Customer Reviews:
Good Common Sense Ideas.......2007-06-11
A good primer for new managers with many easy-to-understand management concepts. Enjoyed this in combination with Warriors, Workers, Whiners, & Weasels: Understanding and Using The Four Personality Types To Your Advantagewhich expanded with more specific management practices.
Good Common Sense with a Few Gems.......2006-05-01
I always dislike it when books sensationalize problems. To call these errors "Fatal" as in YOU COULD DIE!?!?! seems extreme to me. Very few errors in life are fatal, and surely managers have enough stress in their worlds without having to worry about FATAL errors to deal with. Let's just call these "errors" and begin working on them.
The first question is, of course, what ARE the 13 errors. They are: Refusing to accept personal responsibility, failing to develop people, trying to control rather than influence people, joining the wrong crowd, managing everyone the same way, forgetting about profit, focussing on problems instead of goals, being too friendly, not setting standards, not training your employees, condoning incompetence, recognizing only the top performers, and trying to manipulate people.
You can say that many of these are common sense - but that's true for any management book. Dealing with human beings IS common sense. Still, many of us forget that sometimes - or need a few tips on dealing with a specific situation. For example, some managers feel that the issues are all with the employee and that the employee should just "fix themselves and do the job, dammit". We've all worked for a BAD manager though and know that a lot of how well an employee does his/her job is based on the management. Another aspect of this is that the book talks directly about achieving good results. It reminds you that your aim should be good results. Not in a "burn the villages and get the gold" way, but in a "it's better to reach your goal efficiently rather than waste 12 hours doing it in a poor way".
I think that's an important distinction for people to make. Many managers have long, complex procedures and work tons of hours - then pressure their employees to do the same and "measure up". Instead, of the managers made their lives more organized and simplified, they could have the same end results with far less stress and time. All humans need time to rest and relax - managers AND employees. It's important to focus on that goal, vs trying to seem as busy as possible in inefficient ways.
On the other hand, the book has some areas where it's very theoretical but not directly helpful. They say that if you expect your employees to do well and give them training, then they naturally will do well. That we managers just have to "get out of the way". This certainly isn't always true! There are employees who simply will look for ways to avoid doing work or shunting work to others even when they know what they should do and how to do it. To ignore these realities is to be frustrated.
There's a section where they say an employee's self motivation and self esteem are important - but truly, how many managers could "retrain" an adult who is set in his or her ways? Sure, it's good to know that an employee has low self esteem in order to talk with him in an effective manner - but managers will rarely have success in "fixing" an adult employee's personal psyche problems.
Another section talks about how managing isn't always easy. I do think this is an important lesson for many managers to learn. Yes, it sucks to have to make some decisions - but you have to do it. It's hard to discipline an employee you like - but you do it the best way you can. If you simply avoid doing certain things, everybody suffers as a result. This topic is covered in several different ways - you have to set up guidelines, you have to enforce those guidelines and give specific, direct commentary if someone is slacking off. You can't let it slide because it's easier on you. You have to step up and address it so that you manage the problem.
While many of these issues may be common sense for established managers, the tips can prove quite useful for new members. I do find a few gems in here that even older managers might find helpful to add into their arsenal.
A good book to at least read at the library. If you get it for yourself, lend it out to a few friends - you might be surprised at how long it takes for them to choose to return it to you.
Pretend profits don't count.......2004-12-14
I'm not a manager, and don't aspire to be one. Except to manage myself, that's plenty.
As far as other people, well, yes, I see that managers are needed in the profit economy: They have to make sure that the workers (labor) help maximize the profit of the company.
W. Steven Brown does have experience in this area, and he sprinkles his personal stories throughout this book. The personal stories are the best part. I think he should have written a book only with personal stories. A lot of the other stuff is dull and common sensical.
Brown comes through this book as a reasonable person, a consultant and a self-described teacher. What he seems to lack, what the whole capitalist system seems to lack, is heart, not the organ itself of course but the feeling of thinking beyond the system, outside of the system. Heart could mean treating people as individuals rather than a piece of the system. It's not Brown's fault, that's just the way the capitalist system works.
And it probably wouldn't work if managers were humanitarians and altruists. This is what Brown is emphasizing. Yes, they have to give the illusion of being humanitarians and altruists, but they can't actually be that. They have to ensure that the bottom line is black, or, guess what, they lose.
I like John Heider's book, The Tao of Leadership, better. Those who lead least lead best. Yes, this may be an unachievable ideal in the capitalist society, but I'm a dreamer, I mentioned that, not a manager.
Diximus.
