsequent genocide and ecocide of earth-based spiritual communities continues to this day, resulting in a world on the brink of disaster due to mankind's separation from the very planet that sustains all life. Lash's critique of patriarchal monotheism shows us the lie that people have accepted (and been forced to accept) for thousands of years.

As presented in Not in His Image, the ongoing creation story of Gaia-Sophia offers us a shift in perspective, an alternative reading of the history of the earth, and a mythopoeic narrative that invites humanity to re-imagine our sacred connection with the natural world. John Lash celebrates the fact that there are and always have been other ways of being and relating to the earth and each other. In the author's own words, "My primary purpose in writing this book is to show that Gnosis, taken as a path of experimental mysticism, and the Sophianic vision, taken as a guiding narrative for coevolution, can provide the spiritual dimension for deep ecology independently of the three mainstream religions derived from the Abrahamic tradition."

The human race is destroying itself and desecrating the earth in the name of monotheistic religions. It's past time to stop the infantile and patriarchal posturing and practices that characterize the "great" religions of the world; those same religions that breed division, materialism, genocide and ecocide in the name of off-planet deities. Or "annihilation theology" in John Lamb Lash's descriptive term. The earth will take care of itself. If and when mankind emerges from this dark time of scientific materialism, monotheistic fundamentalism and personal greed, Not in His Image will be looked back on as one of the most important and brightest signal flares that lit up the skies of darkness, revealing the divinity of the earth and Sophia's call for our participation in the ongoing dance of sacred life.

BRILLIANT.......2007-02-11

I have only just started this book but can not put it down. It is brilliant and life affirming. It is also BRAVE... Lash uses history, personal experience, common sense and a mind that is not afraid to ask the hard questions and find the real answers about Christianity. He puts Paganism in its true perspective -- not the vapid New Age-type fad cliche and not the ridiculous evil one, either... Lash shows the power, beauty, joy, SENSE of Paganism and what he calls sacred ecology. It is one of those rare books that one can call truly illuminating. Very intelligent, well written... the more I read , the more fascinated I am..

Thank God for Buck Teeth.......2006-12-19

Lash claims his life's work evolved from orthodontic visits that gave him time to think. [A little like Stephen Hawkings' claim that ALS made him so slow at getting dressed that it gave him time to think.] One third of Lash's book echoes things I've thought over a 72 year lifetime. The other two thirds comprise insights I can't claim to have arrived at before Lash did but which mesh perfectly with the one third just referenced. The book is an amazingly incisive summary of what the JudeoChristianIslamic monotheistic mainstream belief system has done to us all in 2000 years. Someone has finally caught on to the problems but it may be too late for rescue. Systems theorist Ervin Laszlo thinks we may have about 7 years to save ourselves and the others with whom we share the planet. Lash's JudeoChristianIslamic off-planet God definitely won't do it for us. I have serious doubts that we'll make it. But Lash and Laszlo offer rays of hope that younger people might "get it" soon enough to make some powerful corrective moves. If I were still teaching graduate students in psychology and related fields, I would make their books required reading. But I'm not. So I pray that someone will do whatever it takes to get the wisdom of Lash amd Laszlo before the people who can engineer needed changes.

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