The Sky: Our Country

Author: Chew, Melanie

• Hardcover: 191 pages
• Publisher: Singapore : Republic of Singapore Air Force. (1993)
• Language English
• Price: $10

Singapore : Journey into Nationhood

Collaborator: Lee, Geok Boi.

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Landmark Books (1998)
• Language English
• Price: $8

Sarong Party Girl

Author: Aitchinson, Jim. and Chan, Theseus.

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Flame of The Forest Pte Ltd. (1994)
• Language English
• Price: $4

The SPG's revenge. The joke is now on the white expatriates as the Sarong Party Girl exposes his games in the East. Her verdict: he's oversexed, overpaid and overrated, living on borrowed time and borrowed money! Have a good laugh with the SPG.

System of Nature

Author:  Harvey, Jerry B.

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: Lenox Hill. Pub. & Dist. Co. (1970)
• Language English
• Price: $25

Sales Management Decision, Strategies, And Cases

Author:  Still, Richard R., Cundiff, Edward W. and Govoni Norman A.P.

• Paperback: 699 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall. (1983)
• Language English
• Price: $10

Lessons in Excellence from Charlie Trotter

Author:  Clarke, Paul.

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press.  (1999)
• Language English
• Price: $12

This review is from: Lessons in Excellence from Charlie Trotter (Hardcover)

As a big fan of Trotter and his innovation and creativity, I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it's just not very good. Mr. Clarke uses a notion or two per chapter that Trotter has applied as a successful entrepeneur, then boils it down, oversimplifies it, and creates tedious little pop quizzes of the "rate yourself" variety. It's as if he doesn't know whether he's writing a do-it-yourself workbook or a study of business. Clarke's very intrusive and heavy-handed, and this blunts the force of the good observations he does make. All in all, Clarke's interpretations of Trotter's wisdom lack the ring of authenticity of someone who's actually done what he espouses. This would be a lot better if it was actually Trotter doing the teaching.

The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management

Author:  Harvey, Jerry B.

• Hardcover: 150 pages
• Publisher: Lexington Books. (1988)
• Language English
• Price: $10

Faulty decision-making can have dire consequences, and when it comes to group decisions, the challenges are even greater. Join Dr. Jerry B. Harvey as he clearly illustrates why no organization wants to find themselves goin' to Abilene.
See how group dynamics can keep individuals from stating their true beliefs for fear of isolation and separation, and how that often leads to mismanaged agreement.
You'll learn to recognize the warning signs of risky group dynamics and improve decision-making processes throughout your organization.

Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right

Author:  Badaracco, Joseph L, Jr.

• Hardcover: 147 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press. (1997)
• Language English
• Price: $12

This review is from: Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right (Hardcover)

As an attorney who teaches business ethics inside corporations, I've read many books on this subject. This is the best. It focuses on the way real world ethical dilemmas arise -- not in decisions between right and wrong, but between two options, both of which are "right." This is a short, practical, readable book that really makes you think

Konosuke Matsushita's Enduring Insights - The Heart of Management

Author:  Matsushita, Konosuke.

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: PHP Institute (2002)
• Language English
• Price: $10

Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the Matsushita Group and of PHP Institute, passed away in 1989. PHP has continued to receive numerous letters inquiring about the founders ideas on management. As managers everywhere navigate the complexities of our times many will valuable guideposts among the insights of (Matsushita). - from Preface

Social Research : Myth in Contemporary Life

Editor:  Mack, Arien.

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Social Research is published quarterly by the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School for Social research. (1985)
• Language English
• Price: $4

Dictionary of Modern Sociology

Author:  Hoult, Thomas Ford.

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Littlefield, Adams & Co. (1977)
• Language English
• Price: $10

Wages, Price and Profit

Author:  Marx, Karl.

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Foreign language Press. (1973)
• Language English
• Price: $5

The Problem of Corruption

Author:  Alatas, Syed Hussien. Professor.

