{"product_id":"2026200015481-secondhand-the-law","title":"The Law","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew observations about the nature of bureaucracy have proven as enduring — or as wickedly funny — as those of C. Northcote Parkinson, and The Law stands as the definitive collection of his razor-sharp wit applied to the absurdities of modern organizational life. Best known for the immortal axiom that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion, Parkinson here presents a series of incisive essays that chronicle the inevitable inefficiencies of institutions, the self-perpetuating growth of administration, and the peculiar logic that governs committees, offices, and those who populate them.\n\nIllustrated with characteristic brilliance by Osbert Lancaster, whose caricatures perfectly complement Parkinson's satirical prose, the book argues that the comedy of bureaucracy is no laughing matter — it is a systemic condition of modern civilization. Parkinson writes with the precision of a historian and the timing of a stand-up comedian, skewering pomposity and institutional inertia with equal relish. For anyone who has ever sat through a pointless meeting or watched a department double in size while its workload halved, this book will feel less like satire and more like a confession.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203210879195,"sku":"2026200015481-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/1a56793d-77c2-4745-8609-99ed3094ba57.png?v=1788145847","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200015481-secondhand-the-law","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}