This book is an elegant and agreeable summary of Kotler's marketing management and Porter's competitive strategy. This is half of what I was expecting. However I was also expecting that these broad marketing concepts would be adapted and tailored to the specifics of The Pharmaceutical Industry. Unfortunately and unlike what is suggested by the title, the book has the rhetoric and the feel of a general marketing textbook rather than a Pharmaceutical oriented manual. At a macro level the words "product" or "person-to-person" are far more common than "drug" or "sales representative-to physician". At a micro level the book also favors generalities instead of important Pharmaceutical details. For instance, in the Chapter about Communications (8) the authors extensively discuss the elements of the promotional mix and the relationships with an advertising agency (something important for any industry). However, even in that chapter's section about other considerations, they totally ignore the interaction with regulatory agencies such as the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications. This, as any Product Manager in Pharmaceuticals knows, is crucial for the success of the promotional message. Another similar example can be found in the Chapter about Sales Strategy (7). In here general management consulting matrixes (of the BCG 2X2 type common to any industry) are discussed in detail but the actual industry-specific strategy issues, such as sales force rotation and segmentation of calls to health care professionals, are avoid. Finally I believe that the price of the book ... is meant to be elitist so that is bought only by top management (the potential clients of the authors which are consultants). This is a pity because despite its flaws the books present handy general marketing information in an easy-to-read, friendly format, that emphasizes tables and bullet lists rather than extensive text. It will be useful for non-marketing Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals that interact with Marketing and by Product Managers with no academic business background. For those PM out of business school the book is too basic and contains a relatively small amount of data pertaining to the pharmaceutical industry. Such data can be found elsewhere. For instance the 27 pages of Chapter 2 (marketing Pharmaceuticals) of Schweitzer's book on Pharmaceutical economics and policy contain much more data than this entire Pharmaceutical marketing planning book.

Much of the classic marketing thought (Identifying core capabilities, External/Internal analysis, SWOT analysis, Marget segmentation, BCG analysis, Commuunications techniques, Promotion mix analysis, etc.) as well as presentation and communication techniques are discussed here. The book has a nice addition on the PR side ties with Marketing, important specifically to the DTC side of advertising pharmaceuticals. Specifically deals with market plan development, working with various agencies, and the roles of various managers in the marketing planning process.

The book is not just about analysis and asking the right questions, it also provides great ways of presenting these ideas appropriately.

This is a good reference book, and review for upper management, while providing a stimulus for doing deep analysis and real strategy development instead of the daily grind that dulls your senses over time.

Also, look into Revitalizing the Pharmaceutical Business: Innovatiive Marketing approaches. This book will come out soon.

well John lidstone has done a recommeddable job in the book. The Methodology is to the point and The process is implementable in any type of Therapy/Product.This book serves as a Ready reference for any marketting plann where we need to BE RIGHT for sucess of the Brand.

This badly written book about men who served their country well will disappoint those who care about the language as well as those looking for depth in the reporting of what 28 Americans who happened to be associated with the entertainment industry did when they were in the U.S. Marine Corps.

That is not to say that it is not worth reading, however. It's a quick read, and the reader will recognize the cotton candy style of the motion picture press release. But the surprises will keep you going, as you discover that Ed McMahon was such a good pilot of the Vought Corsair (the airplane that Pappy Boyington flew) that he became an instructor in World War II. When he finally flew in combat, it was in unarmed Cessna 180s flying observation over Korea -- extremely hazardous duty. You will also find out how Lee Marvin "got his ass shot off" in the World War II invasion of Saipan -- literally.

One thing any reader will recognize is the almost universal feeling on the part of the subjects that the "Corps made a man out of me" and the emptiness most of them felt when no longer a part of Corps.

In short, it's worth the money just for fun, but history it ain't. It's a nice little book about a few good men.

STARS IN THE CORPS. is a most entertaining and informative book. Well written and researched, it deals with the military service of a number of movie stars that served in the Corps through America's wars. Among the stars profiled, readers will find the opening chapter particularly interesting, since it relates the life and service of a much-decorated Vietnam Marine, Dale Dye. In case the name is not familiar, he was the military advisor for the movies, PLATOON, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, AND THE THIN RED LINE. He has also acted in a number of movies and television specials. The chapter about Lee Marvin is riveting. In every sense of the word he was a Marine throughout his life. His burial marker at Arlington reads, LEE MARVIN, PFC, U. S. MARINE CORPS. Many of the subjects and stories will surprise readers. What I liked about the entire read was the avoidance of tabloid innuendo. True to the theme set by authors Wise and Rehill in STARS IN BLUE, they focus on the service contributions of these men, which are often unknown to the American public.

