An understanding of the nature and forms of organisation, particularly with reference to industrial societies, is a key area in sociological analysis. This book discusses and explains what concepts to employ and what analytical procedures to adopt as well as conveying a sense of the theoretical and empirical diversity involved in the study of organisations.Among the questions explored are:why do we classify organisations in particular ways and for what purpo...

In first century Galilee, a humble carpenter is given some rather unusual news: he is the Son of God! Leaving his home, family, and carpentry business, Jesus of Nazareth travels to Peraea to learn the ways of the Dunker from his barmy hermit cousin John, who has a penchant for plunging people into water. Returning to Galilee, he calls together a posse of twelve random dudes and begins his father’s mission to preach the Kingdom of God (whatever that means). Along the way, he heals the sick,...

Four hundred years after their entry into Egypt, God’s chosen people have managed to get themselves all enslaved. How can the omnipotent creator of the Universe free his people from bondage and deliver them to the promised land? By sending a random shepherd with a speech impediment to repeatedly threaten Pharaoh, that’s how. In this satirical retelling of the biblical books of Exodus to Deuteronomy, the long-suffering Moses leads a tribe of grumbling Israelites through the desert whilst tr...

Picking up where Moses popped off, The MisreadBible: Joshua continues the blasphemously brilliant retelling of the Bible with a fresh take on the blood-soaked conquest of Canaan.With the Israelites finally poised to enter the Promised Land, the unenviable task of leading them now falls to Joshua. Alongside his overzealous sidekick Caleb, a host of battle-unready Israelites, and an increasingly erratic deity, Joshua must conquer cities, divvy up land, and somehow manage to ...

The divide between the West and Southeast Asia seems to be nowhere more apparent than in debates about human rights. Within these diverse geographical, political and cultural climates, human rights seem to have become relative, and the quest for absolutes seems unattainable. In this new book Philip J Eldridge seeks to question this stalemate. He argues that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' inclusion in United Nations' human rights treaties could be the common ground that bridges...

Stars are the fundamental observable constituents of the Universe. They are the first objects we see in the night sky, they dominate the light produced in our own and other galaxies, and nucleosynthesis in stars produces all the elements heavier than helium. A knowledge of stars and their evolution is vital to understand other astrophysical objects from accreting black holes and galaxies to the Universe itself.The structure of a star can be described mathematically by differential equation...

Self-Sacrifice to Save the Planet. The year is 2065. Following a freak encounter with a mysterious woman, Brian, a bored and frustrated dentist in the midst of a personal crisis, finds himself in the position to expose a conspiracy to control world population. Fifty-five years earlier, the manipulators — a mysterious group with aims to influence the course of the world — set in motion an irreversible chain of events by creating genetically engineered prophets with God-like powers who heale...

The Nativity During the reign of King Herod of Judaea, an unwed teenage virgin called Mary is impregnated with a magical baby by the Holy Spirit. She and her fiancé Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a preposterous census, and Mary has to give birth in a stable. Meanwhile, a group of stargazing magi, who have traipsed hundreds of miles after a star, inadvertently inform the king of Judaea of the Messiah’s birth. Herod’s Christmas Carol King Herod, the infamous baby massacring tyrant of the nat...

Picking up where Moses popped off, The MisreadBible: Joshua continues the blasphemously brilliant retelling of the Bible with a fresh take on the blood-soaked conquest of Canaan. With the Israelites finally poised to enter the Promised Land, the unenviable task of leading them now falls to Joshua. Alongside his overzealous sidekick Caleb, a host of battle-unready Israelites, and an increasingly erratic deity, Joshua must conquer cities, divvy up land, and somehow manage to sleep at night. ...

A collection of twisted Bible tales from the warped mind of J. R. Eldridge. Drawing from his fascination with religion and mythology, Eldridge takes the reader on a journey from the creation of the universe to the arrival of the Israelites in Egypt in this blasphemously funny collection.A lonely deity creates the universe in his mother's basement and makes a little clay man who falls in love with his own rib. After the humans engage in some freaky angel sex, God decides to flood th...

In first century Galilee, a humble carpenter is given some rather unusual news: he is the Son of God! Leaving his home, family, and carpentry business, Jesus of Nazareth travels to Peraea to learn the ways of the Dunker from his barmy hermit cousin John, who has a penchant for plunging people into water.Returning to Galilee, he calls together a posse of twelve random dudes and begins his father's mission to preach the Kingdom of God (whatever that means). Along the way, he heals th...

THE NATIVITYDuring the reign of King Herod of Judaea, an unwed teenage virgin called Mary is impregnated with a magical baby by the Holy Spirit. This doesn't sit well with her fiancé Joseph so naturally he dumps her. When the couple reconcile, they have to travel to Bethlehem for a preposterous census, and Mary ends up giving birth in a stable. Meanwhile, a group of stargazing magi, who come traipsing hundreds of miles after a star, inadvertently inform the king of Judaea of the Mes...