World

The Company is a must-read book for anyone enmeshed in corporate America (or corporate-anywhere) because it explains how we got here, as organization-man and why we are organized in the way we are. The institution of the stock company stretches back for a thousand years or more, but the recognizable roots are back in the 1600s and 1700s. Micklethwait & Wooldridge bring this otherwise dusty history alive for us, showing the reader that the organizational challenges we face today in a corporatist society are not new, and that solutions to problems we believe are unique to ourselves have been found in other situations and other eras. I felt that this book gave me great perspective on the organization I work in and about the organizations we regulate and serve. It was useful as an intellectual diversion but also as something I can use to help guide my work in my everyday job.

The prospective reader need not be wary of this being some very very long article out of the Harvard Business Review or a more popular business magazine like the Economist (where the two authors are employed). This book uses history intertwined with interesting anecdote to keep this story interesting throughout.

Not everything about this audiobook was perfect. This book may not have been ideally suited to be conveyed in audio form because of its density of detail. To help myself along, I borrowed the hardbound volume from the library, and skimmed it in segments interspersed with listening. I don?t think I would have read the book had I not encountered this volume on Audible, but neither would I have been able to absorb it to my own satisfaction without the crutch of the hardbound book. Others with more familiarity with the subject matter may be able to do without this crutch.

I recommend the book highly to those seriously interested in the institutions we take for granted that are all around us.

Volume II is as good as Volume I of this work. An outstanding survey of British history, made exciting by good narration, good narrative, good organization. This volume does show some threadbare spots, some superficiality about important subjects, but that should be expected in a "grand survey" work, especially one that is somewhat abridged. Nevertheless, these are small & almost unnoticeable blemishes on the work. If you want to learn more about the events narrated, or the events skipped, there are a number of works available "on tape" (some on Audible, some not) that go into more depth on such things as the english civil war, the french & indian war, the "glorious revolution" and so forth.

The Ghost Map is a great combination of learning about 19th century London, about epidemiology, biostatistics, public infrastructure. All this is wrapped up as a detective story. The narration & sound is outstanding. At its core, Ghost Map tells the story of a cholera outbreak in London in the 1850s, and how an enterprising doctor & minister figured out its source. The book does tend to stumble a bit after this story is told (which consumes more than 6 hours of the 8 hour book). In the final section, the author seeks to explicate the modern implications of what John Snow accomplished in his 1850s investigation. This last section is weak when it talks about computer mapping & electronic directories, but much stronger in its discussion of avian flu & contingency planning for same. I actually recommended the book to several people at my company who are deeply immersed in the flu planning. It should be a very readable antidote to the usual stuff they have to consume,