Max Neiman provides a concise, well-written, and compre-hensive critical analysis of "the conservative attack on thepublic sector, especially its explanation for and evaluation ofthe size and growth of the public sector in the United States"(p. viii). In doing so, however, he only partially fulfills what ispromised in the subtitle, namely, explaining why big govern-ment works. Rather than explicitly assess the reasons for goalachievement in a variety of policy areas, as the title implied tome, Neiman focuses on why we have big government and onthe various critiques of that size. To be sure, the book isappropriate for upper division and graduate courses inpolitical science, public policy, or public administration.