Only for beginners.......2003-09-28
After reading many other managerial texts, I find this book to be standard and common sense. I would only recommend this book to those who are very knew to management and have not read much on this topic.
Excellent Reading for New and Old.......2003-04-28
I wish I can give away the books to everyone I know. It is very good, down-to-earth and practical rules of managing. And the exercises and the contracts at the end of each chapter really works!
I am a new person in the workforce with no prior experience, and now I understand the grounds on how effective and successful managers operates. I am also impressed by the usability of the content, meaning that even where I come from (which is not US) the errors and how to avoid it is amazingly applicable. Some people who I respected are also showing the qualities described by the book. Excellent reading. Highly recommended for young executives and newly appointed managers. It might be helpful to buy extra copies to be forwarded to some ineffective managers :P
Book Description
What catastrophes have in common -- and how to keep them from happening to you!
Introducing M3: the first systematic approach to
Managing mistakes so they don't lead to disaster
Building systems that prevent 'failure chains' from spiraling out of control
Avoiding failures in preparation, strategy, execution, and culture
Reducing the impact and cost of the mistakes you do make
Also includes coverage of the unique 'mistake chains' facing entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Every business disaster has one thing in common: the people in charge never saw it coming. The warnings were there. They didn't have to wreck their companies and their careers. But they let it happen. This book can keep it from happening to you.
You will make mistakes. If you don't, you're not taking enough risk. But you can make fewer of them. You can catch them early. Keep them cheap. Learn from them. Whether you're in a global enterprise or a garage startup, Robert Mittelstaedt shows how. His techniques apply to everything from culture to strategy, customer safety to market share. They won't just help you avoid catastrophe: they'll help you improve profitability and business value, too.
Stay on track. Stay off the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Read this book.
Customer Reviews:
Should be required reading........2006-09-21
This is the book that I would have liked to write. It gets to the heart of what makes the difference between success and failure. From just my little corner of the world, I have come to believe that the lack of attention and sometimes sense of entitlement or invincibility are what kills or cripples businesses. The author does a wonderful job of exploring this and all the habits, mindsets, assumptions and oversights which were the causes of great failures. He's a wonderful storyteller. And, the power of using examples both in and outside of the business arena drives home the point that these problems are ubiquitous -- they're common to being human (and perhaps uninformed and/or lazy). He summarizes with 38 insights which beautifully stand on the messages of the stories while at the same time providing a framework for actually doing something to exact positive change in your own life and organization. Great work.
Excellent! A real page turner and you will certainly remember its teachings for long.......2006-09-08
It may be one of the most overlooked but great business book. A likely explanation is that Wharton School Publishing is far less famous than HBR. Who knows! No matter what, I am obliged to express my heartfelt appreciation to the author for his concise but superb accounts for the tragedies/incidents of/re Titanic, Three Mile Island, Columbia/Challenger/NASA, Enron, Coke, crashes of airliners and nuclear submarines, Tylenol, Ford/Firestone, Xerox, Kodak, IBM, DELL and so on. Forgive me to say that it's easy to write a business book, but not a good one like this which you can remember well its teachings after you close it for a day or two. Despite some typos, it is well written and organised. The 38 key points named as "Insights" distributed in ten chapters are genuinely insightful. Though this book seems to target at CEOs and enterpreneurs, I am sure people from all walks of life can benefit much from it coz you never know which one small mistake will trigger a chain of them (plus the hidden damages made beforehand) and get you killed. In a word, dont miss it!
p.s. This book reminds me of "Who moved my Cheese?" in that good memorable stories, if used wisely, can help deliver even the most neglected message loud and clear.
Applicable to Businesses and Society.......2006-03-06
Another valuable source book for organizational (and personal) success from the Wharton School
Every disaster is the result of a mistake or a series of mistakes that people in an organization (from the top down) failed to recognize or overlooked. The author introduces the concept of M3-managing multiple mistakes. By using fascinating case studies of companies that either failed or flourished (by doing everything right or successfully recovering from mistakes), he proves that M3 is cost effective. Mr. Mittellstaedt clearly analyzes the failures or successes of companies such as Ford, Firestone, Enron, Dell, Apple, Toyota, and Southwest to name a few. He also includes valuable advice for small enterprises as 90 percent of all U.S. businesses have fewer than 20 employees.
In each chapter, the author has a section called Insights; they number one through 38 throughout the book. An example, culled from a lifetime of observation, research, and experience as a consultant, is Insight #10: A significant portion of execution-related mistakes occur because criteria for measuring progress and performance have not been identified and/or communicated explicitly.
