American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane

Many of the contents of the book are repetitive. Nonetheless, it throws light on a few things about various people hitherto unknown. I had read an abridged version of the chapter titled "In search of the real Bill Gates" in a Reader's Digest issue and the original version reproduced in this book brought back many memories of the 90s when we were introduced to things like Windows and the personal computer.

It is all right for a quick go through, but won't come back for a second read, it is okay.

intessting selection of characters

Anyone familiar with the author's previous work will immediately enjoy this. The topics span the entireity of the last century and key figuire heads are highlighted in an attempt to demonstrate alternative views than most historical accounts present.

EXCELLENT

I love Walter Isaacson, but this is basically an anthology of his news articles in papers and in Time. The stories are interesting, but there's a lot of content covered in Isaacson's excellent biographies. In these pieces, I didn't appreciate the writing style. And the common thread between the stories (leadership) was weak in consideration of the content of the articles. I think he had a commitment to a publisher he either didn't have the time to meet, or this was his final commitment to one publisher while waiting to work a more lucrative contract. Disappointing overall. I gave 2 stars because the 1-star review of 'hated it' seems harsh. I didn't hate it.