I became acquainted with this compelling and moving story through an animation festival. Although the crowd of college students had been rowdy this film was the last shown and people all left the theater hushed. The story is not only about a man who plants trees, it is about how each of us can make a difference in the world by every small action of love. If we do not attach a need for recognition or money to our endeavors, they feed the spirit and health of the world. I have read this book over & over and seen the animated film 4 or 5 times, and I see and learn something different every time. What do you see?

This is a wonderful read. It makes a great bedtime story and it is also beautiful (the wood carvings) and inspiring. This is good for people tired of reading what is wrong with the environment. The Man Who Planted Trees is kind of like a sophisticated Lorax book. Anyway, buy this book and enjoy it!

The Man Who Planted Trees is the tale of Elzeard Bouffier, a man who, after his son and wife die, spends his life reforesting miles of barren land in southern France. Bouffier's planting of thousands and thousands of trees results in many wondrous things occurring, including water again flowing in brooks that had been dry for many years. The brooks are fed by rains and snows that are conserved by the forest that Bouffier planted. The harsh, barren land is now pleasant and full of life.

Written by Jean Giono, this popular story of inspiration and hope was originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness." The story's opening paragraph is as follows:

"For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain that there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake."

The Man Who Planted Trees has left a "visible mark upon the earth" having been translated into several languages. In the "Afterword" of the Chelsea Green Publishing Company's edition, Norma L. Goodrich wrote that Giono donated his story. According to Goodrich, "Giono believed he left his mark on earth when he wrote Elzeard Bouffier's story because he gave it away for the good of others, heedless of payment: 'It was one of my stories of which I am the proudest. It does not bring me in one single penny and that is why it has accomplished what it was written for.'"

This special edition is very informative. Not only does it contain Giono's inspirational story, which is complemented beautifully by Michael McCurdy's wood engraving illustrations and Goodrich's informative "Afterword" about Giono, but it also contains considerable information about how wood and paper can be conserved in the section "The WoodWise Consumer." Goodrich writes about Giono's effort to have people respect trees.

"Giono later wrote an American admirer of the tale that his purpose in creating Bouffier 'was to make people love the tree, or more precisely, to make them love planting trees.' Within a few years the story of Elzeard Bouffier swept around the world and was translated into at least a dozen languages. It has long since inspired reforestation efforts, worldwide."

The Man Who Planted Trees is not only a wonderful story, it will inspire you and your children to care for the natural world.

-Reviewed by N. Glenn Perrett

Michael delivers an honest and courageous tale of a gay man acknowledging his sexual identity late in life. He is a talented writer who infuses humor with mixed emotions to illustrate the joys and pitfalls in an unaccepting, non-conformist world. I recommend this book as a must read for gay, straight, whatever!

I just read Michael Brown's autobiography, What color is your scarf? It is always interesting for me to read about other gay men's expierences with what life throws out at them as gay people. I had to first of all laugh at the title. Being a late bloomer myself, it took me years before I could begin to understand all the meanings of all the various colors of handerchiefs, or in this case, scarfs!! The book made me laugh. There are some very funny scenes described in this book! Like the heterosexual world, we have our differences, but I think any gay man who reads this autobiography will find Something he can relate to in his own coming out journey. I certianly found myself more then once smiling and thinking that I certainly can appriciate Michael's feelings about this or that, and, other situations that were totally different for me. The reading is so so easy, and at times it felt like Michael was sitting next to me telling me his most intiment secrets!.

The perfect road map for the mature man's journey into the gay community is Michael Brown's book "What Color is Your Scarf?" It proves to be an excellent tool for those individuals whose coming out process didn't begin with the onset of puberty, but instead after age 40. Michael Brown's book answers a lot of the questions that many may be too embarrassed to ask. It is written in an informative, yet witty style that makes one feel right at home with the subject matter. It's a book not only for the individual who is searching for love and acceptance within both gay and straight communities, but for their family, friends and loved ones. Buy it for a friend!

