Product Description

This is a history of Britain's most influential invention - an idea which gave birth to the Industrial Revolution and which underpins modern life. The present day might be called a corporate age but the power of the company is nothing new: From Renaissance Italy to the British East India Company, it is impossible to understand the history of the last few hundred years without placing the humble company at the centre of the picture. What other institution could have produced the slave trade, opium wars, the stock market and the British Empire, the 'company man' and globalization? The history of the company includes some shocking tales, since companies have always rewarded some of the most greedy and unscrupulous - but they have also undoubtedly shaped the modern world. Today companies are increasingly regulated, but will there always be a new South Sea Bubble or another Enron? The authors extend their historical account to look at the company's future, which is, surprisingly, as smaller and more diverse. They explode the myth of a 'silent takeover' by corporations and challenge the assumptions of the anti-globalization movement, but make the ongoing power of the company abundantly clear.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1187198 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Morgan Falconer, HAM & HIGH
'The authors, being both correspondents for The Economist, do this with authority, wit, verve and much combative defence of capitalism'

Review
'as an introduction to the subject it is an engaging read, full of thought-provoking cameos.....the elegantly concise account of what the company has done for the world so far.' (Martin Vander Weyer, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'the authors, journalists on The Economist, know their subject, write with assurance and wit and have many fascinating thins to say about the past and future of the company.' (Michael Skapinker, THE FINANCIAL TIMES )

'Through focusing upon 'the company' the authors have written an often very interesting account of the the components of the machine.' (John Corcoran MORNING STAR )

'The authors, being both correspondents for The Economist, do this with authority, wit, verve and much combative defence of capitalism' (Morgan Falconer HAM & HIGH )

'John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's marvellous and concise book' (Mr Tripathi WALL ST JOURNAL )

Synopsis
From the acclaimed authors of A Future Perfect comes the untold story of how the company became the world's most powerful institution.

Customer Reviews

Succinct and informative
It's never easy to distill the about three-century history of company in no more than 200 pages without truncating too many important facts. The authors have done a brilliant job. Apart from some typographic errors, which have been pointed out by other readers, this book is excellent of its kind and live up to its book title. The bibliographic note at the back of the book is very useful as well, which provides you with succinct guidance on which books are your ideal further readings, rather than merely enumerating a book list.

Brief of Length But Offering Great Depth and Broad Scope
Here we have an examination of what seems to be, at first glance, a less-than-exciting subject: the limited-liability joint-stock company. Ah, but that first impression is soon proven false by what indeed is a fascinating, at times riveting (albeit brief) history of what Micklethwait and Wooldridge correctly suggest has been and remains, since the Companies Act of 1862, "the basis of the prosperity of the West and the best hope for the future of the world." Soon becoming the single most powerful economic power, the limited-liability joint-stock company combined the three big ideas behind the modern company: "that it could be an artificial person," with the same ability to do business as a real person; that it could issue tradable shares to any number of investors; and that those investors could have limited liability (so they could lose only the money they had committed to the firm)."

Although Micklethwait and Wooldridge do indeed provide "a short history of a revolutionary idea," their book is remarkably comprehensive as it traces the evolution of commercial structure from merchants and monopolists (3000 B.C. -- 1500) through imperialists and speculators (1500-1750) and the "prolonged and painful birth" of the limited-liability joint-stock company (1750-1862) before shifting their and the reader's attention to the rise of big business in America (1862-1913), the rise of big business in Britain, Germany, and Japan (1850-1950), the triumph of managerial capitalism (1913-1975), and what they characterize as "the corporate paradox" (1975-2002) before examining "agents of influence: multinationals (1850-2002) in the final chapter. All this, and done very well indeed, in less than 200 pages! For those interested in further study of any/all of the periods and subjects they discuss, Micklethwait and Wooldridge provide an exceptionally informative "Bibliographic Note" section, followed by all of the footnotes in which additional recommendations are included.

Congratulations to Micklethwait and Wooldridge on what I consider to be a brilliant achievement, one which combines scholarship of the highest order with narrative skills worthy of Austen, Thackeray, and Dickens.

Punchy and entertaining but so badly typeset it hurts
Seriously and irritatingly marred by slipshod typography, this little book is a very entertaining read.

It deals with subjects that might otherwise be considered to be "heavy" in a very engaging way, with lots of anecdotes and humour, without ever missing its main target of providing a serious examination of a major social phenomenon that has passed most non-academic commentators by.

Forget War, Plague or Famine; for most of the Western world -- since, say, 1750 -- History has been the way that the greater part of the population has earned its living and the economic conditions under which it has flourished (or not). This book shows the critical importance of the company in history and the pivotal role it has played in mobilising economic growth.

If there is one criticism -- aside from the excruciating typographical errors -- it is that the overall impression, at the conclusion, is one of smugness about both what the company has been made to achieve and about the future of the company.

Don't be put off by the apparent dryness of the subject matter, this really is a litle gem that throws light on a largely unexamined theme of history.