An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An excellent introduction to Brazilian history. However..., 22 Oct 1999
As someone looking for a concise overview of Brazilian history I found Thomas.E. Skidmore's book an excellent introduction. The prose is clear and analytical; and there are numerous graphs and diagrams that brilliantly illustrate some of the more difficult-to-digest statistics. Published in 1999 it is also (at the time of writing) the most up to date book on Brazilian history currently available: ending with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unprecedented election to a second term in office.

However, all praise aside I must also make a few reservations. Anyone looking for a narrative history of Brazil will be disappointed: this book is for undergraduates and therefore reads like an academic textbook. It is also rather disproportionately balanced towards the modern. Only 89 pages are dedicated to Brazil's first 400 years of history; whilst almost 150 pages are given over to this century. Brazil's recent past has hinged almost exclusively on its economy and there is considerable economic analysis throughout the book. Those not familiar with the technicalities of economics (myself included) should be warned: it can be quite hard going!

Reservations aside though, there is still plenty to praise in this book and it is certainly a worthy starting point for anyone interested in Brazil.

Excellent Look At Brazilian History, 31 Mar 1999
Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An excellent introduction to Brazilian history. However..., 22 Oct 1999
As someone looking for a concise overview of Brazilian history I found Thomas.E. Skidmore's book an excellent introduction. The prose is clear and analytical; and there are numerous graphs and diagrams that brilliantly illustrate some of the more difficult-to-digest statistics. Published in 1999 it is also (at the time of writing) the most up to date book on Brazilian history currently available: ending with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unprecedented election to a second term in office.

However, all praise aside I must also make a few reservations. Anyone looking for a narrative history of Brazil will be disappointed: this book is for undergraduates and therefore reads like an academic textbook. It is also rather disproportionately balanced towards the modern. Only 89 pages are dedicated to Brazil's first 400 years of history; whilst almost 150 pages are given over to this century. Brazil's recent past has hinged almost exclusively on its economy and there is considerable economic analysis throughout the book. Those not familiar with the technicalities of economics (myself included) should be warned: it can be quite hard going!

Reservations aside though, there is still plenty to praise in this book and it is certainly a worthy starting point for anyone interested in Brazil.

Excellent Look At Brazilian History, 31 Mar 1999
Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."

compelling reading, 30 Apr 2006
A hilarious, gripping account of 1930s Englishness facing the wilderness of the Pantanal. A great adventure from cover to cover, which also details the beauty of the wildlife they encountered and compels the reader to visit, in the hope that some of it is still there today. The book is also fascinating from an historical point of view, showing awful colonial attitudes towards the indigineous people of Mato Grosso and the tendancy to shoot everything that moves whether for food or fun. Flemings unceasing competitive nature and determination to succeed in every mission are a great inspiration to all travellers. Extremely entertaining.

An amazing adventure, 22 Sep 2004
I initially bought this book from a second hand bookstore because I was firstly intrigued by the title and secondly amused by the very English picture (trousers belted almost under his armpits, pipe in mouth and a jaunty smile) of the author Peter Fleming on the inside of the front cover.
When I finally got round to reading this book I was amazed at how quickly I became absorbed in his witty and descriptive narrative. Far from being a read with a sense of duty this became I book that I read for the sheer pleasure of absorbing every moment of this mans fascinating journey through Brazil.
The real wonder of this story is not what they did or didn't discover in their quest to find the missing Colonel Fawcett but more what they discovered of themselves and the unique insight that Fleming gives us in recording a trip into the wilderness for which they were at best ill prepared for. Fleming's descritions of the people and places they encounter in their journey gives the feeling of the journey unfolding before you, which in turn transports us to beautiful places that many of us will never be lucky enough to see. The sights, sounds and smells that he encounters are long gone now and were it not for his evocative writting they would be truly lost.
Overall I would say that I love this book because of the vivid descriptions, the beautiful vocabulary, Fleming's wry observations and overall the sheer delight with which it is written. If this book doesn't inspire you to explore the world (even just a tiny part of it) then nothing will.

Amazing Adventures in Brazil!, 10 Feb 2001
I read Peter Fleming's, excellent "News from Tartary" and wanted some more. These tales are from a lost time, when parts of the world were still untouched by all of us. Made me laugh out loud so many times. But what did happen to Colonel Fawcett?? Does anyone know?

