The controversy surrounding the publication of Richard Crossman's Cabinet Diaries (1975) brought to the fore opposing concepts of 'open' and 'closed' government within Britain's free society. While a balance has for the moment been struck concerning the secrecy of Cabinet proceedings, a historical question remains: by what process, and with what results, has official secrecy come to envelop the practices of modern Cabinet government? This book tackles that key question, drawing upon a uniquely wide range of official and private papers to examine the historical development of the Cabinet Office, the custodian of Cabinet secrecy. Established by Lloyd George in the administrative chaos of 1916, the Cabinet Secretariat - as it was first known - emerged as the central agency for the management of Cabinet business, working closely with the Prime Minister himself. In Sir Maurice Hankey's twenty-two-year term as Cabinet secretary, he presided over the institutionalisation of the Secretariat as an office free from partisan taint and he personally served all Britain's inter-war Prime Ministers as confidant and influential advisor.

Product Description: There?s a quiet revolution happening: almost half of all Americans now die in hospice care, often at home, and a vast industry has sprung up to meet the growing demand. Once viewed with suspicion, hospice has become a $14 billion-a-year business and arguably the most successful segment of American health care...read more

A palliative care doctor argues that end-of-life practices have become a national crisis in America and outlines a plan for optimal end-of-life care that involves the contributions of compassionate doctors and nurses.

An analysis of family/hospital conflict regarding death management discusses the nature of 'medicalized dying' to reveal why a mutually comfortable death can be difficult to attain.

Product Description: The American culture of death changed radically in the 1970s. For terminal illnesses, hidden decisions by physicians were rejected in favor of rational self-control by patients asserting their "right to die"—initially by refusing medical treatment and more recently by physician-assisted suicide...read more

Product Description: National expenditures for medical care in the months and days preceding death are enormous. But we do not know whether that money is buying good quality care or optimizing the quality of life of those dying, or whether the situation is getting better or worse over time...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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