Triumph Reviews

The book is a very interesting view of what happened to the author. The details are rich and he does a good job of painting the scenes for us. He also did a good job of explaining the depression of being a captive and what it is like to loss seven years of your life, although I do not think any author could truly express the emotional pain that he must have gone through. If you are interested in this part of the world or this story, this is a great book. It is also interesting given the current climate in the Middle East to read about what was happening 20 years ago.

VultureElf 1/8 Irish Proud FOSA member

It seems to me that there are a few things Dr. North did which contribute to the skepticism with which some people view her account. First, she changed names and other identifying details so that facts are difficult to verify. Second, she told the story in fairy-tale format, with dramatically worsening symptoms followed by miraculous cure with few details of life after recovery. Third, she chose not to have any other medical doctors involved with this book. If her psychiatrist had written an introduction and the doctor who proformed the dialysis had written an afterword, the story would have been better documented.

Finally, it seems to me that adjusting to being "normal" after spending one's formative years seriously mentally ill would be a major struggle in itself. I hope she follows up someday with "my life after schizophrenia" and includes real names and places.

Even with these caveats, it's a wonderful book that deserves five stars, in my opinion.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I was expecting to read about how she started the company, what drove her to start, her fears, etc but what I found was a book filled with her philosophies mixed with her story on how she grew her business. If you're doing an MBA, yes by all means, this is a great book as it gives you different and fresh business perspectives but if you're looking for a "how I made it book", you may be a little disappointed.

Roddick presents her story, "Business as Unusual" by modeling the same constructs that have underpinned the ethical, moral and business essences of "The Body Shop".

The sometimes humorous but always poignant captions, quotes and pictorial representations through out the writing, demonstrates the importance Roddick places on communication. The book also scaffolds the in depth discussion that is used to deconstruct "The Body Shop" story.

Roddick does ascribe and briefly describe basic no nonsense commonsense information and elements inherent for all business. She also explores a range of interesting anecdotes, practical problems and ethical values.

The reader is encouraged and dared to ponder and reflect on basic elements such as child care, gender discrimination and female beauty whilst being whisked away to analyse the heavier issues of the Amazon and Hemp.

Roddick concludes the writing by sharing ten lessons that describe practical information which she suggests may guide the reinvention of the "The Body Shop" of the future.

An "unusual" story; certainly worth a read; definitely challenges the creative mind and makes no bones about business responsibility to humanity and the environment.

....This is the story of that woman and the company she founded.

Today, with over 1,800 Body Shops worldwide, and many a dissenting corporate CEO cursing at the very mention of her name, she commands an empire that still stands for something of value in this world. Anita is one of the very few people I have read or studied, that truly "walks her walk". The others merely pay lip service to the environment or other cultures less 'civilized' than ours. Like Anita, this book really "tells it like it is."

This book should be mandatory reading for every MBA student in the world. Perhaps being exposed to Anita's philosophies, examples and case studies of how to build from a start-up to an international retailing empire, will help save a few of them from the "nothing matters but the quarterly bottom line" syndrome. Anita's book lays out a positive path and a myriad of methods one can use to identify, analyze and address business problems and opportunities in a sane manner.

It is a way of doing business that first takes into consideration people, not just profits.

It's a company with "attitude".

I bought this book ( and some of the others in the series) for my daughter but read them first and enjoyed them so much that I kept them for myself. Dont worry , I'll let her borrow them from time to time So try this book - you won't regret it

Nonetheless- this book will surely be a great tool in killing time (with a few yuks pitched in).

Shy people, and friends and family of the shy, might want to explore these books for their "shy-positive" outlook. Self-acceptance and a proper understanding of individual temperament are, after all, among the criteria for positive mental health.

This is well worth readin, though unlikely to appeal to those not already interested practioners - armchair or otherwise - of scaling great heights in incredibly uncomfortable conditions.

One aspect I was really interested in was Allison's no-holds barred depiction of some of the peccadilloes of those she is/was closest to. I think of Scott Fischer - the gungho boys-own daredevil with whom she had an unsuccessful attempt on Everest and with whom she worked. It provides rather an interesting insight into the character of someone who died in the infamous 1996 storms on Everest so vividly depicted in many books, most notably, Jon Krakeur's Into Thin Air.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but from Allison's portrayal, it's almost a case of "No wonder!"

