American Business

The modern American economy was the creation of four men: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan. They were the giants of the Gilded Age, a moment of riotous growth that established America as the richest, most inventive, and most productive country on the planet. Acclaimed author Charles R. Morris vividly brings these men and their times to life. The Tycoons tells the incredible story of how these four determined men wrenched the economy into the modern age, inventing a nation of full economic participation that could not have been imagined earlier.

A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each. Following a boyhood in 19th-century Pittsburgh, during which he learned from his Scotch-Irish immigrant father the lessons of self-sufficiency and wealth accumulation, Andrew Mellon overcame painful shyness to become one of America's greatest financiers.

What is it that separates the doers, leaders, and success stories among us from the dreamers, also-rans, and wannabes? To best-selling author James P. Owen, it's all about having The Try - the quality of giving 110 percent to the task or challenge at hand. In The Try - a dozen true stories of ordinary people who've done extraordinary things across varied fields of endeavor—Owen reveals The Try as a character trait that can be forged in several ways.

Set in California's lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corporation's 21st-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn Siler brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.

Civil War historian Earl J. Hess presents a compelling biography of Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the summer of 1862 to the end of 1863.

Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else.

The untold history of the surprising origins of the "gig economy" - how deliberate decisions made by consultants and CEOs in the '50s and '60s upended the stability of the workplace and the lives of millions of working men and women in postwar America.

During the Roaring Twenties, two of the most revered and influential men in American business proposed to transform one of the country’s poorest regions into a dream technological metropolis, a shining paradise of small farms, giant factories, and sparkling laboratories. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s “Detroit of the South” would be 10 times the size of Manhattan, powered by renewable energy, and free of air pollution. And it would reshape American society.

From the New York Times best-selling author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, a call to break through our limits and say yes to a life of infinite possibility.

Two decades into the twenty-first century, the stagnation of living standards has become the defining trend of American life. Life expectancy has declined, economic inequality has soared, and, after some progress, the Black-white wage gap is once again as large as it was in the 1950s. How did this happen in the world’s most powerful country? And what happened to the “American dream”—the promise of a happier, healthier, more prosperous future—which was once such an inextricable part of our national identity?

Preparation is easy to praise but very hard to master. No modern coach, in any sport, understands that better than NFL veteran Tom Coughlin. He led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories with his system of relentless preparation and old-school tough-mindedness. He teaches his players that you can never guarantee a win, but you can always earn the right to win - with focus, consistency, hard work, and anticipation of obstacles. And if you’ve earned the right to win, you can sleep soundly before a big game....

Al Davis was such a polarizing figure that people either admired or despised him. Most cared about what Davis thought on any issue, and he was captivating before an audience. Yet Davis rarely revealed much about himself, his philosophy and decision-making. Everyone knew of Davis and his catchy slogans, especially "Just Win, Baby". But no one knew much about the man. Everyone, it seemed, had a strong opinion about Davis, but precious few had enough information about Davis to proffer an informed description.

Five years ago, Orlando Duncan created the perfect drug in HEAT. It made the Duncans more than two hundred and fifty million dollars and was on its way to making them billionaires. However, they abruptly stopped manufacturing the drug when it was proven to cause cancer in rats. When Orlando is awakened by an alarm in his old lab, he discovers that not only have all his computers, equipment, and notes been stolen, but the robbers have also taken over a million tabs of HEAT that he’d left behind for future experiments—tabs that he had sworn to his family he would destroy.

While many have decried that email is dead, a handful of digital marketers have quietly been using little-known email marketing techniques to generate massive results. In Email Marketing Demystified, digital marketing expert Matthew Paulson reveals the strategies and techniques that top email marketers are currently using to build large mailing lists, write compelling copy that converts, and generate millions in revenue using their email lists.

Americans have always loved guns. This special bond was forged during the American Revolution and sanctified by the Second Amendment. It is because of this exceptional relationship that American civilians are more heavily armed than the citizens of any other nation. Or so we're told. In The Gunning of America, historian Pamela Haag overturns this conventional wisdom. American gun culture, she argues, developed not because the gun was exceptional but precisely because it was not.

Do you have too much to do and too little time? Are you pulled in too many directions and can’t get it all done? You may feel like there’s no solution, but there is. The answer is delegating. Chantel Ray has delegated her way from having her $30 in the bank and a maxed-out credit card to starting and running a thriving multi-million-dollar real estate company. People tell her all the time, “Delegating is your superpower” and in this book she will teach you how to delegate everything ... but sex.

The youngest of her parents’ combined 21 children, Sarah Frey grew up on a struggling farm in southern Illinois, often having to grow, catch, or hunt her own dinner alongside her brothers. She spent much of her early childhood dreaming of running away to the big city - or really anywhere with central heating. At 15, she moved out of her family home and started her own fresh produce delivery business with nothing more than an old pickup truck. Two years later, when the family farm faced inevitable foreclosure, Frey gave up on her dreams of escape and took over the farm.

Trump Revealed offers the most thorough and wide-ranging examination of Donald Trump's public and private lives to date, from his upbringing in Queens and formative years at the New York Military Academy to his turbulent careers in real estate and entertainment to his astonishing rise as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. The book is based on the investigative reporting of more than two dozen Washington Post reporters and researchers.

In The Secret History of the American Empire, Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world and, drawing on interviews with other hit men, jackals, reporters, and activists, examines the current geopolitical crisis. Instability is the norm; it's clear that the world we've created is dangerous and no longer sustainable. How did we get here? Who's responsible? What good have we done and at what cost? And what can we do to change things for the next generations?

A deeply revealing memoir of big wins and hard lessons from a seasoned executive caught smack in the middle of the trillion-dollar soft power struggle pitting China against Hollywood, the NBA, and American business....