No comments about Michael Owens And the Glass Industry.

No comments about The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor.

No comments about Captains of Industry: Men of Buisness Who Did Something Besides Making Money.

2 comments about The Merchant Prince of Dodge City: The Life and Times of Robert M. Wright.

1. C. Robert Haywood has written a wonderful book on one of the founders (of perhaps two or three men) of Dodge City, Kansas. Wright made millions from cattle and spent it all. Four wives, and 45 years later he died in Dodge City, broke and not famous. He was one of the men who hired Wyatt Earp and was a backer of Mat Basterson, among many other more famous (infamous) Western hero. As President of the Ford County (ie, Dodge City) historical Society, I assure the reader that no better history of that period has yet been written, except perhaps Robert Wright's book on Dodge City itself. (out of print). Wright is an amazing man, from a family which included a grandfather who was Clerk of the US Supreme Court and a greatgrandfather that was president of the US during the period before the constitution. Great book. (little known fact: Wright still has in 1999 a greatgrandson age 80 and a grandson, age 49, still living. that doesn't happen very often, but with forty years or so between wife number 1 and wife number 4, etc.) George Laughead Jr.



2. C. Robert Haywood has written a wonderful book on one of the founders (of perhaps two or three men) of Dodge City, Kansas. Wright made millions from cattle and spent it all. Four wives, and 45 years later he died in Dodge City, broke and not famous. He was one of the men who hired Wyatt Earp and was a backer of Bat Masterson, among many other more famous (infamous) Western heros. As President of the Ford County (ie, Dodge City) Historical Society, I assure the reader that no better history of that period has yet been written, except perhaps Robert Wright's own 1913 book on Dodge City. (out of print). Wright is an amazing man, from a family which included a grandfather who was Clerk of the US Supreme Court and a greatgrandfather that was president of the US during the period before the constitution. Great book. (Little known fact: Wright has, in 1999, a greatgrandson, age 80 and a grandson, age 49, still living. That doesn't happen often, but with forty years or so between wife number 1 and wife number 4....) George Laughead Jr.

5 comments about The Mint on Carson Street.

1. The Carson City coinsthat intrigue us today serve to memorialize the prominent--and not so well known--deeds which occurred between the Civil War and the turn of the century. During this era of giant personalities, the growing pains of the nation created both hardship and jubilant excess in a brand new Nevada (Halloween, 1864).
   This phenomenon of the old west is lovingly presented by Rusty Goe in THE MINT ON CARSON STREET. Though little-known outside numismatic circles Rusty has delved into every cranny of the period, all the while becoming one of the supremely knowledgeable and formidable operatives in U.S.coins. His colleagues and trading competitors will attest to his skill and high integrity.
   The book (tome,really), Rusty's memorial to an incomparable time and place, is not merely to read, but to dive into and swim around. Some of its delights: recapturing an obscure but haunting part of our exuberant national adolescence, demystifying many of the intricacies in the rare coin market, and serving as a permanent and valuable resource reference. The manner of presentation is that of a veteran of many adventures and well-fought battles lovingly sharing his most prized experiences with those who are disposed to value and appreciate the accounts.
   THE MINT ON CARSON STREET has pride of place in my book collection.



2. I received this book as a gift and was only expecting it to be a synopsis of Carson City coins. I was not expecting all of the wonderful history! It is a fascinating read as well as being so informative. I really enjoyed reading about so many of the people who influenced not only Carson City and Nevada history, but United States history, as well. In the back is a complete guide to all of the coins minted in Carson City.
   The book itself is quite beautiful, inside and out. It contains many pictures of historical people and places. The cover is so nice, you will not want to stash it in your bookcase, but place it on the coffee table for others to enjoy (and envy!)
   Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for the beautiful book!



3. There are books on mint products from the Carson City Mint and there are books on the history of Nevada but there has never been a book that so expertly weaves together the stories of the people who made significant events come to pass, the political climate of the post-Civil War United States and territories that were not yet states, Congressional action and reaction to the economy and the contentious matter of money backed by either precious metals or paper, the trials and challenges of a start-up assaying and coining operation, all in the exciting context of the Comstock Lode phenomenon and the mining industry that changed the west.

   This book is written with unmistakable passion for the benefit of Comstock and Carson City enthusiasts. But it will be highly regarded by historians, numismatists, coin and memorabilia collectors, scholars, and every investor who may want to become acquainted with the pleasurable pursuit of a truly scarce and sought after tangible collectible. The book also contains statistical information and insights into surviving populations of coins in relation to the quantities originally minted. It has taken a place of prominence among the books I own.




4. Rusty Goe's new book describing the history of The Carson City Mint and its coinage is a MUST read for collectors of these coins. Rusty tells how to build valuable sets of CC coins and gives a history of their price appreciation. Rarity and pedigree information are included. Great READ!
   
