The Silent Language
Edward T. Hall
0-385-05549-8
Yes, it's still extant, and now in it's 26th printing in Doubleday's Anchor Books paperback edition!

One of the sources listed in the bibliography for The Structure of Magic (1), this is one of those interesting little books which manages to be not only readable but positively informational long after it's publication date (1959).  President Clinton and his advisors, for example, might have learnt a thing or two from Chapter 8 regarding their dealings with the Middle Eastern situation.

Edward Hall was/is an anthropologist, and this book is largely an attempt to help Americans understand that that there really is intelligent life beyond the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Just how relevant it is to NLP in 1998 may be estimated from your personal reaction to this quote from the final chapter:

"We see people who are successful and happy today, who have jobs which are rewarding and productive.  What are the sets, isolates and patterns that differentiate their lives from those of the less fortunate?  We need to have a means for making life a little less haphazard and more enjoyable."

Healing in Hypnosis
The Seminars, Workshops and Lectures of Milton H. Erickson Vol. I
E. Rossi, M. Ryan and F. Sharp (eds.)
1-85343-405-1
The more I read of Milton Erickson, the more I am struck the amazingly subtle yet effective teaching technique he developed for explaining his ideas.
This book, a collection of annotated transcripts of audio tapes of Erickson's presentations and demonstrations, is just the first in a series being re-published by Free Association Books (vols 3 and 4 of this series are due out later this year).

This first volume commences with a fairly lengthy biography (about 60 pages) of Milton Erickson, primarily designed to show that his work was based as much on personal experience and self help as on his formal study of medicine and psychiatry.

The rest of the book is divided into four 'parts' (that is, four presentations):

• Utilizing Unconscious Processes in Hypnosis
• Therapeutic Uses of Altered Orientation in Hypnosis
• Experiential Learnings: The Basis for Hypnotic Behaviour
• An Introduction to the Study and Application of Hypnosis in Pain Control

And much good will it do you to know this, because Erickson's way of teaching is to ramble from idea to idea as and when they occur to him.
In reality, of course, there is nothing vague about these presentations.  They are entertaining, and at the same time highly instructive, though it may well be that, even after repeated readings, you will learn much more at an unconscious level than you are consciously aware of.  Which is, I suspect, exactly what Erickson intended.
Very highly recommended. * * * * * * *

Life Reframing in Hypnosis
The Seminars, Workshops and Lectures of Milton H. Erickson Vol. II
E. Rossi and M. Ryan (eds.)
1-85343-406-X
This is the second in the 'Seminars, Workshops and Lectures' series, and like Part I, it consists of a series of transcripts of Erickson's presentations edited and annotated by Ernest Rossi and Margaret Ryan.

For the most part the presentations date back some 40 years.  You might think, therefore, that they would be somewhat out of date by now.  And you'd be absolutely, categorically wrong!  Indeed, it is a measure of how far ahead of his time Erickson was that I was only able to find one brief comment (about the visual and auditory capabilities of very young babies) which has been superceded by subsequent research.

Whether he is demonstrating trance induction with multiple subjects, explaining 'autohypnosis' (more usually referred to nowadays as self-hypnosis), conversational induction or, as in the final, satisfyingly detailed presentation, treating a case of stuttering, once again this is a treasure house of information about Milton Erickson's techniques and wisdom.
Very highly recommended. * * * * * * *

Phoenix: Therapeutic Patterns of Milton H. Erickson
David Gordon and Maribeth Meyers-Anderson
0-916990-10-9
If this book were a prize-winning recipe it might look something like this:

• Take both volumes of Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton Erickson, M.D. (Bandler, Grinder and DeLozier - also reviewed on this site)
• Remove the pseudo-academic style
• Substantially improve the quality of the writing
• Mix with a higher ratio of pure Erickson
• Simmer gently with an obvious respect for your subject and his work
• Serve with some real insight into the teaching process

