Our interviewees—academics and practitioners—recommend the best books on business. Thomas Hellmann, Professor at Oxford's Said Business School, recommends his best books on entrepreneurship, arguing that it's something that can be learned. He describes one of his choices, The Lean Startup by Eric Reis, as “the Bible of the modern entrepreneur”. Emma Gannon, author of the bestselling book The Multi-hyphen Method, talks about creating a career you love around doing what you want to do, rather than what you think you should do. William Hopper—author, politician and founder/chairman of the Institute for Fiscal Studies—chooses his best books on the culture of management, arguing that a good management culture is just as important to a flourishing business environment as free markets.
Seth Godin, the entrepreneur author and ‘king of marketing’ chooses his best books on marketing. At its core, he argues, is “telling true stories to the right people”. Robert Jones, a strategist at Wolff Olins, gives us his best books on branding and tells us that a brand is what a company stands for in the minds of not only its customers—but also its employees, investors and the media. Steve Lance, an author with 30 years of experience working in the business, chooses his best books on the future of advertising.
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Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry
by Kit Chellel & Matthew Campbell -
2
Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition
by Lulu Chen -
3
The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era
by Gary Gerstle -
4
The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption
by Sebastian Mallaby -
5
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology
by Chris Miller -
6
Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century
by Helen Thompson
The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
For its annual book award, the Financial Times looks beyond books that might be filed under business in a bookshop, picking out books that are compelling and enjoyable, explains Andrew Hill, the newspaper’s senior business writer. He talks us through the 2022 shortlist: books that shine a light on obscure but immensely important companies or industries, or address some of the bigger challenges facing our capitalist economies.
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
by Ben Horowitz -
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Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
by Geoffrey Moore -
3
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
by Sheryl Sandberg -
4
Brave, Not Perfect: How Celebrating Imperfection Helps You Live Your Best, Most Joyful Life
by Reshma Saujani -
5
Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises
by Derek Lidow
The best books on Running a Business, recommended by Brian O'Kelley
The best books on Running a Business, recommended by Brian O'Kelley
Running a successful business is an endless series of impossible challenges, a constant mix of terror and euphoria, explains Brian O'Kelley, co-founder of the billion-dollar ad tech company AppNexus and now at Scope3. He tells us which books every entrepreneur needs to read and why it's so helpful to learn from those who have gone before.
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The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
by Daniel Boorstin -
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Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson -
3
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
by Eric Ries -
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The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup
by Noam Wasserman -
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Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed
by Josh Lerner
The best books on Entrepreneurship, recommended by Thomas Hellmann
The best books on Entrepreneurship, recommended by Thomas Hellmann
What are the best books to read if you want to be an entrepreneur? Oxford Saïd Business School’s Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, shares his top five books—and explains what entrepreneurs can learn from them.
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Syrup
by Maxx Barry -
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Marketing: A Love Story
by Bernadette Jiwa -
3
This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn To See
by Seth Godin -
4
The Republic of Tea
by Bill Rosenzweig, Mel Ziegler & Patricia Ziegler -
5
New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World
by Kevin Kelly
The best books on Marketing, recommended by Seth Godin
The best books on Marketing, recommended by Seth Godin
Halitosis, happy hour and bumming a cigarette: all concepts invented by marketers. Marketing is all about manipulating emotions—and this is a dark art that can be used for both good and evil, says the bestselling author and marketing guru Seth Godin as he selects five of the best books on his specialist subject.
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The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
by Daniel J Levitin -
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BrainChains: Your Thinking Brain Explained in Simple Terms
by Theo Compernolle -
3
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
by Atul Gawande -
4
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
by Kevin Kelly -
5
The Antidote
by Oliver Burkeman
The best books on Productivity, recommended by David Allen
The best books on Productivity, recommended by David Allen
If you feel like you lose whole days to procrastination or indecision—or simply have too much to do!—you probably want advice on how improve your productivity. We spoke to David Allen, creator of the perennial bestseller Getting Things Done, about the best books on the subject: why we waste time, and what we can change to be more productive.
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Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment
by Cass Sunstein, Daniel Kahneman & Olivier Sibony -
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But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
by Chuck Klosterman -
3
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
by Maria Konnikova -
4
Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank
by Weijian Shan -
5
Exhalation
by Ted Chiang
The best books on Making Good Decisions, recommended by Sebastian Park
The best books on Making Good Decisions, recommended by Sebastian Park
Good decision-making is a crucial skill not only in business but in life. In this interview, entrepreneur, investor and poker player Sebastian Park advises how to make good decisions in a world of uncertainty, how to evaluate past decisions for future improvement, and how fiction can help us reflect on the choices we make.