   Weimar White



5. "The Mint on Carson Street" is the ultimate reference guide for Carson City coins. It provides descriptions, pedigrees, populations, mintages and more on each of the 111 coins in the CC set (plus a few special varieties). It has become my personal reference tool and I find myself using it on almost a daily basis. On that subject alone, this book is unparalleled and while it is all that, it is oh so much more. Rusty Goe's crafty writing virtually takes you on a time machine ride as he recounts the glorious history of those lives and times (late 1860's through the mid 1890's) via both story and pictures. When you buy this book, it is like you're getting six great books in one. It is a fascinating read for everyone. The "Gilded Age"....The "Old West"...."CC Coins"....The Comstock Lode"....If you are a passionate fan on any one or all of those subjects, there is a pretty good chance you have already read this book. If you haven't read it, or you are not one of those persons, pick up a copy today, read it and by the time you are finished, you will be!

No comments about Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 1992-1993 (Who's Who in Finance and Business).

5 comments about Swimming Across: A Memoir.

1. When I finished this book, I was rather disappointed at its incompleteness. No doubt Andy Grove must be an extraordinary person after immigrating to America with almost nothing and then moving to become the CEO of Intel Corporation. His book gives some insight into his personality through his childhood experiences and his dedication to hard work can easily been seen through his striving for an education.
   
   The most disappointing aspect of "Swimming Across" is that it does not explain how he became such a successful person after moving to America. The story ends after his college education from City College in New York. It does not describe any part of his involvement in the development of Intel Corporation. Rather than a biography, it is more of a complication of his childhood reflections.
   
   A good portion of the story revolves around his childhood experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust, followed the Soviet occupation of Hungary. It is interesting to read from a historical perspective. Much of the book also deals with his interest in chemistry and his quests for girls during his gymnasium (high school) years.
   
   The writing is easy to read and not very intricate. While it offers an interesting tale of his personal experiences as an American immigrant, it does not have very much on how to climb the corporate ladder. It has a very good glimpse into the real Andy Grove's personality from a first person perspective, but not the details on what made him stand out as a successful individual among other Americans.



2. Never would I have expected a man behind Intel could have such a childhood.I picked this book because it was written by Andrew Grove and mostly because it sets in the the times of World War II. Although I could not get much from a Jews perspective during the war time, however the book has captured some of the essence of tension during the period.
   
   I was intrigued by his childhood story and found it hard to put the book down one I started reading it (Yes, it is cliche to say that..) The title of the book "Swimming Across" could not have been more appropriate with his escape from Hungary to the United States - that made such an outstanding person in man's history!



3. The reason we should read biographies, to my mind, is clear - to find out what drives other people towards success, towards failure, towards redemption, towards evil, even to find out how the Mansons, Stalins, Hitlers and Husseins grew up. The pursuit of a clue towards a person's later decisions is a delicious game, to find the key events in childhood that makes that person later go down in the history books.
   
   However, there is one problem in an autobiography: the person is himself writing it, therefore editting out consciously and unconsciously factors that may well have been much more critical, omitted due to personal embarassment or because the family members and friend are still alive.
   
   Reading the life of Andrew Grove, according to Andrew Grove (born Andras Grof), is to have a feeling that his whole childhood was drawn through a cheesecloth with small holes. If he did write it all himself, without outside editting, it reads in a very simplistic way, for a very complex man. It seems as if the "big words" were taken out, the more complex self-examination of his soul was either never set to paper, or deleted.
   
   Nevertheless, you will find this book a good read, like a suspense story, as young Andris, only child of a Jewish comfortable family in pre-WWII Budapest, grows up with a strong sense of separation from others.
   
   He has several marks against him from the start - he is Jewish, and all around him know it, and for the most part, in Europe, that was no plus. He rejects his own religion and remains fiercely secular, so he has no religious morality on which he hangs his decisions. He is a pudgy boy, whom others tease, whom girls reject. He turns to books, to study, to the English language, and finally to science, in his loneliness. His own father is taken away during the war, hence his mother loses her social life and is isolated along with her son. The situation is restored to prosperity and popularity after the war, when the father miraculously survives a dreadful work camp, returning home a filthy skeleton.
   
   When the father is in clover, getting top level positions in the post-war economy, by means unclear to readers, all seems well, and people come in a steady flow to the house. Later, the father is accused of illegal activity, and loses his position and 75% of his salary, along with the pretty secretary and the car. The sensitive son, Andris, notices how popularity depends on the income and position of the father. NO doubt that this is driven deep into his consciousness more than anything else.
   
   When a chance to leave Hungary arises in 1956 with the 17 days of fighting the Russian Communists, his parents do not hesitate to encourage him, for at least he has a fighting chance with relatives in New York City, and years of English lessons under his belt. These two factors hasten his journey by ship to America, where his relatives adopt him and support his way through college, until he has a degree in chemical engineering. His attachment to Hungary is weak to this day, and he has not returned since his mudcaked trudge over the border to Vienna. He never voices a strong hatred of Communists, perhaps because his own father must have been one to have been appointed an inspector in an area in which he was not qualified. Yet it is the Communist mentality which has hung over his country and threatened the Western world for decades. It is a strange omission in a man who celebrates America's open doors and willlingness to give immigrants a chance at great capitalistic success, something that could never have happened in a Russian-dominated nation.
   
