The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of Wealth by Andrew CarnegieMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this autobiography of the second richest man in the world from a bit over a hundred years ago. Carnegie's book, while written around the turn of the century, feels much more modern. At times, I had the feel I got when reading Sloan's "My Years with General Motors", which was written 40 years later or so. Carnegie delves into his childhood quite extensively, as well as his early working life. Least covered was his middle years, while he grew his company. His stories of those times seemed of two parts - dealing with technical issues in the steel making process, and working on finances and negotiation. You can tell Carnegie relished the technical aspects of steel-making and being involved on the cutting edge of technology. His negotiation and finance stories seemed there more to show he was a common-sense leader. By the last third of his book, Carnegie focuses on giving away his fortune and working with governments. He really enjoyed this phase of his life, and seems to be into name-dropping the leaders of the times. He really got around. I can easily picture him as the host of "The Apprentice" or a shark on "Shark Tank" had he been around today. He seems to have that personality, a bit star-struck, while also quite full of himself. Overall, I liked Carnegie's stories and how he explains his thoughts. He made being fabulously wealthy sound pretty good.
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