Thank you for making my father John R. Post so happy to have someone care about something that consumed a great deal of his young life. He was so thrilled to receive your book and share it with me and all his military friends. It was a time to be remembered - for the friendship - not the death. And he may be different but he remembers every name of every person he spent time with during WWII and the Korean Conflict. Thank you for acknowledging his memory and caring about his fellow man. Thank you.

The current issues of the British "House of Lords" and the need for a "United States of Europe" led me to research the founding of the United Stes of America. This is a subject not much taught in British schools where we tend to to be complacent about our "unwritten Constitution". I found this book to be an excellent overview for a first time student. It raises fascinating revealations on the such issues as the States entered the constitution , inter ailia, to increase their sovereignty (actually their survival) which is the opposite to the view currently expressed in Britain. The book did not satisfy me for its lack of detail on the Founding Fathers deliberations but it has led me to further research. I suspect that this was the authors intent.

"Creating the Constitution, 1787" is the most atypical volume in The Drama of American History co-authored by Christopher & James Lincoln Collier. Most of the volumes look at decades (e.g., Andrew Jackson's America, 1824-1850") if not a century or more (e.g., "The French and Indian War, 1660-1763") of American history. But this 6th volume focuses on the year in which the U.S. Constitution was written and ratified. Of course, "Creating the Constitution" does look at more than just the year 1787, starting with the Articles of Confederation, which passed Congress in 1777 and were ratified by the states in 1781, when the Revolution was almost over.

The Colliers cover the creation of the Constitution in six chapters: (1) The Articles of Confederation looks at the covenant that governed the new nation in between the Continental Congresses of 1774 to 1781 and the ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Specifically, the chapter establishes the flaws in the system that required something new; (2) Danger Everywhere explores the problems facing the United States at this time in terms of foreign powers, Indians, Barbary pirates, and national debt, as well as questions over state borders and the insurrection of the Shays' Rebellion; (3) The Great Men Gather talks about the collection of "demi-gods" who came to Philadelphia to create the Constitution; (4) Compromises focuses primarily on the conflicting interest of the larger and smaller states, with resulted in the compromise of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the issues dividing North and South; (5) Principles looks at the guiding ideas of the Constitution: natural rights, the social contract, Federalism, Nationalism, and Separation of Powers. This is the most important chapter in the book since it gets at the heart and spirit of the Constitution rather than the letter of it that you get from reading the Articles; and (6) Ratification and the Bill of Rights covers the history of the ratification, including the hard fights in Virginia and New York, and the universal recognition of the fact a bill of rights had to be added.

The book concludes with an Epilogue that talks about the significance of the Constitution that remains remarkable intact. Ultimately, it is as much the analysis of the Constitution as the history of its creation that matters in this volume. The chapter on Principles epitomizes the goal of this series to strip history down to a "central core." Certainly this volume provides a more detailed look at the process and its results than you will get from a standard American history textbook. The book is illustrated with historic paintings and political cartoons, as well as more contemporary photographs representing Constitutional issues in modern times. "The Drama of American History" series is a wonderful approach to the study of the nation's story, although I would think the cost of providing classroom sets would be prohibited to the vast majority of educational institutions. However, teachers of American history can certainly use this model to organize and supplement their classes.

I'm not a fan of the Tudors, and I've always taken strong exception to writers who whitewash the Tudors. Not that Iris Collier does this at all. This is, I think, one of the most even handed and well researched mystery novels I've ever come across, (no surprises there of course, after all the authour did read history at Cambridge) -- the authour manages to balance a realistic view of a ruthless and capricious king with the overwhelming praise and approval that he garnered from his subjects at the time of his reign. "Day of Wrath" also accurately captures the vibrancy and pageantry of Henry's court, and juxtaposes this nicely with the prosperous and somewhat idyllic lives of the people in Dean Peverell. The book also captures the perils of the period as well -- the fears that intelligent people had about the course that Henry VIII and his piggy friends were set on (the dissolution of the monasteries and the swift execution of all those who opposed their will); the religious dilemma (was England going to remain a Catholic country, or was Henry about to adopt some strain of Lutherism?); and if all this change would lead to more civil unrest (i.e. another civil war). There was only one problem I had with this book, and that was that the mystery at the core of the novel was not a very intriguing or suspenseful one at all.

