The Forbes Book of Great Business Letters: Memos, Missives, Pitches, Proposals and E-mails
An expansive and enlightening collection of communication, The Forbes Book of Great Business Letters features hundreds of the finest minds in commerce in their own personal and professional correspondence.
Reaching around the globe and across history, it includes the biggest names in business - Henry Ford, William Randolph Hearst, Warren Buffet - in letters, telegrams, memos, e-mails and more.
The Forbes Book of Great Business Letters is as useful as it is entertaining, an instructive source of inspiration for letter writers and an engaging historical collection for casual readers. Chapters examine the intersection of life and business with topics like:
Getting a Job
- Leonardo da Vinci seeks work from the Duke of Milan
- A letter of recommendation for Albert Einstein ("one of the most original minds that we have met")
Advice
- Benjamin Franklin's "Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by and Old One"
- P.T. Barnum's letter to James A. Bailey on the virtues of a successful showman
- David Ogilvy's words to his nephew on the value of a college education
The Competitive Edge
- Letters from associates of John D. Rockefeller voice complaints about his aggressive tactics in the oil trade
- Alfred P. Sloan's 1922 memo proposing the centralization of marketing and purchasing efforts at General Motors
- John F. Welch discusses his business philosophy with shareholders
New Ideas
- One of Gutneberg's first customers writes a friend about the promise of the printing press
- Hugh Hefner approaches readers with a "brand new magazine for men"
- Bill Gates urges Apple Computers in 1985 to license its software to Microsoft
Complaints and Compliments
- Mark Twain blasts the local gas company for shoddy service
- Clyde Barrow commends Henry Ford on the reliability of his cars - for quick getaways
- Customer praise and pan the new Coke
Other contributors include Groucho Marx, Arthur Levitt, E.B. White, Al Hirschfeld, David Sarnoff, Cesar Chavez and Steven Jobs on subjects like The Money Chase, Deal Proposals, with insight and inspiration, The Forbes Book of Great Business Letters is a trove of American ingenuity, a blueprint for success, a record of achievement and an inspiring historical narrative for anyone looking to write the perfect letter - or just to read one.