I came across this book at a Baltimore bookstore on the day the authors were doing a signing, and was very pleased. This is the story of a young Jewish man and his flight for life across Europe during the Nazi invasion. The book is gripping as Mr. Bretholz is dealt one fate after another during his many attempts to outrun the Nazis. The tension mounts as you follow Mr. Bretholz through the horrifying adventure of Nazi Germany and run in his footsteps. I've read numerous books about World War II, but this is the first that to give me a true sense of seeing the horror first hand as it unfolded. It is a tragic personal adventure that will bring you to tears as you experience the inhumanities and tragedies of the war and then share in the author's final triumph of coming to America. I've read two memoirs this year, this one and Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. While they are two very different tragic stories, they are among the better books I have read in quite some time.

Leap Into Darkness
Leo Bretholz
Auto-Biographical

Leo Bretholz is a young boy in this book who is running for his life in the Holocaust. He was born in Vienna, Austria.
He survived the Nazis' plan to kill all the Jews. He escaped seven times during almost a seven-year time period. During his seven-year run for his life he was in many countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and a few others. He was in Internment Camps, Forced Labor Camps, and was improsined a few times. It was unbelievable to here the story of how he escaped death.

This book was one of the greatest Holocaust. Books I have ever read. It contains a great deal of information on the Holocaust. The author Leo Bretholz was a survivor of the Holocaust. This book compares to "Night" by Elie Wiesel. This book was different though because Leo encountered so much more and was on the run for seven years. It is unimaginable.

"Leap Into Darkness" was one of the most touching books I have experienced. I could not put the book down. I have read many Holocaust books but this was by far the best book I have ever read. It contains the greatest story of how Leo Bretholz was a brave man and he escaped from danger. It's amazing to here all that he had to go through but that he was still here today. It was also interesting to here that after the Holocaust his name was posted in a book for those who had passed away but he was grateful to be living. He dealt with the loss of family members but he still didn't give up. Leo Bretholz touched my life because he wasn't a quitter. A quote on page 158 he asked, "What will happen to us?" Even though there were bad possibilities Leo Bretholz never gave up. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 12. If you are looking for suspense this is a great book for you. If you want to learn a lot of information on the holocaust this is definitely the answer. This may be too scary for younger children and if you don't like sad Holocaust stories this may not be the right thing for you. Overall this is one of the best stories I have ever read and I encourage you to read it.

full of surprises, turnes and twists is this true story of World War 11. My heart pounded as I read Leo's harrowing tale of escape. It is with both pleasure and pride to say that I personally know this man. He has been a friend of my family for many years. I never knew the true extent of what he had to endure just to survive until I read this book.

Lem borrows deftly from the languages of medicine, mythology, physics, and engineering in weaving a spellbinding tale of earnest but fallible men travelling to a distant planet. As the title suggests, things go wrong with alarming and often comical regularity; Lem simply refuses to take for granted some utopian future in which everything-- machines, ideas--work flawlessly. Compared to his American counterparts, Lem strikes one as decidedly "old school:" how many works of this category portray with sympathy and understanding a soldier or a Catholic priest? The style is surprisingly polished considering the spotty quality of some of Lem's other endeavors. A book of philosophical debate as well as an adventure story, but without the benefit of character development, it almost qualifies as literature, and it is quite possibly the best science fiction novel ever written.

This is the only one of his books that I've ever read outside of Solaris and there are a lot of parallels in that book. Like that one, Lem discusses contact with an alien race and like Solaris, that contact goes against all previous sci-fi notions along those lines. Though in Solaris the alien was the planet and it was largely unreachable as an entity, which was the point, here the aliens even talk to the crewmembers though Lem still never shows what they look like. But this has some of his most interesting philosophical discussions, something we don't see a lot of in science-fiction today, or ever, for that matter. The reactions of the crew to a planet completely at war are fascinating, instead of staying out of it, they keep trying to show their strength and scare the inhabitants . . . so much for that Prime Directive. To me, the reactions of the crew were much more realistic than any other book I've read and if some people think they're extreme . . . well try to imagine yourself in the same situation. It's nearly impossible. It's a pity that this book is out of print when so many other lesser books are, but a dedicated fan can find it and if the number of reviews here inspires someone to go search it out, then hey, we've done our job.