In a competitive capitalistic system, never taking a risk is the enemy of success; learning to manage risk to minimize failure is the goal. In Chapter 10, the author gives you a precise and clearly delineated blueprint for success. He closes with an exceedingly useful Summary of Insights from this highly researched and invaluable book.
I read this just after reading the 9/11 Commission report on the World Trade Center disaster. Just after yet another news story on Hurricane Katrina. Many of the same rules seem to apply. Perhaps Dr. Mittelstaedt could think of his next book in terms of the world outside of business.
Insights into Failure Chains.......2006-01-10
Win or lose is a stark concept. At one time, many acted as if there was enough to go around. Yet, in today's worldwide competitive marketplace that is no longer the case. Businesses deliver value or they are ignored. They grow or they die.
Robert E. Mittelstaedt, Jr., Dean of the Arizona State University School of Business, argues that most failures, blunders and mistakes, be they corporate, physical or political are the result of compounding errors that land the crisis on the world's front pages.
The difference between organizations that we hear about and those we do not is a process he terms "M3", Managing Multiple Mistakes. He offers 38 insights to help managers and leader to recognize and break the chain.
Among his insights:
* Being successful often blinds you to opportunity.
* Mental preparation is critical.
* Avoid any ethical lapses.
* Execution errors are often generated by a lack of resources or knowledge.
* Establish and enforce standard operating procedures.
* Make responsibilities clear.
* Seek advice
* Understand assumptions.
* If something does not make sense is confusing. Stop. Figure out and decipher it.
* People are usually at the root of the problem.
* Execution-related mistakes occur because progress and performance metrics have not been identified and/or communicated.
* Failure to analyze data points.
* Ignoring data is dangerous; ignoring or misinterpreting consumer data may be fatal.
* Ineffective communications accelerate mistake chains.
* Building a culture that takes mistakes seriously may have the highest ROI of anything a manager can do.
* Seek an event to become the rallying cry for change.
* Your competitors are not who you think they are.
* Sometimes a mistake is not a mistake.
* Change happens without your permission.
* Test and retest assumptions.
* Believe the data.
* Train for the "can't happen" scenario.
* If you do not make mistakes, you probably are not taking enough risk.
Mittelstaedt has written a valuable book. Reading it may help you keep your organization or project off the front pages of the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times.
How to Avoid or Break the "Chain of Mistakes".......2006-01-07
If you think "fatal" is hyperbolic, consider these statistics which Michael Gerber shares in E-Myth Mastery: "Of the 1 million U.S. small businesses started this year [2005], more than 80% of them will be out of business within 5 years and 96% will have closed their doors before their 10th birthday." These are indeed chilling statistics. There are others which indicate that many once large and successful companies have either disappeared or were acquired. Reasons for business failures vary from one company to the next, of course, but in many instances there seems to have been one serious, eventually fatal mistake which set in motion what proved to be a path to failure.
As Mittelstaedt explains in the Introduction, "This book is about the avoidable traps that we set for ourselves as business people which lead to disasters. It is about what we can learn from the patterns of action or inaction that preceded disasters (sometimes called `accidents') in a variety of business and nonbusiness settings in order to avoid similar traps and patterns of mistakes. This goes beyond kaizen and six sigma on the factory floor to M3 [i.e. managing multiple mistakes] in the executive suite and at all operational levels of companies." Mittelstaedt identifies a very common pattern. First, problem which goes undetected, a subsequent problem then exacerbates it, disbelief or denial as the situation becomes worse, concealing the nature and extent of the situation as it becomes even worse, then shock in response to a situation out-of-control, and finally a significant (avoidable) loss of life, financial resources, or both. Later, of course, accusations, recreations, assignment of blame, punishments, etc. Neglect or denial of "early warning signs" is a common problem in and of itself.
Mittelstaedt wrote this book to help decision-makers understand how and why business is like an engine, requiring energy to get a flywheel rotating at the correct speed and in the proper direction to produce whatever the desirable results may be. His correctly emphasizes the importance of:
1. Identifying which potential disasters would result in the greatest damage.
2. Identifying where and when they are most likely to occur.
3. Identifying what are generally referred to as "early warning signs."
4. Making certain that everyone involved knows what they are, how to recognize them, and what to do in response to them. It is quite impossible to exaggerate the importance of the word "everyone."