   I am impressed with this older man's willingness to write about his painful and persecuted youth, but any experienced reader can feel that there is a stiffness in the writing, especially in dealing with any of the women who did not mother him (i.e. his own mother and the aunt in NYC), as if the human elements in his life were not so critical for him. He seems to be a very tough nut, although he may have underneath some sentimentality, i.e. when the grandchildren were born, he wrote this book. He admits in the closing chapter that he himself is not sure why he does not return to the country of his youth, but I have my own suspicion - that he felt himself an outsider and a social failure throughout all those years, both as a Jew and a "nerd", and that his father's ups and downs with the economy and with the Communist affiliation made a much bigger impact than he will dare delve into. He perhaps underestimated the English-speaking world's understanding of this kind of dictatorship and decided not to go deeply into that part of everyday life.
   
   Most refugees from Communism and Nazism are willing to go on for chapters about the restrictions and mind control of their homeland's dictatorships, but you will find that these are only briefly touched upon. I see the young Andris a boy of self-conscious, sensitive and rationally intelligence, who refuses to let external factors push him down, what the Finns call SISU. Whether it is outside takeovers like the fall of Hungary to COmmunism, the rape of his mother by the Russians, the imprisonment of his father, and other extremely horrid life situations, he shut his emotions down and plowed ahead. Yes, he is very much like the Finns, especially their men.
   
   We can all admire Andrew Grove as a great leader of Intel, as a driven and highly intelligent man, but the person underneath, as revealed in this story, is a damaged and isolated person from his youth. No wonder that he did not want to write it down until so much later in life, when material success and a family of his own could prove that he was great.



4. Andy is a wonderful person and a genius - but not a writer. This book is simply childish.Sorry Andy.



5. This is an inspiring story of Andy Grove's extraordinary life. As a contemoprary, I do not relish thinking about how well I would have fared against the dangers and adversities Grove faced, including Nazi invasion of his native city of Budapest, Soviet takeover, Communist Hungarian government, persecution as a Jew, physical illness. This book could be titled "Only the hard-headed, determined, and confident survive". On a small negative note, it is not realistic to think that he could remember many years later the degree of detail he includes in the book, although I have no doubt that the essential events happened as reported.

5 comments about The Cookie Never Crumbles: Practical Recipes for Everyday Living.

1. This book is just like a bad cookie. The material is stale, bland and crumbles to pieces when the reader searches for an in-depth understanding of the issues that are discussed. Wally is no doubt a good businessman and his cookies do mealt in your mouth, but this book mealts in your hand because it is so bad!



2. I so enjoyed this book. I read spiritually and emotionally uplifting materials all the time. Some are sooooo heavy. And I must admit that sometimes I need the weight of the information, in the same way that I need and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. But Wally's book is pure dessert, just like his cookies. When I need a quick energy lift I return to his book. I not only found myself vicariously enjoying the honest and fun loving individual, Wally (Famous) Amos, but I felt that I met a soul mate...a lover of life and a believer in the positive powers of the universe.

   I have to admit, he should have written the book sooner. He might have saved my marriage. When he speaks of the process and power of his determination and commitment to keeping his marriage in tact inspite of some "infractions" I realized the impact positive, powerful, decisive action can make.

   I share excerpts of the book with my graduate students(educators who are stressed). I give them bite size pieces of positive energy at the beginning or ending of the class. That way they can begin the session or end it with a smile.

   I do plan to try the recipe for his famous cookies for Christmas. I'll be glad to let you know if they turn out famously.




3. This is a terrific book Wally! I'm moved by your passion and determination to see life at its best and not its worst.

   This book will inspire people to look past their challenges and forge forth toward their future. Keep making those cookies for life no matter how many may crumble!

   Philippe Matthews
   CEO, EmpowerMag.com & HowYouMakeMillions.com




4. The Cookie Never Crumbles is the manual on how to live an extraordinary, abundant, loving life. What flows from Wally's heart is nothing less than the secret ingredients of living. I keep this book nearby when I need to find my center in courage, joy, compassion and gratitude. I am so blessed to call Wally Amos my friend.



5. Just finished reading such an inspiring book by Wally Amos. My husband and I have been self employed since we have been married (32 years now). I so thoroughly connected with the wonderful advice Wally spoke of. His personality reminded me so much of my husbands who also is a great one for turning lemons into lemonade. After visiting the "chip and cookie" website I must say Geez I know Christine must be a loving and strong women in her own right. It just would have been nice had she also been African American

No comments about Iron in Her Soul: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and the American Left.

1 comments about Zhang Xin: On the Return to China.

1. The biography on Zhang Xin is one of the more inspiring commentaries I have come across of an entrepreneur who made it to the top of the ladder by taking every step along the way. It is a true example of the phrase - "Life has no shortcuts". For all young professionals, who are looking for insights into how does one move from being a amateur professional to a well recognized entrepreneur, I would strongly recommend this biography as a must read. On a more personal front, I identify with this book even more given that I came to the United States to make a good living and aspire to make my contribution to my home country in a big way some time in the future.