Product Description

A gripping tale of adventure, danger and humor, peppered with investment tips from a Wall Street legend

The best–selling author of Investment Biker takes a fascinating journey through the world′s economic situation in a convertible yellow Mercedes. This is the motivating story of entrepreneur Jim Rogers, dubbed "the Indiana Jones of finance" by Time magazine, who made his fortune playing the stock market and then embarked on his lifelong dream adventure.

Together with his fiancee, Paige Parker, he set out on a three–year drive around the world that would ultimately set the Guinness world record for the longest continuous car journey. Their trip winds its way through 116 countries – through blizzards, deserts, epidemics and war zones – to discover failing economies and the new boom countries not from dry and potentially flawed statistics, but by experiencing life itself. This is a gripping tale of travel and adventure; along the way they encounter danger, love and farce. It is also a highly readable account of world economies: you won′t find a more enjoyable way to be introduced to the investment potential of Bolivia, or the cultural changes afoot in North Korea. Finally it is also an inward journey in which Rogers moves from the restless traveler to husband and father, hoping one day to introduce his daughter to his own passion for travel.

JIM ROGERS entered the investment business in 1968 with $600 dollars in his pocket. By 1980, at 37 years of age, he had left Wall Street with enough money to satisfy a lifelong appetite for adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224502 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
‘… a terrific read, a real page–turner’ (Daily Mail, 2 June 2003)

‘a terrific read…Rogers has some extraordinary experiences and he relates them well.’ (International Herald Tribune, 14 June 2003)

"…This is holiday reading for anyone in management…" (Accountancy, August 2003)

"…the resulting book is part –travelogue, part –social commentary, part economic treaty and thoroughly fascinating…" (Gulf Business, August 2003)

"…is the most sprawling, adventurous journey you’re likely to take within the pages of a book…" (Dunstable Gazette, 6 August 2003)

"…eloquent and engaging…unlike most economic books you can read this one on the beach…" (Money week, 15 August 2003)

"…Adventure Capitalist bounces along from anecdote to anecdote with a sense of fun…" (Accounting Technician, September 2003)

"…millionaire Jim Rogers recalls a millennium on the move ..Jim Roger’s epic trip…" (Top Gear, September 2003)

"…the Indiana Jones of finance…" (Times Online, 17 October 2003)

"…As travellers’ tales go, Rogers’ stories are told differently…".(Personal Money, November 2003)

“…This is the perfect book for anyone who is interested in traveling and making money…” (Suffolf Free Press, 13 November 2003)

"…well–written and interesting which has provided me with valuable insights…" (The Independent on Sunday, 14 December 2003)

“Anyone following Rogers’ journey cannot fail to be surprised, entertained and even touched by his more anecdotal assessment of globalisation.” (EN Magazine, March 2004)

“…highly readable…an interesting off–the–beaten–track read…” (Publishing News, July 04)

International Herald Tribune, 14 June 2003
"..a terrific read..Rogers has some extraordinary experiences and he relates them well."

Accounting Technician, September 2003
"..Adventure Capitalist bounces along from anecdote to anecdote with a sense of fun.."

Customer Reviews

Too Short (The Book, not Jim Rogers)
If you have read the authors previous work, you will know Jim Rogers calls it as he sees it. This is a forthright, opinionated book, by a forthright, opinionated guy. But then he has good reason to be opinionated. Consitently over time Jim Rogers has been right more often than wrong, and right more often than most others. With his record, he has every right to be opinionated.

Adventure Capitalist is a great adventure story. My primary criticism of the book is its brevity. He could easily have written three times as much and got the reader even more involved in the encounters along the way. Having written about my own transcontinental motorcycle adventures, I have learned that the most fascinating parts of the story to retell to others are the numerous encounters and interaction with locals along the way. While Rogers includes a lot of these, I cant help thinking there must have been so many more interesting encounters that I would have loved to read about, but that he did not include.

I think its also worth reminding those who find Rogers writing style opinionated and brusque, that as a guy who has done what he has done, re Investment Biker and now Adventure Capitalist, he has to be far more flexible and broad thinking that his writing style often portrays. You dont succeed in endeavours like this without being prepared to bend with the wind, be flexible and openminded. A stubborn person could never have done what he did. Total appreciation for the cultures and contexts through which he passed can be assumed, even though it does not always come through in his writing style.

As a fellow finance professional and a fellow adventurer, I find the book to be very much an adventure / travel book, (with the exception of the final chapter) embellished with his economic snapshot of the world circa 2000. Perhaps due to having a similar background in Finance, I find this book and Rogers previous book, to be two of the best adventure / travel books I have read.

Finally, the last chapter. This is the best chapter in the book and rounds up the whole adventure nicely. Rogers despairs over the lack of integrity in modern American life, both in Business and in Politics. Curiously, his old partner, George Soros, recently pulled his long running Open Society Institute from Russia, citing the need to encourage honesty, accountability and dissention in the US as being more pressing than it is in Russia. These two giants of the investment world may not speak to each other any more, but they still assess many things the same way.

In some thoughts earlier in the book Rogers states the obvious when he says if America really wants homeland security, then rather than tightening up on immigration and trade, they should try making fewer enemies. An obvious piece of advice, yet one which receives precious little airtime.

If you have any shred of "off the beaten track" adventure in you, you will enjoy or even love this book. Its one of those books that is compelling, and you end up reading it in 2 days.

NOT a journey of self discovery but still a great read
I really enjoyed this book. Okay I found it in the business section NOT the travel section so even the publishers are not sure what type of book it is. Is as good as 'Jupiter's Travels'? Yeah I think so. Ted Simon's book got me started in travel and changed my life. But just because Jim Rodgers can't write as descriptively as Ted or go through the same sorts of angst as him doesn't lesson its value. This is not an odyssey. This is not a story of self-discovery or for that matter an exploration of new cultures. It is a personal story, told through the eyes of one person. Jim is doing something he really wants to do and I for one take my hat of him. Having been on the other side of the Congo war, over in Uganda and seen the men and weapons I have to say to all those armchair critics- this guy put his money (and life) where his mouth was, can you say the same? All the criticism levelled at the book misses the point. This is an opinionated book written by someone who has undoubted some influence. Read the title for god's sake "Adventure Capitalist". The last chapter alone should be compulsory reading for every American. I don't agree with a lot in the book and sure there are some really big errors (the one about moving glaciers is a hoot) but it certainly seems to me to have a lot more merit than a lot of 'real travel books' and beats the pants of Michael Palin's self indulgent nonsense.

Read Investment Biker Instead
Investment Biker, Jim Rogers' first book, about his motorcycle trip around the world, was so original and entertaining that I read it twice. So when I found out he had taken a sequel trip and written a new book, I couldn't wait to read it.

Adventure Capitalist just doesn't compare well to Investment Biker. Rather than take motorcycles, Rogers and his new girlfriend (the girlfriend from the IB trip is gone) take a custom-built car and a spare (car), just in case. Right away, we can see that this is not going to be the impromptu, go-anywhere journey that Investment Biker was.

From almost skidding off the road in the rain just before they started their trip, to narrowly avoiding thieves in Africa when they had to sleep overnight in the car, the dangers often seem self-inflicted. After all, how can you cruise around in a fancy yellow sports car (with storage trailer and support staff) and not atttract attention?

I really can't blame Rogers for taking another trip, and what the heck, he's got the money, why not go first class? It's just that it doesn't make for an especially gripping book.