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Times Books International. (1986)
• Language English
• Price: $4

Main Currents in Sociological Thought 2

Author:  Aron, Raymond.

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Pelican / Penguin Books. (1982)
• Language English
• Price: $8

The Supermarketeers

Author: Heller, Roberts.

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher:  A Plume book. (1988)
• Language English
• Price: $8

Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty

Author:  Lewis, Oscar.
Introduction: Mead, Margaret.
Foreword: La Frange, Oliver. 

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Mentor Book. (1959)
• Language English
• Price: $10

This review is from: Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty (Paperback)

I just read this book, as I have read his other works. Oscar Lewis gives an extensive complete examination into the lives of extreme poverty. He gives exacting detail of the homes, lifestyles, and characteristics of the poor in Mexico. The last chapter delves with the poor who have accomplished "some wealth" and their upbringing still manages to evolve the same as if they were still poor. Wonderful thorough book!

Aristotle Selections

Author:  Aristotle.
Editor: Ross, W.D.

• Paperback: 359 pages
• Publisher: Charles Scribners Sons (1955)
• Language English
• Price: $15

The Secret Lore of Magic

Author:  Shah, Idries.

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sphere Books Ltd. (1972)
• Language English
• Price: $10

This review is from: Secret Lore of Magic (Paperback)

This book, which is out of print and quite hard to find a copy of (took me 3 years to find a copy myself, and then finally it was through Amazon), is one of Idries Shah's more esoteric ones. In fact the book is not listed on any of the books-lists under his name (for instance you can look at http://www.octagonpress.com/~sufi/shahbook.htm). This book is truly a treasure-house when it comes to esoteric material and I can only recommend it.
But I will also draw attention to some of I. Shahs other books, for instance "Learning How to Learn" and "The Sufis".

SOLD

The Waning of Humaneness

Author:  Lorenz, Konrad.

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Unwin Hyman Limited. (1988)
• Language English
• Price: $15

This review is from: The Waning of Humaneness (Hardcover)

This book is a scientific and spititual view of how the human species has evolved over all of time to become the frightened and violent and deceitful cariacature of his true nature. Humankind is experiencing "growing pains" that if seen and understood would change his inherited destructive attitudes for "solving problems" into truly humane solutions that would turn from a slow painful suicide to choices that will fulfill his potential and the destiny that is inherent in him. This book gives insight into this process so beautifully

The Words: The Autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre

Author:  Sartre, Jean-Paul.

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: A Fawcett Crest Book. (1964)
• Language English
• Price: $8

This review is from: The Words: The Autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre (Paperback)

Sartre writes about his very early life. He writes about things that as an adult you aren't even conscious of anymore. How reading a book about horses and armies can bring those things to life. Sartre talks about his grandfather, his mother, his absent father. He is pretty dispassionate about them. The main thing about the book is Sartres' keen observation and reckless honesty. In the usual autobiography you get a lot of bluster, the secret to my success type stuff. Someone, I think it was Martin Amis, said, all autobiographies are success stories. You see that all the time. How I rose from my humble background to be a rich and famous such and such. Well you don't get that here. This is Jean Paul's life before he ever did anything noteworthy. Astonishing level of honesty. I look at memoirs differently after this.

Chehov Plays - Invanov, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vania, Three Sisters, The Bear, The Proposal, and A Jubilee

Author:  Chehov, Anton.

• Paperback: 453 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1954)
• Language English
• Price: $8

The dramatic works of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) present the actions of ordinary people. He avoids any explicit political treatment, but the depth and subtlety of his art has generated a wealth of interpretation. His representation of human relationships is infinitely sympathetic, and each play contains at least one character who expresses Chekhov's hopes for a brighter future. "The Cherry Orchard" and "Three Sisters" was first published in this translation in 1951. "The Seagull", "Uncle Vania", "The Bear", "The Proposal" and "The Jubilee" were first published in this translation in 1954. 

