What to expect when no one’s expecting - Jonathan V. Last 2013

Learn more about the huge demographic shift taking place all over the world and very specifically in the United States. Read about the statistics and the cultural changes driving the downward spiral in birth rates. There are a myriad of explanations for the change and it looks like little possibility of the trend reversing. The aging population will present challenges that we have not previously faced.

This is an easy to read and thought provoking book.

Thomas Jefferson–The Art of Power – Jon Meacham 2012

The book is an excellent biography of our third president and the first major one written since the confirmation of the Sally Hemings affair. The story is balanced, very well written and flows smoothly. It fairly covers his many accomplishments, his broad knowledge on so many topics as well as his personal fears and shortcomings.  The book confirmed for me that Jefferson was the best thinker among our founding fathers.

If have you have the time and like to read history,  you will love this one.

Freedom’s Forge – Arthur Herman 2012

Freedom’s Forge is the story of how America’s free enterprise industrial base grew from the malaise of the depression to supply the world with the munitions that quickly defeated the Axis powers and brought World War II to an end.  This is a fabulous tale of the men who transformed the machinery that built cars, refridgerators, roads and dams into one that built guns, tanks, ships and airplanes in staggering quantities. And it was all done in a few years and all by free enterprise business leaders with government funds but amazingly little government interference.

It makes you proud to be an American.

The People’s Money - Scott Rasmussen 2011

Great insight into what Americans really believe – filled with facts about how voters feel on key issues. It will give you some hope for the future of our country. The real challenge for America is how to get the Political Class out of government and get real people into government.

Reckless Endangerment - Morgenson & Rosner 2011

Each of the key programs is reviewed with an analysis of impact on people and the economy. It is hard to find a single initiative that had any sway bringing the economy back on track and in many cases the opposite occurred. It is almost comical the way those programs were conceived as if in a chemistry lab trying to experiment by combining chemicals.
 
The parallels between the actions of our government under Roosevelt and under the current administration are stark. The New Deal was an overwhelming economic failure and today we are pursuing many of the same policies.

The author makes a very strong case for the use of checklists in medicine, transportation and many business situations. It is clear how the checklist process is a key factor in the incredible safety in air transportation and how its use in the operating room can make the difference between life and death. This is important reading for all professionals and particularly for those involved in critical processes that require quick response. Don’t miss this book.

The Great A&P – Marc Levinson (2011)

This is a great story about the history of modern retailing. It chronicles the founding of A&P in the 1850s through its ascent to become and maintain its position as the world’s largest retailer for more than four decades. The parallels to the modern day Wal*Mart are simply fascinating.  Both focus on low prices/high volume, efficiencies in every aspect of operations, loyalty between company and employees, eliminating the middle man, and avoiding political engagement in the early years.  There are also lessons to be learned about ferocious governmental attacks on business and the sad story of a lack of management succession planning.

Who - Geoff Smart and Randy Street (2008)

I met Geoff recently and that motivated me to read his book that has been languishing on my bookshelf for three years. 'Who' is a great how-to book on selecting the right people for the job. The most important decisions leaders make are people decisions and the process in this book is simple and very effective. Read it and your selection skills will improve. 

The New Road to Serfdom - Daniel Hannan (2010)

This is an easy to read book written by a prominent Conservative British MP warning us not to follow the Obama path to European Union style social democracy. He outlines why the United States has been so successful and makes a very compelling case that if you don't stop the current trend we will wind up as another Europe.

Democrats: You won't like this book.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and The Business of Life -  Alice Schroeder (2008)

Learn how a single astute investor amassed one of the largest fortunes in the world and he did it all by practicing the highest degree of ethics. Read this book and you can't help ratcheting up your overall knowledge of business, but plan on spending serious time on this one - it's over 800 pages. I rate this an accurate portrayal of the man's life. 

When I Stop Talking You'll Know I am Dead - Weintraub (2010)

A great autobiography of one of the most prolific promoters of our time - concert producer, movie maker, deal maker and world class entrepreneur. Jerry knows and works with all the big names - Presley, Sinatra, Gleason, Connery, and hundreds more. This is a fast moving rollicking story of a man with seemingly unlimited energy. 

Endurance - Shackelton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing (1959/2007)

This is the story of Ernest Shackelton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. Follow the adventure of twenty seven men who survived eighteen months with limited supplies, watching their boat being crushed and simply learning how to live off the land. This is an exciting true story with a happy ending -- everyone survived. 

Follow the true 1953 story of five young Czechs as they go on a month long journey to escape communism. Twenty thousand police and soldiers chase them through East Germany on their quest to reach Berlin and join the American forces who they hope will liberate their homeland. This is an exciting and suspenseful book that is almost impossible to put down.

If you like to read history you will love this walk through American history that is usually glossed over in school. Read about Carnegie, Rockefeller, the railroad barrons, both honest and crooked politicians, union strikes, cattle drives, and rural to city migration. There are also heartbreaking stories about racism and the Indians. This is a history book that composed of stories that read like a novel.

Recent history, the year 1989, comes alive in this story of the emergence of Eastern European freedom and democracy that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Follow the developments in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries that culminated in the November fall of the wall. It reads like a novel – I couldn’t put it down.

If you want to read an inspirational book about our collective future this is it. The long term view of just about everything on our planet is and has been pointed in a positive direction for centuries. Improvement is everywhere – longer lives, healthier people, less violence, record low poverty and galloping breakthroughs in every aspect of our lives. The future is brighter than ever before in human history no matter what the current news reports!

This is the fabulous story of our Constitutional Convention in the hot summer of 1787 and how a group of very smart men compromised their way to a government that has not only survived more than two centuries but has also become the envy of the world. Every American should read this or a similar book before the next election.

China is now influencing at least 48 of the 53 countries in Africa. The Chinese are involved in a wide variety of economic programs ranging from basic agriculture and manufacturing operations to every imaginable type of infrastructure program. They are also not shy about supplying weapons. We need to pay attention.