How hard can you take it? Fiasco is the fourth and most pessimistic of Lem's "contact" novels (after Eden, The Invincible and Solaris). Humanity undertakes its first interstellar voyage in the hope of making contact with the inhabitants of the planet Quinta, but the aliens won't play ball and all the scientists can do, as usual, is present various theories which achieve little, nothing, or worse than nothing. The basic problem is a simple one (and a recurrent Lem theme): how can human beings hope to recognize, let alone understand or talk to, creatures which are wholly different in their biological and technological heritage? There's a good deal of technical discussion, concerning both the possibilities of contact and the workings of interstellar travel, which might prove difficult going; but if you stick with it the paradoxes are delightful, though hardly encouraging; and the descriptive passages are as good as anything in Solaris. The opening chapter is a stunning jou!rney through a literally titanic landscape, and although it might at first seem rather loosely related to the rest of the book, its perspective on the "heroic" protagonist is vital to the ending - another set-piece in a beautifully evoked alien landscape, this time on Quinta. Heroism, even human-ness itself, when confronted with the alien, is not just an irrelevance (as it is to varying degrees in the three previous books) but a deadly liability. Even now that it can resurrect the dead and travel to the stars, humanity still can't see outside itself. The expedition, though a miracle of human endeavour, is a fiasco. But Fiasco is a hard, ironic, sometimes breathtaking triumph.

As big basketball fan, not to mention being a Jordan fan. Genie Saint Louis has hit the nail on the head. It's as if she has known Jordan all his life and with all this speculation of his return to the game this is a MUST read. Can't wait for the movie.

After all the controversy of Michael Jordan returning to the NBA, this story makes me a believer that he will really carry out his plans and help the Wizards become a decent team for a change. Of course, like any other book, there are somme haters that will poke fun of this book. How can you judge a book if you so not know what the book is about. I let my friends skim through the story, especially the basketball players and they said after reading this book, it is possible that he will return and lead the Wizards to their first of many championships. Read the book. It won't disappoint you.

Michael Jordan Returns to the NBA is both entertaining and easy reading that outlines humorously the how and why of his return to the NBA. History has shown that even a superstar's fifteen minutes of fame is fleeting. And even though Michael has taken a behind the scenes leadership role with the Wizards it doesn't fulfill his ingrain competive spirit.

As Michael hears youngsters saying,"I want to be like Koby when I grow up," his overpowering need to prove that he will always be an icon gets the better of him and once again he dons a basketball uniform because as the author, Genie Saint Louis, stated, "Jordan doesn't need the money or the power. He wants to mold a whole team."

This book meets all of Micheal's die-hard fans' needs. We want to hold onto the thought that we will be able once again to be mesmerized by Michael as he glides through the air proving that he alone can do the impossible - guide one of the worst teams in NBA history to championship status.

Come on back, Michael, this book paves your way.

Michael Johnson is undoubtedly the greatest long-sprinter EVER. In fact, his 19.32sec world record in the 200M is in my humble opinion the single most mind-boggling race ever, and qualifies Mr. Johnson as one of the greatest track and field stars of all time.

What is often overlooked, however, is Mr. Johnson's consistency over his career. He once had a consecutive win-streak of 400M races that spanned a number of *years*. Quite simply, he very rarely lost any of the races he entered.

This book offers great insight into Michael Johnson's mental toughness, and explores the mindset of what made him great. True, this man's single-mindedness and no-nonsense determination may come across as slightly monomaniacal and somewhat opinionated to the average reader, but for any athlete that has dreamed of excelling, his words are truly inspirational.