A wonderful book!, 31 Oct 2000
A cracking adventure, written in a beautifully tongue-in-cheek style. Think the bastard offspring of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams (if that were physically possible. Or desirable) venturing into the depths of unchartered Brazil on little more than a whim.

A fascinating travel story rich in both language and culture, 28 Sep 1999
I first read this book around 10 years ago, prior to a lengthy stay in Brazil. Aside from the pure interest of an adventurer's tale set in an era when the world was a much bigger place, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleming's dry wit and perceptive analysis of the Brazilian psyche. The gung-ho English are also well observed, as is the expedition's descent into near chaos. It is a wonder they got out of there alive!

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An excellent introduction to Brazilian history. However..., 22 Oct 1999
As someone looking for a concise overview of Brazilian history I found Thomas.E. Skidmore's book an excellent introduction. The prose is clear and analytical; and there are numerous graphs and diagrams that brilliantly illustrate some of the more difficult-to-digest statistics. Published in 1999 it is also (at the time of writing) the most up to date book on Brazilian history currently available: ending with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unprecedented election to a second term in office.

However, all praise aside I must also make a few reservations. Anyone looking for a narrative history of Brazil will be disappointed: this book is for undergraduates and therefore reads like an academic textbook. It is also rather disproportionately balanced towards the modern. Only 89 pages are dedicated to Brazil's first 400 years of history; whilst almost 150 pages are given over to this century. Brazil's recent past has hinged almost exclusively on its economy and there is considerable economic analysis throughout the book. Those not familiar with the technicalities of economics (myself included) should be warned: it can be quite hard going!

Reservations aside though, there is still plenty to praise in this book and it is certainly a worthy starting point for anyone interested in Brazil.

Excellent Look At Brazilian History, 31 Mar 1999
Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."

compelling reading, 30 Apr 2006
A hilarious, gripping account of 1930s Englishness facing the wilderness of the Pantanal. A great adventure from cover to cover, which also details the beauty of the wildlife they encountered and compels the reader to visit, in the hope that some of it is still there today. The book is also fascinating from an historical point of view, showing awful colonial attitudes towards the indigineous people of Mato Grosso and the tendancy to shoot everything that moves whether for food or fun. Flemings unceasing competitive nature and determination to succeed in every mission are a great inspiration to all travellers. Extremely entertaining.

An amazing adventure, 22 Sep 2004
I initially bought this book from a second hand bookstore because I was firstly intrigued by the title and secondly amused by the very English picture (trousers belted almost under his armpits, pipe in mouth and a jaunty smile) of the author Peter Fleming on the inside of the front cover.
When I finally got round to reading this book I was amazed at how quickly I became absorbed in his witty and descriptive narrative. Far from being a read with a sense of duty this became I book that I read for the sheer pleasure of absorbing every moment of this mans fascinating journey through Brazil.
The real wonder of this story is not what they did or didn't discover in their quest to find the missing Colonel Fawcett but more what they discovered of themselves and the unique insight that Fleming gives us in recording a trip into the wilderness for which they were at best ill prepared for. Fleming's descritions of the people and places they encounter in their journey gives the feeling of the journey unfolding before you, which in turn transports us to beautiful places that many of us will never be lucky enough to see. The sights, sounds and smells that he encounters are long gone now and were it not for his evocative writting they would be truly lost.
Overall I would say that I love this book because of the vivid descriptions, the beautiful vocabulary, Fleming's wry observations and overall the sheer delight with which it is written. If this book doesn't inspire you to explore the world (even just a tiny part of it) then nothing will.

Amazing Adventures in Brazil!, 10 Feb 2001
I read Peter Fleming's, excellent "News from Tartary" and wanted some more. These tales are from a lost time, when parts of the world were still untouched by all of us. Made me laugh out loud so many times. But what did happen to Colonel Fawcett?? Does anyone know?

A wonderful book!, 31 Oct 2000
A cracking adventure, written in a beautifully tongue-in-cheek style. Think the bastard offspring of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams (if that were physically possible. Or desirable) venturing into the depths of unchartered Brazil on little more than a whim.

