Tags:history
The Art of War
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and "for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name." It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.
The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
"[L]oaded with fascinating details about Huang’s unusual leadership style and maniacal work habits." —Ben Cohen, Wall Street Journal "The definitive look at the most remarkable business story of this era." —Morgan Housel, New York Times best-selling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever A deeply reported business history of the chip-designer Nvidia—from its founding in 1993 to its recent emergence as one of the most valuable corporations in the world—explaining how the company’s culture, overseen by cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang, has powered its incredible success. Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: its chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure. In The Nvidia Way, acclaimed tech writer Tae Kim draws on more than one hundred interviews—including Jensen (as he is known) and his cofounders, the two original venture capital investors, early former employees, and current senior executives—to show how Nvidia played the longest of long games, repeatedly creating new markets and outmaneuvering competitors, including the original semiconductor giant, Intel, which now finds itself well behind the upstart. Kim offers revelations at every step, among them: An authoritative, myth-busting account of Nvidia’s founding in 1993. How Nvidia managed to overcome early missteps that would have killed most start-ups. The benefits of Nvidia’s flat organizational structure, which allows even low-level employees to contribute to the direction of the company. How Jensen’s obsession with solving the Innovator’s Dilemma—the problem of an entrenched market leader falling to smaller, nimbler companies—drove him to reinvent his approach to corporate strategy. How Nvidia saw the coming AI wave sooner than anyone else, and how it bet its future on a technology that had not yet arrived. A rare view into Nvidia’s distinct culture and Jensen’s management principles, The Nvidia Way is a book for our moment as well as an instant classic of business history, with enduring lessons for entrepreneurs and managers alike.
Underground
In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.
First Person Singular
*PRE-ORDER HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NEW NOVEL, THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS, NOW*A mindbending new collection of short stories from the unique, internationally acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe eight masterly stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios, an encounter with a talking monkey and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides.Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.A GUARDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES 'BOOKS OF 2021' PICK
The Other Side of Me
A brilliant, highly spirited memoir of Sidney Sheldon's early life that provides as compulsively readable and racy a narrative as any of his bestselling novels. Growing up in 1930s America, the young Sidney knew what it was to struggle to get by. Millions were out of work and the Sheldon family was forced to journey around America in search of employment. Grabbing every chance he could, Sidney worked nights as a busboy, a clerk, an usher – anything – but he dreamt of becoming something more. His dream was to become a writer and to break Hollywood. By a stroke of luck, he found work as a reader for David Selznick, a top Hollywood producer, and the dream began to materialise. Sheldon worked through the night writing stories for the movies, and librettos for the musical theatre. Little by little he gained a reputation and soon found himself in demand by the hottest producers and stars in Hollywood. But, this was wartime Hollywood and Sidney had to play his part. He trained as a pilot in the US Army Air Corps and waited for the call to arms which could put a stop to his dreams of stardom. Returning to Hollywood and working with actors like Cary Grant and Shirley Temple; with legendary producers like David Selznick and Dore Schary; and musical stars like Irving Berlin, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, memories of poverty were finally behind Sheldon. This is his story: the story of a life on both sides of the tracks, of struggles and of success, and of how one man rose against the odds to become the master of his game.
Billion Dollar Whale
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune, this "thrilling" (Bill Gates) New York Times bestseller exposes how a "modern Gatsby" swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in "the heist of the century" (Axios). Now a #1 international bestseller, Billion Dollar Whale is "an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale" (Publishers Weekly), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. Over a decade, Low, with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund--right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. By early 2019, with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States, Low had become an international fugitive, even as the U.S. Department of Justice continued its investigation.Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
"Although Reminiscences...was first published some seventy years ago, its take on crowd psychology and market timing is a s timely as last summer's frenzy on the foreign exchange markets." —Worth magazine "The most entertaining book written on investing is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre, first published in 1923." —The Seattle Times "After twenty years and many re-reads, Reminiscences is still one of my all-time favorites." —Kenneth L. Fisher, Forbes "A must-read classic for all investors, whether brand-new or experienced." —William O'Neil, founder and Chairman, Investor's Business Daily "Whilst stock market tomes have come and gone, this remains popular and in print eighty years on." —GQ magazine First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the most widely read, highly recommended investment book ever. Generations of readers have found that it has more to teach them about markets and people than years of experience. This is a timeless tale that will enrich your life—and your portfolio.
Poverty, by America
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2023 A searing study of American poverty from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of EvictedThe United States is the richest country on earth, yet has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line which hasn't shifted over the last fifty years, despite the efforts of successive governments. Why is there so much scarcity in this land of dollars?In Poverty, by America, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond examines American poverty today and the stories we tell ourselves about it. Spanning social isolation, mass incarceration, the housing crisis, domestic violence, crack and opioid epidemics, welfare cuts and more, Desmond argues that poverty does not result from a lack of resources or good policy ideas. We already know how to eliminate it. The hard part is getting more of us to care.To do so, we need a new story. As things stand, liberals explain poverty through insurmountable structural issues, whereas conservatives highlight personal failings and poor life choices. Both abdicate responsibility, and ignore the reality that the advantages of the rich only come at the expense of the poor. It is time better-paid citizens put themselves back in the narrative, recognizing that the depth and expanse of poverty in any nation reflects our failure to look out for one another. Poverty must ultimately be met by community: all this suffering and want is our doing, and we can undo it.
International Historical Statistics
International Historical Statistics: Africa, Asia, Oceania is the latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available. Fully updated to 1993, it provides key economic and social indicators for the last 250 years. The volume includes both hard to find historical data, and the latest figures available.
International Historical Statistics Europe 1750–1988
The European volume of this best selling series provides data from over two centuries for all principal areas of economic and social activity in both Eastern and Western Europe. Recent concern with economic growth has led not only to a vast increase in the quantity and quality of statistics collected and published, but also to an upsurge of interest in the statistics of the past. As attention has turned more and more to the study of the comparative development of different countries, so a need has been felt for a collection of historical statistics comparing different nations. This work meets the need as far as the European continent is concerned. Each section has a short introductory commentary, and extensive notes and footnotes. This unique compilation, now in its third edition and revised and updated to 1988, brings together in a single volume major statistical series which document the growth and development of modern Europe.
International Historical Statistics
Recent concern with economic growth has led not only to a vast increase in the quantity and quality of statistics collected and published, but also to an upsurge of interest in the statistics of the past. As attention has turned more and more to the study of the comparative development of different countries, so a need has been felt for a collection of historical statistics comparing different nations. This work meets the need as far as the Americas is concerned. 'A landmark for the economic historian.It is seldom that a publication truly deserves the name of a pioneering book. This one does' English Historical Review 'No economic library should be without it' Economic Journal.
International Historical Statistics: Europe 1750-1993
International Historical Statistics: Europe is the latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available. Fully updated to 1993, it provides key economic and social indicators for the last 250 years of European countries, from employment figures by occupation to annual output of wheat. Hard to find historical data is conveniently gathered together with the latest figures.