Book Description
The Sandy Weill story is truly one for the ages. Starting with$30,000 in borrowed cash in 1960, and relying on uncanny entrepreneurialinstincts in the corporate world, he made himself a billionaire and becameone of the most powerful bankers in the world. After rising to become thepresident of American Express, Weill saw his empire crash and burn.Undaunted, he started over with a second-tier consumer loan company calledCommercial Credit, which eventually led to his position as CEO and thenchairman of Citigroup. While at Citigroup, Weill delivered an astounding2,600% return to investors--better than legendary CEO Jack Welch orinvestor Warren Buffett during that same period. But success is never aneasy path, and Weill shares all the high and low points along theway--warts and all. His ascent to power has been documented by the businessmedia over the years, but never before has Weill gone on the record,revealing his brutally honest and unvarnished side of his astounding lifeand career trajectory.
Customer Reviews:
No Deal at All.......2007-05-16
For all its girth, this book is shockingly shallow and a huge disappointment for anyone hoping to learn real secrets behind the author's successful business career. There is a lot of score-settling and finger-pointing at those who he felt mistreated him (like proteges Peter Cohen and Jamie Dimon), but very little in 'take-away' value about what to look for in building a successful business. I was reading this book simultaneously with Danny Meyer's "Setting the Table" and the contrast could not be more striking. In a much shorter but infinitely richer and more rewarding volume, Meyer painstaking reveals all his business success secrets; the reader feels totally cared for which emulates the experience of being in his restaurants, whereas the Weill volume left me feeling that Mr. Weill cared not one whit for his readers because it imparted so few useful insights.
Good Read but nothing New and Quite Biased.......2007-03-02
This is actually quite an interesting book and a fairly good and fast read. However compared to the previous two books on Weill, this offers maybe only 5% new information and some extra personal view on events that were reported by other authors.
My main grip with this book is that it shows everything in a very biased view. Everyones "leaving" Sandy for whatever reason gave him a feeling of betrayal and someone who did not appricate what was done for them.
Jamie Dimon is depicted as a strong personality, maybe inflexible (Joan Weill also cites this as reason for why everyone close to Jamie left him), but this is not the view for why everyone (and really everyone) close to Sandy did not continue working for him.
While a lot of associates were described as people who could not change the way they worked, Sandy himself writes about having "issues" leaving day to day runnning of Citibank to Chick Prince.
Maybe the only way for a really different perspective on this will be if other executives (especailly Jamie Dimon) ever pen down their side of the story.
GREED CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS.......2007-02-21
I have read in the past biographies of famous businessmen of the 19th/early 20th century. Names of businessmen that can be easily recognized because their names were immortalized with their products and/or services (Chrysler, Gillette, Ford, Edison, Marconi, etc.). The driving force behind the success of those men was innovation/creativity in their products and services that resulted in great benefits to the public in general.
After reading this book, you can only conclude that Sandy Weill's driving force in life has been Greed. The only innovations and creativities displayed by Sandy where those directed to play or manipulate the stock market, and those for self-promotion. Create, merge, inflate the stock value and profit from the above.
It did not matter what the name of the company was, or the benefits to the customers, just merge make a big name, inflate stock value and reap the benefits of that. His practices were investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. He says he was exonerated, but very likely Feds were unable to put a case together.
Family life with his children did not appear to have any meaning. Although he names and blames many others for having poor inter-personal skills for team work within the company, I think he top them all. People who helped him to progress in his "career" within the company ended without jobs.
His name will be forgotten soon, if ever recognized. His only legacy will be the billions of dollars left to his progeny. Money created in a quite bizarre way, jumping from company to company, morphing in this and morphing in that. Is that business?
Good psychotherapy book for those who value other things in life, beside money and power.
Frank (bids2005@aol.com)
PS. The "philanthropy" word in the title of this book is deceiving. Philos= Love; Anthopo= Humans. Love for Humans, this is the only thing lacking in this book. He only loves money.
The Real Deal is really a well written book........2007-01-22
Sandy Weill is very open about details, both business and personal, regarding his rise from an insecure youth with bad school grades to Ivy School grad and creation and subsequent loss of a business empire. Mr. Weill then relates his discomfort in failed attempts to re-enter the business world, which he finally realizes one year later. Remarkably, he creates another business empire, which eclipses the prior empire. I liked that Mr. Weill was very open about his relationships in business, both positive and negative, as well as personal relationships. He often discussed his relationship with his wife and her support of him, as well as the hardships she endured, and also the hardships his children endured, as a result of his career. Having previously worked for Aetna, I had hoped for details in the background of the purchase of that company. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, because only two or three sentences in the booked mentioned it. It was not one of his major accomplishments.