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The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
by Erving Goffman -
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Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World
by Mitch Prinstein -
3
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
by Annie Duke -
4
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias
by Dolly Chugh -
5
The Odyssey
by Homer and translated by Emily Wilson
The best books on Making A Good Impression, recommended by Övül Sezer
The best books on Making A Good Impression, recommended by Övül Sezer
From the classroom to the boardroom, everybody tries (and sometimes fails) to be liked and admired by others. In this interview, Övül Sezer—Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at Cornell University—recommends five books that can help you make a good impression on everybody, including yourself.
The best books on Leadership, recommended by Brett Wigdortz
Good leaders combine iron will with a dose of humility, says the founder of groundbreaking teaching charity Teach First. He traces leadership skills back to Moses, and tells us about books we can all learn from.
The best books on Mindset and Success, recommended by Carol Dweck
If you’ve stepped inside a school recently, you’ve probably heard teachers talking about the importance of a ‘growth mindset.’ Here psychologist Carol Dweck, who pioneered research into this key concept, explains what it’s all about and recommends books—other than her own—that shed light on it.
The best books on Investing, recommended by Burton Malkiel
Burton Malkiel, a professor of economics (emeritus) at Princeton University and author of the bestselling A Random Walk Down Wall Street, recommends his top picks of books to read on investing.
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The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations
by Robert Livingston -
2
The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources
by Jack Farchy & Javier Blas -
3
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by Patrick Radden Keefe -
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The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet
by Michael E Mann -
5
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race
by Nicole Perlroth -
6
The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World
by Adrian Wooldridge
The Best Business Books: the 2021 FT & McKinsey Book Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
The Best Business Books: the 2021 FT & McKinsey Book Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
Every year the Financial Times’s management editor, Andrew Hill, helps organize its ‘Business Book of the Year’ award, which celebrates outstanding books relating to business in the broadest sense. Here, he talks us through the 2021 shortlist, six books that will draw you in and open your eyes to how events happening in the world of business affect all of us–sometimes in very profound ways.
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Debt: The First 5000 Years
by David Graeber -
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The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau
by Honoré de Balzac -
3
Capitalizing on Crisis: The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance
by Greta Krippner -
4
The Two-Income Trap
by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi -
5
Other People's Houses: How Decades of Bailouts, Captive Regulators, and Toxic Bankers Made Home Mortgages a Thrilling Business
by Jennifer Taub
The best books on Bankruptcy, recommended by John Ayer
The best books on Bankruptcy, recommended by John Ayer
Like the perfume seller in Balzac’s Human Comedy, many people still fear the moral stigma of bankruptcy. But while modern bankruptcy laws allow people to walk away from their debts, they do not address the underlying issues that can all too easily leave hardworking people in dire financial straits. Jack Ayer, emeritus professor and former bankruptcy judge, recommends his top bankruptcy books.
The best books on High Performance Psychology, recommended by Michael Gervais
To reach your full potential you must put as much effort into building mental resilience as you do into work or training, advises high-performance psychologist Dr Michael Gervais. Here, he selects five titles to help you find the right mindset—whether you dream of sporting stardom, artistic achievement or business success.
The best books on Burnout, recommended by Josh Cohen
Overwhelmed, exhausted, yet unable to relax when you have the chance? You are not alone. Josh Cohen, psychoanalyst and author of Not Working: Why We Have to Stop, discusses the symptoms and causes of burnout—and why relentless activity is at the source.
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No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
by Erin Meyer & Reed Hastings -
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Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
by Angus Deaton & Anne Case -
3
A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond
by Daniel Susskind -
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If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future
by Jill Lepore -
5
No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram
by Sarah Frier -
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Reimagining Capitalism: How Business Can Save the World
by Rebecca Henderson
The Best Business Books of 2020: the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
The Best Business Books of 2020: the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
Whether you’re looking for ideas on how to run a successful business or books that look at the various challenges facing capitalist society, the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award is a great place to start. Andrew Hill, who with colleagues at the Financial Times sifted through hundreds of entries to compile the award’s longlist, talks us through the books that made the 2020 shortlist—as well as offering some predictions for the year ahead.
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Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
by Marshall McLuhan -
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How Google Works
by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg -
3
Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat.
by Sarah Robb O'Hagan -
4
Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World
by Kevin Kelly -
5
Propaganda
by Edward Bernays
The best books on Personal Branding, recommended by Cynthia Johnson
The best books on Personal Branding, recommended by Cynthia Johnson
We all have a brand, whether we want to or not, says Cynthia Johnson—the digital marketing expert and author of Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding. Here she selects five of the best books to help you build a better personal brand, and thereby boost your career.
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A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back
by Bruce Schneier -
2
Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
by Douglas Rushkoff -
3
Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments
by Nathan Robinson -
4
Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power
by David Dayen -
5
Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money
by Zephyr Teachout
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
Modern market economies face a growing malaise, says activist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow: powerful actors creating ‘chokepoints’ between producers and consumers, causing untenable conditions for both. Here he picks out the best books he’s reviewed over the last two years and explains why they’re important.