5. Recognizing and generously rewarding vigilance.
While examining a number and variety of operational and strategic mistakes in his book, Mittelstaedt focuses on what specifically is involved in managing multiple mistakes. His observations and suggestions are presented within a framework which seems relevant to any organization, regardless of its size or nature. His objective is to help his reader "learn to recognize the patterns of mistakes that precede most business disasters and take actions to eliminate the threat [i.e. preventive maintenance] or to reduce the incident to something that does not require full-scale crisis management." The M3 concept is based on Mittelstaedt's belief that nearly all serious accidents, whether physical or business, are the result of more than one mistake. Hence the importance of "breaking the chain" of mistakes ASAP or the damage that has already been done and its cost will increase -- and probably accelerate -- exponentially.
Early on in his book, Mittelstaedt cites the "Five Deadly Sins" which Peter Drucker once described in an article published by The Wall Street Journal (October 21, 1993).
1. "Worship of high profit margins and premium pricing"
2. "Mispricing a new product by charging what the market will bear"
3. "Cost-driven pricing"
4. "Slaughtering tomorrow's opportunity on the alter of yesterday"
5. "feeding problems and starving opportunities"
Mittelstaedt views them as examples of longer-term "cultural mistakes" that many companies make with regularity. "Damage does not occur overnight; it occurs slowly and consistently until someone or something breaks the chain and fixes the problem." That "someone" may be the CEO but perhaps Mittelstaedt's more important point is that literally everyone involved in the given enterprise must be well-prepared to recognize seemingly insignificant but potentially quite serious "warning signs" as early in the process as possible, then respond effectively or enlist others to do so. I know from my own experience that a minor cut if untreated immediately can become a major infection. The same is true of organizations.
Mittelstaedt cites and then discusses a number of "mistake chains" which include the Eastern Airlines flight 401 crash, schoolchildren becoming sick after drinking Coke in western Belgium, the financial losses resulting from American Express' Optima card, the crash of Eastern Airlines 90, the failure of Webvan, Intel's flawed chip, Xerox's failure to commercialize PARC's technologies, and various problems resulting from the confluence of Motorola's strategic and execution mistakes.
The details of such disasters reveal both a "classic pattern" (page 26) and a series of 38 "Insights" which Mittelstaedt conveniently summarizes in an appendix (pages 289-298). Throughout the book's narrative, each is presented within a real-world context. I especially appreciate the aforementioned Appendix as well as the provision of various quotations, check-lists, caveats, and reiterations of key points within a reader-friendly format. Ultimately, this book must be judged on the quality of thinking and writing, organization and presentation of material, substance of content, and potential value to its readers. As my rating correctly indicates, I think this book makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of a subject which really has not -- until now -- received the attention it deserves.
Those who share my high regard for Mittelstaedt's exceptionally informative book are urged to check out Robert Sobel's When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them, Robert F. Hartley's Management Mistakes and Successes, Michael Levine's Broken Windows, Broken Business: How the Smallest Remedies Reap the Biggest Rewards, Sydney Finkelstein's Why Smart Executives Fail: And What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes, Forbes Great Success Stories: Twelve Tales of Victory Wrested from Defeat, and Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time ( Forbes Magazine Staff).
Book Description
Hayek gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the "errors of socialism." Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that its repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas that this century has witnessed were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the "fatal conceit" the idea that "man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes."
"The achievement of The Fatal Conceit is that it freshly shows why socialism must be refuted rather than merely dismissed—then refutes it again."—David R. Henderson, Fortune.
"Fascinating. . . . The energy and precision with which Mr. Hayek sweeps away his opposition is impressive."—Edward H. Crane, Wall Street Journal
F. A. Hayek is considered a pioneer in monetary theory, the preeminent proponent of the libertarian philosophy, and the ideological mentor of the Reagan and Thatcher "revolutions."
Customer Reviews:
A Timeless Classic.......2007-05-25
Frederich August Hayek
"If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion."
The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism.......2007-03-26
To those who have some basic understanding of economics and history Hayek provides one of the greatest apologetic summaries of why market economics work and why socialism does not. To those who profess to love the common man and who suffer with the plight of Africa and other parts of the underdeveloped world there is a lesson to those who will hear it. Proceed with socialism and waste time, money, and lives. Proceed with market economics and with all its cruelties it is kinder by far than socialism. Just look at China, and India verses Russia and Africa.
excellent service.......2007-02-20
The book came very quickly and was packaged well. Service excellent. Book was in excellent condition, even better than advertised. I appreciate the professional service.
Insightful but Imperfect.......2005-10-08
A good book by a very intelligent author. Hayek states the "fatal conceipt" is an overestimation of the mind's power. Socialism holds that a central planning authority can create an economy that is more just and distributes resources to their most productive uses better than the free market. This is "conceipt" because in reality no mind or group of minds is powerful enough to accomplish such a task. Hayek states that markets arise from "spontaneous order" and this is the most efficient mechanism for allocating resources. This rejection of socialism is similar to von Mises' rejection based on the lack of a price structure.
