In the 1950s, science fiction invasion films played a complicated part in supporting and criticizing Cold War ideologies. By reading these invasion narratives as performances of middle-class, white Americans' excitement and anxiety about social and political issues, George shows how they often played out as another round in the battle of the sexes.

In the 1950s, science fiction (SF) invasion films played a complicated part in both supporting and criticizing Cold War ideologies. George examines what these films reveal about the tensions in the United States at the dawn of the atomic, age especially concerning gender roles and expectations. Using a cultural studies approach, she works from the assumption that "invasion" films with their "us" versus "them" nature provide important visual and verbal narratives for American citizens' trying to understand and negotiate the social and political changes that followed the allied victory in World War II. By reading these invasion narratives as performances of middle-class, primarily white Americans' excitement and anxieties about social and political issues, George shows how they often played out as another round in the battle of the sexes. This book examines the way representation in these films tap into anxieties concerning the feminine and alien other.

Recent explorations in the neurosciences have been progressing towards an understanding of the relationship between brain struc ture and brain function. Having passed through an era which may be described as one of a localisationist philosophy, in which discrete brain areas were seen to subserve only discrete functions, the perspective of brain-behaviour relationships has advanced in recent years to an appreciation that a more holistic approach is not only heuristically valid, but is also most likely to lead to future advances. The close relationship between the mind and the brain has been appreciated since the time of Hippocrates when he opined 'men ought to know that from nothing else but thence [from the brain] comes joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency and lamentations ... and by this same organ we become mad and delirious and fears and terrors assail us'. In the nineteenth century, particularly in France and Germany, descrip tions of what are now recognised to be independent neurological diseases emerged following empirical clinical observations. Investi gation led to the identification in many cases of underlying struc tural abnormalities which could be linked to pathological changes.

For over a millennium, the Italian coastal state of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, or La Serenissima, flourished as a center for sea trade and the arts. Here an important final phase of late Baroque mythological and Biblical painting took place. Venice also became an important destination on the Grand Tour, where its aquatic setting and unique network of canals, palaces, and churches inspired a talented group of view painters, especially during the eighteenth century. Today, collections throughout North America hold many works from this prolific period.

"La Serenissima" presents new scholarship on works that have not received due public attention in recent years and brings together approximately 65 works of art from more than 25 collections. Together, they represent important regional developments in religious and topographical painting as well as genre and portraiture. These artworks display the inimitable aspects of Venetian taste and culture in the age of the Grand Tour and through the decline of the Republic. La Serenissima also casts new light on the achievements of Venetian view painters, including master painter Antonio Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto, Luca Carlevarijs, and Francesco Guardi.

Hardy George is curator of the exhibition "La Serenissima: Eighteenth-century Venetian Art from North American Collections" at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Other contributors are George Knox, Alison Palmer, Jon Seydl, Andria Derstine, Edgar Peters Bowron, and John Marciari.

Lobbying has long been part of the political landscape. But in recent years links between big business and government have become stronger and more far-reaching than ever. Global corporations now demand control over decisions affecting labour laws, finance, public health, food and agriculture, safety regulations, taxes and international trade and investment. They even claim the right to private tribunals where they can sue governments for passing laws that could harm their present or future profits. These business elites don't want to govern directly. They operate behind the scenes - directing planning, setting standards and fashioning government to maximise their own profits. Thanks to the UN Global Compact they have extended their influence to the highest levels of multilateral decision-making and now, via the Davos-inspired Global Redesign Initiative, they are setting their sights on managing world-wide public policy. Elected by and accountable to no one, secretive and highly organized, these shadow sovereigns are destroying the very notion of the common good and making a mockery of democracy. It is high time we challenged this assault on our rights and our institutions. In this incisive and clear-sighted book Susan George provides us with the practical knowledge to do just that.

George Bush leaves the White House in January 2009 and the United States goes back to "normal," right? Wrong, argues Susan George in this fascinating, thorough and often chilling account of the decades-long transformation of American society and political culture. Using the four "Ms" - money, media, marketing, management--but above all with a keen sense of mission, the American secular and religious right has made its "long march through the institutions" and changed the way Americans think. As the left went about its business in blissful ignorance, convinced that its policies, programmes and projects spoke for themselves and would always prevail; the right's well-oiled machine of foundations, lobbies, think-tanks, publications, political cadres, lawyers and activist organisations slowly and strategically took over. A broad alliance of neo-liberals, neo-conservatives and the religious right successfully manufactured a new common sense, assaulted Enlightenment values and targeted the top of society where culture is created and legitimised, because they knew that ideas have consequences--and not just in the United States.
Hijacking America is that rarity of a book, a thoroughly researched page-turner. Clearly and gracefully written, it will enthral the general reader while providing plenty of factual nourishment for the student of politics, culture, religion or international relations. And for all those who hope for a different America in the future, the first step is to hold the present one up to the light and understand how it got that way.

Since the adoption of the 1947 Constitution of Japan, the document has become a contested symbol of contrasting visions of Japan. Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism is a volume which examines the history of Japan's constitutional debates, key legal decisions and interpretations, the history and variety of activism, and activists' ties to party politics and to fellow activists overseas.