Management : Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices.

Author: Drucker, Peter F.

• Paperback: 839 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row.(1985)
• Language English
• Price: $8

Management is an organized body of knowledge. "This book," in Peter Drucker's words, "tries to equip the manager with the understanding, the thinking, the knowledge and the skills for today's and also tomorrow's jobs." This management classic has been developed and tested during more than thirty years of teaching management in universities, in executive programs and seminars and through the author's close work with managers as a consultant for large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools. Drucker discusses the tools and techniques of successful management practice that have been proven effective, and he makes them meaningful and easily accessible.

The Dictionary of Classical Mythology

Author: Zimmerman, John Edward.

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: A Bantam Book / published by arrangement with Harpers & Row.(1980)
• Language English
• Price: $8

This review is from: The Dictionary of Classical Mythology (Paperback)

Zimmerman's classical dictionary is one of the best for an introduction to classical myth and classical dictionaries. The book manages to avoid the story-telling of strictly popular "myth books" and to avoid information that will be extraneous to a novice reader. At the same time, each entry gives sources, so readers know, for example, that the story of Philomela was covered Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Sidney, Keats, and a host of others as well as Apollodorus. In other words, it is a fantastically useful resource for readers of English literature as well as classical. The affordability of the volume (and the portability of it) has made it an absolutely essential first-buy for anyone serious about reading. Even when working in the most precise and demanding forms of editing and annotation of literature, Zimmerman's book is still the first-grab, first-glance entry point to further research.

Nervous People and Other Satire

Author:  Zoshehenko, Mikhail.

• Paperback: 449 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books.(1963)
• Language English
• Price: $8

This review is from: Nervous People and Other Satires (Paperback)

When I read Nervous People for a Russian Lit class I was overwhelmed by the absurd humor. There hasn't been a funnier, politically poignant and appealing satirist since Lewis Carrol or Jonathan Swift.Zoschenko etches out distinct parts of the Soviet landscape with hilarious spoofs, ridiculous characters and dark conclusions; Gogol would be proud.
Despite the passing of time and demise of the Soviet Union the humor still survives. What's poking fun at Russians can easily be translated to the same for American government and bureaucracy.
Admittedly this isn't for everyone. It's not all-age-encompassing like "Alice in Wonderland" or as current as PJ O'Rouke. Nevertheless it's worth a read for young and old adults.

Exemplary Stories

Author:  Cervantes, Miguel De.

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1972)
• Language English
• Price: $6

More popular in their day than Don Quxixote, Cervantes's Exemplary Stories (1613) surprise, challenge and delight. Ranging from the picaresque to the satirical, the Exemplary Stories defy the conventions of heroic chivalric literature through a combination of comic irony, moral ambiguity, realism, and sheer mirth. This new translation captures the full vigor of Cervantes's wit and make available two rarely printed gems, "The Illustrious Kitchen Maid" and "The Power of Blood."

The Devils

Author:  Dostoyevsky, Fyodor.

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1971)
• Language English
• Price: $8

This review is from: The Devils: The Possessed (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is an amazing book. Pervaded by Dostoevsky's usual characterization, the author reaches into the souls of his numerous characters as only he and very few others can. This story has Dostoevsky's favorite existential philosophic undercurrents. The story is an account of how the budding socialist revolutionary movement affects one small Russian town. Dostoevsky gives this phenomenon the treatment it deserves - a mocking condescension with an amusing portrayal or people who are drawn to radical movements. The result is a novel filled with humor. The tragedy is is presented as a natural consequence of people who are making mistakes at every step, confusing sensibility for absurdity. That is what their "possession" really is. It is about a whole generation caught up in the materialization and nihilism of the 19th century resulting from the scientific revolution. To me, this book is on par or surpasses The Brothers Karamazov. It may be viewed as either an atheistic challenge taken up in the latter book or as a repudiation of atheism manifested in one level of the latter. Whatever it is, it's more proof that Dostoevsky is the greatest writer who ever lived.