Hayek also puts forth the idea of evolutionary ethics, which is somewhat more troubling. The argument is that moral conventions such as private property, rights, etc, are the result of an evolutionary process with only subtle differences from darwinism. The moral practices that will survive in the long-term are those which allow for the greatest productivity, hence private property. Any rational constructivist attempt to establish an ethical code a priori is arrogance, as Hayek just does not believe this is the way morals arise. While this thankfully eliminates socialism, it also rules out John Locke's natural rights theory, which is one cornerstone of Libertarianism.
Because evolution requires a trial of various alternatives in order to be effective, Hayek also approves of social experimentation, such as trying new governments, social systems, etc. He states that "socialism has failed so many times that it can hardly be considered experimentation," thereby implying that socialism could have been tried when it was an original idea. Hayek never clearly defines or gives guidelines for what is an acceptable social experiment and what is not. While I doubt he would have approved of something like the Bolshevik revolution as a legitimate experiment, he doesn't rule it out either. The absence of guidelines for experiments is a major weakness of this book.
All in all, The Fatal Conceipt has good insights about the emergence of cultural morality. However, one of the problems is Hayek's failure to give proper credence to a priori arguments. I'd recommend reading it, but very carefully.
An underrated 20th century thinker.......2005-07-06
Hayek is an amazing thinker, a dense writer and a rewarding read. Though the book is less than 150 pages, Hayek manages to make a fully thought out argument, reasoning that the complexity of the society that we live in is not fully comprehended, predictable or explainable. Hayek believes that our culture has evolved in such a way that the root causes of our interactions benefit us, but the underlying reasons have been lost throughout the generations.
Economics and sociology are virtually the same science as both are built around the interactions of people within a larger system (both stem from a system of thought called praxiology). The difference is that economics is focused on the interchange between people that effects monetary systems. Economics can not be separated from sociology, nor the other way around.
Because of this lack of understanding of our society as a whole, he argues that it is impossible for bureaucrats in their marbelized hallways to plan an economy for an entire nation. After all, he argues, who are these great minds that possibly plan out in detail the needs for a changing society?
Hayek uses the term "Rational Constructivism" to define the attempt to use reason to construct a society. He argues that this is impossible in what he calls "the extended order" - a large market economy where people interact in a non-direct way. For example, we interact with the makers of electronics, but we never meet them or speak to them directly. Our only interaction is by purchasing the products that they produce. The interaction within an extended order is unpredictable or unknowable to us, thereby discrediting the notion a person or group of people who can plan an economy exist.
Amazon.com
Adolf Hitler rose to political prominence by quickly identifying his opponents' weaknesses and turning them to his advantage. As a military leader, however, he rarely exercised the same talent for exploiting weak spots. Instead, he threw the bulk of his armies against his enemies' strongest positions, sacrificing much-needed forces at Stalingrad and Tobruk, among other places.
Had he done otherwise, writes Bevin Alexander, Hitler might well have carried the day. His strategy until mid-1940 had been flawless, Alexander argues: "He isolated and absorbed state after state in Europe, gained the Soviet Union as a willing ally, destroyed France's military power, threw the British off the Continent, and was left with only weak and vulnerable obstacles to an empire covering most of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East." After 1940, however, Hitler committed a legion of failures. Ignoring his field commanders' urging, he refused to commit armored divisions to seize the Suez Canal, which would have secured most of the Mediterranean and given the Third Reich easy access to oil. He diverted resources from the navy, allowing the Allies to gain control of the Atlantic Ocean and maintain nearly unbroken supply lines between the United States and Britain. And he weakened Germany's abilities to wage war by turning his armies' energies to carrying out the Final Solution. These and other miscalculations, Alexander suggests, cost the Reich many hard-won strategic advantages, and eventually any chance of victory.
Second-guessing history is an endeavor fraught with peril, and in any event, many historians have discounted the possibility that the Nazi regime could have emerged from global war undefeated. But Alexander's arguable exercise in counterfactuals soon gives way to a thoughtful, generally uncontroversial survey of the war in Europe, one that is of use to students of military history and tactics. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Most of us rally around the glory of the Allies' victory over the Nazis in World War II. The story is often told of how the good fight was won by an astonishing array of manpower and stunning tactics. However, what is often overlooked is how the intersection between Adolf Hitler's influential personality and his military strategy was critical in causing Germany to lose the war.
