John D Rockefeller - The Autobiography of John D Rockefeller book review

In a nutshell (126 pages), this is exactly what you think it is. Not having the insight of having lived through the times you get one side of the fascinating story of Rockefeller becoming a tycoon and a household name. Along with a relatively brief history of his life there are also insights into his way of thinking on quite a few topics asides from business.

What I got out of it

Not knowing much about the man asides from his phenomenal business success, there is an incredible life journey on these pages. While the story is quite brief, he does take quite a bit of time discussing one moment where he was particularly attacked for being unfair to a widow. It really makes you wonder about the character of the man. Maybe he is or is not more caring and sensitive of his legacy than we might think

What was difficult

Such a large life probably deserves more than 126 pages in total, and he really picks and chooses what parts of his story he cares to discuss. This leaves much of his story up to interpretation and the countless biographies written by others. That said, it is still a relatively complete recounting of his story.

Recommendation

This is another example of a book that holds very little for the fiction reader who doesn’t care for history or especially biographies. I recommend it to anyone interested in business and since it’s such a short read there’s almost nothing to lose and a fair bit to gain from reading it.