Chosen by BusinessWeek as One of the Top Ten Business Books of the Year With apologies to Hegel, Marx, and Lenin, the basic unit of modern society is neither the state, nor the commune, nor the party; it is the company. From this bold premise, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge chart the rise of one of history's great catalysts for good and evil. In a "fast-paced and well-written" work (Forbes), the authors reveal how innovations such as limitations on liability have permitted companies to rival religions and even states in importance, governing the flow of wealth and controlling human affairs-all while being largely exempt from the rules that govern our lives. The Company is that rare, remarkable book that fills a major gap we scarcely knew existed. With it, we are better able to make sense of the past four centuries, as well as the events of today.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
new insight:
The book introduced the history of coporation in a very different way. From the book, you could develop a new insight into the business world.
Good, but with a huge emphasis on the "SHORT" in "short history.":
Simply stated, there's room for a lot more book here. Our fearless authors really have found an important slice of economic and business history that has seemingly been overlooked by most others. And what a rich field it is! The history of the company itself! What exactly is a company? Where did the idea come from? How has it evolved? Where is it going? Not only does the book tackle fertile and under-covered territory, but it's got the right authors, too. Micklethwait and Wooldridge are editors at The... more info
Good historical overview:
I liked the book overall. More or less I was just interested in the time period from the American Industrial Revolution on, so the first few chapters were somewhat lost on me due to presumptions the author makes about the readers general historical knowledge. But I still would recomend this title for anyone interested in knowing how business has progressed over time.
A very good introduction:
If you are interested in business history this is the book to start.
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