Drawing upon his 20 years' experience in defense budgeting, Mr. Stubbing presents a commonsensical, well-written critique of the process. This is not about high-priced coffee pots but the year-round budget grind. Seeing the process as not quite out of control, he provides in the closing chapter a very good list of possible improvements in such areas as weapons acquisition and defense planning/budgeting. The best sections, however, consist of vignettes of five recent secretaries of defense: Melvin Laird gets the top grade because of his political savvy.