Everybody has heard of the ISO but nobody cares about it. The market for a book on this topic therefore seems limited. Consumers choose by brand, not ISO certification. Other sources on this subject have been very few and this book is therefore valuable. The absence of historical information has limited the critical research that has been published on the ISO management standards.This is an academic book that is both concise and readable. It is extensively footnoted for researchers and has a good index.The authors are academics in America. Craig Murphy has expertise in the UN and international governance; JoAnn Yates in ICT. The author's background prevents much being said that would undermine the ISO's position and the book is part of a series on global institutions.While the book interacts with critics of the ISO to a degree, it does not explore criticisms particularly well. To do so would have required a much longer book. American accusations that the ISO favours EU standards and trade are considered. Those who read this book alone could be left with the impression that Prof. John Seddon's many criticisms of ISO 9000 had largely been addressed by the ISO's revisions. It is disappointing that the authors hint at but do not clearly relate the ISO's revision policy to Microsoft's embrace-extend-extinguish strategy. Having started with a bad standard that limits quality to record keeping, the ISO will always be in competition with broader views of quality that customers rather than inspectors care about. This book should not be read without John Seddon's "The Case Against ISO9000: How to Create Real Quality in Your Organisation" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Against-ISO9000-Quality-Organisation/dp/1860761739/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1286529473&sr=8-2). The authors toe the ISO line that its management standards are continuing to be taken up internationally, but evidence on Seddon's website points to their deserved decline.To their credit, the authors distinguish clearly between the technical standards that have historically proved useful to trade and the social control standards that have largely eluded the criticism they deserve for technical, political and philosophical reasons. The ISO is unable to keep up with standards in ICT and so is staking its claim, almost as a shadow world government, with standards for social control in areas such as how management is conducted and environmental policies. It is never mentioned that ISO 9000-derived standards for management (ISO 17025/15189) have no clear evidence for their effectiveness and are yet imposed in medical and scientific practice by EC law without the trials that would be essential for drugs. The alleged benefits have not been distinguished from confounding factors as they would have to be if they were a medical treatment. These authors explain that their use rests on the fact that legal and commercial coercion has made them widely adopted. This is a weak argument that avoids deeper consideration of the facts when it has not been established whether the standards do harm.The early Fabian appreciation of the importance of international standards is noted in a quotation from Sidney and Beatrice Webb. The book clearly shows the ISO's hidden role in extending global governance. It's subtitle is "Global governance through voluntary consensus" and it admits that the "voluntary" consensus often comes to be enforced for several reasons.Chapter 1 explores the importance of voluntary consensus standard setting and the history of the ISO. It strangely omits mention of Rear Admiral Derek Spickernell who was important in the BSI and ISO for forcing BS 5750 and ISO 9000 on the world.Chapter 2 describes how the ISO structure and committees work to arrive at standards.Chapter 3 explores the infrastructure for a global market, in particular the importance of the standardised shipping container that was essential for the globalisation of trade.Chapter 4 describes the ISO shift from technical standards to quality management and global social regulation. This chapter is perhaps the most interesting. It shows how the ISO has moved into trying to make people good by "voluntary" standards where laws have failed. Many will regard this as rather sinister.Chapter 5 reports on standards wars and the future of the ISO with a particular emphasis on American standards opposing ISO, and the Open Source movement and technology consortia that have rendered the ISO less relevant in ICT fields.The book explains and justifies many aspects of the ISO and its quality cartel. It concludes that the ISO is essential to governance of the global industrial economy. It provides a valuable starting point for those who wish to investigate the ISO's role in global governance further, but other sources must be consulted for a more critical consideration.