This introductory text offers students a handbook for management in the field of public recreational service. It includes a history of the modern recreational service movement, provides a general overview of the field, and offers a detailed guide to best practices in the field including leadership, coordination, public relations, planning, budgeting and techniques for detecting the most competent and comprehensive service possible in the community in which the agency is situated. This text also touches on the complex relationship between public recreational services and politics.