Phantom Watch is a Cold War naval thriller grounded in the daily reality of life aboard a U.S. Navy warship. Two young men join the crew of the fictional frigate USS Buidhe (FF-1039). Mike carries the weight of a multi-generational Navy family and the ideals of service. David arrives with a far more dangerous purpose—he has been carefully prepared since childhood as a sleeper agent for the Soviet Union. As the ship deploys into the Mediterranean and the broader contest of the Cold War, the...

Of all Dr. Charles Johnston's writings, Insight most unabashedly highlights what is original and of major significance in his thinking. From the book's back cover: "When we understand them deeply, the ideas of Creative Systems Theory and the concept of Cultural Maturity come to seem like common sense. But this kind of common sense is new—a product of a fundamental leap in how we understand. Many of Creative Systems Theory's core observations are thus appropriately thought of as radical—ind...

For Bill, the end has always been in view. His life has seen a series of unlikely extensions. When he was young, he hated his father and contemplated suicide. Later in his life he was diagnosed with leukemia and expected to die within months. Bill's childhood was spent on a communal evangelical mission, but eventually Bill began to question his parents' strict religious beliefs. His father reacted with violence and Bill felt trapped between the dishonesty of trying to conform to his parent...

Rethinking How We Think addresses the new ways of thinking and acting that legitimate hope for the future necessarily depends on. From the books back cover: "Look closely at any of the most critical questions ahead for the species and we find an easily unsettling shared theme. Not only do usual answers fail us, usual ways of thinking fail us. Essential challenges of every sort are requiring not just fresh insights, but whole new, more mature and systemic, ways of understanding. In this sho...

Hope and the Future is a critically important book by one of our times' most respected and original social thinkers. This second edition includes a new preface and additional examples that more specifically address unsettling events of the last four years. From the book's back cover: "Hope and the Future addresses what legitimate hope for the future necessarily depends on. It describes how we face a growing number of challenges that require that we think, act, and relate in new ways—often ...

Dreams of escape from her privileged but empty life are only fantasies until Kristen finds a Canadian birth certificate under her mother's jewelry box. Kristen has no memories of her early childhood or her biological father. Her stepdad controls her secretive mother, and Kristen cuts on herself. Even her best friend, Natalie, doesn't know she is haunted by thoughts of suicide. The questions raised by the birth certificate are so unsettling that Kristen decides to run away.Corey was...

After an exciting start to summer vacation, our four friends - Molly, Chip, Jordan, and Jeremy - were looking forward to endless days of fun, horseback riding, and relaxation. But, that didn't last long. Problems at home for (brother and sister) Chip and Molly, and a different dilemma for (brothers) Jordan and Jeremy, convince them that they need to make a whole lot of money and quick. But how? After a few failed business ventures, they stumble upon a trail of treasure that is certain to l...

"Cultural Maturity: A Guidebook for the Future" is the most detailed of three new future- related works by the author. It looks deeply at how the most important challenges ahead for the species will require not just better ideas, but new human capacities; in the end, an essential “growing up” as a species—a new Cultural Maturity. It is written for those interested in acquiring the newly sophisticated leadership abilities that we will more and more need in all parts of our lives in times ah...

The Creative Imperative first introduced the ideas of Creative Systems Theory and is still the place to go to find the most detailed presentations of many of the theory's concepts. (Creative Systems Theory is a comprehensive framework for understanding purpose, change, and interrelationship in human systems that makes major contributions both by bringing perspective to the history of ideas and by providing essential insights for understanding the times we live in and what they ask of us.) ...

Should we be optimistic as we look to the future? Hope and the Future examines what legitimate hope for the future necessarily depends on. It describes how we face a growing number of human challenges that require that we think, act, and relate in new ways—often fundamentally new ways. And it looks at how addressing those challenges will require not just fresh ideas, but a critical “growing up” as a species—a new Cultural Maturity. This short book is one of three related new works written ...

Quick and Dirty Answers to the Biggest of Questions addresses how the new kind of understanding we need today, besides helping us confront modern-day challenges, also brings a new creativity of perspective to more ultimate questions. It describes how many such ultimate questions have baffled us not because they are inherently difficult, but becase they require a maturity of understanding of which we are only now becoming capable. This short book uses the thinking of Creative Systems Theory...

"The French Revolution: A Short History" by R. M. Johnston provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of one of the most significant events in world history. The book delves into the causes, key figures, and major events of the revolution, offering insights into the social, political, and economic factors that led to the uprising. Johnston's narrative is engaging, making complex historical events accessible to readers, while also highlighting the revolution's lasting impact on France an...