I really enjoyed this book because of how accessibly it was written. You don't have to be a track and field fan to appreciate the universal message Mr. Johnson is trying to get across. This book can be used as a motivational tool, and I think that any book that you can read and then come away with something is a book well worth reading. And this is such a book.

Track and field athletes are not usually known for their intellects or even candor (with the possible exception of Carl Lewis), but Michael Johnson also succeeds here in impressing how much of an intelligent, well-rounded man he is... there is no doubt that he will succeed in his life after his track career has ended. Although supremely confident in his racing abilities-- and who wouldn't be?-- Mr. Johnson never comes across as arrogant or condescending. What I like best about this book is how it almost seems as if it were written purely for the benefit of the reader, as if Johnson had something that he felt he could share, to be read by others for their own benefit. In fact, 'Slaying the Dragon' feels like a message that Mr. Johnson felt compelled to share, and it is written in the humble spirit that he has simply worked very hard to get where he is.

I have to like such a humble message coming from such greatness. We will not see another sprinter like Michael Johnson for a long time. But we can still enjoy his words and his message, which were written in such a helpful and giving way. I came to this book in awe of this man's accomplishments, and came away with a respect for his character.

I just wish this book gave information on where he can receive fan mail!

I've got to admit, Michael Johnson is my all time hero. I'm a big track and field enthusiast, and I just had to get my hands on this book. I want to take my track and field career to Michael Johnson's level of greatness. I was surprised when I started reading "Slaying the Dragon." I was ready for some great training techniques to improve my physical strength and endurance; but this book goes so much deeper then that. It's really a counselor in disguise as a book. It helps you improve your everyday life from all aspects. It gives you good ideas on how to set goals, and achieve your objectives. I found that you can apply this book to just about anything and it will produce results; whether it is on the track, in the classroom, or at the office. I will use this book to help me balance my sports career with the classroom. After reading this book I now have a direction and destination to strive for. No matter what your "dragon" is, this book can help you overcome it. If you give this book a chance, I gaurantee success in all aspects of your life. It's a must read book.

This is not your average "read-about-a-successful-athlete" book just for the sole purpose of some inspiration for track and field or just for dreaming about being like Mike, or any other athelete. It is much more. Michael Johnson takes his struggles and triumphs in his life and relays to the reader how he learned proven success principles that helped him accomplish the tasks that he had set out to do and has done a fantastic job in giving the exact same principles in everyday, easy to read and understand language. He even states in his book that these principles can be applied to whatever goals or tasks or dreams you want to achieve and puts them in an excellent sequential form from the start of the pursuit of one's dream or goal, to making a plan of action to reach them, along with what to do when disappointments;failiure;set-backs;distractions in life come along (and they will) and how to overcome them, and then finally, to making those dreams and goals a reality. To the reader of these comments, I think the point has been made clear. GET THIS BOOK, PERIOD!!

This outstanding book explores Spirituality and the author's Spiritual Journey from the perspective of Lakota (Native American) ceremonial practices. Michael Hull describes how the Great Spirit, God, revealed himself and became an active part of his life and spiritual path, the Red Road. The book shows that through the teachings of his Lakota friends, and following Spirit's direction, the author has become a teacher and healer of others, and a Sun Dance Chief of the Sioux nation.

I highly recommend this book. I've read it four times and I've already given away six copies as gifts with rave reviews in return. The delicacy with which the author writes is quite evocative. Each time that I read it he takes me on a journey that offers excellent insight into what it means to learn how to walk with grace in my everyday world, which is at times completely foreign to me. The author's deep connection to God, to Spirit, is very apparent, highly moving, & emotionally encouraging because I see in his stories how he trusts that connection on a daily basis. I particularly like how throughout the book he gently weaves the theme of how sacred life is to behold. And his insightful description & imagery of a sweat lodge and being inside the womb of the earth next to the seat of God was exquisite. I certainly look forward to reading more of this author's work.

