The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea (Modern Library Chronicles)

I have to write a report on the History of American Business, and chose this book as a guide as to where to do further research. I chose well. This book is amazing. Adrian Wooldridge really should continue writing even more books than he already has. This book gives great insight into the history of business without droning on and on in any one specific area. After reading this book, you are a better person simply because you feel like you just too an introductory course on bsuiness history without having to read that much.

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 Economist, truly one of the most clear-headed periodicals out there. To be fair to these guys, they answer all of the questions I posed in the first paragraph and they do it in interesting style too. They bring up pertinent facts, interesting viewpoints and penetrating questions. So why not five stars? Because it barely scratches the surface of the topic it covers. You find yourself reading one thing after another that you'd like to know a lot more about, but then find yourself moving on to a new topic without having your thirst for knowledge about the last topic even mildly quenched. Perhaps that's all right. The book claims in its own title to be a short history. It can serve as a quick introduction to a number of different topics that a reader can dig into more deeply if the spirit moves them. Further, maybe this book will serve as the call for other qualified authors and historians to focus some attention on this under-covered area of economics and history. I hope it does, but this book kept leaving me wanting at least a little more on every topic it touched. Recommended, but be prepared to feel like your being rushed through a tour of a museum that you'd really like to spend some time in. Hats off to Micklethwait and Wooldridge for making one point clearly: the company is the single greatest engine of wealth (of all kinds) we have in the modern world, and that forgetting that could be tragic.

There are few creatures more vilified in today's world than corporations. For some, companies are the instruments of evil, they exist to profit at the expense of ordinary people, and their chief executives are defamed for their greed and ambition. All the same, most people live off the checks they receive from those evil beasts; and, being the CEO of a large company offers comparable prestige with other esteemed professions. Wrestling with these competing images of corporations is part of what "The Company" aims at. John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, both of The Economist, embark on an ambitious project to show that the corporation lies at the heart and center of organized societies-more so than the state, the commune, the political party, the church, and others. Having put modesty aside, the authors deliver on their promise with great skill, both literary and scholarly. All pervasive in their narrative is a deep sense of historical perspective-of contrasting the companies of today with those of the past. This need of putting the present in context is extremely valuable in canvassing the role that corporations (and particularly multinationals) play in the world today. Several themes emerge in this historical journey. The first is the evolution of the company itself through a continuous political debate about its role and place in society. A second charts the different attitudes that societies have had towards companies; in particular the authors focus on the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan. At the heart of this book is the dialectic between society and company; the Virginia Company, for example, effectively introduced democracy in America in 1619. This helps explains why Americans have been more receptive to companies that have other countries. This is one of countless examples in the book that chronicle the immense impact that companies have had the world over. "The Company" not only explains the historical arguments that have been front and center of the debate about the role that companies should play, but it also captures the timeless forces that have shaped, and are likely to keep shaping, the debate in the future. Certainly a book no one would like to miss.

The author narrates the history of business in such a pleasant way and all the information is so relevant and intriguing that I've read the book for a third time already, worth it definitely!

I enjoyed this short little history. It's worth a reread. Give a short history of the company and capitalism. I read the book because of the recent Supreme Court decision concerning companies. The book is just what it says it is, a short history. There is some commentary at the end as to where the company might go from here and whether or not it will survive. I would also read Debt, the First 5000yrs.

A highly entertaining, informative and concise history of business structures and events from ancient Mesopotamia to modern multi-nationals. I highly recommend it for any history or business buffs.

Consegue compilar brevemente a evolução do mundo através das empresas, seus modelos e mudanças ao longo do tempo. O livro poderia ter mais de 1000 páginas se os tópicos fossem tratados com profundidade, por outro lado, o formato escolhido permite que joias da história empresarial sejam entregues nas mãos do leitor comum.

Very interesting

Interesantísimo libro!

The book delivers exactly what its title promises: it is short and it is compact and the story it tells is indeed revolutionary. Equally important, it is very well written. It is recommended to anyone interested in business, business history or history in general.

A very readable and enjoyable survey of the history of what has emerged as the world's preeminent institution - the corporation. Clears up many misconceptions and provides insights into the relationship between business, government, global development and economic prosperity.