This is an elegant analytical study of Milton Erickson's work by two authors who bring real talent to the job of exploring the intricacies of 'the Ericksonian method' in a readily accessible style.
Though the whole book is only about 200 pages from cover to cover, it contains a whole heap of interesting and valuable material.  The first five chapters, consisting of Erickson quotes with commentary by the authors, cover a number of key topics such as:

• The nature and development of rapport
• 'Generative Generalizations'
• Sorting and Re-Sorting
• Identification and use of clients' behaviour patterns

Chapter 6 is an annotated transcript of the therapy of a 14 year old anorexic girl and her covertly collaborative family, and Chapter 7 is a deceptively rambling 25 page account by Erickson which appears to be nothing more than a collection of biographical anecdotes.  It says much for the authors that they allowed Milton this opportunity to do a little (!) teaching on his own account.

The authors have done the NLP, hypnotherapy and brief therapy communities a rare service in presenting Erickson's work in such a clear and thoughtful manner.  Highly recommended  * * * * * *

Hare Brain Tortoise Mind
Guy Claxton
1-85702-709-4
A basic tenet of NLP is that the techniques we use are there 'because they work'.  Or more precisely, because they have worked in the past and might reasonably be expected to go on working, at least for some people, some of the time, now and in the future.

It must be said, up front, that the author of Hare Brain Tortoise Mind seems to have no knowledge of NLP as such.  Nonetheless, I've included this book in my review list because I believe it throws some valuable light on how and why the Ericksonian/NLP model of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind, and the various techniques and ideas which have resulted from that model, are so effective.

At the time the book was issued in paperback, the author was Visiting Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Bristol (UK).  And frankly, I think it shows.  Whilst the material is obviously well-researched and of considerable interest to anyone working in the area of conscious and unconscious processing, I found the writing style dry and even stilted in places.

From a reader's perspective I got the feeling that some judicious pruning ofat least 20-30 pages (in the main text) might have resulted in a tighter, more lively read.  Also, granted that the chapter notes run to some 20 pages, a separate bibliography might have been useful for the benefit of readers interested in following up on Caxton's own investigations.

Having said that, one of my own measures of a non-fiction book is to look back and see how much I highlighted (so that I could refer to it again, at a later date).  On that basis this book scored way better than average, including nuggets such as:

"In several investigations of the Broadbent and Berry type, people's ability to articulate the rules which they think are underlying their decisions turns out to be negatively related to their actual competence. ... in some situations it appears that the more you think you know what you are doing, the less well you are in fact doing."

"Felt meaning is embodied.  When we sense significance deeply, it affects us physically.  We do not simply understand: we are 'touched' or 'moved'. ... and when activity is diffused, the state of the viscera and musculature, and bodily felt emotions, needs or threats, are incorporated within the representation as a whole."

Or why anchoring works best when it incorporates a physical element.
(Note: Italics in both quotes are as in the original.  Both passages include references to supporting material.)

And finally, this wonderful metaphor illustrating the point that 'just mulling things over' can be a skill in its own right:

"Uncreative people, as well as having lost the knack of entering the low focus state, may also be unable to retain this background level of priming: they do not know how to put something 'on te back burner' without it falling down behind the cooker."

Taken as a whole, despite the style and the lack of any development of the material into "how to" information, I have no hesitation in making this book:  Strongly recommended * * * * *

The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson, Vol. 2
Human Behaviour and Psychotherapy
Ronald A. Havens, ed.
1-55778-219-9
(There are two paperback books which were originally published as a single hardback volume)

This is what I call a "trigger book".  That is, it contains so many little gobs of information that it would be surprising if you could read through the whole thing without it triggering at least one idea .
Regrettably, as far as I can see, this serendipitous possibility is about all the book has going for it.

The material in this book was compiled in an attempt to clarify the concepts and attitudes necessary for an effective application of the Ericksonian forms of therapy and hypnosis ... It is ... simply a collection of the observations and ideas that Dr. Erickson himself presented in numerous publications and lectures in an effort to communicate the wisdom that guided his interventions.

"Unfortunately, the actual meaning and implication of each of these jigsaw statements are apparent only with the context of the entire pattern of his knowledge."