While reading this book it struck me that despite it's listing under Native Spirituality, it was ,as well, a book of inspiration, self-help, biography, and deep spirituality. I found Mr. Hull's self-disclosure and honesty refreshing without being offensive.His self revelations were helpful in leading me to inspect myself more deeply and affirming my own human nature as a gift to be learned from instead of suppressed. I am grateful that Mr. Hull has continued to live his vision and as a result written a wonderful book which can help those involved in their own healing and spirituality.

This fascinating tome is an in-depth look the L. Frank Baum and his famous work, The Wizard of Oz. The book begins with a biography of Baum that turns into a biography of the book, complete with information on all of the plays and movies that were derived from it. Next comes the bulk of the book, a reproduction of the original 1900 edition of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with pages upon pages of notes sprinkled throughout. As an added bonus, the book ends with William Wallace Denslow's story, Adventures of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Little Girl.

This book is absolutely fascinating! The introduction (biography) is brimming with many wonderful photos, and even several of Baum's maps. As might be expected of the notes for the book, I found many long-winded and/or irrelevant, while others completely tickled my fancy. This, though, probably merely reflects my own tastes; another reader would probably cherish some notes I disliked and vice versa. Overall, I think that this book is a wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in the Wizard of Oz, and I highly recommend it.

Michael Patrick Hearn really has done a grand service to the American literary world. While the book Wizard of Oz in itself will be a classic of all time, Hearn's annotations breathes life into this book like nothing else I've ever read.

His exhaustive, extensive research illuminates this classic, and brings us into the life of L. Frank Baum in connection with his writing of this story. I also loved the reproductions of the the original color plates from the first printing, which Baum painstakingly wanted.

As a true devotee of the film, and a casual devotee of the book, I now considered myself converted and find joy equally in both, due to the reading of this new classic.

Take advantage of this low price while you can still get it!

This holiday season I am coming on strong as the Ghost of Christmas past and one of the things I am strongly advocating are annotated editions of beloved books. One title that has to be on any short lists of beloved books would be "The Wizard of Oz." As you know, this book is a potent political allegory representing a nation divided between an agricultural past, represented by the Scarecrow, and the industrial future, symbolized by the Tin Woodman. Baum's position on the free silver issue that dominated American politics at the turn of the last century is self-evident, from the silver slippers that Dorothy wears to the caricature of William Jennings Bryan as the Cowardly Lion.

Of course, this interpretation has been around for years and you can certainly make up your mind after reading what Michael Patrick Hearn has put together in this wonderful Centennial Edition of "The Annotated Wizard of Oz." For starters, we have all of the original illustrations by W. W. Denslow, reproduced in their correct colors. That alone is worth having, but this volume also includes lots of rare drawings, photographs, and maps having to do with Baum's classic tale. Hearn's annotations focus not only on where Baum got his ideas but where "The Wizard of Oz" fits into the grand scheme of folk tales and children's stories as well as Baum's collective writings. Obviously, Hearn knows about a lot more than just Baum's career and writings, but he avoids sounding like a scholar speaking from an ivory tower.

Obviously, "The Annotated Wizard of Oz" is not for the first time reader. I would contend that an annotated edition of this, or any other beloved book like "Anne of Green Gables," "Alice in Wonderland," or "The Hobbit," is for those who are in double-figures when it comes to the number of times they have read the book in question. This is a chance to discover new levels of meanings. There is really no need for persuasion here: if you know how you feel about this story and you see what is collected in this annotated version, that should be more than enough to convince you this is worth getting for yourself (or someone you love) even if you do not find it under the tree on Christmas morning.

