Does anyone have any book recommendations on the history of specific industries? I am looking for books that cover recent history (past 50 years preferably) on industries such as tech, energy/renewables, financials, real estate, manufacturing, etc. (heck I'll even read history of gold if you have a good book to suggest).
Some examples of what I've read so far to serve as guidelines:
- The House of Morgan (Banks)
- The Prize/The Quest (Energy)
- The Wise Men (US Foreign Policy)
Bump
I can only think of Cable Cowboy as quite comprehensive history of the cable industry and about John Malone, who is basically the godfather of media / cable.
Crashed - Adam Tooze (2008/Financial Crisis)
The Spider Network - David Enrich (Libor)
The Fed and Lehman Brothers - Lawrence M. Ball (2008/Lehman)
The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis (Intersection of Psychology and Statistics/Behavioral Economics)
Den of Thieves - James B. Stewart (Drexel Burnham Lambert)
The Smartest Guys in the Room — awesome story about Enron covering 80s merger mania, domestic energy policy change, 90s tech boom/bubble, corporate politics/excess, and Texas
Any good ones on Healthcare?
Bad Blood
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a pretty good one. It's essentially a history of cancer but it reads much more like a good biography than a medical journal, or anything along those lines.
The Wise Men (US Foreign Policy) looks interesting. Any more like this?
Kissinger by Walter Isaacson is another one, though I haven't personally read it yet.
Ditto on Kissinger - I picked up the first volume of Niall Ferguson's bio of him not too long ago but still haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
Outpost by Christopher Hill and War on Peace by Ronan Farrow were both enjoyable State Department memoirs. Our Man by George Packer looks really interesting as well - it's a biography of Richard Holbrooke, who served as an Assistant SoS under both Carter and Clinton and facilitated the Dayton Accords. His son actually produced a great HBO documentary called The Diplomat that covers his life and career, in case you're interested.
*The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot is another really entertaining one on a similar topic. It covers Allen Dulles and the impact he had on shaping the CIA as its first Director.
Where the Wizards Stay Up Late if you want to learn the real history of the internet (hint: Al Gore didn't invent it)
Only the paranoid survive, Andrew Grove - former CEO of Intel, interesting foray into a hyperrational industry through the eyes of arguably one of its most successful execs
The Perfect Store, by Adam Cohen - fascinating view into the early days of ecommerce. Outdated in some respects, but the fundamental dynamics of marketplaces and growth of consumer internet businesses hold true
Cable Cowboy - solid view into the cable industry but also into Malone’s ability to weaponize leverage, I’d argue it’s more a book about how to use debt more than how to grow a cable business but still enjoyable
Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman is not bad either, has some interesting case studies that arguably underpin a lot of the thinking behind tech investing these days (esp. vc and public markets)
The World for Sale by Javier Blas & Jack Farchy (2021) covers the last century or so of commodities trading pretty well. That said, there's not a whole lot of new information in it if you've already read The King of Oil and/or Metals Men and keep up with news in the energy, metals and ag markets.
Very Important People by Ashley Mears (2020) covers the socioeconomic dynamics of the global nightclub/party circuit and is actually a fantastic read.
Boom by Michael Shnayerson (2019) is an excellent look into the economics of the contemporary art market.
The Big Picture by Ben Fritz (2018) is a solid look into the history of modern Hollywood and the major studios. Was interesting to read after The Star Machine (Jeanine Basinger, 2007), which covers the heights of the "studio system" between the 1930s-50s.
Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert (2014) is a pretty comprehensive dive into the history of the global cotton market from the 18th century onward. Not exactly an enthralling read but still an interesting corner of the commodities sector to learn about.
The Shadow World by Andrew Feinstein (2011) offers a pretty good look into the history of the military industrial complex and global arms trade.
The Quants by Scott Patterson (2010) covers the birth and evolution of quantitative finance through the GFC.
Hard Landing by Thomas Petzinger (1995) is a great read on the history of the commercial airline industry up through the mid-90s.
The Reckoning by David Halberstam (1986) provides an excellent view into the decline of the American auto industry and concurrent rise of its Japanese counterpart through the eyes of Ford and Nissan, respectively.
Those Fabulous Greeks by Doris Lilly (1970) is a pretty entertaining read about a few of the titans of 20th century oceanic shipping, granted it is a bit dated.
Wow, thank you so much guys!!
Bump
Railroader: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison
Really about one guy...BUT he made the industry what it is today and therefore a relevant industry read.
"more money than god" was a pretty good read on the history of the HF industry
Made in America by Sam Walton, Good to Great to Gone: The 60 Year Rise and Fall of Circuit City by Alan Wurtzel, and Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, and Bob Andelman are great for retail.
Hard Drive is a good biography of Bill Gates that ends before the internet error and the true dominance of Windows. Interesting to see a story written half way through its traditional ending
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