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Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America
by Christopher Leonard -
2
The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind
by Raghuram G Rajan -
3
The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
by Gregory Zuckerman -
4
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
by Shoshana Zuboff -
5
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez -
6
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
by David Epstein
The Best Business Books of 2019: the Financial Times & McKinsey Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
The Best Business Books of 2019: the Financial Times & McKinsey Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
Confused about which of the thousands of business books published in 2019 to read? Fortunately, the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award has sifted through hundreds of entries to pick the very best. Andrew Hill, the FT’s management editor and author of Ruskinland, talks us through the six brilliant books that made this year’s shortlist.
The best books on Personal Finance, recommended by Jason Zweig
The author and Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist, Jason Zweig, explains why there’s truth in the old adage that investors get the returns they deserve, and recommends books that might help you avoid being taken for a ride.
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Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
by Seth Godin -
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The Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self
by Julia Cameron -
3
The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking
by Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tschäppeler -
4
How to Not Always Be Working: A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self-Care
by Marlee Grace -
5
My Creative (Side) Business: Turning your Side Projects into a Full-Time Creative Business
by Monika Kanokova
The best books on Creating a Career You Love, recommended by Emma Gannon
The best books on Creating a Career You Love, recommended by Emma Gannon
If you are fed up and burnt out, it’s time to take concrete steps towards building a better life, based on a job you love. Bestselling business author Emma Gannon tells Five Books about the career advice books that have inspired her most.
Best Investing Books for Beginners, recommended by John Kay
Investing can seem scary if you’ve never done it before but it is, in fact, fairly straightforward. Economist John Kay recommends some investing books for beginners.
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The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design
by Marty Neumeier -
2
Brand Society: How Brands Transform Management and Lifestyle
by Martin Kornberger -
3
Ways of Seeing
by John Berger -
4
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari -
5
Chocolate Wars: From Cadbury to Kraft - 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry
by Deborah Cadbury
The best books on Branding, recommended by Robert Jones
The best books on Branding, recommended by Robert Jones
To brand is human, says practitioner and professor Robert Jones. He recommends the five best books on branding.
Alastair Campbell on Leadership
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former communications chief, takes a look at leadership in politics and in sport, recognising that ordinary citizens can show courageous moral leadership
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The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives
by Ian Scott-Kilvert & Plutarch -
2
The Greek Alexander Romance
by Richard Stoneman -
3
Atticus
by Cornelius Nepos & Nicholas Horsfall -
4
Agricola
by Harold Mattingly, James Rives & Tacitus -
5
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
Diogenes Laertius (ed. James Miller, trans. Pamela Mensch)
The best books on Leadership: Lessons from the Ancients, recommended by Jeffrey Beneker
The best books on Leadership: Lessons from the Ancients, recommended by Jeffrey Beneker
Whatever modern leadership books may say about what’s required to be a good leader, for the ancients there was only one vital requirement: studying philosophy. Jeffrey Beneker, Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, talks us through what ancient biographies reveal about how to be a leader.
The best books on The Culture of Management, recommended by William Hopper
The Chairman of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London selects his top five books on managerial culture. He discusses decline in American traditional management excellence but remains optimistic for the future.
The best books on Happiness at Work, recommended by Jessica Pryce-Jones
The CEO of iOpener, a human asset management consultancy, explains how you can increase happiness and thus productivity in the workplace. She picks five essential reads for bosses and employees.
The Best Finance Books for Teens and Young Adults, recommended by Darren Collins
Financial literacy is an essential life skill, but it is not routinely taught at school and not everybody has good role models to look to for financial behaviour. Reading can certainly help. Finance teacher Darren Collins recommends his top books for teens and young adults to learn the fundamentals for making sound personal finance decisions in life.
The best books on Risk Management, recommended by Graciela Chichilnisky
Former UNESCO Professor of Maths and Economics at Columbia University selects five intriguing books on catastophic risks, making statistical decisions and reasoned gambling
The best books on The Future of Advertising, recommended by Steve Lance
The author and Emmy award-winning advertising exec discusses the changing face of the advertising world. He argues that the digital revolution has been mirrored before in the change from radio to tv advertising.
The best books on Investment, recommended by Marc Faber
Marc Faber, the infamous investor known as “Dr Doom”, discusses books he considers indispensable for those interested in investment. He stresses the importance for investors to be historically aware, and holds that Irving Fisher is one of the best economists of the 20th century.
The Changing Business of Journalism, recommended by Richard Tofel
Richard Tofel, general manager of the non-profit newsroom ProPublica and former assistant publisher of the Wall Street Journal, explains why the printed newspaper is doomed. He recommends the best books to read to better understand the changing business of journalism.