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History has given us a plethora of powerful leaders who have devoted their lives to the advancement of their countries and their people. Part of what defines a good leader is their ability to make sensible decisions during catastrophes and trying times. Brilliant leaders of both ancient and modern times have left behind everlasting legacies. A common thread that ties together many great leaders is that they emerged during tough times and led their countrymen into a brighter future. This is a list of 10 books about such leaders, covering the life they led, their political stances and their contributions to society.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: A Life

Arun tiwari.

A man with an unconventional hairstyle and a calm demeanour, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was one of the most dedicated Indian Presidents. He is also known as India’s Missile Man, as he advanced India’s ballistic missile programs. Known for championing youth causes, Kalam also launched the ‘What Can I Give’ movement in 2011 to defeat corruption as well as to realize his life’s goal of turning India into a developed country by 2020. Arun Tiwari captures Kalam’s grace and humility in A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: A Life through his personal interactions with him. Kalam seemed to embody the ideal Indian values of secularism and equality while being scientific and spiritual at the same time.

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15 of the World’s Best Leadership Books

Great leaders intentionally make time for continued education. As difficult as it may be to step away from the office, reading a variety of books on leadership is an important key to refueling and refocusing yourself as a leader. For instance, it helps reveal your strengths, weaknesses, and provide the tools needed for innovation and growth.

The 15 top leadership books every great leader needs on their bookshelf :

1. the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership.

Author: John Maxwell 

Favorite Quote: “ I believe the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives. ”

2. Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

One-Sentence Description: This book follows a five-year study that determines how “good” companies become great, beat their competitors, and achieve long-lasting success. 

Why You Should Read It: Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t emphasizes the point that success doesn’t happen overnight. For entrepreneurs and leaders who feel frustrated, tired, and out of steam, this book helps reinvigorate drive and passion . Additionally, it’s comforting to know that many of the difficulties business owners experience as they grow aren’t uncommon. In fact, growing pains are evidence that a company is developing. Overall, the core message is progress is a process.  

3. Start with Why

Author: Simon Sinek

Favorite Quote: “ People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. ”

4. Think and Grow Rich 

One-Sentence Description: Published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich studies the lives of wealthy individuals such as Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie, defining 13 habits successful people share. 

Why You Should Read It: Consistently ranked as one of the best books on leadership of all time, Think and Grow Rich helps readers understand the unique mindset of high performers. On the whole, Hill spent 25 years researching, analyzing, and understanding what makes people successful. Through 500 interviews, he found and wrote a formula for prosperity. Undoubtedly, the directive strategies are easily applicable, motivational, and provide timeless wisdom to anyone interested in leadership .

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5. Wooden on Leadership 

Author: John Wooden

Favorite Quote: “ The best leaders are lifelong learners; they take measures to create organizations that foster and inspire learning throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most. ”

6. Extreme Ownership

One-Sentence Description: Written by two Navy SEAL officers, this best-selling book relates their special operations experience to the leadership qualities all business owners, executives, and managers should possess.  

Favorite Quote: “ Implementing Extreme Ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team. ”

Why You Should Read It: The unique, interesting angle the authors take creates a fresh perspective within the genre. While some professionals might not feel this book would be applicable to their businesses, Extreme Ownership teaches lessons that help leaders understand what it truly means to lead—not manage or direct—others. With unique messaging filled with real-life experience, the book additionally provides instruction on how to successfully develop high-performing teams that can fulfill even the most difficult mission.

7. Dare to Lead

Author: Brené Brown

Favorite Quote: “ I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential. ”

8. The Effective Executive

One-Sentence Description: This book focuses on effectiveness as a form of self-discipline—a requirement for all leaders (and a skill anyone can learn).

Why You Should Read It: Success is dependent on effectiveness. From exacting change to inspiring employees, this is a quality leaders can’t afford to lack. Nevertheless, many business owners and executives unknowingly or knowingly behave, act, and communicate in ways that don’t positively impact their organizations. For example, ineffective leaders lack emotional intelligence and don’t dedicate themselves to learning how to become stewards of their employees and customers. In essence, The Effective Executive is for people who want to actively learn how to work on eliminating ineffective leadership traits and become drivers of positive impact.

9. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author: Stephen R. Covey 

Favorite Quote: “ As you care less about what people think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves .”

10. The Art of War

One-Sentence Description: The Art of War teaches leaders how to create and implement strategic initiatives.

