John Kane-Berman is uniquely qualified to look back over the enormous political and social changes that have taken place in his lifetime in this fractious country. In his career as student leader, Rhodes Scholar, newspaperman, independent columnist, speech maker, commentator, and Chief Executive, for thirty years, of the South African Institute of Race Relations, Kane-Berman has been at the coal face of political change in South Africa.

The breadth and depth of ideas and events covered here are striking: the disintegration of apartheid, the chaos of the ‘people’s war’ and its contribution to the broader societal breakdown we see today, the liberal slide-away, the authoritarian ANC with its racial ideology and revolutionary goals, to mention only a few. Kane-Berman’s willingness to confront received wisdom is thoroughly refreshing, and he is forthright about the threats to freedom, democracy, and growth in contemporary South Africa, many of which he identified even before the ANC came to power.

Writing, debate, and reasoned argument have been Kane-Berman’s stock in trade and his clarity of vision and personal insight have created a memoir of rare candour and absorbing interest.

'There's something very important that I need you to remember. When I say Ooh, you say Aah. Let's try it.'

Ooh the donkey has lost his pants. Readers must help him find them!

In this picture book, young readers help to sell the story by responding to simple verbal or visual cues. This hilarious book is perfect for reading aloud and is fun for the whole family.

'There's something I need you to help me with. When I say BOO, you say HOO. Are you ready?' Boo is little ghost who lives in a haunted house - and he is afraid of the dark. In I Say Boo, You Say Hoo, readers must help tell the story with a series of hilarious verbal and visual cues. This is a wonderful book for sharing with a single child or in a group ... and it's a little bit stinky. Be prepared for riotous laughter at story time!

What is black and white? A penguin. What is black and white, and can't fly? Still a penguin. A hilarious, deceptively simple, interactive picture book which plays on a much-loved memory game - brought to life by the award-winning picture book maker John Kane. A master of child-centric humour, John Kane's best-selling series I Say Ooh, You Say Aah won the English Picture Book Awards 4-7 category and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Children's Book of the Year.

John Kane argues that, despite appearances, politicians and governments care deeply about people's moral judgments, for these provide the moral capital they depend on for survival and effective functioning. Some famous leaders--Lincoln, de Gaulle, Mandela--illustrate the workings of moral capital in politics, and a study of the American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton shows how the moral capital of the United States has been eroded, with severe consequences for the nation's morale.

Voters expect their elected representatives to pursue good policy and presume this will be securely founded on the best available knowledge. Yet when representatives emphasize their reliance on expert knowledge, they seem to defer to people whose authority derives, not politically from the sovereign people, but from the presumed objective status of their disciplinary bases. This book examines the tensions between political authority and expert authority in the formation of public policy in liberal democracies. It aims to illustrate and better understand the nature of these tensions rather than to argue specific ways of resolving them. The various chapters explore the complexity of interaction between the two forms of authority in different policy domains in order to identify both common elements and differences. The policy domains covered include: climate geoengineering discourses; environmental health; biotechnology; nuclear power; whaling; economic management; and the use of force. This volume will appeal to researchers and to convenors of post-graduate courses in the fields of policy studies, foreign policy decision-making, political science, environmental studies, democratic system studies, and science policy studies.

Voters expect their elected representatives to pursue good policy and presume this will be securely founded on the best available knowledge. Yet when representatives emphasize their reliance on expert knowledge, they seem to defer to people whose authority derives, not politically from the sovereign people, but from the presumed objective status of their disciplinary bases. This book examines the tensions between political authority and expert authority in the formation of public policy in liberal democracies. It aims to illustrate and better understand the nature of these tensions rather than to argue specific ways of resolving them. The various chapters explore the complexity of interaction between the two forms of authority in different policy domains in order to identify both common elements and differences. The policy domains covered include: climate geoengineering discourses; environmental health; biotechnology; nuclear power; whaling; economic management; and the use of force. This volume will appeal to researchers and to convenors of post-graduate courses in the fields of policy studies, foreign policy decision-making, political science, environmental studies, democratic system studies, and science policy studies.