Strange News From Another Star

Author:  Hesse, Hermann

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1976)
• Language English
• Price: $3 

This review is from: Strange News from Another Star (Paperback)

I thought that this would be a remarkable collection of stories. There was a special mood in the opening tale , 'Augustus'. It was about a remarkable child whose mother gives him a special blessing that he will be 'loved by everyone he meets'. The consequence of this wish when it is realized is that he becomes spoiled, selfish, non- appreciative wealthy person who takes everything he receives for granted. The story does go one step beyond this but somehow the transformation involved in less than miraculous, and certainly far from happy. The Tale evokes great curiosity and interest at its outset but then somehow fails to realize itself.
The same is true of the second story 'The Poet' which begins also quite remarkably with the young poet offered a completely happy life turning from it to dedicate himself to his art. But this tale too does not follow through in a way which gives the reader a sense of the wonder and greatness of human life. The impression instead is one of disappointment.
It seems as if Hesse knows how to create an interesting proposition or idea for the story without knowing how to make the transformations in the story of equal interest. So too the characters of these stories do not seem very rich and rounded but rather abstract embodiments of a certain idea or concept.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Author: Brecht, Bertolt

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Methuen & Co Ltd.(1980)
• Language English
• Price: $6

The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi)

Author:  Hesse, Hermann

• Paperback: 519 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1977)
• Language English
• Price: $8 

This review is from: The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel (Paperback)

This book is to Hesse as "The Brothers Karamazov" is to Dostoevsky. Throughout it are the same ideas that have been put forth in earlier works, often with similar characters, but with a fuller and more articulate expression than before. Like Dostoevsky, he finally figured out how to say *everything* he had to say in one volume. So it comes as no surprise that those only concerned with certain aspects (particularly the more spiritual ones) of Hesse's writing would find it disjointed and tedious. If you want to read more of Hesse's stories about tormented and/or confused souls looking for meaning in the world, this isn't your book - go reread Damien and Steppenwolf. This book has that esoteric search, but its main character, Joseph Knecht, pursues this search as a curiousity and not out of some desperate need. I'm sure that's why several people seem to find him lacking compared to other Hesse protagonists - they're expecting a conflict in him that isn't there.As I read these other reviews I find it fascinating that everyone seems to come away from the book with such different things that they were struck with. In my case, this was the socio-political commentary. Through this book, Hesse comments on our own time and on a fictional opposite to it, thoroughly exposing the flaws in both. I remember most distinctly Knecht's letter of resignation from Magister Ludi, where he tells his colleagues that although they understand the importance of their society's existence, they made the fatal mistake of not educating the people who support them. That they cannot take the existence of what they have for granted, for the day would eventually come when all they built would be dismantled. Perhaps this was because I read this book when I was in an institution that resembled much of what Hesse wrote about, and exactly when Congress cut the NEA.
Reading this book changed my view of the world most in that it changed my expectations of it. More to the point, I abandoned my expectations. I am much more apt to let other people be themselves. To explain how or why would take far too long, suffice it to say that there is more to this book than a pursuit for spiritual meaning or a balance of intellectual and physical need, but also balance on many other levels, and Hesse explores all of them in his classic manner - first by their disparity, then by their eventual unity. A stunning conclusion to the career of one the greatest writers of all time.

Maxim Gorky Collected Works in Ten Volumes - Volume III (Mother)

Author:  Gorky, Maxim.

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Progress Publishers; 1st edition (1979)
• Language English
• Price: $8

Few books in the world have had such a truly vast number of readers as "Mother" or have had such a direct and powerful influence on millions of human lives. "Mother" was the first book to describe so dramatically and vividly the life of the working class in pre-revolutionary Russia and its struggle against capitalism which resulted in the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. "Mother" was first published in an English translation, and not in its Russian original. It was brought out in 1906 in the United States where Gorky emigrated, compelled as he was to leave tsarist Russia where he was subject to continual persecution by the authorities.