A fascinating travel story rich in both language and culture, 28 Sep 1999
I first read this book around 10 years ago, prior to a lengthy stay in Brazil. Aside from the pure interest of an adventurer's tale set in an era when the world was a much bigger place, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleming's dry wit and perceptive analysis of the Brazilian psyche. The gung-ho English are also well observed, as is the expedition's descent into near chaos. It is a wonder they got out of there alive!

the mystery of samba customer review, 14 Apr 2004
An excellent book! This book tells everything you need to know about samba and more. The book gives an insight into Brazilian society and into the hierarchical wealth system ingrained in the countries thinking. At the same time it gives you an indepth musical and dance knowledge, and describes Brazils history. I would recommend it to all music and dance lovers

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An excellent introduction to Brazilian history. However..., 22 Oct 1999
As someone looking for a concise overview of Brazilian history I found Thomas.E. Skidmore's book an excellent introduction. The prose is clear and analytical; and there are numerous graphs and diagrams that brilliantly illustrate some of the more difficult-to-digest statistics. Published in 1999 it is also (at the time of writing) the most up to date book on Brazilian history currently available: ending with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unprecedented election to a second term in office.

However, all praise aside I must also make a few reservations. Anyone looking for a narrative history of Brazil will be disappointed: this book is for undergraduates and therefore reads like an academic textbook. It is also rather disproportionately balanced towards the modern. Only 89 pages are dedicated to Brazil's first 400 years of history; whilst almost 150 pages are given over to this century. Brazil's recent past has hinged almost exclusively on its economy and there is considerable economic analysis throughout the book. Those not familiar with the technicalities of economics (myself included) should be warned: it can be quite hard going!

Reservations aside though, there is still plenty to praise in this book and it is certainly a worthy starting point for anyone interested in Brazil.

Excellent Look At Brazilian History, 31 Mar 1999
Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."

compelling reading, 30 Apr 2006
A hilarious, gripping account of 1930s Englishness facing the wilderness of the Pantanal. A great adventure from cover to cover, which also details the beauty of the wildlife they encountered and compels the reader to visit, in the hope that some of it is still there today. The book is also fascinating from an historical point of view, showing awful colonial attitudes towards the indigineous people of Mato Grosso and the tendancy to shoot everything that moves whether for food or fun. Flemings unceasing competitive nature and determination to succeed in every mission are a great inspiration to all travellers. Extremely entertaining.

An amazing adventure, 22 Sep 2004
I initially bought this book from a second hand bookstore because I was firstly intrigued by the title and secondly amused by the very English picture (trousers belted almost under his armpits, pipe in mouth and a jaunty smile) of the author Peter Fleming on the inside of the front cover.
When I finally got round to reading this book I was amazed at how quickly I became absorbed in his witty and descriptive narrative. Far from being a read with a sense of duty this became I book that I read for the sheer pleasure of absorbing every moment of this mans fascinating journey through Brazil.
The real wonder of this story is not what they did or didn't discover in their quest to find the missing Colonel Fawcett but more what they discovered of themselves and the unique insight that Fleming gives us in recording a trip into the wilderness for which they were at best ill prepared for. Fleming's descritions of the people and places they encounter in their journey gives the feeling of the journey unfolding before you, which in turn transports us to beautiful places that many of us will never be lucky enough to see. The sights, sounds and smells that he encounters are long gone now and were it not for his evocative writting they would be truly lost.
Overall I would say that I love this book because of the vivid descriptions, the beautiful vocabulary, Fleming's wry observations and overall the sheer delight with which it is written. If this book doesn't inspire you to explore the world (even just a tiny part of it) then nothing will.

Amazing Adventures in Brazil!, 10 Feb 2001
I read Peter Fleming's, excellent "News from Tartary" and wanted some more. These tales are from a lost time, when parts of the world were still untouched by all of us. Made me laugh out loud so many times. But what did happen to Colonel Fawcett?? Does anyone know?

A wonderful book!, 31 Oct 2000
A cracking adventure, written in a beautifully tongue-in-cheek style. Think the bastard offspring of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams (if that were physically possible. Or desirable) venturing into the depths of unchartered Brazil on little more than a whim.

A fascinating travel story rich in both language and culture, 28 Sep 1999
I first read this book around 10 years ago, prior to a lengthy stay in Brazil. Aside from the pure interest of an adventurer's tale set in an era when the world was a much bigger place, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleming's dry wit and perceptive analysis of the Brazilian psyche. The gung-ho English are also well observed, as is the expedition's descent into near chaos. It is a wonder they got out of there alive!

the mystery of samba customer review, 14 Apr 2004
An excellent book! This book tells everything you need to know about samba and more. The book gives an insight into Brazilian society and into the hierarchical wealth system ingrained in the countries thinking. At the same time it gives you an indepth musical and dance knowledge, and describes Brazils history. I would recommend it to all music and dance lovers

