Adam Lashinsky

This is a biography of Briton Hadden, co-founder of Time Inc., the owner for Fortune, where I work. Hadden died young, and his co-founder, Henry Luce, airbrushed him from the company’s history. This book about entrepreneurialism gives Hadden his due.

Journalist David Halberstam wrote the definitive account of the U.S.’s failed foreign policy in Vietnam.

Tom Wolfe’s classic about the early days of the space program is so finely crafted that sometimes I just re-read random pages to enjoy the sentences.

Calvin Trillin is one of my favorite writers. He is funny. He writes beautifully (and simply). And he illuminates life’s small joys. This book is an homage to his father, who dreamt big dreams for his son—who realized them.

This book grew out of my journalism in Fortune magazine, and I’m still proud of the unique story it told about Apple just as Steve Jobs was dying. Apple has grown and evolved immensely since I published the book in 2012, but I think the lessons conveyed here hold up well.