Fathers and Sons

Author : Turgenev, Ivan.

• Paperback:  295 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd. (1984)
• Language: English
• Condition:  Good
• Price: $5

This review is from: Fathers and Sons (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

"Fathers and Sons" comes very close to perfection. At times, Turgenev's use of the language borders on poetry. The characters are intriguing and sympathetic. The novel deals beautifully with man's inability to live without holding something sacred, and its tragic "hero" goes to the grave realizing that he has been trying to fill that void with "straw" instead of something more meaningful--like faith, or family, or true love.

Some critics have said that Turgenev supported the "nihilists," the young men who scoffed at all things sacred. They say Bazarov is the hero of the novel, intended to be idolized. But I consider it impossible to read "Fathers and Sons" and not be moved by a deep need to hold something--anything--sacred.

The Alchemists

Author :Taylor, Frank Sherwood.

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Granada Publishing Ltd. (1976)
• Language: English
• Condition:  Good
• Price: $8

Science and Christian Belief

Author : Coulson, C.A.

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Fontana Books(1958)
• Language: English
• Condition: Good
• Price: $8

Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages

Author : Gimpel, Jean.

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Futura Publications (1979)
• Language: English
• Condition:  Good
• Price: $8

This review is from: Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages (Paperback)

An excellent work marred by a little too much enthusiasm, this book will convey to the student of history the notion that the middle ages were not the black hole of lack of technology that most historians portray them to be. The author compares the changes in technology, and the scope of their results, to the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, and he may be pushing the analogy a bit. However, it is certainly true that technology did advance in ways in the Middle Ages. As for biases and tone, the author veers deceptively about, now seeming anti-industrialist, now communist, now capitalist, now labor historian. The book is marred by a final chapter in which the author tries to draw a parallel between the Middle Ages and the modern day that is both not well described and does not seem to be accurate given the circumstances of the world 20 years after the writing. But for the descriptions of technology alone, and of corporate-like structures in the middle ages, this is a good read.

The Gospel of Rationalism

 Author : Gorham, Charles T.

• Hardcover: 116 pages
• Publisher: Watts & co; 1St Edition edition (1942)
• Language: English
• Condition: Good
• Price: $10

Insight & Foresight . Selected excerpts annotated by Luis R. Mauricio

Author :  Constantino, Renato.

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Distributed by: Erewon Bookshop(1977)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $10
  

Essays of Addison

Author : Addison, Joseph.
Edited: Green, John Richard. M.A.  LL.D.

• Hardcover: 414 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan & Co Ltd (1960)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $15   

The Triumph of Christendom in The Roman Empire

Author :  Gibbon, Edward.

• Paperback: 411 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row, Publishers (1958)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $15
  

History In Schools - The Study of Development

Author :  Jeffreys, M.V.C.

• Hardcover: 104 pages
• Publisher: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. Pitman Press (1984)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $10
  

This is a book for the teacher of history who seeks to make the subject more intelligible as well as more attractive to the pupil.

HAJJ (The Pilgrimage )

Author : Shariati, Ali. Dr.
Editor: Behzadnia, Ali A. M.D. & Denny, Najla.

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Free Islamic Literature Inc. (1978)
• Language: English
• Condition:  Good
• Price: $8
  

This review is from: Hajj: Reflection on Its Rituals (Paperback)

As an American convert to Islam who performed hajj last year, I highly recommend this book to help remove all the mystery of what hajj is all about. Even many hajis have no idea why they are doing what they are doing other than their religious books tell them it is what they are supposed to do. Someone planning on going for hajj will get much more out of the experience by reading this beautiful, eloquent book first. And for the non-Muslim, a reading of this book should provide great insight into the purpose of the ritual of Islam that is so often mind-boggling to the outsider.

The Words to Say It

Author :  Cardinal, Marie.