Lord Nicholas Peverell, one of King Henry VIII's advisors at court, hurriedly makes for his manor house in Sussex. The King is about to sign into law an act dissolving all the monasteries, and Nicholas is anxious to warn Prior Thomas, prior of the priory that Nicholas's family have been patrons of ever since they founded it almost 500 years ago, of this latest development. Especially since the King's Commissioners are about to land en masse upon the Priory in order to access it's wealth and decide how to stripe it bear for their King. However, Nicholas is soon sidetracked by the mysterious murder of his steward, Matthew. The evidence suggests that Matthew had been killed as a result of an interrupted robbery. Nicholas however is puzzled as to why the robbers chose to strangle Matthew instead of merely bashing him on the head in order to make a quick getaway. And then his comely neighbour, Jane Warrener, discloses that Matthew and his betrothed (Bess Knowles) had overheard a plot against the King. Jane thinks that Matthew was killed by the conspirators in order to prevent him from warning anyone of their scheme. Nicholas is aghast. Could another civil war be in the offing? For although Nicholas does not agree with the King on the issue of the dissolution of the monasteries, neither does he want a civil war. Resolute, Nicholas decides to look into things, and in this he is ably aided by Jane (even though he'd rather that she didn't involve herself in such dangerous matters). Unfortunately, other distractions keep getting in the way of his investigation: the King who seems to constantly require for Nicholas to attend him at court; and Prior Thomas who has decided not to take the King's Commissioners seriously and who seems to have a Nero-fiddling-while-Rome-burnt attitude towards things! Will Nicholas discover who murdered Matthew and why? And will he be able to stop the conspirators before their Day of Wrath unfolds?

While the plot is an interesting one, and one that moves forward at an almost dizzy speed, the plotting left a lot to be desired. There was very little mounting of tensions or clever plot twists to keep you guessing or red herring clues/suspects that would have made "Day of Wrath" a truly exciting and intriguing read. On the other hand, the characters found in this novel were all very well developed, esp those of the conspirators, so that you really understood the motivations of those who plotted against the King. I would describe "Day of Wrath" as a wonderfully engrossing historical novel that has elements of intrigue with a murder mystery attached to it, rather than as a 'straight' historical mystery novel. Described that way the book rates a strong 4 stars; however as mystery novel, it rates somewhere around 3 1/2 stars

Henry VIII sits on the throne of England and has ignored the papal refusal to annul his marriage. He gets a divorce to marry Anne Boleyn and is in the process of setting up a church independent of Rome. His first step is to inventory the monasteries so that he could add anything of value to his treasury before he disbands them and sells the buildings.

One of his advisors, Nicholas Peverell is sick about the regal decision since the one nearest his manor home in Sussex was built by his ancestors and supported by him. The king is planning on visiting Nicholas on his way to Portsmouth but there is a conspiracy to assassinate His Highness. Nicholas doesn't know if the threat comes from, the defeated York supporters or a rebellious churchman but he knows he must keep his king safe if he wants to live.

Iris Collier brings the pageantry and culture of the era when Henry VIII ruled England to vivid life in her meticulously researched historical mystery DAY OF WRATH. The mystery itself is cleverly constructed and there are enough suspects to keep the reader guessing until the author is ready to reveal the killer's identity. The hero is a warm caring man who makes this work a touch above the well written sub-genre novel as the age comes alive as much as the who-will-do-it plot.

Harriet Klausner

It is always interesting to read science-fiction written before Childhood's End and Stranger in a Strange Land, back when anything that wasn't human was necessarily evil and bent on humanity's destruction. Most of today's sci-fi's writers go to great lengths to create and explain alien civilizations; not so in The Legion of Space. The aliens are ugly and they want to kill us. Period.

"A reader" has already accurately summed up the novel. I will add only that The Legion of Space is an interesting read for its gender portrayals. As one would expect from the 1930s, the male characters are all obsessed with how fragile and vulnerable the heroine is; they must do whatever they can to protect her and shelter her and the thought of her in danger or even uncomfortable fills them with chauvinistic horror. Williamson allows the men to carry on this way throughout the book, all the while giving us a woman character who needs no protection whatsoever and saves the day herself. No weeping in hysterics for this heroine; Leia-like she leads the escape from the alien fortress while the men hesitate. She and she alone has the secret to the weapon of ultimate destruction, and she unhesitatingly builds it and deploys it. Not bad for 1936, eh?

