Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Different than what I expected, but still a very rich book, August 18, 2002
I'll admit that my primary motivation for reading this book was somewhat shallow--I basically wanted to read about how one of history's most successful businessmen amassed so much wealth. To be honest, the book didn't really give as many details as I would have liked on that particular interest. But what I got along the way made the book worth it.First and foremost, after reading 350 pages of Carnegie writing about his life you feel like you really start to know him, to get a sense of what kind of human being he was, and even to get a sense of his somewhat remarkable confidence level that exists in conjunction with his pretty inspiring level of benevolence and compassion. But I think even more than getting a sense of Carnegie, you get a sense of the time he lived in. Some of the most engaging parts of the book for me were the first-hand accounts of Lincoln during the Civil War, or Carnegie's conversations with President Harrison about a small uprising in Chile. You also hear about how he handled the strikes of steel workers, an occurence I'd only read about in history books but never learned directly about from the perspective of the manager. All throughout Carnegie peppers with his nuggets of wisdom, and you get the feeling he knows people want them really badly but that he chooses to give them sparingly. In the end, I probably will never re-read this book, but I feel better educated about one of history's greatest industrialists, greatest benefactors, and the time he lived in after having read it. If you have a nascent interest in history, you will most likely enjoy this book; if you're looking for a "how to make your millions" from a master, I would look elsewhere.
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55 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bill Gates of a century ago., May 26, 1999
This book was pracitically written for the ambitious young man, as there are many references to this. Mr. Carnegie serves as a great role model, which I feel is quite important, especially considering the terrible events in schools lately. Carnegie emphasizes the importance of self-improvement, knowing your talents, being kind, and also the importance of public speaking. You will learn important lessons thru personal anecdotes of his life. This book should be required reading for every adolescent attending high school.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Reading in the History of American 19th Century Business, July 16, 2006
Born in Scotland but an immigrant to the United States as a teenager, Andrew Carnegie has been variously characterized as a "captain of industry" or a "robber baron" by those who have chronicled his rise to wealth and fame in the latter nineteenth century. After selling his steel company to J.P. Morgan at the turn of the century, Carnegie devoted himself to philanthropic goals. He gave away more than $350 million to various causes and endowed more than 250,000 libraries. His philanthropic activities were underpinned by a fundamental belief in the virtue of hard work, perseverance, and self-improvement through education, hence his emphasis on libraries and the endowing of other educational organizations. Fundamentally, this book offers a restatement of the "Horatio Alger" myth of the "American dream" of success through personal commitment. At the same time Carnegie seeks to pass on his wisdom gained through a lifetime of effort. A significant and fascinating statement of American industrial individualism that is required reading for all who wish to understand the history of the United States in the latter nineteenth century, Carnegie's autobiography also served as a model for many others to follow. Unfortunately, few achieved the success that Carnegie enjoyed despite the diligence they may have registered.
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