UNDERSTANDING NIEMEYER FROM A SURREALIST POINT OF VIEW, 06 Sep 1999
NIEMEYER HAS BEEN HIGHLY CRITICIZED FOR POOR FUNCTIONALIST CONSIDERATION IN HIS BLDGS, SUCH AS HUMAN USE. MANY OF THIS ACCUSATIONS MAY BE TRUE. BUT THIS BOOK OFFERS AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARCHITECT'S WORK FROM A SURREALIST POINT OF VIEW, THAT HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHERE HE COMES FROM AND WHY THE FREE-FORMS ARE ALMOST AN OBSTINATE CONSTANT IN HIS WORK TO THIS DAY. IT'S INTERSTING TO READ UNDERWOOD'S THESIS, AS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF SEEING AND STUDYING THE WORK OF THIS MASTER OF BRAZILIAN ARCHITECTURE.

An unorthodox approach to running a business, 15 Aug 2008
Ricardo Semler calls himself a maverick, but he's actually a visionary. Semler, now 49, was way ahead of the curve 25 years ago when he radically altered the structure and philosophy of his father's company, Semco. Long before most businesses acknowledged that employees were thinking, feeling human beings and not timecard-punching robots, Semler rebuilt the infrastructure at Semco, eliminating layers of bureaucracy and allowing employees to decide their own fates. They determined their own schedules, pay scales and dress codes. Semler drastically reduced paperwork; he restricted memos, for example, to a single page. He believed that empowered employees, freed of their corporate shackles, would be motivated, creative and productive. You may find some aspects of that approach unrealistic or totally impractical for your organization. You may even think Semler is crazy. At the very least though, getAbstract believes executives should give careful consideration to his approach. His innovations are still relevant, even a quarter of a century later.

If you are a manager you MUST read this book, 17 Nov 2004
You've just got to take this seriously. It IS possbile to run a successful, results-oriented establishment AND go a long way to improving your employees' work-life balance and qulaity of life. In fact, as more businesses take on board this philosophy, it will become ESSENTIAL if you want to attract the 'best' employees.

Best management practice now made easy!, 09 Oct 2004
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor and pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command and control" principles that very poorly match how humans are really built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, and the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to really respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).

Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice and a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers and departments confuse traditional and successful hierarchies and should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.

Excellent book and guide, highly practical and an enjoyable read.

A Business Too Good To Be True?, 16 Mar 2004
It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of all it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at and adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written and thought provoking.

Fantastic, 17 Dec 2002
I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at all but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends and colleagues.

Wonderful you must read it.

Another top book from Mr Manco, 24 Nov 2005
This book explores the vibrant graffiti "scene" in Brazil.

As with the other books by Tristan Manco (Stencil Graffiti & Street Logos) it is packed from cover to cover with colour shots of all types of graffiti art - broken down into different types of graffiti as well as having pages dedicated to individual artists.

In addition there's also plenty of historical perspective and comments from artists involved to read too.

Being a fan of graffiti and also of Brazilian culture in general (mainly through it's musical output and football teams from the 70's) this has opened my eyes to their street culture today - a distillation of hundreds of years of absorbing people and modifying their cultures, art & music to make something uniquely Brazilian.

A great book.

Extremely interesting and accessible., 11 Nov 2000
I bought this book as it was on the reading list for one of my modules for my degree course, and was not particulary looking forward to reading it. Once I picked it up, however, I could not put it down. I knew very little about Brazil's history and expected the book to be quite heavy-going. I was wrong - it's accessible to even those who know nothing about the topics covered. It's a well written, informative and fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone, not just students.

An excellent introduction to Brazilian history. However..., 22 Oct 1999
As someone looking for a concise overview of Brazilian history I found Thomas.E. Skidmore's book an excellent introduction. The prose is clear and analytical; and there are numerous graphs and diagrams that brilliantly illustrate some of the more difficult-to-digest statistics. Published in 1999 it is also (at the time of writing) the most up to date book on Brazilian history currently available: ending with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unprecedented election to a second term in office.

However, all praise aside I must also make a few reservations. Anyone looking for a narrative history of Brazil will be disappointed: this book is for undergraduates and therefore reads like an academic textbook. It is also rather disproportionately balanced towards the modern. Only 89 pages are dedicated to Brazil's first 400 years of history; whilst almost 150 pages are given over to this century. Brazil's recent past has hinged almost exclusively on its economy and there is considerable economic analysis throughout the book. Those not familiar with the technicalities of economics (myself included) should be warned: it can be quite hard going!