Isaac Asimov was fascinated by "The Legion of Space" as a boy, but found it unreadable when he came back to it as an adult. This isn't particularly surprising. "The Legion of Space" is a perfect snapshot of 1930's space opera, or "super science stories" as they were known at the time. Reading it for the first time recently, I can only imagine what mind-blowing effect this breathless tale would have had on an imaginative twelve year old in Depression-era America. No doubt inspired by the sort of adventurous, gadget-oriented science fiction that E.E. Smith began in the late 1920's with "Skylark of Space" and the stories John W. Campbell, Jr. was writing a few short years later, "Legion" takes us into the 30th century with a swashbuckling fight for the solar system. Owing much to "The Three Musketeers," the few remaining members of the Legion travel via hyperspace (remember, this is 1935!!!) to a wandering star populated by the Medusae, who are classic pulp BEMs (Bug Eyed Monsters), complete with gelatinous tentacles. They get to rescue a beautiful girl who is able to build a secret weapon known only as AKKA. Needless to say, the good guys win. The "super science story" became comic-book fodder within a few years when John W. Campbell, Jr. became editor of "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine (later "Analog"). Campbell presented the world with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and a host of other writers who took science fiction in a much more serious direction. Williamson, unlike many others, managed to adapt to the world editor Campbell was building. Others did not, or didn't even try (like E.E. Smith). I was struck by the parallels of "Legion" with the "Star Wars" series of films. The remnant of a kind of knighthood, the villainous relative who in the end redeems himself, and a secret weapon powered by (as we learn in the novel's 1936 sequel, "The Cometeers") "the force" . . . is the similarity a coincidence? Possibly. Imagine it is 1935. You're twelve years old. You pick up a copy of "Astounding," and you discover within its covers a distant future, and a group of fierce Legionairres who are determined to save the world. Enjoy.

I read this fantastic story many years ago and made the mistake of lending it to someone!
Having some connection with the Hughes organization, it gave me an appreciation for the paranoia that permeated it.
Even after all this time, it seems an impossible story and well worth reading again to appreciate the lengths that the CIA would go to during the Cold War.
It is real spy story.

'A Matter of Risk' was the first book that dealt with the salvage operation of a Soviet submarine carried out by the CIA. Written by Roy Varner, a man charged with recruiting the men who would crew the salvage ship, Howard Hughes' Glomar Explorer, Varner's experiance with the operation dealt with it up to its sailing in mid-1974 to recover the sunken submarine. He did not sail on the Explorer, but apparently talked to members of the crew after the salvage operation. The story deals mostly with the design, engineering, and construction of the Explorer and all that led up to the salvage attempt, as well as the people working behind the scenes to put the operation together. A very good read in that respect. While most accounts of the recovey operation say it was a failure, only recovering part of the submarine, other accounts have since come forward since 'Risk' was first published. 'Blind Man's Bluff,' ' The Jennifer Project,' 'Spy Sub' has shed new light on the story as had several documentaries on various stations such as the History Channel. But one question still has to be answered: All accounts I have read say the submarine was to be recovered in one attempt. If so, how do you pull a 300+ foot-long submarine up through a 199 foot-long opening in the bottom of the Explorer (the Moon Pool)? According to Varner, it took 2 1/2 days for the recovery platform to be lowered to the bottom of the ocean, and the same amount of time to bring it up. The Explorer, according to Varner, was over the site for a month. Time enough for several attempts? A good story for the techno-phile. Hope you can find a copy if you are interested.

The interview w/Billy is great, the pix capture the air of the crowd and the essence of their era...but i wasn't satisfied; it captured the Factory kids but not the factory itself. And the info therein was relatively limited.

i feel this book is meant for appreciation and sheer sight-enjoyment, something to be left as an exclamation rather than an explanation.

a surprisingly refreshing view of the warhol sixties. shots of lou reed and the velvet underground very initmate. name was really decades ahead of current popular art photographers with his brilliant surrealistic color and funky format!

Billy Name has released most likely the most important pictures from the famous Andy Warhol Factory. In ALL TOMMOROW'S PARTIES, Billy captures the true depths of the list of characters in the Warholian 1960s. Shot in brilliant color we get to see what the people really looked like and see that they were not all star's but real people with hearts. This book is a must for any Warhol fan, photographer, or someone with an interest in the 60s.

