Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

"Those of us who try to understand what is happening in North American Indian communities have learned to see Vine Deloria, Jr., both as an influential actor in the ongoing drama and also as its most knowledgeable interpreter. This new book on Indian self-rule is the most informative that I have seen in my own half-century of reading. Deloria and his co-author focus on John Collier's struggle with both the U.S. Congress and the Indian tribes to develop a New Deal for Indians fifty years ago. It is a blow-by-blow historical account, perhaps unique in the literature, which may be the only way to show the full complexity of American Indian relations with federal and state governments. This makes it possible in two brilliant concludingRoyal Dutch Shell plc: Slowly But Surely Improving

Despite a 44% year-over-year decline in quarterly profit, Royal Dutch Shell looks to be on a slow yet steady path to improvement.

Last week, Royal Dutch Shell plc(NYSE:RDS-A), Europe's largest oil company by market capitalization, reported a 44% year-over-year decline in its first-quarter profit. Yet better than expected performance from some of Shell's business segments was greeted favorably by the markets, sending the company's shares higher by a few percentage points on the day.

While Shell still has a long way to go in improving its financial performance and boosting returns on capital, the company's first-quarter results offered three encouraging signs. Let's take a closer look.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Progress in the downstream division The first encouraging development was a meaningful improvement in Shell's