A great book. Stackpole did a great job of an intro into the clan invasion. He created two of the best characters i've ever read in Phelan Kell and Victor Davion. It's also great reading about Hanse and Melissa Davion. Everything great about the Federated Commonwealth and Battletech is in this book, from nonstop action with the clans, to the 1st Kathil Uhlans and Andrew Redburn. Stackpole does a great dramatic job aside from all the action. Read it!! And then the others in the trilogy!!

This was the first btech novel I read. Although i found it hard then, to understand this book, i wouldn't reccomend to first timers. It took a few more novels until I read it again and loved it. The effort stackpole has put in this novel is amazing. The characters eg, Vladimir ward, Phelan kell and Kai Allard are exceptionally well. Vlad's brute force, fiendish mind and role as the heel made him my favourite in the novel and still is throughout all Stackpole's novel's. This novel and the trilogy should definately be made into a movie. It would surely please the current fans of the series and no doubt bring hundreds more. This trilogy is one of the more keypoints in the battletech world, with the coming of the clans. a movie made from this would be easily possible with the support it would be shown.

Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! This is an awsome book from Stackpole. THE CLAN INVASION! this is the first book including the tech and mech superior clans.It as plenty of mech action and 1 thing there has never been before! The Inner Sphere Uniting? i recomend this book to everyone who enjoys battletech

I found this book hard to grade, but easy to read. Stories are the best way for people to learn, and this book has six interesting ones (about Josiah Wedgwood, H.J. Heinz, Marshall Field, Estee Lauder, Howard Schultz, and Michael Dell) describing entrepreneurs pulling themselves up by their bootstraps to create major brands. As a book of engaging business stories, this is a five star book. In terms of the insight you will get from these stories compared to the potential insight you should get, this is a three-star book. I compromised the two to come up with my grading.

If you want to learn about today's brand-building challenges, other books handle that subject much better. If you want to learn about how the Wedgwood, H.J. Heinz, Marshall Field, Estee Lauder, Starbucks, and Dell businesses got started, this is your book. The material is handled much like historical fiction (except the facts are meticulously gathered and documented), and you will find the going easy and pleasant.

If you like Horatio Alger stories, you will find those here as well. I suspect that exhausted entrepreneurs on long plane trips where their computer batteries have run out will find this book helpful in recharging their personal batteries. As Winston Churchill once said, "Never give up." That's the key lesson here. Through trial and error, these entrepreneurs kept trying until they found formulas that worked.

The choice of examples is a little flawed. Five are consumer branding examples and only one is a business example (Dell). Of the consumer branding examples, you will find that most are about selling to the higher income people. That gets a little repetitive.

The explanation of the examples is also incomplete. Considering that this is a business book, there is relatively little financial information other than annual sales and occasional asset turnover ratios. Qualitative example are helpful, but they are more helpful with more pinning down. For example, when you see the profit margins that Wedgwood had, that explains a lot about why the company could afford such lavish promotions. Without similar information on Heinz, you wonder why he was so successful in making sales but went bankrupt. Presumably, he had low margins.

The photographs and maps in the book are a plus, and I enjoyed them very much. The book was printed on such high quality paper (similar to that used for diplomas) that the images are on the same paper as the text. This permits the book to have many more illustrations than similar-sized business books.

The point about earning trust in the book is easily explained. At the time when these entrepreneurs were getting started, their largest competitors usually provided poor quality products, sometimes had inappropriate brand images, often failed to offer decent guarantees, and typically acted in self-serving ways. Earning trust isn't too hard if others are scoundrels or incompetent. Above all, these entrepreneurs stood for decent human values, and got that point across in one-to-one situations. I'm not sure that point comes out clearly enough, even though it is certainly present in each example.

Those who think the Internet age is unique will find the comparisons to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England and the transportation improvements in the United States to be valuable contrasts. But each age brings its unique changes. Entrepreneurs should seek to grasp those changes, but also see what others have missed. I think that the Starbucks concept could have been successfully innovated in the late 1950s. It's just that no one did it then.