Why You Should Read It: Out of all the best leadership books mentioned, this 5th century B.C. military treatise is the oldest. There’s a reason it’s continued inspiring generations of strategic thinkers. While it was written for military leaders, the text translates well for business owners and executives who are responsible for developing and executing the company’s vision. In short, it takes readers through 13 chapters, each dedicated to a particular stage in the strategic implementation process.

 11. Awaken the Giant Within

Author: Tony Robbins

Favorite Quote: “ Enjoy making decisions. You must know that in any moment a decision you make can change the course of your life forever . . . If you really want your life to be passionate, you need to live with this attitude of expectancy. ”

  12. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

One-Sentence Description: Lencioni uses his knack for storytelling to resolve five common dysfunctional behaviors that inhibit even the best teams.  

Why You Should Read It: Leaders must know how to both guide their teams and be a team player. This book stresses the importance of having a cohesive team dynamic. While the book is a fictional fable, it is a story many business owners and executives struggle with. Companies cannot succeed unless their teams work together. For this reason, the book points out dysfunctional behaviors that harm team culture . As a result, leaders can repair and avoid toxicity within their organizations using this insight.

13. How to Win Friends and Influence People 

Author: Dale Carnegie 

Favorite Quote: “ You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. ”

14.   Team of Rivals

One-Sentence Description: In this Lincoln biography, Kearns shows how the president united his former political competitors to abolish slavery and win the Civil War. 

Why You Should Read It: This leadership book is a masterclass on leadership and an interesting read for anyone who loves history. It shows how important it is to toss your ego aside when working with others. Rather than punishing his rivals, Lincoln welcomed several of these people into his cabinet and created a unified front that was capable of holding the country together. While the book has a rather political motif, it teaches executive leaders the value of bringing teams together toward a collective cause. Personal beliefs of individual group members may vary but there can be healthy competition among them, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of a larger, common objective.

15.   15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

Author: John C. Maxwell

Favorite Quote: “ Most people who decide to grow personally find their first mentors in the pages of books. ”

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Best Leadership Biographies

Business leadership biographies offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of some of the most influential and successful leaders in the corporate world. These books go beyond the headlines and public personas to reveal the personal journeys, pivotal moments, and key decisions that have shaped these leaders and their organizations.

Our Top 5 Leadership Biography Picks

From iconic founders who built business empires to visionary CEOs who transformed struggling companies into industry leaders, these biographies showcase the diverse paths to success in the business world. They explore the unique leadership styles , philosophies, and strategies employed by these remarkable individuals, providing valuable insights and inspiration for aspiring leaders and seasoned executives alike.

Get ready to be inspired, challenged, and equipped with new perspectives on what it takes to lead in the dynamic business world.

Best Biographies about Business Leaders

Here is our list of Business Leadership Biography recommendations;

1. “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” by Brad Stone

This biography chronicles the rise of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, from a small online bookstore to a global e-commerce giant. It offers insights into Bezos' leadership principles, customer-centric approach, and the relentless innovation that has shaped the digital age.

This biography chronicles Jeff Bezos’ journey in building Amazon from a small online bookstore to a global e-commerce giant. It offers valuable insights into Bezos’ leadership principles, particularly his customer-centric approach and relentless focus on innovation. The book explores how Bezos revolutionized online retail, cloud computing, and other sectors.

It’s an excellent read for business leaders interested in understanding the mindset behind one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. The book highlights the importance of long-term thinking, embracing failure as a learning opportunity, and constantly pushing boundaries to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

2. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson

This biography provides an in-depth look at the life of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. Isaacson presents a detailed portrait of a creative genius who revolutionized several industries from computers and movies to music and mobile phones.

This comprehensive biography provides an in-depth look at the life of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. Isaacson presents a detailed portrait of a complex and creative genius who revolutionized multiple industries, including personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, and digital publishing.

The book offers valuable lessons on innovation, product design, and the intersection of technology and liberal arts. Business leaders can learn from Jobs’ perfectionism, his ability to envision and create products people didn’t even know they wanted, and his unique management style. It also provides insights into the challenges of balancing visionary leadership with interpersonal relationships and company culture.

3. “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder

Schroeder's biography of Warren Buffett explores the life and times of one of the world's greatest investors. It delves into his unique approach to business and investing, highlighting his wit, wisdom, and down-to-earth personality.