I would recommend this book not only for people seeking insight into successful business tactics, but also for enjoyment of the historical background of how some of the biggest business deals evolved in the last quarter century.
My hat is off to Joan, Sandy's wife. She appears to be not only a true sweetheart to her man, but also a successful business/charity executive in her own right.
Horrendous - self excusing with no real content.......2007-01-11
Sandy spends all his time blaming others for the problems he encountered with personal interactions and does not give any insight as to how he made and negotiated the actual M&A deals. 6 discs of Sandy patting himself on the back with no real content. Don't waste your time and money.
Book Description
Provides the most intimate portrait to date of the Princess of Wales. An account of Diana's extraordinary life, by the man who served as her Scotland Yard police protection officer. Includes a new chapter that gives a clear-eyed assessment of such controversial figures as Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell.
Customer Reviews:
A very good book.......2007-06-29
I found this book to be very entertaining and informative from the point of view of one of Lady Di's bodyguards. I'm glad I bought it and read it.
However,I feel very strongly that Ken should not have included the last chapter
"Postscript to the paperback edition". He comes across as a very jealous man when he attacks Paul Burrell, her butler whom she came to trust and confide in on levels of which I'm sure Ken was unaware ( read Paul Burrell's Books to see what I mean) With the exception of the last chapter This read is very worthwhile.
A Balanced Viewpoint.......2005-09-04
I have read many of the books written about Princess Diana since her death. This book, written by her bodyguard seems to be honest and balanced in comparison to others that I have read. This book is well written and gives us more insight to what Princess Diana was like in her private life as well as her personal life. I would recommend this book to anyone that has followed the life of Princess Diana, whether it was before her death, or after her death.
Worth buying.......2004-05-16
This book is an excellent, balanced, well-written account of Diana's life and a heartwarming glimpse into Diana's personality. The author has no axe to grind nor is he trying to make a buck by using the most shocking stories he knows. Instead, he has produced a very readable, fun book on Diana. I would not say this is THE one book to buy on the Princess of Wales but if you like to read about Diana, this is probably one of the Top 10. There is plenty of interesting new information to make it worth your time.
Interesting Insight!.......2004-04-29
I found this book a believable and honest account of Diana's
bodyguard's relationship with her. Enjoyed reading about the
great times and not so great times she shared with this bodyguard
and the difficult job he was required to do. His loyalty is
evident in the book and also his sadness at the end of their
working friendship. Great book!
Interesting Comments About Diana's Life.......2003-09-01
Ken Warfe's book about Diana Princess of Wales was one of the more balanced and interesting accounts that I have read about her life from 1987 through the mid 90's. He was Diana's body guard provided by Scotland Yard and at one point considered himself to be close confidant for Diana in a professional way. His account neither condones or disapproves of her conduct but objecively describes her life at the time. In it, he tells about her affairs with James Hewitt, James Gilbey and Oliver Hoare yet doesn't divulge seamy details that he may have been aware of. He does a fine job of describing what Diana's life was like at that time in the royal family and how her some of her choices were effected by Prince Charles actions, particulary, his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. He doesn't make excuses for Diana's actions some of which are very immature but impartially describes the scene and the people involved. Wharfe doesn't deny that his job was difficult at times. In fact, he is very open about Diana's complex character. He describes a woman who can be very difficult yet fun to be with, manipulating and needy yet extremely caring and selfless, a person obsessed with being in the spotlight yet wanting a "normal" life. I felt that her bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, captured her life for that time period in a well thought out, easy to read and balanced presentation about one of the most fascinating people of this century.
Book Description
Drawing on interviews with palace insiders, and featuring never–before–seen photos, Royal correspondent Mark Saunders looks at the young yet colorful life of Britain’s Prince Harry.
Customer Reviews:
Being an American who knows nothing about the Prince, I liked it!.......2007-05-08
This was the first thing I have read about Prince Harry so all the information was new and intereting to me. Also, the book has a clump of pictures in the middle which are adorable.