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Picador by Pan Books Ltd. (1984)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $6
  

This review is from: The Words to Say It (Paperback)

This book is one of the best novels I've ever read. Cardinal's struggle to find herself in the mysterious depths of the unconscious is not just a story about psychoanalysis, it's a book about the ordinary processes that occur in our minds when we experience things we cannot handle growing up. It's about forgetting and remembering. It's about making discoveries and letting things go. Reading her story will make you think about how fragile our understandings of ourselves really are. I admire this book not just for its honest and captivating prose. I think it accurately portrays some of the most valuable ideas behind Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

A Javanese boyhood : An Ethnographic Biography

Author : Smithies, Michael.

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Federal Publications (S) Pte Ltd (1982)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $5
  

Word Power Made Easy

Author : Lewis, Norman.

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (1978)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $4
  

Exercises designed to develop vocabulary skills present words together with their pronunciations, definitions and use in sentences

Sigmund Freud Volume 1. Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis

Author : Freud, Sigmund.

• Paperback: 557 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (1974)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $10
  

This review is from: Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (Paperback)

This is the best introduction to Freud's ground-breaking psychological theories, now so much maligned and obscured by the apologists for the pharmaceutical stupefaction and mollification that now passes for psychiatry and keeps our bankrupt culture lurching forward.

It takes courage to read this book with an open mind, but if you do you can't but gain new insight into yourself and the people around you. The prose is delightful-- erudite, lucid, penetrating (ha!), and illustrated with beautifully observed examples from literature, history, and Freud's own life and practice.

Religion May Be hazardous To Your health

 

Author : Chesen, Eli. M.D.

• Paperback: 139 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. (1974)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $4
  

This review is from: Religion May Be Hazardous to Your Health, (Hardcover)

Although this book is over thirty years old, I heartily recommend it. As a person who was badly burned by fundamentalist Christianiy in childhood, I know that Dr. Chesen tells it like it is. I still bear the emotional scars of my upbringing. (I think the previous review was done by a person who didn't read the book). The author makes it abundantly clear that he is not against religion, per se, but how it is presented to people, especially children.
I have completely rejected the whole of Christianity and am now a heretical New Ager. I am living proof of the validity of Dr. Chesen's ideas.

Daughters of Rachel: Women in Israel

Author : Rein, Natalie.

• Paperback: 183 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (February 28, 1980)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good, a book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears.No missing pages.marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitions- opens in a new window or tab
• Price: $6
  

Winstanley 'The Law of Freedom' and other Writings

Author : Winstanley, Gerrard.
Editor:  Hill, Christopher.

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (October 25, 1973)
• Language: English 
• Condition: Good
• Price: $6
  

This review is from: Law of Freedom and Other Writings (Pelican classics) (Paperback)

As the document under review, True Leveler Gerrard Winstanley's agrarian socialist utopian tract from the 1640's, demonstrates the notion of a socialist solution to the problems of humankind has a long and storied history. The solutions presented by Winstanley had and (in a limited sense still do) do represent rudimentary ways to solve the problem of social and economic distribution of the social surplus produced by society. Without overextending the analogy Winstanley's tract represented for his time what the Communist Manifesto represented for Marx's time. And those with property hated both in their respective times.

One of the great advances of Marx over Winstanley was that he did not place his reliance on an agrarian solution to the crisis of society as Winstanley was forced to do by the conditions of social development of his time. Marx, moreover, did not concentrate on the question of distribution but rather on who controls the means of production that all previous theorists had either failed to account for or did not know about. Thus, all pre-Marxist theory is bound up with a strategy of moral as well as political persuasion as a means changing human life styles rather than the question of creating social surplus so that under conditions of plenty the struggle for daily survival can be taken off the human agenda and other more lofty goals put in its place. Still, with all the True Levellers weaknesses and the improbabilities of their success in the 1640's Cromwellian England we today still doff our hats to Winstanley's vision.