This extensive biography of Warren Buffett, one of the world’s greatest investors, offers a deep dive into his life, investment philosophy, and business acumen. Schroeder explores Buffett’s unique approach to business and investing, highlighting his wit, wisdom, and down-to-earth personality. The book provides lessons on value investing, long-term thinking, and the importance of integrity in business. It also offers insights into Buffett’s decision-making process and risk assessment strategies.

Business leaders can learn from Buffett’s patient approach to wealth creation, his emphasis on understanding a business thoroughly before investing, and his ability to stay calm and rational in turbulent markets.

4. “The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company” by Robert Iger

Robert Iger, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, shares his leadership journey and the principles that guided his tenure at one of the world's most beloved and successful entertainment companies. It's a masterclass in strategic decision-making, brand management, and navigating change.

In this memoir, Robert Iger shares his experiences and insights from his tenure as CEO of The Walt Disney Company. It’s a masterclass in strategic decision-making, brand management, and navigating change in a rapidly evolving industry. Iger discusses key moments in his career, including the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, as well as the launch of Disney+.

The book offers valuable lessons on leadership, innovation, and maintaining brand integrity while driving growth. Business leaders can learn from Iger’s approach to risk-taking, his emphasis on technology and storytelling, and his strategies for leading a creative organization through significant transformations.

5. “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s” by Ray Kroc

Ray Kroc, the visionary behind the global expansion of McDonald's, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the principles that turned a small hamburger chain into a fast-food empire. This biography showcases the importance of persistence, standardization, and a franchising model in building a successful business.

This autobiography by Ray Kroc, the visionary behind the global expansion of McDonald’s, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the principles that turned a small hamburger chain into a fast-food empire. The book showcases the importance of persistence, standardization, and a franchising model in building a successful business.

Kroc’s story emphasizes the value of a strong work ethic, attention to detail, and the ability to recognize and capitalize on opportunities. Business leaders can learn from Kroc’s innovative approach to franchising, his focus on consistency and quality control, and his strategies for rapid expansion while maintaining brand standards.

6. “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance

This biography covers the life of Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX. It details his rise from a precocious young thinker to one of the most influential entrepreneurs shaping the future of global transportation and space travel.

This biography covers the life of Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures. It details his rise from a precocious young thinker to one of the most influential entrepreneurs shaping the future of global transportation and space travel. The book offers insights into Musk’s relentless drive, his ability to tackle seemingly impossible challenges, and his vision for transforming multiple industries.

Business leaders can learn from Musk’s approach to innovation, his willingness to take significant risks, and his strategies for disrupting established industries. The book also explores the personal costs of such intense focus and ambition, providing a balanced view of the entrepreneurial journey.

7. “Indra Nooyi: A Biography” by Annapoorna

This book traces the career and personal life of Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo and one of the most powerful women in the world of business, highlighting her visionary leadership and the impact of her strategic initiatives.

“Indra Nooyi: A Biography” by Annapoorna offers an insightful look into the life and career of one of the most influential business leaders of our time. The book traces Nooyi’s journey from her childhood in South India to becoming the CEO of PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies. It highlights her remarkable intelligence, determination, and work ethic, which propelled her to the top of the corporate world.

The biography covers key aspects of Nooyi’s life, including her education at Yale, her early career at Boston Consulting Group and Motorola, and her transformative 24-year tenure at PepsiCo. It explores her innovative “Performance with Purpose” philosophy, which emphasizes sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility.

This book is valuable for business leaders as it provides insights into Nooyi’s leadership style, her approach to work-life balance, and her strategies for navigating cultural differences in a global business environment. It also offers lessons on the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and maintaining a broader perspective in business. Nooyi’s story serves as an inspiration for aspiring leaders, particularly women and minorities in the corporate world.

8. “Jack: Straight from the Gut” by Jack Welch

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, provides an honest and insightful look at his leadership philosophy and the strategies he employed to transform GE into a global powerhouse. This biography offers valuable lessons on leadership, management, and driving organizational change.

This autobiography by Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, provides an honest and insightful look at his leadership philosophy and the strategies he employed to transform GE into a global powerhouse. Welch shares his experiences and the lessons he learned throughout his career, offering valuable insights on leadership, management, and driving organizational change.