One of the issues I have with the book however is that the author spends alot of time talking about Princess Di and Prince Charles. He tries to bring it back to Prince Harry by putting Harry's name on each page (or sometimes Williams name). Sometimes the page in question has nothing to do with Harry or William but all of a sudden there their names are, slapped on the page. There are moments where it seems that he just guesses what they were filling during a certain time and that is enough to get their name on the page. My other issue is that at times the book does feel a little "tabloid" like. The author uses "sources" to tell what the Prince was doing or thinking. Of course leaving you to wondering if the source is someone who shook hands with Harry once and now considers themselves an expert on all things royal. Other times he just seems to make assumptions. A perfect example of these is when he assumes that Harry was in love (or had a crush) on his nanny, Tiggy. Being a young man, that close to an older woman, he probably did have a crush on her, but the author almost asserts it as fact (without any "source" to back it up). Is this true? Has Harry admitted to it? Going futher, he insists that a braclet he bought in Africa was for her to show her his eternal love or something. Is that a fact? Was she seen wearing the bracelet later? He never goes into details like that in the book to back up statements he makes. It's these moments that come across as the author just guessing about the Prince. If he does have intimate sources, he does not give the impression that he does. And for me, a biography should come across as 100% fact from reliable, named sources, not gossip.
Besides all the above, a good amount of the book does seem sincere and accurate. And in addition to that, it was a fun read. I would recommend it (even if I don't know if it's all true).
Don't waste your money !.......2004-06-11
I guess this book would be good if you weren't an avid fan of Princes Harry and William. However, if you are, then this book is NOT for you !
First of all, the print looks like it was intended for someone with a reading level of 4th or 5th grade (no offense to 4th or 5th graders), but I guess that's just one of the ploys of the author (i.e. if you write BIG then you don't have to write as MUCH). Second, of the information that is written there is really nothing interesting or new. The first half is about his parents, particularly Diana, and the second just has corny trivial information about him which you've probably heard hundreds of times before.
The pictures were nothing spectacular, and if you're a really avid fan, such as myself, you'll notice that some of them are mislabled.
If I were you I'd save my money and join one of the internet Prince Harry clubs. You'll get more recent information, pictures and more than likely won't have to weed through all the information about other family members who you really don't care about !
ok.......2003-02-24
i love prince harry so of course i bought this book. the only bad thing was that in the beginning it was more of a biography about Diana. but as harry gets older (more towards the middle) it becomes more about him and it gets pretty good. but the beginning is kinda boring, but i would still recommend it for any fan of prince harry.
How do they do it?.......2002-12-14
I hope this is the best book to ever hit the store shelves. It looks SOOOOOOO GOOD, I've read every book anyone has ever written about Harry!
Customer Reviews:
Author should have called the book "William: His evil mother, His saint like father, and His brother (whose name escapes me )!.......2007-05-08
As a Prince Harry fan, I was excited about reading a book that I believed would tie his life experiences in with his brother's as the author took on the huge task of jamming two biography's into one book. I soon found out that it was really easy for the author to write two biographies in one book when one of the biograghies is only mentioned when it boosts the others. In other words, Harry is rarely mentioned unless it seems to help William. This is a Prince William biography. The only reason Harry's name was mentioned in the title is to boost sales because, like me, I'm sure many people think it would be great to read about how the two famous brother's relate to each other. You will not get that here. I literally feel like I learned more about Harry in the first couple pages of the Introduction then in the rest of the book. She actually talks more about Diana (even after her death) then Harry. And at the end of the book she gives up pretending that the book has anything to do with Harry and doesn't even talk about him in the last couple chapters.
In addition, the author is RUTHLESS toward Princess Diana. I am not a Princess Diana fan and I actually like Prince Charles but man did she work Di over in this book. Plus she hands Charles a pass on anything he ever did. She attributes all the bad in marriage to her and all of the attempts to heal the marriage to Charles. Not some, ALL. Plus she gives the worst account of her as a mother I have ever heard. In her account, the boys seem to love and want their nannies more than their mother and the only time Diana stepped in to do anything with the children was to fire their nannies if the boys loved them too much. She works over Diana so much that when Diana dies in the car crash (I am not joking when I say this) I actually felt that William and Harry seemed so brave because they were glad their physco mother was died! This is not the author's assetion but after 12 chapters of Diana bashing you can't help but feel sorry for the boys. It is definetly a one-sided picture of life at Highgrove.
The only thing I appreciate about the book is that the author names her sources, she doesn't just make huge claims without any kind of back up. Almost everything that she asserts has someone's name and job title behind it.
