Name: Carnegie
ISBN: 9780471468837

Carnegie

"Andrew Carnegie stands next to J. P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller as one of the great business leaders in United States history. Immigrating from Scotland as a child, Carnegie rose from the slums of Pittsburgh to become a steel industry titan remembered for his many philanthropic endowments, ranging from free libraries to his work toward world peace.". "The first full biography of this industrialist and philanthropist in thirty years, Carnegie delves into the mind of a generous yet ruthless man who wore many masks throughout his life. Peter Krass captures the drama behind the building of Carnegie's empire, revealing how he manipulated the rules of fair play and how he was a pioneer in philanthropy. He separates fact from the Carnegie legend by relying heavily on diaries, letters, and other writings by both primary and peripheral characters in Carnegie's life as well as on the copious Carnegie-related archives."--BOOK JACKET.

What Hacker News says

dave_sullivanAug 2011

Founders at Work was a good one. Some that I really liked (not all biographical per se, some more non-fiction, and many non-SV related):

------------Tech------------

"The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison" (Oracle, Ellison, the birth of the DB)

"The New New Thing" (about Jim Clark, netscape, SGI, what became webmd)

"In the plex" (Google)

"The Nudist on the Late Shift" (kind of like founders at work, a bit light but hey)

"Hackers" (by Stephen Levy, again, kind of light, but entertaining)

"The Hacker Crackdown" (by Bruce Sterling, entertaining)

------------General Business------------

"Losing My Virginity" (Richard Branson)

"King of Capital" (Steve Schwarzman, guy that started Blackrock)

"Art of the Deal" (Trump)

"The Age of Turbulence" (Alan Greenspan)

"Barbarians at the Gate" (RJR Nabisco takeover in 80s)

"Liar's Poker" (the mortgage bond)

"Den of Thieves" (Milken, Boesky, the junk bond)

"Conspiracy of Fools" (Enron)

------------Historical------------

"Carnegie" (by Peter Krass)

"Dark Genius of Wall Street" (Jay Gould + most of the robber barons)

"Titan: The life of John D. Rockefeller" (Rockefeller)

"The House of Morgan" (JP Morgan, etc.)

"Disraeli: A Brief Life" (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Hitler: Hubris", "Hitler: Nemesis", "The Hitler Myth" (all by Ian Kershaw, all really good, covers a lot of territory)

"Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945" (not biography but REALLY good)

------------Cool Story------------

"Life" (Keith Richards, still in the middle of it but so far so good)

"Blow" (the book that turned into the movie, they left a lot out of the movie)

"Catch me if you can" (book that turned into the movie, again, they left a ton out of the movie, the book is autobiographical)

That's a pretty good list of some of the ones I've enjoyed over the years, hope someone finds some of them enjoyable.

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edw519Feb 2011

Hard to argue with any of the books in OP's post. The ones that I have read (at least half of them) are great. If I had to pick one, it would be the Rhinocerous book, simply because Javascript is everywhere.

I've been a professional programmer for many years, but oddly, programming books, as good as they often are, have had surprisingly little affect on me. I've learned much more about programming from working on projects, other programmers, and websites about the technology at hand.

Programming has always come naturally to me, but business hasn't. So since the original question is "most influential book" and not "most influential programming book", I would prefer to mention some of my favorite business books. They helped me become the programmer I am much more than any programming book.

  Differentiate or Die - Jack Trout
  Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki
  Controlling Software Projects - Tom DeMarco
  You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar - David Sandler
  Carnegie - Peter Krass
  Do More Faster - Brad Feld and David Cohen
  Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston

But if I had to pick only one:

  How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis

because it got me to dreaming, it's so much fun to read, and for the line, "If it flies, floats or fornicates, always rent it - it's cheaper in the long run."

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edw519Jul 2009

Biographies of the very rich and successful who started with nothing are usually very good. I look for common themes and key points in their lives. A few of my favorites:

Carnegie by Peter Krass, http://www.amazon.com/Carnegie-Peter-Krass/dp/0471468835/ref...

"Titan, The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr." by Ron Chernow, http://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr/dp/1400...

"iWoz", by Steve Wozniak, http://www.amazon.com/iWoz-Computer-Invented-Personal-Co-Fou...

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