JD Vance does a nice job of story-telling in this book about his hillbilly family and their cultural origins. He really gives a voice to his people that we “urban elites” are unlikely to have seen firsthand. Though I felt […]
There’s a lot to be learned from Benjamin Franklin. It’s nice to learn it from the man himself. Not a thorough autobiography by any means. It stops abruptly, long before the American Revolution. Franklin would often engage in public projects […]
I had a basic understanding of Catherine’s (her birth name was actually Sophia) story from The Romanovs. This was a much deeper dive into her story, chronicling the journey of this minor German princess to the Russian throne. She ended […]
This is a great biography that shows both sides of this complicated captain of industry. Rockefeller was both a deeply pious and generous philanthropist, and at the same time a ruthless businessman who knew how to manipulate competitors and entire […]
My knowledge of Thomas Edison’s story and achievements was very limited before this book. I knew he had some relationship to “inventing electricity” and that our local electric utility ComEd is named after him. I also knew he had some […]
I’ve grown up hearing and reading about Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway. I hope I’ll be forgiven for never realizing the full scope of his rise to become one of the wealthiest men in the world. His story […]
There is so much interesting history behind the Nike brand and it’s predecessor Blue Ribbon Sports, and I had no idea! Knight explains the efforts to build the business, starting with selling shoes out of the trunk of his car. […]
There have been many biographies written of Albert Einstein. This one by Walter Isaacson is notably great for the incorporation of science, emotion, storytelling, and details. It describes Einstein’s theories, his thought experiments, and his process. It also chronicles his […]
Imagine if you and your brother worked together. Then imagine if you worked together in the government. Keep going – one of you is Secretary of State and the other is Director of the CIA. That’s the Dulles brothers. Together, […]
If you’ve never heard the story of the Turtles before, this is worth a listen. It’s a real-life version of the movie Trading Places. In the mid 80s, a group of people were taught a trend-following system for trading markets […]