Despite Havens' apparent belief in his own objectivity in compiling this collection of quotes, the final result is very clearly one man's view.  So much so that many of the items are no more than a sentence or two in length and therefore have no effective context other than in relation to the quotes and commentary around them.

Take this triplet from page 176, for example. These are the last three items in a section entitled: The Patient's Welfare is the Only Concern:

"She looked at me as though she thought I ought to have my head examined."

"I asked him to repeat my name until he wondered who was the patient."

"There's iron under my velvet gloves."

You see, I think the important thing in working with a patient is do the thing that is going to help the patient.  As for my dignity ... the hell with my dignity.  (Laughs)  I will get along all right in this world.  I don't have to be dignified, professional.  I do the thing that stirs the patient into doing the right thing."

Tales for Trainers
Margaret Parkin
Kogan Page   0-7494-2510-5
This book is subtitled Using Stories and Metaphors to Facilitate Learning, which is a bit of a shame since the author has cast her net rather more widely than either the title or the subtitle suggest.

The book actually consists of two halves.
In Part 1 - The Story So far ... - Ms Parkin lays down an extensive rationale for the use of stories and metaphors, not only in the training room but in business in general.  It says much for Ms Parkin's skill and experience that she makes the material interesting and instructive, even for readers who may think they already been there and have all the T-shirts they'll ever need.
I thought the material on when to use stories, and how to tell a story to maximum effect were particularly well done.

My one regret over the book as a whole is that the author does not explain in any great detail the construction of a 'training tale'.  The subject is introduced, several times over and from a variety of angles, but is never carried to its logical conclusion.
The one thing the book lacks is concrete worked examples of how to select and how to design a story or metaphor to convey a particular message without being either too brazen or too obscure.  Maybe in some future, expanded edition?

The second part of the book - Now Read On ... - consists of 50 brief tales, poems, anecdotes - each of which is accompanied by a brief introduction, a 'moral' and a section called, I know not why, 'Reflection' - a list of the topics which the item might be related to.
The list of stories is preceded by a very useful table which presents the 'reflections' information in a simple grid so that you can see at a glance which stories apply to a given topic, and vice versa.

The tales themselves are, as you might expect, something of a grab bag.  I imagine the author intended them as a 'get you started' kit rather than a definitive collection, and as such they have something for everyone.  (My own favourite is #7 - The Cookery Book Game - suited to "Learning, Leadership and teambuilding, Problem solving, Empowerment and Dealing with change".)

Successful Presentation Skills
Andrew Bradbury
Kogan Page (UK), 3rd edition, ISBN 0-7494-4558-0

Foreign editions:
Como Fazer Apresentações de Sucesso
Clio Editora (Brazil),  ISBN 85-86234-16-8
Jak Úspesne Prezentovat a Presvedcit
Computer Press (Czech Republic & Slovakia), 2nd edition,  ISBN 978-80-251-1622-7
Jak zorganizowac prezentacje
One Press (Gliwice, Poland).  ISBN 83-7361-612-8
Successful Presentation Skills
Shanghai Far East Publishers (People's Republic of China),  ISBN 7-80661-116-9
Successful Presentation Skills
Dar El-Farouk (Egypt),  ISBN (to follow)
Successful Presentation Skills
Kogan Page (India),  ISBN 81-7554-133-4
Successful Presentation Skills
Discover (Japan),  ISBN 4-88759-464-X
Técnicas para Presentaciones Eficaces
Editorial Gedisa, S.A. (Spain),  ISBN 84-7432-840-3

(Several other foreign language editions have been published, but I don't have the details.)

I've spent most of the last thirty years in roles that required presentation skills of one kind or another - from teaching in a Sixth Form college to running IT courses for stockbrokers - and in 'soft', 'hard' and academic subjects.  This book makes use that experience to provide the kind of introduction to presentation skills that I really needed when I started out, but never found.

It's not for me to evaluate the quality of the text, so I'll just say that it's selling even better now than when it came out a few years ago.  I guess somebody must know something.