There is a tendency to view civil service as a panacea for personnel problems and to consider administrative centralization as a highroad to efficiency and economy. Such enthusiasms, Mr. Benson holds, would probably be better directed by a clear-sighted study of actual conditions. He therefore describes and analyzes the experience of Massachusetts during fifty-five years of personnel reform. Since the Massachusetts civil service law contains two unique features, the effects of which are fully investigated, this book is of more than local interest. It should prove valuable to political scientists, legislators, and administrators throughout the country who, in the quest for more effective personnel machinery, are interested in the success or failure of various experiments.