Take the "merger movement" at the turn of last century. It was and is popularly believed that competition was at an all-time low, monopoly an all-time high and Theodore Roosevelt's trust-busting the necessary and proper response. But Kolko proves this conventional belief false. In case studies of the big powerhouse industries of the time, he shows that, in spite of (or because of) the merger movement, they were more competitive than they had ever been. Whether the industry was steel, oil, automobiles, agricultural machinery, telephones, copper or meat-packing--Kolko's conclusion is the same: mergers, if anything, decreased companies' efficiency relative to their competitors. In the new century's first decade, the total number of competing firms in each industry grew; market shares of the dominant players, meanwhile, shrunk. As Kolko states, "There was *more* competition, and profits, if anything, declined. Most contemporary economists and many smaller businessmen failed to appreciate this fact, and historians have probably failed to recognize it altogether" (emphasis Kolko's).

The stage thus set by the failure of the merger movement, Kolko moves on to the myth that Progressive Era reforms were uniformly or even predominantly opposed by their affected industries. The key is to realize that, economic strategies like corporate consolidation having failed, companies turned to political strategies to freeze the status quo or to gain new competitive advantages. As Kolko states, "the essential purpose and goal of any measure of importance in the Progressive Era was not merely endorsed by key representatives of businesses involved; rather such bills were first proposed by them." Food companies, for example, wanted the Food and Drug Act so that they could turn its regulations against their competitors (e.g., oleo versus butter). Big meat packers desired to save their industry from tainted meat, which hurt business, but were unable to ensure the quality of small packers' meat and unwilling to pay for independent meat inspection--so they themselves initiated the meat inspection movement, lobbied for and won passage of the Meat Inspection Act, thereby forcing inspection onto the industry and its costs onto the federal government. As for the Federal Reserve Act, it was the product of a banking reform movement "initiated and sustained" by big bankers who sought to protect themselves from small bank competition. The Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Reserve Act? Most businessmen supported them to better protect themselves from antitrust prosecution under the Sherman Act's vague provisions or (among smaller businesses) to gain such advantages as enforced "fair trade price-fixing." Thus, Kolko shows that whether for protection from competition or from the government, businesses themselves initiated or shaped these Progressive Era reforms and others that most Americans regard as being part of an anti-business (or at least not pro-business) reform movement.

This book will fascinate students of American business and reform history. Ironically, given Kolko's philosophical disposition, even ardent pro-capitalists should relish it. That audience will likely be reminded of Burton W. Folsom's distinction, in his eye-opening *Myth of the Robber Barons*, between "market entrepreneurs" and "political entrepreneurs." Dominick Armentano's *Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure*, a work of heavier scholarship, may also be recalled to mind. His thesis that antitrust laws, even when not passed unequivocally to benefit special business interests, have "solved" nonexistent problems (and caused a few real ones) and should be repealed is entirely confirmed by Kolko's *Triumph of Conservatism*, which Armentano even cites in support (in addition to another of Kolko's works, on railroad regulations).

Quit looking for the "Rapture" or the immediate arrival of Antichrist. This book specifies that if the world doesn't repent it will go through a Minor Chastisement from God, then a wonderful Era of Peace where true religion will triumph, and finally after this Era of Peace (which I suspect will be around twenty years) the Antichrist will arise. However, we don't have to go through the Minor Chastisement. That is conditional on if we repent as a world and turn to God in repentance.

I hope anyone who is interested in end-time prophecy would buy this book. Catholic or non-Catholic you should still buy this book. Catholic mystics and prophets have prophesied the rise of democracies, the Protestant "Reformation," the French revolution, and many more events that have happened in history. I don't think it would be wise to cast off what they say will happen in the latter days, specifically as we enter into a new millennium. After reading this book compare every so-called "prophecy" you hear to the end-time schema that is laid out in this book. I found that most "prophecies" being touted as true in society today as totally erroneous and false if the true teaching of Catholicism are to be followed in regard to the end-times. This book will help you to avoid the sensationalism that many Christians and world place on the end-times today, and give you solid facts to rely on.

What gives me assurance that Desmond Birch is honest in his analysis of the material he has researched, is the fact that he admits several times in the book (although not a lot), that some of the writings of the church fathers or approved prophecy may not be perfectly on target on what they predict. He seems apt to discern what is certain and what isn't. He also avoids mentioning the famous "Pope List of St. Malachy" on the basis that he didn't consider the list as authentic as it is claimed to be. That shows that this man used only material he deemed very genuine and authentic. That earns him respect in my eyes as a great writer and researcher.

As for Catholics who believe that the Church doesn't have any belief in the end-times, this book will truly be an eye-opener. Far from removing herself from an understanding of the "end-of-the-world," Holy Mother Church has the most defined, orthodox, and true system of understanding end-time prophecy that there is in the world. The sooner people read this book; the sooner they will realize this.

One final word, BUY THE BOOK! :)

Adam