Empire of Business

This collection of essays by Scottish-American steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie, gathered from various periodicals and first published in book form in 1902, provides insight into one of history’s richest and most notable entrepreneurs/philanthropists. Carnegie shares his outlook on the economic situation in America at the turn of the 20th century, the state of the US oil, coal, rail, and steel industries, the relationship between capital and labour, individualism vs. socialism, the public/private sector partnership, the upward climb of humanity into prosperity, the importance of land and population, trade and the best uses of tariffs, etc. He also discusses the personal rewards of hard work, integrity, thrift, how to accumulate wealth, cultivation of the lifelong reading habit, use of libraries, and other advice for achieving success. Included is one of his most famous little essays, "The Three Legged Stool". - Summary by Michele Fry