Known as the "Father of Festival Sound," Bill Hanley (b. 1937) made his indelible mark as a sound engineer at the 1969 WoodStock Music and Arts Fair. Hanley is credited with creating the sound of WoodStock, which literally made the massive festival possible. Stories of his on-the-fly solutions resonate as legend among festivalgoers, music lovers, and sound engineers. Since the 1950s his passion for audio has changed the way Audiences listen to and technicians approach quality live concert sound. John Kane examines Hanley's echoing impact on the entire field of sound engineering, that crucial but often-overlooked carrier wave of contemporary music. Hanley's innovations founded the sound reinforcement industry and launched a new area of technology, rich with clarity and intelligibility. By the early seventies the post-WoodStock festival mass gathering movement collapsed. The music industry shifted, and new sound companies surfaced. After huge financial losses and facing stiff competition, Hanley lost his hold on a business he helped create. By studying both his history during the festivals and his independent business ventures, Kane seeks to present an honest portrayal of Hanley and his acumen and contributions. Since 2011, Kane conducted extensive research, including over one hundred interviews with music legends from the Production and performance side of the industry. These carefully selected respondents witnessed Hanley's expertise at various events and venues like Lyndon B. Johnson's second inauguration, the Newport Folk/Jazz Festivals, the Beatles' final tour of 1966, the Fillmore East, Madison Square Garden, and more. The Last Seat in the House will intrigue and inform anyone who cares about the modern music industry.

In this survey of U.S. history, John Kane looks at the tensions between American virtue and power and how those tensions have influenced foreign policy. Americans have long been suspicious of power as a threat to individual liberty, Kane argues, and yet the growth of national power has been perceived as a natural byproduct of American virtue. This contradiction has posed a persistent crisis that has influenced the trajectory of American diplomacy and foreign relations for more than two hundred years. Kane examines the various challenges, including emerging Nationalism, isolationism, and burgeoning American power, which have at times challenged not only foreign policy but American national identity. The events of September 11, 2001, rekindled Americans' sense of righteousness, the author observes, but the subsequent use of power in Iraq has raised questions about the nation's virtue and, as in earlier days, cast a deep shadow over its purpose and direction.

The Democratic Leader argues that leaders occupy a unique place in democracies. The foundational principle of democracy - popular sovereignty - implies that the people must rule. Yet the people can rule only by granting a trust of authority to individual leaders. This produces a tension that results in a unique type of leadership, specifically, democratic leadership. Democratic leaders, once they have the confidence and authority of the people, are very powerful because they rule through consent and not through fear. Yet in many respects they are the weakest of leaders, because democrats distrust leaders and impose on them a range of far-reaching constraints-legal, moral and political. The democratic leader must perpetually navigate the powerful and contending forces of public cynicism, founded in the suspicion that all leaders are self-interested power-seekers, and of public idealism, founded in a perennial hope that good leaders will act nobly by sacrificing themselves for the people. The Democratic Leader suggests that the inherent difficulty of this form of leadership cannot be resolved, and indeed is necessary for securing the strength and stability of democracy.

Good Democratic Leadership: On Prudence and Judgment in Modern Democracies explores whether, in the current atmosphere of international economic and political tension, and more generally, democracies foster and support effective political judgment and good leadership. In one sense, with their ideals of transparent government and extensive deliberation, democracies might appear to promote such good leadership and sound decision-making. Yet, in another sense, democratic leaders continue to face a number of challenges, including the sometimes cumbersome institutional limits placed on their discretion, the need for balance between national interest, popular sentiment and universal values as well as the problem of disproportionate influence of commercial interests in the management of the economy. In analysing various aspects of democratic leadership, judgement and decision-making from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives, all the contributors to this book address this question of the extent to which democracies support good judgment and thereby the possibility of good leadership in democracies.

Dispersed Democratic Leadership examines both the scope and consequences of the dispersal of the leadership role in democratic societies, a topic that has been relatively neglected by a political science literature dominated by studies of executive power. Individual chapters investigate the many loci of leadership found in modern democracies, some ancient and some newly emergent, some institutionalized and some ad-hoc, some self-consciously political and some avowedly a-political. In assessing the effects of leadership dispersal, the book argues that understanding how policies are shaped in a democracy requires balancing the usual person-centered approach with one that is more contextual, institutional, and relational. The public leadership role of people in business, the media, non-governmental organizations, bureaucracy, law, show-business and many other areas are instructively investigated to enhance our appreciation of the complexity of democratic political systems and to allow us to assess the effects, both good and ill, of democratic leadership dispersal.

An intergalactic adventure with pants from the author of I Say ooh, You Say Aah. In this completely pants adventure story, you, the reader must bravely wear the right pants to help our hero and his alien friend on their journey. What pants do you need to launch a rocket? Space pants! What about to climb a tree? Monkey pants! And what are teh best pants of all? Well, you might have to find that out for yourself. Open the book, wear the pants, get ready for hilarity.

