Billion Dollar Lessons: What You Can Learn from the Most Inexcusable Business Failures of the Last 25 Years by Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui Portfolio (25 August 2009) Amazon What's it about?: A different kind of business book. Chunka Mui and Paul B. Carroll drew on decades of case studies to give us some … Continue reading Billion Dollar Lessons
The Nature of Things
The Nature of Things by Lucretius (translated by Alicia Stallings) Penguin (13 September 2007) Amazon What's it about?: A scientific and philosophical treatise, written in the form of a didactic poem. The Nature of Things (De rerum natura) is Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius's (99-59 BCE) explanation of Epicureanism to a Roman audience. This edition … Continue reading The Nature of Things
Kairos
In the Fight Club novel, there is a passage where Jack "meets" Tyler for the first time. It's different from what we see in the film, where the meeting happens on a flight. In Palahniuk's text, Tyler is dragging pieces of driftwood into position on a beach. He spends hours doing this, and the result … Continue reading Kairos
Grant Moves South
Grant Moves South by Bruce Catton Little, Brown (12 July 1990) Amazon What's it about?: The first volume in Bruce Catton's biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Commanding General of the Union Army and later President of the United States, detailing part of his life from 1861 to 1863. From when he first takes a position … Continue reading Grant Moves South
Titan
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow Random House (1 September 2004) Amazon What's it about?: Ron Chernow's biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr, America's first billionaire and the patriarch of one of the greatest dynasty families of the modern world. From his humble beginnings in the Rust Belt to sitting … Continue reading Titan
On Moral Ends
On Moral Ends by Marcus Tullius Cicero Cambridge University Press (16 August 2001) Amazon I make an effort to read On Moral Ends every year, or at least revisit sections of it now and then. A treatise on ethics, and one of the most important texts in ancient philosophy by one of Rome's greatest minds. … Continue reading On Moral Ends
On War
On War by Carl von Clausewitz Princeton University Press (29 August 1989) Amazon What's it about?: Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz's classic treatise on war and military strategy. Written after the Napoleonic Wars, it is an incomplete work, with Clausewitz passing away before he could finish his task. It is considered to be one of … Continue reading On War
The Fish That Ate the Whale
The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen Macmillan USA (4 June 2013) Amazon What's it about?: The story of Samuel Zemurray, the self-made banana mogul and infamous robber baron of the twentieth century. It's a classic rags-to-riches story on an epic scale, with Zemurray going … Continue reading The Fish That Ate the Whale
The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo by Edward Shepherd Creasy CreateSpace (16 February 2016) Amazon What's it about?: A book that chronicles historical conflicts that were real turning points on the course of civilisation. Edward Shepherd Creasy analyses fifteen battles that shaped the history, culture, and development of nations and … Continue reading The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
Charlie Wilson’s War
Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times by George Crile Grove Press (6 November 2007) Amazon What's it about?: How US congressman Charlie Wilson, CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, and a host of characters manipulated global politics to turn … Continue reading Charlie Wilson’s War
Lawrence Deveney 