Britain has been a member of the European Community since the start of 1973, but it is only recently, with the publicity given to the plans for the creation of the single market in 1992, and the role of the community in environmental and social policies, that the mass of the population of Britain have begun to notice the possibilities that membership holds. Mrs Thatcher's government has played down and resisted the increased integration that seems to be taking place in Europe, but it is unlikely that Britain can stand apart from this process much longer. This book explores the history of Britain's membership of the European Community. It looks at the attitude of the various British governments to the evolution of the Community, the part that membership has played in domestic politics, and the effect of membership on life in Britain.

Lobbying has long been part of the political landscape. But in recent years links between big business and government have become stronger and more far-reaching than ever. Global corporations now demand control over decisions affecting labour laws, finance, public health, food and agriculture, safety regulations, taxes and international trade and investment. They even claim the right to private tribunals where they can sue governments for passing laws that could harm their present or future profits. These business elites don't want to govern directly. They operate behind the scenes - directing planning, setting standards and fashioning government to maximise their own profits. Thanks to the UN Global Compact they have extended their influence to the highest levels of multilateral decision-making and now, via the Davos-inspired Global Redesign Initiative, they are setting their sights on managing world-wide public policy. Elected by and accountable to no one, secretive and highly organized, these shadow sovereigns are destroying the very notion of the common good and making a mockery of democracy. It is high time we challenged this assault on our rights and our institutions. In this incisive and clear-sighted book Susan George provides us with the practical knowledge to do just that.

To understand and profit from Total Quality Management, companies must pay particular attention to the first word in the phrase—total. The spectacular rewards enjoyed by top companies like 3M, FedEx, and Ben & Jerry's were earned through a total commitment to achieving superior quality and customer satisfaction across all company functions and processes.

Total Quality Management, Second Edition gives you a completely up-to-date look at how 51 of the world's most successful companies put the total into TQM. Each of these companies, including 13 new additions and 23 Baldrige Award winners, is cited as a benchmark performer in a particular business function. Their examples help you set your sights on specific goals and learn a variety of ways to go about achieving each goal. Each chapter features the best practices of one manufacturing company, one service company, and one small business. Following the examples set by these overachievers, you'll discover how to:

• Lead the transition from traditional management to management by quality
• Identify customer needs and use that knowledge to drive the organization
• Integrate strategic quality and business planning into a single strategic process
• Communicate customer and company requirements throughout your organization
• Recognize and reward employee efforts and promote improved quality
• Establish uniform measurement systems and manage by fact, not fiction
• Borrow shamelessly from industry leaders to encourage breakthrough thinking
• Build strengths and eliminate weaknesses through an annual assessment process.

Fully updated—the book that puts the total into.

Total Quality Management.

In this book, the former chairman of the Baldrige Award panel of judges teams up once again with a leading quality consultant to bring you a Baldrige-based TQM model that covers every aspect of your business. Built from the best practices of 51 companies (including 23 Baldrige Award winners) whose star performances have made them benchmark corporations, this book brings you:

• Best practices and TQM applications from small businesses, huge corporations, and everything in between
• TQM practices from retail stores, service companies, manufacturers, and more
• Hundreds of real-world examples, tested processes, and innovative techniques
• Proven ways to boost profits, inspire workers, and delight customers.

Praise for the First Edition

"Alive . . . vivid, entertaining, successful. . . . Even the most inexperienced can understand and implement TQM using this book."—Charles A. Aubrey Vice President, Juran Institute.

"If you read only one book about quality management, read this one . . . the definitive management handbook of the decade."—Lynn A. Moline Former Executive Director, Minnesota Council for Quality.

"A great book about a better way to run a company."—Bob G. Gower President and CEO, Lyondell Petrochemical Co.

"Packed with strategies that can be implemented in any organization . . . must reading for those interested in proven quality strategies."—Ellen Gaucher Senior Associate Director, University of Michigan Medical Center

"Get it. This book is jammed full of practical case studies from a management and profitability perspective."—C. Jackson Grayson Jr. Chairman, American Productivity and Quality Center.

Supplemented with an updated list of resources and a contact list for all profiled companies, Total Quality Management, Second Edition shows you how to lead your organization straight to the cutting edge of quality and keep it there.

Crisis? Whose crisis? Today we are in the midst of a multifaceted crisis which touches the lives of everyone on the planet. Whether it's growing poverty and inequality or shrinking access to food and water, the collapse of global financial markets or the dire effects of climate change, every aspect of this crisis can be traced to a transnational neoliberal elite that has steadily eroded our rights and stripped us of power.

And yet our world has never been so wealthy, and we have, right now, all the knowledge, tools and skills we need to build a greener, fairer, richer world. Such a breakthrough is not some far-fetched utopia, but an immediate, concrete possibility. Our future is in our hands.

Readers interested in history, and in the development of the modern sensibility, will relish this large-scale yet intimately detailed examination of the blossoming of the ordinary and extraordinary people of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. This third in the popular five-volume series celebrates the emergence of individualism and the manifestations of a burgeoning self-consciousness over three centuries.