If you are a Prince William fan, you might like this book, it has a whole lot of information on him. But other than that, the book doesn't do justice to anyone else in it.
Life of Royals.......2006-10-19
This book about the lives of William and Harry starts off with the meeting of their parents Prince Charles and Diana Spencer and into their early married life.
After this it goes into the lifes of William and younger brother Henry (Harry) from their early lives to school and their relationships with their parents after their infamous split and the death of Princess Diana in 1997 in Paris.
This book is very detailed because the author had spent alot of time with both boys and their mother. It is a very well written book with fun stories about the two young Princes
Bad taste.......2004-01-27
What a dissappointment, if you are a fan of Diana, Princess of Wales then this is not the book for you. I was hoping for an autobiographical picture of the two Princes, no such luck. Ingrid Steward has devoted a large portion of this book to attacking Diana, who she obviously dislikes. Prince Charles is also attacked gently, but Steward maybe saved her worst venom on the lady unable to defend her self anymore. God forbid she fall from favour with the living. I was disgusted with the book and would not recommend it to anyone other than a fan who see's no wrong in the warped world that is the House of Windsor.
A little new information, a lot of bias.......2003-09-20
For your money you get quite a bit of the same old stories, some new information (the Prince Harry drugs episode told differently to what I'd read before)and a lot of bias.
Seward doesn't really spare anyone, managing to come up with something unflattering about each of the players in the story, but somehow the Princess almost always seems to come out worse than Prince Charles (and for a book about the two boys there is too much material about their parents).
It seems that every rumor about Diana's love life is taken as fact while the official version (how many people really believe that?)about Charles is taken as fact. William and Harry get a lot told about them of course, some of it not flattering and mostly old news but in the end Seward seems to think well of them.
I liked it..........2003-08-29
I thought it was a pretty good book. There was a lot about Charles and Diana that should have been left out. I have been following William all my life, and there were a few stories about him and his brother in this book that I have not heard of yet. It gives you a very well insight about the marrige but more about that than the boys.
Book Description
Five years after Diana's death, Prince William and his brother Prince Harry -- "the heir and the spare," as Fleet Street dubbed them -- are the planet's two most photographed, written-about, and speculated-about young men. People everywhere feel an intense affection for Wills and Harry, and wonder if, without their mother to guide them, they are withering or flourishing in the House of Windsor.
In this much anticipated sequel to his New York Times #1 bestseller The Day Diana Died, Christopher Andersen draws on important sources -- many of whom have agreed to speak here for the first time -- to paint this sympathetic, yet often startling portrait of William and Harry, and reveal how their mother remains a constant presence in their lives.
Here is a story of a mother who died too young, and the beloved sons who are her living legacy.
Customer Reviews:
About the boys and more..............2007-05-27
This is a great book, but like other reviews I agree it focuses less on the boys. It paints the pictures of Diana's pain. It does give you some good insight to the boys lives, and is very interesting. It's shocking, and sad as well.
It does speak to the realtionship of Diana and Charles, and Camilla as well. It also questions the paternity of Harry.
Diana led a fascinating and yet tragic life. It speaks to the events that occured during her untimely death as well.
There are many books about Diana, and this is a good one to read.
teary eyed.......2007-01-17
this is a great book i found so much information about diana charles and the boys and everything that went on behind closed doors it will make you cry i promise a+++++++++
DIANAS WOES.......2006-07-28
I really liked this book but it talked more about Diana and Charles Marriage and Diana's childhood than the boys. It was good but I think that it should have talked more about the boys than their marital woes and about members of the royal family. If it didn't emphasize so much on the royal family and the maritial woes, and talked more about the boys, it would have been a better book. Certain parts of this book was similiar to Diana by Andrew Morton
To Much Re-hashing; Not Enough About the Boys.......2006-04-16
Frankly, I'm tired of the re-play concerning Diana's alleged antics. If I read one more time about her alleged comments to Tiggy or her alleged harassment phone calls to Oliver Hoare's house, I think I'll scream.
Actually more is written about Charles and Diana in this book than either William or Harry, until the later chapters then we hear about Wills in Eaton, his gap year and alleged romances. We also learn both boys are "coping" remarkably well with Diana's sudden death. And their approval rating of Mrs. BP assuming the public role as Papa's companion so soon after Diana's death, is troubling or at least to me it was.