The book covers topics such as setting high performance standards, nurturing talent, and making tough decisions. Business leaders can learn from Welch’s emphasis on candor, his approach to performance management (including the controversial “vitality curve”), and his strategies for streamlining operations and fostering innovation within a large corporation.

9. “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight

In this candid memoir, Phil Knight, the co-founder and former CEO of Nike, shares his entrepreneurial journey from selling shoes out of his car to building one of the world's most iconic brands. It's a story of perseverance, risk-taking, and the power of believing in your vision.

In this candid memoir, Phil Knight, the co-founder and former CEO of Nike, shares his entrepreneurial journey from selling shoes out of his car to building one of the world’s most iconic brands. The book offers a deeply personal account of the challenges, risks, and triumphs involved in starting and growing a business.

Knight’s story is one of perseverance, risk-taking, and the power of believing in your vision. Business leaders can learn from Knight’s approach to building a team, his strategies for competing in a crowded market, and his insights on brand building. The book also provides valuable lessons on the importance of passion, resilience, and adaptability in entrepreneurship.

10. “The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company” by David Packard

David Packard, shares the story of how he and Bill Hewlett built one of the world's leading technology companies. This biography explores the importance of innovation, teamwork, and a values-driven culture in achieving long-term success.

In this book, David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, shares the story of how he and Bill Hewlett built one of the world’s leading technology companies. The biography explores the importance of innovation, teamwork, and a values-driven culture in achieving long-term success.

Packard details the principles that guided HP’s growth, including the focus on employee welfare, decentralized management, and continuous innovation. Business leaders can learn from HP’s approach to corporate culture, their strategies for fostering innovation, and their commitment to ethical business practices. The book offers valuable insights into building a company that can adapt and thrive over the long term.

11 . “Made in America” by Sam Walton

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the principles that guided the creation and growth of the world's largest retailer. This biography emphasizes the importance of customer service, cost-cutting strategies, and continuous improvement in building a retail empire.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the principles that guided the creation and growth of the world’s largest retailer. This biography emphasizes the importance of customer service, cost-cutting strategies, and continuous improvement in building a retail empire.

Walton’s story illustrates the power of a clear vision, relentless focus on efficiency, and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions. Business leaders can learn from Walton’s approach to employee empowerment, his strategies for supply chain management, and his commitment to providing value to customers. The book also offers insights into the challenges of rapid expansion and maintaining a consistent culture across a large organization.

12. “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul” by Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz, former CEO and chairman of Starbucks, shares his journey of leading the company through one of its most challenging periods. This book chronicles the strategies, decisions, and leadership principles Schultz employed to orchestrate a remarkable turnaround and restore Starbucks' iconic status.

In this book, Howard Schultz, former CEO and chairman of Starbucks, shares his journey of leading the company through one of its most challenging periods. The book chronicles the strategies, decisions, and leadership principles Schultz employed to orchestrate a remarkable turnaround and restore Starbucks’ iconic status.

It offers valuable lessons on crisis management, brand revitalization, and maintaining company values during difficult times. Business leaders can learn from Schultz’s approach to reconnecting with the company’s core purpose, his strategies for improving operations without compromising quality, and his insights on balancing profitability with social responsibility. The book provides a candid look at the challenges of leading a global brand and the importance of staying true to a company’s mission.

Why Business Leaders Should Read Biographies

Successful business leaders are always learning and evolving, and one of the best ways to do this is by reading biographies. These stories give you a deep look into the minds of influential figures, showing you their strategies and thought processes.  Reading biographies offers valuable lessons that can enhance your leadership skills and strategic thinking.

Biographies of business leaders like Warren Buffett or John D. Rockefeller can provide you with insights into both their triumphs and their mistakes. You can understand how they navigated challenges, made pivotal decisions, and built their empires. This knowledge can help you avoid similar pitfalls and adopt successful tactics in your own career.

Reading about the lives of successful leaders can also inspire personal growth and development. Their stories can show you the importance of perseverance, innovation, and adaptability. By learning from their experiences, you can apply these lessons to improve your own leadership and contribute to the growth of your organization.

Key Takeaways

• Reading biographies enhances leadership skills and strategic thinking.
• Biographies provide insights into the successes and mistakes of business leaders.
• Learning from others’ experiences fosters personal and organizational growth.

The Value of Biographies to Business Leadership

Reading business biographies provides valuable insights into leadership skills, technological innovation, and retail strategies. Leaders can learn from the experiences of successful individuals across various industries.