Ballard's 1987 novel "The Day of Creation" is a sinuous odyssey through a surrealized Africa drunk on the potential of Western technology. Ballard's narrative voice is rich and engaging, the fluctuating exterior and interior landscape rendered with delirious conviction. "The Day of Creation" reads like a particularly brutal 20th century fable, deftly pointing the cool lens of technology on our secret fascination with the Dark Continent.

"The Day of Creation" has been compared to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." But Ballard's novel is at once deeper and more topical; by infusing his story with a compelling and unlikely romance, Ballard reveals a sensual versatility lesser writers would gladly kill for. Read as an adventure story or as erotic allegory, "The Day of Creation" is a pleasure.

The imagery in this book is very engrossing, and after reading particular chapters I put the book down and could vividly see the Mallory River flowing before me, Noon swimming in its flowing currents. Even with this imagery, though, I find that the characters were very poorly developed for Ballard, and that though it was written in the first person I did not get into the mindset of Dr. Mallory as I was able to get into the mind of James Ballard in "Crash". A reccomended read, yes, but read a few of his others first.

What I liked best about this novel was the images that Ballard was able to evoke. To be honest, I started reading it and lost interest. I picked it up some years later and was hooked. He truly can create amazing pictures in the mind unlike most writers. It is perplexing to me to see a book like The Firm getting such good reviews and being read by millions when this one is hardly even a footnote, when this book is superior in just about every way. It is not his best. I would say Crystal World, High-Rise and The Drowned World are his best, but this is a very original novel.

After reading Collier's "Longest Day" I really expected a better story from him. His previous novel is very well written and enjoyable. This one, however, is just dull. The bad guys seem to be without a real motive, as if they're being evil just because they like evil, and the leader talks like a cheesy Bond villain. He also gets his Crowley lore all wrong, as if Collier just heard a few quotes from the man (perhaps in USENet posters' sig files?) and decided to use them as bad-guy dialogue without actually finding the quotes in their original context. Fitz is an interesting character, but only seems to irritate the Doctor and Sam, and has no credible reason to tag along with them at the end (that's not really a spoiler, since the book is billed as the introduction of Fitz, the new companion). In all, if it weren't for the introduction of Fitz, I'd recommend skipping this one in the series. But if you need to see each companon in their first appearance, go ahead and get it. It's not nearly as bad as "The Eight Doctors."

The pacing in THE TAINT is so much more even than in THE LONGEST DAY that it is difficult to believe that they were written by the same author. Where Michael Collier's debut novel had plodding sequences that stretched on and on into nothingness, his follow-up consists of many short and snappy scenes, each giving way to the next before they outstay their welcomeness. Unfortunately, while the story may flow better, we find that the plot contained within isn't all that much more interesting.

It should be no surprise to anyone that this story introduces a new companion to the Doctor's traveling crew. Throughout the entire book Fitz Kreiner is a breath of fresh air, not only for a relatively lackluster story, but also for a book series that was in danger of stalling on account of its two fairly unappealing central characters. He seems real and human in a way that the alien Doctor can't be and the no-dimensional Sam isn't.

The storyline is not terribly complicated. There's a spooky, old house inhabited by several mental patients who all believe that they are being possessed by the devil. There's a meddling psychiatrist who wishes to discover the common characteristic that binds them all together. Into this mix lands the Doctor who, of course, manages to get himself entangled in the situation almost immediately and discovers that the patients aren't actually being controlled by Satan (though we never really expected that they would be), but are in fact an off-shoot of an alien engaged in a war against a long-forgotten enemy. The story isn't terribly bad, nor is it overly engaging. In a similarity to ALIEN BODIES, each of the patients have part of their past story told in their own separate flashback chapter. These sections are by far the most interesting portions of the story. We are shown how their disability has affected them throughout their existence. It's very appealing writing and it's miles better than rest of the stuff in between. Unfortunately, very little of this wonderful character development makes its way back from the flashbacks into the main portion of the story. The individuals of the flashbacks are people with fears, insecurities, pains and stories. The patients of the main story are bland, faceless and easy for the reader to confuse.

Although I've spent most of the space here complaining about the books faults, I will be looking forward to Collier's next book. There aren't any major flaws present and it is a definite improvement over his previous work. If his next offering is as improved, then it should certainly be worth reading.

this is a great story for the doctor's new companion Fitz Kriener. it takes place in the 1960's in a weird mental hospital. In the end Fitz joins the Doctor and Sam in their adventures though time and space!!!It has a mix of mind trips,chases etc. It is a classic story !!A must for fans of this series or sci-fi in general!!!