Loy Machedo's Book Review - 50 Success Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Simply put, this volume compiled by Tom Butler Bowdon gives you a Brief of the Best of the best Success Classics of all times. The Authors & Books are as follows: 1) Horatio Alger Ragged Dick (1867) 2) Warren Bennis On Becoming A Leader (1989) 3) Frank Bettger How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success in Selling (1947) 4) Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson The One Minute Manager (1981) 5) Edward Bok The Americanization of Edward Bok (1921) 6) Claude M Bristol The Magic of Believing (1948) 7) Andrew Carnegie Autobiography (1920) 8) Chin-ning Chu Thick Face Black Heart (1992) 9) George S Clason The Richest Man in Babylon (1926) 10) Robert Collier Secrets of the Ages (1926) 11) Jim Collins Good To Great (2001) 12) Russel H Conwell Acres of Diamonds (1921) 13) Stephen R Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) 14) Michael Dell Direct From Dell (1999) 15) Henry Ford My Life and Work (1922) 16) Benjamin Franklin The Way To Wealth (1758) 17) Timothy Gallwey The Inner Game of Tennis (1974) 18) Robin Gerber Leadership The Eleanor Roosevelt Way (2003) 19) Jean Paul Getty How To Be Rich (1961) 20) Les Giblin How to Have Power and Confidence In Dealing With People (1956) 21) Baltasar Gracian The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647) 22) Earl G Graves How To Succeed in Business Without Being White (1997) 23) Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich (1937) 24) Napoleon Hill & W Clement Stone Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude (1960) 25) Tom Hopkins The Official Guide to Success (1982) 26) Muriel James & Dorothy Jongeward Born To Win (1971) 27) Spencer Johnson Who Moved My Cheese? (1998) 28) Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997 ) 29) David Landes The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1998) 30) Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz The Power of Full Engagement (2003) 31) Roger Lowenstein Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995) 32) Nelson Mandela Long Walk To Freedom (1994) 33) Orison Swett Marden Pushing To The Front (1894) 34) JW Marriott Jnr The Spirit To Serve (1997) 35) Margot Morrell & Stephanie Capparell Shackleton's Way (2001) 36) Donald T Phillips Lincoln On Leadership (1992) 37) Catherine Ponder The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity (1962) 38) Cheryl Richardson Take Time For Your Life (1998) 39) Anthony Robbins Unlimited Power (1986) 40) David Schwartz The Magic of Thinking Big (1959 ) 41) Florence Scovel Shinn Secret Door to Success (1940) 42) Thomas J Stanley The Millionaire Mind (2000) 43) Brian Tracy Maximum Achievement (1993) 44) Sun Tzu The Art of War (4th century BCE) 45) Sam Walton Made in America (1992) 46) Wallace Wattles The Science of Getting Rich (1910) 47) Jack Welch Jack: Straight From the Gut (2001) 48) John Whitmore Coaching For Performance (1992, 2008) 49) Richard Wiseman The Luck Factor (2003) 50) Zig Ziglar See You At The Top (1975) Good points about this book 1) The book proved to be a refresher course in giving the gist and overall feel & understanding of the all-time greats. 2) It serves as a compass in case you are seeking to invest in your own library. 3) The summary presented for each book is brief, to the point and gives you both the essence of what the book is about and about the author in general. Also, the smart use of recurring phrases like 'In a Nutshell', 'Final Comments' and 'About the Author' makes it very easy for the readers to follow the author and avoid confusion. Not so good points about this book 1) The author tries to cover too much ground in one single book. Given the sheer number of books mentioned, I feel the author could still have elaborated yet some more. 2) Some of the books like Maximum Achievement, See You at the Top, The Luck Factor, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude are classics alright -- but I personally feel they are outdated. The impact & power they possessed at one point of time has faded into the oblivion. 3) Though some of the books the author has praised so generously, I my humble opinion, I do not think they are as exciting or amazing as presented. Moment of Truth A great summarized version of 50 books with a great bio of the author at the end -- all made to fit together into one single book. It is a good to have with you. Overall Ratings 7 out of 10. Entertaining. Loy Machedo loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv