Customer Reviews

George Westinghouse: Gentle Genius (HC)

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
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I doubt if this short comment will really be of much help to the potential reader, but Publisher take note:

This thoughtful, engaging, and rather well-written book is in ruins thanks to the most miserable editing I have ever seen. In fact it cannot have actually had an editor. Commas are thrown in at random, phrases are repeated - clearly as a result of inattention to typesetting - individual words are jumbled together in a phonetic head-on collision (e.g., "bending" instead of "be ending") as if they were the result of dictation to the computerized voice from War Games ("Greeeetings Doctur Falken... shaaall weplay agame?"). There are scores of errors on each page and it's so bad I may not make it past page 22. In short, the book is a nuisance to read and a shining example of the cheap junk America produces today.

Which is a shame, because George Westinghouse had far more integrity and his legacy deserves better. A company that would put unproofed text on the market and have the audacity to charge money for it would have galled him. If he were around, I suspect he would spend enormous sums of his own money to buy the entire printing simply to put us out of its misery and give it a decent burial.

The material is very good and the subject is one that deserves to be studied; the author's effort (and, again, Westinghouse's biography) deserves far better than this publisher has given it. Or is capable of giving to anything, apparently. Unless it's to a recycling bin, which is where this edition belongs if it is to do anything good.

This book suffers from so many errors as to be nearly incomprehensible in some places, which is unfortunate because without them it would have been a genuinely good read about one of the most fascinating industrialists of the Gilded Age. As it stands, however, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to anyone other than use as a reference. The legacy of George Westinghouse and his achievments deserves more than this book is able to offer.

The author does a great job depicting the inspiring story of George Westinghouse. It was great to read of success through trying times and a business philosophy that remains relevant today. Kudos to the author!

The author gives a personal look at this great man and his struggles. We need industrialists like Westinghouse to lead American industry today.

This bio is part of the author's Pantheon of American capitalists that have often been overlooked by writers-much of this is from newly found archives.