After you finish enjoying these stories, I suggest that you think about the values that your organization stands for. Are those values presented and delivered in ways that make your organization more trustworthy than any other? How else do you have to be superior in order to establish a burnished brand image?

Be serious about giving people the best you can possibly provide!

Stories are the way that we all learn best. Professor Koehn has provided six meticulously detailed ones about brand development by 18th and 19th century entrepreneurs (Josiah Wedgwood, H.J. Heinz, Marshall Field) as well as 20th century ones (Estee Lauder, Howard Schultz, and Michael Dell). Almost any reader will learn details new to her or him from these cases. Each example focuses on how important brands got started on a shoestring. The book has a major weakness in that the financial details of the six businesses are too sketchy to really help understand the economics of what the entrepreneurs did.

Wedgwood improved the quality of earthenware, and changed the way that the products were used by the wealthy and the aspiring. He courted the visible elites and royalty to inspire emulation by those who could afford the products.

H.J. Heinz offered quality and convenience at a time when most preserved food products were shoddy and women did most of their own preserving.

Marshall Field courted the carriage trade who could afford to pay top dollar for top quality goods and service.

Estee Lauder provided high quality cosmetics at more affordable prices.

Howard Schultz introduced most Americans to the latte, taking coffee from being a source of caffeine to a tasteful experience.

Michael Dell changed the business model for how corporations got their computing equipment, customizing for each one just-in-time.

Having been educated in both history and in business, it is clear that Professor Koehn comes at the problem more from the historical discipline than from the business one. As a result, the book will be most appealing to those who are interested in the origins of one or more of these brands, companies, or entrepreneurs. At this level, the book is five-star entertainment.

Business readers will find that relevant details are often missing. For example, Wedgwood staged very expensive exhibitions of his wares. You wonder how he could afford to do this, and finally learn near the end of the study that the company had enormous profit margins. H.J. Heinz is described as being very successful in a predecessor company, yet he goes bankrupt. Some information about his margins would probably have revealed that he had low margins. The information is not included. There are bits and pieces of ratios and annual revenue numbers, but the financial side of these examples is clearly underdeveloped. That's a shame, since they all built up important enterprises on a shoestring.

The choice of cases seems flawed from a business perspective. Five of the six are consumer products and services. Of the five, all appealed initially to high income people when good products and services were largely unavailable. Forming brands in such an environment is no great trick. Readers would have learned more about brand building from cases where the competition was fierce from people who were providing exactly the same choices.

As a result, from a business perspective, this is a three star book. I averaged the five and the three star ratings out to reach my four star conclusion.

After you read this book, you should think about how you decide which brands to trust, and how you go about establishing the trustworthiness of brands that you represent. What else is important before trust can be earned? In particular, pay attention to the significance of establishing improved business models (something that all six entrepreneurs had in common).

Make your brand stand alone in its desirability in the eyes of all who see it!

This highly readable business book profiles six successful entrepreneurs from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Each profile (Josiah Wedgwood, Henry Heinz, Marshall Field, Estee Lauder, Howard Schultz, and Michael Dell) details the milieu of the era and offers insight into the environmental business factors that each of these business builders faced.

It is this holistic approach to the subject of each profile that makes the stories so compelling. Using her command of history, Ms. Koehn outlines the period view of each of the products (pickles to perfume) and vividly draws the reader into the strategy of each of these entrepreneurs' approach to the market and building their brand. It is the power of these stories that gives the brand message such import. All of these people had a great number of competitors in their market niche but their focussed approach to the brand associated with their goods or services is what set them apart.

Ms. Koehn uses some excellent demographic and financial information (indexed to today's dollars) that provide the backdrop for the scale of the success each of these entrepreneurs' achieved. This provides just enough quantitative information to provide texture without clouding the real story in statistics.

As an executive in the software business today, I found a great deal of comfort in the fact that the challenges I face in today's competitive marketplace are not new. In fact, with great courage and resolve, they have been solved again and again in differing but similar ways over centuries.