Then too, Harry is kept in the shadows even by the author. While everyone within the system admits to feeling sorry for Harry (as the spare), no one really tries to change the status quo. Instead they treat Harry much the way Princess Margret was---rather with indifference.
While William is treated with interest and respect--even by the queen. Very sad situation for Harry. My heart goes out to him.
William's alleged romantic antics are troubling. He did not appear concerned with his steamy behavior being caught on video tape at a bar and the possibility of the press publishing pictures. And I was distressed at the manner he subjected his body guards.
Tending to the heir and the spare is probably going to make the police protection squad old before their time.
Princess Di and the Younger Men in Her Life.......2006-01-06
Anderson's book is 342 pages in length and it's a decent primer for those who know very little about the sons of the world's most famous princess. Anderson stays focused on the boys, for the duration of the book, talking about the relationship between William and Harry and the important people who influence them.
There are some new tidbits of information in this book that I hadn't heard before, like the strained relationship between William and Harry, and Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman who was instrumental in the breakup of Prince Charles and the boy's mother. But other than this, there isn't a whole lot of new information to be found in this book. Most readers already know about the cold indifference on the part of the Queen and her husband, when Diana was killed; the incorrigible antics of the young Prince William; the boy's love of blondes; etc. For the most part, Anderson just rehashes old news.
One other thing I didn't like about this book was the way Anderson wrote it, in "snips". Basically, Anderson just keeps pointing out little facts and quotes from the members of the royal family, jumping from one incident to another. When I read a book that's supposed to be a biography, I prefer something that digs in a little deeper into the lives of the people whom the book is written about. I don't care so much about hearing silly quotes made by prince Harry while fox hunting. I would rather hear more information about the boys thoughts, feelings, etc. to get a better feel for what makes William and Harry tick. I don't think Anderson did a good job in this area.
Another thing that bothers me is the fact that Anderson doesn't even bother to title his chapters. There are eight of them, but they are unnamed. Given the way the book is arranged, with so many "snips", I assume that Anderson had a difficult time deciding on titles for the chapters, so he just left them out completely. If Anderson had focused more on specific topics, he would have had no problem coming up with chapter titles.
So, my bottom- line on this book is that it's not that great or that memorable. It might be interesting to those who like to read about the royal family. But for the rest of us, it's a mediocre work of non- fiction.
Average customer rating:
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An Entertaining Life
Harry Secombe
Manufacturer: Robson Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
| Actors & Actresses
| Artists, Architects & Photographers
| Authors
| Composers & Musicians
| Dancers
| Entertainers
| Movie Directors
| New Age
| Television Performers
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General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Performing Arts
| Entertainment
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| Dance
| Magic & Illusion
| Theater
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1861054718 |
Average customer rating:
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Prince and Premier;: A biography of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, first Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya
Harry Miller
Manufacturer: G.G. Harrap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
| Afghanistan
| Armenia
| Bangladesh
| Belarus
| Bhutan
| Brunei
| Cambodia
| Central Asia
| China
| Far East
| General
| Georgia
| Hong Kong
| India
| Indonesia
| Japan
| Korea
| Laos
| Malaysia
| Maldives
| Mauritius
| Mongolia
| Myanmar
| Nepal
| Pakistan
| Philippines
| Russia
| Seychelles
| Singapore
| South Asia
| Southeast Asia
| Sri Lanka
| Taiwan
| Thailand
| Tibet
| Turkey
| Vietnam
ASIN: B0007IVERS |
Average customer rating:
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Prince Harry
Manufacturer: Pinnacle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Elizabeth II
| Royalty
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Royalty
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0786011459 |
Customer Reviews:
Prince Harry.......2000-09-07
This book though interesting in some ways, it was very poorly written. There were numerous errors in typing and factual dates were inaccurate. The author used quotes from other books on the royal family, so a lot of the information was second hand and already covered in other books on the subject. As a first book on the prince in paperback it is ok, but I am sure there will be other books to follow that will be much better quality.
Average customer rating:
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Prince Lichnowsky and the Great War
Harry F. Young
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Germany
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
| Berlin
| General
| Holocaust
| Medieval
| Third Reich
ASIN: 0820303852 |
Books:
- The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (Swans Are Not Silent)
- The Sword in the Tree (Trophy Chapter Book)
- The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790 (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia)
- The Two Princesses of Bamarre
- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings
- The Windsor Style
- Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised
- Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It
- Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men - One Message
- William Wilberforce
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