Drs Talbott and Kaplan introduce this 410-page edited volume by informing the reader that this text is a combination of their long years of practical experience and an attempt to give structure and new meaning to their experience. They remind readers that since World War II, psychiatrist-clinicians have become "executive policy makers in large organizations, which are subject to unpredictable, and often uncontrollable, internal and external forces."
Drs Talbott and Kaplan note that they, along with their peer group, had little or no formal training in administration. Their training has been on the job or, rather, in the "battle field." In my experience, the fortunate psychiatric administrator has had a mentor or preceptor who served as a role model. Psychiatric administration has been passed from teacher to student via the oral tradition.
The value of this volume is that it converts the best of the oral tradition to brief, well-written