Customer Reviews

The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and The Gospel of Wealth

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Andrew Carnegie played the game of life to perfection, which is how he ended up the richest man in the world. He had so much amazing wisdom. He made very wise choices starting from the earliest age up to the end of his life. Many people gain some wisdom as they grow older, but what's even more amazing about Andrew Carnegie is that he was wise even as a child and a teenager. Perhaps his parents and other elders taught him very well. It seems like Carnegie always made the best and wisest business decisions. The few times something went wrong, it wasn't his fault and it didn't set him back much. Lately I've been learning a lot about business, marketing, and success. I've gotten a lot of great advice about success. And when I read Carnegie's book, I got to see all these success principles in action. Carnegie's life is full of great examples of what you should do to be successful as a person and as a businessman.

I've seen some claims that he was just another ruthless robber barron, but I think that is a very unfair depiction. I think he did a great job of leading the steel industry and making sure that it took advantage of the most advanced technology available at the time and did things on the most efficient and secure basis. He had a great ability to get along with people and I believe he did treat people very fairly. And by the time he died, he had given away 90% of his fortune to benefit the world through education, culture, etc. I think that is a large piece of evidence showing that he was a well-intentioned, good-hearted person.

Andrew Carnegie offers an intriguing look into his life story that chronicles his ancestry in Scotland to his journey from child to business tycoon in the US. Carnegie writes in a style applicable to the times, thus there is inevitably a period of acclimatization with the material; however, within a short period of familiarizing yourself with this style of English, you will find it hardly represents an encumbrance.

Carnegie has a knack for being very productive with his abilities as well as often finding himself in the right place and time. Much of his success could be perceived as lucky; however, it will not take long for any reader to see that the effects of his always going the extra mile permitted Carnegie to stand out as a result of his own principles, hardly dependant on luck.

Carnegie exemplifies what one hopes to find among great men; integrity, honesty, hard work, and a passion for profit. Carnegie's giant success is only matched by his good will to human kind. Carnegie explains his thoughts on why he felt the most immoral thing a man can do is to die rich, thus he spent his retirement giving as much of his wealth away as possible. The evidence of Carnegie's lasting name and historical significance provides ample reason to read this Carnegie autobiography. His candidness and honest approach make this book even better.

I read this book as a recommendation from the book "Success through a positive mental attitude" and it is a good read. It is a bit slow at first and its written in an older style of English. Once you pick up the style though the book becomes very interesting, I often read it before sales calls to motivate myself.

I bought this book with the idea of getting some insight as to how Mr. Carnegie made his investment decisions. There was some of that, but he mainly talks about his dealings with the rich and powerful of his time.

He rubbed elbows with the wealthy and politicians (including presidents) both in America and abroad. It gets a little tiring after awhile reading about his interactions with these people (thus the lower rating). It is like reading his diary. However, it does give you a feel for the culture at that time.

What I find with autobiographies is that the authors usually portray themselves in the best light. This book is no different. He likes to identify himself as a friend of the worker, which he tried to be. There was a strike at his plant in which workers were killed. He blamed that on his manager because it happened while he was abroad. I've read in other places that there is skepticism about that.

He also gives his thoughts on philanthropy in his The Gospel of Wealth chapter at the end of the book. He gave away millions to establish libraries. He believes in the estate tax because, as he says it, "By taxing estates heavily at death the State (his capitalization) marks its condemnation of the selfish millionaire's unworthy life" (page 330). He says that the rich should give their money away to charitable institutions during their lifetime because the rich would know how it should best be distributed, and that the money should not be given in small sums to individuals because they would not, in general, know how to spend it wisely (I'm assuming because they would also be rich if they knew how to spend it). There was very much the paternal feeling I got when I read J.P. Morgan's biography - the wealthy are stewards of capital because the common people can not be trusted with it.

I've recently read a very inspiring book titled, "The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and his essay The Gospel of Wealth.

Reading this was like stepping back into time as it was all written by Andrew himself in his private diaries around 100 - 150 years ago. Compelling work of history, family, business and ethics all combined into one 336 page book.

I find it pretty humbling to find out that he was once the second riches man in the country, only to give away his entire fortune to charities at the end of his life and after his passing on. This man made fortunes then proceeded to give away most of his $350,000,000 in wealth.

He opened thousands of libraries, music halls and parks for the public to enjoy. These were great feats in his time as there were not many libraries around 150 years ago. Nowadays of course you can find one in most every town and city in developed countries.

His philosophies on creating the best products, providing outstanding customer service and doing business with partners is really insiteful to read. Pretty amazing to think he started out at $1.20 a week as a teen to go on to amass one of the largest fortunes in America in his time.

Andrew Carnegie was a man of deadly focus, superhuman energy, and fierce intelligence. Lay down the book and you can hear his steady voice, setting forth in spare, lucid prose the studied steps and happy fortuities by which he reached his pinnacle, driven by dogged industry, breathless ambition, native wit, daring and innovation. We watch over his shoulder, as he builds his empire, one brick at a time, his magical ascent seemingly guided by the hand of providence. As we succumb to the charisma of the man himself, we get a growing feeling of invincibility, of an age when genius might always be turned into gold. Difficulties, obstacles, conundrums--problems that would fell the ordinary mortal--all seemed to vanish at his touch. The story is inspiring, humbling, and totally consuming. I could not put it down.

"The surest foundation of a manufacturing concern is quality. After that, and a long way after, comes cost" (Andrew Carnegie. \\
Should be required reading for anyone going into business.
Unfortunately, too many American manufacturers, in general, have forgotten Andy's advice. Had the CEOs in Detroit followed his principle, they would have never been surpassed by Toyota and I would be driving an American car instead of a Lexus hybrid.
Larry Pisoni
President of Gourmet Italia

The autobiography gives a good (but sometimes slight) overview of Carnegie's rise from a bobbin boy to one of the richest men in the world. The autobiography doesn't tell you "this is how to become rich", but instead shows Carnegie's values and approach to the working world. The Gospel of Wealth is an interesting idea: the rich got rich by being the most talented and hard-working and deserve their wealth. Since the rich are the smartest and most talented of us, they should best decide how their money gets distributed so that it will best help all of mankind. If money was given to the poor, instead of put into public works and trusts, the poor would blow it because they don't know how to handle money. If they did, they'd be rich! I like this idea, but rarely, if ever do I see it practiced. The rich aren't always the most talented, intelligent, or hard-working people, rarely do they use their wealth for the public good (unless it's a tax write-off), and most of their money gets passed on to their children. I definitely recommend this book. Try these ideas out for yourself.

This was a gift for my son, so I can't personally review the book. However, he is reading it and appears to be enjoying it.

I read this book when I was sixteen, and I really gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from it. This book is for anyone interested in making it from rags from riches in America like Andrew Carnegie did.