The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series)

Rating:
Summary: Not enough meat
Review: I like the concept of this book and I have no problem with its selections. However, I find that there isn't very much said about each of these business books. While historical context is provided for each, there is little that gives me a new perpective on things or provides me with something that I can apply. It is like viewing historical documents in a museum without there being a description of why they're relevant or how they impact the present day. I prefer the more vibrant discussion found in "The Guru Guide."

Rating:
Summary: Introductions into 50 great management and business classics
Review: Stuart Crainer is business and management writer, who quite often appears in The Financial Times. Gary Hamel is a top business writer/management guru, fellow at Harvard Business School, visiting professor at the London Business School, and chairman of California-based consulting firm Strategos. Both have written several business-related books.

The book starts with an introduction by Gary Hamel, who lists the books featured per issues - management, leadership, complexity, people, customerd, global, the future, renewal, competition, efficiency, strategy, and fun. Then, Stuart Crainer describes 50 management and business classics in alphabetical order of the authors. The classics featured range from Sun Tzu's Art of War (500 BC) and Machiavelli's The Prince (1513) through to modern works from Gary Hamel, Michael Porter, Peter Senge and Tom Peters. I do not think that anybody will argue the author's selection, since all books are truly greats. Since the complete book consists about 300 pages, each classic receives about 4-6 pages (introduction by Gary Hamel, biography of author(s), and a description of the main ideas and issues). This is enough for a quick insight and description, but do not expect to become a specialist in any of the issues.

The breakdown into issues makes it easy for readers to choose a subject/books. You can then have a quick flick through the particular summary/summaries. If you like the summary/summaries, you will still require to purchase or borrow the book(s) since the summaries are not that detailed. I used this book during my MBA-course (in particular during the earlier part), where I used it as a type of tool since it pointed me to the best book(s) for a particular subject. (I must admit that I also bought Stuart Crainer's 110 Ultimate Book of Business Gurus, but I do much more prefer/use this one.) The book is simple to use and is written in simple US-English.

Rating:
Summary: Business Books top 50
Review: This is an excellent one volume guide to the top 50 business books. In here one will find the books that has most impact, such as Parkinsons Law (1958) and Maslows famous Motivation and Personality 1954. Highly Recommended.