Reservations aside though, there is still plenty to praise in this book and it is certainly a worthy starting point for anyone interested in Brazil.

Excellent Look At Brazilian History, 31 Mar 1999
Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."

compelling reading, 30 Apr 2006
A hilarious, gripping account of 1930s Englishness facing the wilderness of the Pantanal. A great adventure from cover to cover, which also details the beauty of the wildlife they encountered and compels the reader to visit, in the hope that some of it is still there today. The book is also fascinating from an historical point of view, showing awful colonial attitudes towards the indigineous people of Mato Grosso and the tendancy to shoot everything that moves whether for food or fun. Flemings unceasing competitive nature and determination to succeed in every mission are a great inspiration to all travellers. Extremely entertaining.

An amazing adventure, 22 Sep 2004
I initially bought this book from a second hand bookstore because I was firstly intrigued by the title and secondly amused by the very English picture (trousers belted almost under his armpits, pipe in mouth and a jaunty smile) of the author Peter Fleming on the inside of the front cover.
When I finally got round to reading this book I was amazed at how quickly I became absorbed in his witty and descriptive narrative. Far from being a read with a sense of duty this became I book that I read for the sheer pleasure of absorbing every moment of this mans fascinating journey through Brazil.
The real wonder of this story is not what they did or didn't discover in their quest to find the missing Colonel Fawcett but more what they discovered of themselves and the unique insight that Fleming gives us in recording a trip into the wilderness for which they were at best ill prepared for. Fleming's descritions of the people and places they encounter in their journey gives the feeling of the journey unfolding before you, which in turn transports us to beautiful places that many of us will never be lucky enough to see. The sights, sounds and smells that he encounters are long gone now and were it not for his evocative writting they would be truly lost.
Overall I would say that I love this book because of the vivid descriptions, the beautiful vocabulary, Fleming's wry observations and overall the sheer delight with which it is written. If this book doesn't inspire you to explore the world (even just a tiny part of it) then nothing will.

Amazing Adventures in Brazil!, 10 Feb 2001
I read Peter Fleming's, excellent "News from Tartary" and wanted some more. These tales are from a lost time, when parts of the world were still untouched by all of us. Made me laugh out loud so many times. But what did happen to Colonel Fawcett?? Does anyone know?

A wonderful book!, 31 Oct 2000
A cracking adventure, written in a beautifully tongue-in-cheek style. Think the bastard offspring of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams (if that were physically possible. Or desirable) venturing into the depths of unchartered Brazil on little more than a whim.

A fascinating travel story rich in both language and culture, 28 Sep 1999
I first read this book around 10 years ago, prior to a lengthy stay in Brazil. Aside from the pure interest of an adventurer's tale set in an era when the world was a much bigger place, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleming's dry wit and perceptive analysis of the Brazilian psyche. The gung-ho English are also well observed, as is the expedition's descent into near chaos. It is a wonder they got out of there alive!

the mystery of samba customer review, 14 Apr 2004
An excellent book! This book tells everything you need to know about samba and more. The book gives an insight into Brazilian society and into the hierarchical wealth system ingrained in the countries thinking. At the same time it gives you an indepth musical and dance knowledge, and describes Brazils history. I would recommend it to all music and dance lovers

UNDERSTANDING NIEMEYER FROM A SURREALIST POINT OF VIEW, 06 Sep 1999
NIEMEYER HAS BEEN HIGHLY CRITICIZED FOR POOR FUNCTIONALIST CONSIDERATION IN HIS BLDGS, SUCH AS HUMAN USE. MANY OF THIS ACCUSATIONS MAY BE TRUE. BUT THIS BOOK OFFERS AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARCHITECT'S WORK FROM A SURREALIST POINT OF VIEW, THAT HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHERE HE COMES FROM AND WHY THE FREE-FORMS ARE ALMOST AN OBSTINATE CONSTANT IN HIS WORK TO THIS DAY. IT'S INTERSTING TO READ UNDERWOOD'S THESIS, AS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF SEEING AND STUDYING THE WORK OF THIS MASTER OF BRAZILIAN ARCHITECTURE.

Could not put down, 05 Jul 2007
A fantastic adventure read which greatly improved my knowledge of the Amazon ,its history ,geography flora and fauna. I also learned a lot about old Teddy himself-strongly recommended.