With an acute eye for detail and his use of clear prose, acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander goes beyond counterfactual "What if?" history and explores for the first time just how close the Allies were to losing the war. Using beautifully detailed, newly designed maps, How Hitler Could Have Won World War II exquisitely illustrates the important battles and how certain key movements and mistakes by Germany were crucial in determining the war's outcome. Alexander's harrowing study shows how only minor tactical changes in Hitler's military approach could have changed the world we live in today.
How Hitler Could Have Won World War II untangles some of the war's most confounding strategic questions, such as:
Why didn't the Nazis concentrate their enormous military power on the only three beaches upon which the Allies could launch their attack into Europe?
Why did the terrifying German panzers, on the brink of driving the British army into the sea in May 1940, halt their advance and allow the British to regroup and evacuate at Dunkirk?
With the chance to cut off the Soviet lifeline of oil, and therefore any hope of Allied victory from the east, why did Hitler insist on dividing and weakening his army, which ultimately led to the horrible battle of Stalingrad?
Ultimately, Alexander probes deeply into the crucial intersection between Hitler's psyche and military strategy and how his paranoia fatally overwhelmed his acute political shrewdness to answer the most terrifying question: Just how close were the Nazis to victory?
Why did Hitler insist on terror bombing London in the late summer of 1940, when the German air force was on the verge of destroying all of the RAF sector stations, England's last defense?
With the opportunity to drive the British out of Egypt and the Suez Canal and occupy all of the Middle East, therefore opening a Nazi door to the vast oil resources of the region, why did Hitler fail to move in just a few panzer divisions to handle such an easy but crucial maneuver?
On the verge of a last monumental effort and concentration of German power to seize Moscow and end Stalin's grip over the Eastern front, why did the Nazis divert their strength to bring about the far less important surrender of Kiev, thereby destroying any chance of ever conquering the Soviets?
Customer Reviews:
Completely Misleading Title.......2007-09-11
Given the title of this book, I was expecting a bit more analysis as to how Hitler could have won World War II. The author disappointed. This book is no more than a decent short survey of the war. In fact, it often read more like a college-level history paper than a carefully researched body of work. For example, the author describes Montgomery as "...an eccentric man concerned with his own glory...", but then fails to support his point. It's a rare occasion when I feel I've wasted my time reading a book--this was a rare book in that regard. I've read many a detailed account of the Second World War and I wasn't in the market for the broad survey that Mr Alexander's book offered. If you're looking for an analysis of courses of action Hitler might have taken to win the war--as I was--leave this book on the shelf.
very entrateining .......2007-05-12
As usual every book of Bevin Alexander is very nice to read, full of details and explanations.
The theory suggested is for sure a very intresting one, form the Political and miltary point of view he surely has a point. Economically the story is a little complicated, the containment of Russia for sure was a better alternative to a frontal confrontation, on top of that Russia was still delivering the supply needed to Germany untill the day of the attack, but actually the debate is: could Germany become an economically independent empire without conquering the fields of Ucraina and the oil filed of the Caucasus?
For sure the alternative to conquer Iran an Iraq for the oil part is correct, but still more than a military perspective, which is in my opinion very substainable, a further economic analysis could be very interesting.
Misleading...........2007-02-27
Although a good book & very well written,the title is misleading.Very little is written about HOW Hitler could have won WW2. Most of the book is a narrative skimming over the major events of the war.Very little is written about 'How Hitler Could Have Won WW2! For the novice WW2 reader it has it's merits but to a WW2 junkie there is very little to be learned.
Hitler's costly errors........2006-12-19
I think highly of this book. The author shows how the Germans almost won World War Two. Many people believe that the outcome was predetermined. However Hitler came close to winning the war. This book shows the many errors of Hitler and how it cost him the war. Just a few different choices could have resulted in a much different world than we live in today. If Hitler had sent two-three extra divisions to Africa when Rommel needed them, the Germans could have dominated the Middle East. If Hitler had let his army commanders decide on pull backs during times, he could have lost less troops and retained his strength. Hitler made many mistakes and it cost him his empire.
This is a nice little book about strategy. Some of the chapters are a rehash of the same battles, but the analysis of the mistakes shows some serious study here. I learned something from this book.
A Concise and entertaining overview of the war in Europe and Africa .......2006-02-10
Alexander does an outstanding job of organizing the historical information into a concise, high level overview of the German efforts during WWII that flows better that any other history of this type that I've read. I would definitely recommend it as a quick read that will spark your interest in reading more in-depth texts on specific battles and individuals from the war.
