Reviews

THE ECOLOGY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. F. W. Riggs. Under the auspices of the Indian Institute of Public Administration. Bombay, Asia Publishing House, 1961. Pp. viii + 162. Price 20/‐ sterling.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY. C. A. W. Manning. London, G. Bell & Sons Ltd., 1962. Pp. xi + 220. English price 30/‐.

STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN FEDERALISM. M. J. C. Vile. London, Oxford University Press, 1962. Pp. x + 206. Australian Price 46/6.

AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN A NEW ERA. Stephen D. Kertesz (ed.). University of Notre Dame Press, 1961. Pp. 601. U.S. $10.00.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OP RUSSIA AND THE SOVIET UNION. Michael T. Florinsky (ed.). New York, McGraw Hill Book Company Inc., 1961. Pp. xiv + 624. U.S. $23.

THE TAPROOT OP SOVIET SOCIETY. Nicholas P. Vakar. New York, Harper & Bros., 1961. Pp. xiii + 204. U.S. $4.75.

INDONESIAN ECONOMICS: THE CONCEPT OF DUALISM IN THEORY AND POLICY. Selected Studies on Indonesia by Dutch Scholars, Vol. VI. The Hague, W. van Hoeve, 1961. Pp. xii + 443. U.S. $7.50.

KAUTILYA: A REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNIST CHINA 1949–1960. T. J. Hughes and D. E. T. Luard. Under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London. O.U.P., 1961. Pp. viii + 215. Second Edition. Australian price 41/6d.

TOJO AND THE COMING OF THE WAR. R. J. C. Butow. Princeton University Press, 1961. Pp. 540.

PARTIES AND PEOPLE: A SURVEY BASED ON THE LA TROBE ELECTORATE. Creighton Burns. Melbourne University Press, 1961. Pp. x + 173. Australian price 28/6d.     

Mechanisms of Failure and Slope Development in Rock Masses

This paper examines the mechanisms of failure in jointed rock slopes. The distribution of discontinuities is a significant control of rock-mass stability, determining the mechanism by which blocks fail from a cliff, and the consequent slope development through time. It is often assumed that the principles of single-block movements are geomechanically similar to those of larger, multiple-block rock-mass failures, under a given set of boundary conditions and controlling variables. Results presented here, based on computer modelling using the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC), show that such assumptions are not always correct. After a theoretical modelling exercise, real-world rock slopes were studied from the Portland Limestone outcrop of the Isle of Purbeck, England. There is good association between the theoretical results and model output for the fieldsites. The conclusions are thus useful in enhancing knowledge of jointed rock-mass failure conditions, and improving understanding of rock-slope development.     

Book reviews

THE STUDY OF POLITICS: A COLLECTION OF INAUGURAL LECTURES. Preston King (ed). London, Cass, 1977, pp 322.

JAPAN AT THE POLLS: The House of Councillors Elections of 1974. Michael K. Blaker (ed.), American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C. 157 pp. ISBN 0–8447–3213–3, $US3.00.

MANKIND'S FUTURE IN THE PACIFIC. R.F. Scagel (ed.), Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1976, $10.50 paperback.

THE EEC AND AUSTRALIA. J.D.B. Miller. Nelson, in association with A.I.I.A., Melbourne, 1976. pp. x, 137.

UNEQUAL ALLIES. AUSTRALIAN‐AMERICAN RELATIONS AND THE PACIFIC WAR. Roger J. Bell. M.U.P., 1977, 278 pp.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Taylor & Francis Ltd., London, 1977 pp. 95. L5.