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of his own-in the modern vernacular, his thing. The author's thing is the "T" group. The "T" group, or therapeutic management, is another in a long list of panaceas prescribed (and irritants proscribed) for the maximum utilization of human beings within the industrial environment. In The People Specialists, Herman traces historically and retrospectively the techniques, theories, meanderings, fictions, strivings, and failures incidental to the pursuit of maximum human achievement. His hope is that a new coalition may be formed among the personnel man of the future, the corporation, and the social structure outside the corporation. It is a reasonable hope (and a good one) that the personnel man in his urgent quest for preservation and acceptability will be the catalytic agent for interpreting the corporation to its employees and the corporation to its segment of the social structure, as an active contributor and as critic and taxpayer. Herman discounts too much the personnel man as an economic man, preferring to draw from his points of view in psychology, sociology, and social psychiatry. The personnel manager of today, yesterday, and the day before has been accused, with justice, of the superficial pursuit of each of these disciplines. Realistically, every aspect of society-corporate, civil, and religious-has attempted to reach a transcendent common goal; and public or private motivation toward this larger goal has been both a political and a corporate end in the direction, guidance, and manipulation of people toward corporate or social goals. Herman's unsympathetic, groping non-hero is dealing with the most complicated subsystem in the corporate structure-the human element. The physical scientist or the production manager can reduce his solutions to positive actions and products capable of being measured. Man in his dealings with his fellow man has not been fortunate enough to devise nice, precise measurements, feedback mechanisms, and formulas whereby all mankind can and will react in precisely the same way. Flippant generalizations and stereotypes (which sell books but are not accurate) such as are found in The Organization Man and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit are oversimplifications of man in industrial society. The moment we deal with man as opposed to men in this world of work we change macro concepts into the micro concepts of the individual firm. Here the personnel men, the people specialists, work. They are a strange lot, facing the dichotomous task of pseudo or quasi professionalism on the one hand, and conformity with the mores and objectives of their particular company on the other. The author shares the personnel man's quest for professional achievement (and so do many of the personnel societies) apart from his real task in, and as part of, management. The people specialist's task is to serve as the catalytic agent to the rest of management in attempting to maximize the human potential available. Too often he has lost his way in the specifics of a technique or a methodology and forgotten his dedication to the treatment of humans as humans in the industrial society. Herman is unshakably optimistic that he has found his own Holy Grail of self-understanding through the medium of the "T" group. The "T" formation was, at one time, the answer to all football problems; but it too has been replaced with newer, more imaginative ideas for maximizing man's abilities and genius. Herman's contribution is not negligible. Professionalism and growth can be achieved only through examining shortcomings and failures. His analyses are good and his research sturdy; he has carried the personnel specialist at least to the foothills if not to the summit of human understanding.

Personnel and Industrial Relations : A Managerial Approach, by John B. Miner, Macmillan, New York, 1969, 562 pp.