Customer Reviews:
could've been a LOT better.......2007-08-19
no character development and written in a very dry way that dehumanized the story for me. Would've liked more insight into Sharee. Jerry just came off looking like a greedy loser. I bought this book because I caught half of the Lifetime movie starring Eric Roberts recently and was puzzled by some of the plot points. thought it would be better explained in the book, but the truth was even more convoluted. Like another review said, it was basically transcripts with no emotion.
I enjoyed this book.......2007-07-24
I did enjoy the book. I wanted to see what these people looked like as I had seen the movie. It was somewhat different from the movie of course. How sad and tragic this story is.
Fatal Error/Fatal Desire.......2006-04-15
This book in now a movie on Lifetime TV called: Fatal Desire starring Anne Heche & Eric Roberts, if any of you read the book check out the movie it is one of Lifetime's best movies! It's steamy & sexy! The acting is suberb!
True stories are the best stories.......2006-04-02
Fatal Error is a good book to read. I think internet stories should be told and this book was made into a movie for TV. Another book titled "Instant Message" (IM) is based on a true story by Barbara Jones and is about a black man and a white woman from alabama who had a relationship from the internet. So over all these internet stories are worth the time.
The True Sharee Miller.......2005-03-24
Sharee Miller is theperson you read aboutin this bok. You think how could one person be this messed up and do this to actual people. I think that to myself everyday she is my ex stepmother. Sharee is the way she seems in the book but the funny thing is she feals no mercy no hurt no guilt for any actions she makes. She has about 20 different lifestyles depending on what she is gonna scam out of you and trust me she dont belong in prision she belongs in a straight jacket.
Average customer rating:
- No surprises - but an engaging story
- Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!
- Wow!
- Romantic Suspense at its best
- Wonderful contemporary debut
|
Fatal Error
Colleen Thompson
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Romantic Suspense | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Romantic Suspense | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Fade the Heat
-
The Deadliest Denial
-
Heat Lightning
-
Count to Ten
-
Dead Silence (Stillwater Trilogy)
ASIN: 0843954213 |
Book Description
West Texas gossip paints every story a more interesting shade, especially when a married man goes missing with a small-town banker's wife and a stolen fortune. Susan Maddox is tired of feeling like an abandoned woman, and even angrier when neighbors insist she's the one getting away with murder. Maybe her handsome-as-sin, bad-boy brother-in-law isn't the smartest choice of an ally, especially since she's never been able to forget a star-studded night in his convertible back in high school. But who else can she trust to recover damning information from her husband's crashed hard drive? Who else can pick up the pieces when intruders set fire to her home, a truck runs her off the road, and a trail of dead men stops her cold? Who else will help her uncover a fatal error?
Customer Reviews:
No surprises - but an engaging story.......2006-09-07
After suffering a miscarriage, Susan Maddox finds herself hated by residents of her small west Texas town when her golden-boy husband disappears without a trace with the banker's wife and a cache of ill-gotten gains. Many suspect that Susan has murdered the duplicitous duo. Now without a child, a husband, unable to make her mortgage, and her job as a high school teacher in jeopardy, she discovers a hard drive that her husband left behind. With trepidation, she enlists the help of his ne'er-do-well brother Luke (who also happens to be her former high school beau) to pull the data from the disk in hopes that it will clear her of any wrongdoing. She doesn't count on old feelings resurfacing for them both.
Thompson's story is a fast-paced thriller with few surprises, but a charismatic couple and interesting subplots (infidelity, identity theft, obsession) make up for a compelling story (thankfully with no paranormal devices!)
Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!.......2005-08-17
How impressed I was with this author's voice....intelligently written with the perfect blend of romance, suspense, mystery, thrills, and lots of twists to keep me on the edge of my seat! This book didn't give any clues away to allow us readers to determine the true villain(s)....quite a feat, in my humble opinion....
A small west Texan town setting....a worried, yet determined, heroine, Susan Maddox, who is fighting for her teaching job which was going to be terminated.....who was trying desperately to clear her name from being a suspect in her husband Brian's disappearance eight months before, when he ran off with the banker's wife...and his family's car dealership funds...
An ex-brother-in-law, Luke, a tech whiz, and the fellow who, back in highschool, took her virginity one night in the back of his caddy...A high-faluting, bitter ex-mother-in-law who is helping the fingers to be pointed in Susan's direction....an ailing mother who needs assurance and understanding...the local banker,husband of the woman who ran away with Brian, left to be the caretaker of their young son....the local old-fashioned sheriff....these are just a few of the complex characters whose lives are intertwined.....
A crashed hard drive from Brian's puter might just exonerate Susan.....IF Luke could break into it and obtain any information on it...
House intruders.....hang-up phone calls..... a sinister watcher...Susan has these, and more, to contend with.....while fighting her inner desires towards Luke!
