"Watsondoes a remarkable thing in his memoirs: He tells the truth."
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The Wall Street Journal"An exciting history of the rise of the American computer industry, written from a unique perspective. But this surprisingly candid book has another dimension. It's about love, about learning how to love."
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The Washington Post Book World"A refreshingly candid memoir by one of the truly remarkable figures of our time."
--Walter Cronkite
"Highly recommended! An incredible and exciting life story that I couldn't put down."
--John Sculley, former chairman and chief executive officer, Apple Computer
"A frank and revealing picture of Big Blueand a vivid inside look at the family that dominated its years of spectacular growth."
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The Boston Globe"A most compelling human drama of the family that dominated the life and times of America's most famous computer colossus."
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The Economist"A frank and revealing picture of Big Blue -- and a vivid inside look at the family that dominated its years of spectacular growth." --The Boston Globe
"A most compelling human drama of the family that dominated the life and times of America's most famous computer colossus."--The Economist --> --
Review
Customer Reviews & Comments
This book tells one of the most fascinating, indeed rivetting, stories that I have ever read. It is about the building of one of the great American businesses of the 20C, but also much much more: it is about the conflict of an extraordinarily hard-driving father and his talented though psychologically burdened and rebellious son. From the beginning, they were at eachothers' throats and never relented in their conflict, even when it became evident that the son's genius surpassed that of his father to build an empire that can only be compared to the accomplishments of the first two Caesars, Julius and Augustus. The book also covers a good deal of American business history from the great depression to the beginning of the stagnation of the 1970s and early 1980s. Thus, it can be read on numerous levels. There are so many insights in it that it will bear re-reading for a long time to come. Watson Jr. was acutely aware of the cost of success and was brutally honest about his own failings as a manager and family man. I find myself remembering scenes in that book, running them in my mind as examples from which to learn. Warmly recommended.