The notion of citizenship is now being taken up internationally as a way to rethink questions of social cohesion and social justice. In Europe the concept of national identity is under close scrutiny, while the pressures of globalizing markets and the power of transnational corporations everywhere raise questions about the true place and meaning of citizenship in civil society. In Australia, a traditional view of citizens belonging to a single nation made up of one people, with a special relationship to one land, has been thrown open to challenge by a range of differing perspectives. Rethinking Australian Citizenship considers the major debates. Some chapters look at contemporary theoretical debates, while others 'reinvent' Australian citizenship from a particular perspective on civil life. The result is a rich and coherent volume that shows the diverse ways in which Australian citizenship can be rethought.

In the summer of 1969, 400,000 people from across the country came together and redefined the music scene forever. Though the legacy and lore of Woodstock lives on in the memory of its attendees, a new generation can experience the real and unedited festival through Richard Bellak's never-before-seen photographs and John Kane's incredible new interviews. Pilgrims of Woodstock offers a vivid and intimate portrait of the overlooked stars of the festival: the everyday people who made Woodstock unforgettable. The photographs and interviews capture attendees' profound personal moments across hundreds of acres of farmland, as they meditated, played music, cooked food at night, and congregated around campfires. For three days, they helped and relied on each other in peace and harmony. For most, it was a life-changing event. Now, as the 50th anniversary of the famed festival approaches, relive their experiences firsthand in Pilgrims of Woodstock.

Dispersed Democratic Leadership examines both the scope and consequences of the dispersal of the leadership role in democratic societies, a topic that has been relatively neglected by a political science literature dominated by studies of executive power. Individual chapters investigate the many loci of leadership found in modern democracies, some ancient and some newly emergent, some institutionalized and some ad-hoc, some self-consciously political and some avowedly a-political. In assessing the effects of leadership dispersal, the book argues that understanding how policies are shaped in a democracy requires balancing the usual person-centered approach with one that is more contextual, institutional, and relational. The public leadership role of people in business, the media, non-governmental organizations, bureaucracy, law, show-business and many other areas are instructively investigated to enhance our appreciation of the complexity of democratic political systems and to allow us to assess the effects, both good and ill, of democratic leadership dispersal.

John Kane argues that, despite appearances, politicians and governments care deeply about people's moral judgments, for these provide the moral capital they depend on for survival and effective functioning. Some famous leaders--Lincoln, de Gaulle, Mandela--illustrate the workings of moral capital in politics, and a study of the American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton shows how the moral capital of the United States has been eroded, with severe consequences for the nation's morale.

In Hollywood, all the stars, the top directors, the studio tycoons and, of course the rock stars have replaced their first wives with the younger, newer, hotter model. Everywhere she looks, glitz-writer Nikki Tyler sees trophy wives. Some of them are even her friends... but that doesn't mean she wants one of them to send her their manuscript and ask for help placing it with her publisher. Still, Hollywood is all about connections and favors--Nikki figures she owes it to her friend Tamara to at least look at the project which turns out to be a story of blackmail and murder among the trophy wives of Beverly Hills. Nikki doesn't see much hope, but when Nikki finds Tamara's murdered body, she suspects someone thought the book's sins were more than its lack of literary merit. Nikki sets out to uncover the truth behind Tamara's death--while tooling around Beverly Hills in her Bentley. Interviews with rock stars in rehab, a divorce lawyer who delivers results for men dumping troublesome wives (so they can marry a younger trophy), a secretive cult-like religion that's attracting Hollywood's top talent and Nikki's developing relationship with the detective assigned to the case (a detective who has an interesting secret past) make her investigation a lot of fun. Author John Kane gives us a fun look at modern Beverly Hills where wealth and beauty survive in a continuing struggle, where Hollywood's top names crave attention while fleeing from too much of it, and where just about anything can be bought at a price. Kane humanizes his sleuth, Nikki, by giving her a son she adores, an ex-husband she still gets along with, and a frustrated ambition as a one-time actor. He scatters his clues carefully--giving the reader what they know to solve the mystery, but providing plenty of challenge as well. SOMEBODY IS KILLING THE TROPHY WIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS is Kane's first mystery. I hope to see more. "A hilarious, dishy, and incisive look at the dark side of having too much California sunshine. This comedy/mystery romp could change your life if you stop laughing for a sec and start heeding its morals. Yes, there are some morals " -- Michael Musto, La Dolce Musto, The Village Voice.