Watching how this mystery enfolded, made me tune out all other distractions around me.....I couldn't put the book down until it was finished..many twists and turns had me thinking first "this person is involved" then later on thinking it was someone else.......This author is a truly talented lady, and one whose books I will now glom......I'm clammering for more already!
Wow!.......2004-12-12
Fatal error has it all, and then some!
Susan Maddox's husband has disappeared with another woman and a whole lot of money. She's losing her house, about to lose her job...but she'd have sworn she wasn't losing her mind until she found herself taking up with her husband's brother, Luke Maddox. Once upon a time, she and Luke had been a thing, but that was long ago. Now, she only wanted his computer expertise...at least that's what she tells herself. Unfortunately, her heart's not listening.
Colleen Thompson's Fatal Error is a page-turning story full of twists and turns...and a whole lot of love.
Romantic Suspense at its best.......2004-11-16
Susan Maddox is madder than hell. A normal reaction considering her husband of six years, Brian, has run off with the local banker's wife, a fortune in false loans, and stolen enough from the family business to ruin it. On top of that, the gossip surrounding the sordid mess in her small West Texas hometown has her high school teaching job on the line. Eight months after her soon-to-be ex's betrayal, the job's the only thing keeping her and her ailing mother from destitution. The career loss would also mean the end of the ecology club she's organized, her pet project, which has proved to make a difference in the lives of several hard line kids. The mortgage on her home is already being called. How much more does she have to lose?
Even knowing it's foolish, the only person she can look to for help is her brother-in-law, Luke Maddox.
Luke is madder than hell, too. He's lived in the shadow of his football hero brother for a lifetime, never quite measuring up in his socially prideful mother's eyes. After years of playing second fiddle in the family, while his brother side-stepped responsibility for his actions with good `ole boy charm, Luke has to come home to clean up Brian's biggest mess. Even now, with the avalanche of proof, his mother will not accept that Brian has screwed up big time.
Neither Luke nor Susan will admit to the feelings each has buried from that one fateful night, back in high school, when passion reigned and a bond was forged that connects them as much more than in-laws.
Although Luke thinks Susan's been put in an unfair situation, he's got his hands full closing down the family car dealership his deceased father worked all his life to build. But when danger threatens, Luke can't let Susan face it alone.
While the Texas desert, hot and barren as hell by day and colder than sin at night, teems with hidden life, it, too, can bury a multitude of secrets. Can Susan and Luke find the answers they need to solve the mystery surrounding Brian's disappearance and free their frozen hearts?
With plot twists aplenty, FATAL ERROR is an unrivaled whodunit. And the greatest threat to our heroine? You'll need to read the book to figure it out. An interesting little plot twist keeps the reader turning pages until the satisfying end of this novel.
Choose your villain and hang on for the ride. It's a great one.
Wonderful contemporary debut.......2004-11-11
Colleen Thompson is one of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading. FATAL ERROR is fast-paced, intelligently plotted, filled with characters you can love and hate, loaded with suspense and romantic tension, rich in imagery and detail, and beautifully written. I predict Ms. Thompson will be a star in this genre. And just wait until you read her next romantic suspense, FADE THE HEAT. If anything, it's even better than FATAL ERROR (which was pretty doggone hard to do). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Average customer rating:
|
13 Fatal Errors Managers Make
Manufacturer: Tape Data Media - Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
Management | Business | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0887490565 |
Books:
- Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
- An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind
- Andrew Wyeth: The Helga Pictures
- Arousing Suspicions (Avon Romance)
- At Play in the Fields of the Lord
- Baby Bargains: Secrets To Saving 20% To 50% On Baby Furniture, Equipment, Clothes, Toys, Maternity Wear, And Much, Much More! (Baby Bargains)
- Biggest Brother : The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers
- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
- Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children
- Caribbean Elegance
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking True Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow FDR
- Marching to the Drums: Eyewitness Accounts of War from the Charge of the Light Brigade to the Siege
- Chemistry: Matter and Its Changes
- Grimey: The Sequel to Blinded...
- History: Fiction or Science
- Landscaping Principles and Practices
- Kovels' Dictionary of Marks -- Pottery And Porcelain: 1650 to 1850
- Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images As Historical Evidence
- Don't Just Applaud-Send Money!: The Most Successful Strategies for Funding and Marketing the Arts
- Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants: Supplement 4
The First-time Manager
Art of Managing People
101 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make and How to Avoid Them
Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do and What To Do About It
Just Promoted!: How to Survive and Thrive in Your First 12 Months as a Manager
