Product Description

"It is [a] belief in diversity and pluralism and the uniqueness of each person that underlies all my writings . . . " –from the Preface.

Regarded as the most influential and widely read thinker on modern organizations and their management, Peter Drucker has also established himself as an unorthodox and independent analyst of politics, the economy, and society. A man of impressive scope and expertise, he has paved significant inroads in a number of key areas, sharing his knowledge and keen insight on everything from the plight of the employee and the effects of technology to the vicissitudes of the markets and the future of the new world order. Adventures of a Bystander is Drucker′s rich collection of autobiographical stories and vignettes, in which this legendary figure paints a portrait of his remarkable life, and of the larger historical realities of his time.

In a style that is both unique and engaging, Drucker conveys his life story –from his early teen years in Vienna through the interwar years in Europe, the New Deal era, World War II, and the postwar period in America–through intimate profiles of a host of fascinating people he′s known through the years. Their personal histories are, as Drucker tells us, the beads for which his own life serves as the string. A colorful group, these diverse, often unpredictable, always multidimensional individuals were chosen "because each of them, in his or her own highly personal way, reflects and refracts the thirty crucial years from the end of World War I to the first post–World War II decade–the thirty years that largely formed the world in which we now live."

An amazing pageant of characters, both famous and otherwise, springs from these pages, illuminating and defining one of the most tumultuous periods in world history. Along with bankers and courtesans, artists, aristocrats, prophets, and empire–builders, we meet members of Drucker′s own family and close circle of friends, among them such prominent figures as Sigmund Freud, Henry Luce, Alfred Sloan, John Lewis, and Buckminster Fuller. Playing to perfection their roles as those who "reflect and refract" the customs, beliefs, and attitudes of the times, these singular personalities lend Adventures of a Bystander a striking "you–are–there" feel.

A brief encounter with Freud becomes the catalyst for an absorbing, multidimensional description of the economics, politics, and social psychology of pre–World War II Europe. Drucker introduces us to Fritz Kraemer, a brilliant, monocle–wearing eccentric who became an influential mentor to the young Henry Kissinger. His personal memoir of Henry Luce documents the development of modern journalism, while in "The Indian Summer of Innocence," he rescues and preserves the very heart of the American experience during the last New Deal years before World War II.

Shedding light on a turbulent and important era, Adventures of a Bystander also reflects Peter Drucker himself as a man of imaginative sympathy and enormous interest in people, ideas, and history. These enthralling stories complement and complete the groundbreaking analytical writing for which he is so revered.

Luminous autobiographical stories by one of the greatest thinkers of our time

"The cast of characters among whom Drucker moves is superbly rich, and the informed glimpse he provides of a vanished social and political universe is an education in itself. Adventures of a Bystander is better than a novel, more lively than an essay, and as thoughtful as both at their best." –The Harvard Business Review.

"Adventures of a Bystander is a virtuoso performance in which Drucker displays a dazzling diversity of personal interests and knowledge, an awesome power of recall, and a crisp, highly readable writing style." –BusinessWeek.

"Adventures of a Bystander appears in a stroke to have restored the art of the memoir and of the essay. It will doubtless be a while before its like comes round again." –The Washington Post.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #361174 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
"Drucker′s autobiography is a joy to read because of the mix of intriguing characters, momentous events and sharp insights we′ve come to expect from one of the most original management theorists."–Upside magazine

Financial Times, 12 December 1998
John Wiley deserves congratulating for re-issuing two management classics ...Adventures of a Bystander is impressively eclectic, leaving most readers gasping for intellectual breath and questioning the comparative poverty of their own lives.

Upside magazine
"Drucker's autobiography is a joy to read because of the mix of intriguing characters, momentous events and sharp insights we've come to expect from one of the most original management theorists."--Upside magazine

Customer Reviews

The personal side of Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker takes his place along with Josephj Schumpter, JM Keynes, and FA Hayek among the great economic and business thinkers of the century. Yet he is increasingly unknown, I think because his thought is not easily categorized as part of any one discipline. Much of his work has been about the emerging discipline of management, but he is far from being a mere 'business writer', dipping into economics, history, sociology, jurisprudence, and even theology to lend insight into the complex workings of organizations.

This wonderful book provides us with much of the missing context. Drucker grew up in the rich Viennese cultural life which produced many of the signal thinkers of our century (Freud, Schumpeter, Jung, Hayek, et all). His parents were of that circle and knew many of these people. Too young to fight in WWI, Drucker grew up in a Mittle Europe denuded of young men which therefore offered exceptional opportunities to men of his generation.

As a young man Drucker worked as a merchant banker in London, as a journalist in Germany, and took a law degree in Germany. When Hitler came to power he emigrated to the US and wrote two compelling books "The End of Economic Man" (1939)and "The Rise of Industrial Man" (1942) while teaching at Bennington College. These books sought to explain the social and economic conditions which brought the world to it's present pass (two world wars). "Concept of the Corporation" (1946) was an analysis of General Motors, then the world largest and most successful enterprise. While controversial, the book springboarded Drucker into a position as the world's foremost management consultant and thinker in the period between WWII and the 1970's.

Two pieces of advice: Read Drucker. This review cannot possibly do justice to this man. And read this book. Drucker becomes human, and his thought more comprehensible.

Peter Drucker - brilliant and outstanding
Whoever appreciates Peter Drucker als author of 39 books focusing predominantly on the various subjects of management should also read his "Adventures of a Bystander". This book is a very important key to Peter Drucker's development and personality. Add his two novels "The Temptation to Do Good" AND "The Last of all Possible Worlds" and you
will discover Peter Drucker's qualities as excellent novelist. There you will find very important additions to his management thinking and practice in terms of profiles of psychological dynamics of people in action.

Fascinating. More history than autobiography.
Having read nearly all of Drucker's books on the subject of Management during the last half century and having recently heard of the great man's death, I decided I should catch up on this autobiographical book from 1978.

Instead of being a normal story of a life it is a collection of absorbing essays on some of the extremely interesting and talented people Drucker knew during his long life. The journey takes us through pre-war Austrian and Germany and England before his later fame in the United States as a management guru.

We meet his grandmother, his school teachers, bankers, journalists and businessmen. We get an insight into the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany and many other aspects of 20th Century history.

Occasionally we get a reminder of Drucker's philosophy. When he talks of really 'great men' and genuine 'leaders' he says they
"do not lead by 'charisma'- an abomination and phoney, even when it is not a press agent's invention. The truly strong man leads by hard work and dedication. He does not centralise everything in his hands but builds a team. He dominates through integrity, not through manipulation. He is not clever, but simple and honest."

The sharpness of Drucker's brain and the clarity of his writing make this book as delightful as it is informative.

It has now been translated into German (2001) with the title of "Schluesseljahre" and I have sent a German friend of mine a copy for his birthday.