Developing Leadership Skills Through Historical Insights

Leaders can gain important lessons from historical figures. For example, reading about Warren Buffett in  The Snowball  by Alice Schroeder offers insights into decision-making and value investing.

These biographies highlight the practical and philosophical approaches of influential leaders, showing how their choices shaped their organizations. Learning how past leaders handled challenges can provide modern business leaders with strategies to navigate current issues.

Understanding the Rise of Technology Titans

Technological innovations have transformed the business landscape. Biographies of technology leaders, such as Steve Jobs in  Steve Jobs  by Walter Isaacson, reveal how vision and persistence can drive success. These stories often detail the hurdles tech leaders faced and how they overcame them, providing inspiration and actionable lessons.

Learning from the pioneers of the tech industry helps in understanding the future of business technology.

Gaining Perspectives from Retail Revolutionaries

Retail leaders have also made significant impacts on the business world. Books like  Setting the Table  by Danny Meyer offer a look into effective customer service and business philosophy.

Reading about retail innovators provides perspectives on market trends, customer behavior, and organizational growth. These lessons are crucial for anyone looking to excel in the ever-changing retail industry. Learning from their experiences can help in creating successful business strategies.

Key Biographies for Business Leaders

Reading about the lives of successful business leaders can provide valuable lessons, insights, and inspiration. These biographies offer a window into the challenges and triumphs faced by some of the most influential figures in various industries.

Tech Visionaries: Jobs, Gates, and Musk

Steve Jobs : The biography by Walter Isaacson covers Jobs’ journey at Apple, his vision for technology and design, and his leadership style. You’ll learn about his relentless drive for perfection and his ability to innovate.

Bill Gates : As the co-founder of Microsoft, Gates revolutionized the personal computing industry. His biography sheds light on his strategic thinking, philanthropy, and business acumen.

Elon Musk : Known for founding Tesla and SpaceX, Musk’s biography explores his ambitious goals, from electric vehicles to space exploration. It highlights his risk-taking and visionary approach to solving complex problems.

Retail Innovators: Walton and Blank

Sam Walton : Walton’s autobiography, Made in America, details the creation and growth of Walmart. It provides insights into his frugal nature, customer-focused strategies, and drive to build the largest retail empire.

Arthur Blank : Co-founder of The Home Depot, Blank’s story is covered in Built from Scratch. It explores the journey of creating a home improvement giant from scratch, with a focus on customer service and innovative business practices.

Automotive Pioneers: Ford and Iacocca

Henry Ford : Ford’s autobiography offers a look into his development of the assembly line and the Model T. It emphasizes his vision to make cars affordable for the masses and his impact on manufacturing.

Lee Iacocca : Iacocca’s autobiography speaks about his career at Ford and later his leadership at Chrysler. Known for revitalizing Chrysler, his story is one of resilience, innovation, and effective leadership in the auto industry.

Learning from Entrepreneurial Success and Failure

When you read biographies of entrepreneurs like Richard Branson of Virgin, you gain insights into the  resilience  and  determination  required to overcome struggles. These stories often highlight the obstacles that business leaders face and how they navigate through them.

Success Stories :

• Richard Branson turned  Virgin  from a small record shop into a global brand.
• Michael Dell started Dell Technologies from his college dorm room, showing how vision and hard work pay off.

Lessons from Failures :

• Failure is a common theme in many biographies. Learning from these failures helps you understand that setbacks are part of the journey.
• For example, understanding how Branson dealt with failing ventures can offer a roadmap for maintaining hope during tough times.

Practical Applications :

• These stories are not just inspiring; they provide actionable lessons. Seeing how entrepreneurs like Branson handle crises can teach you strategies for managing your own business challenges.
• By looking at their experiences, you can avoid common pitfalls and adapt their strategies to your own plans.

Motivation :

• Reading about the tenacity of successful entrepreneurs can be quite motivating. It gives you the courage to tackle your own obstacles and push through difficulties.
• The  hope  and  determination  showcased in these biographies can serve as a constant reminder that perseverance leads to success.

Incorporating these lessons into your business strategy can be the difference between giving up and achieving your goals.

Personal Development and Organizational Growth

Reading biographies provides deep insights into leadership qualities and organizational growth. Learning from the experiences of successful leaders can help you empower your team and drive innovation within your organization.

Harnessing Experience for Team Empowerment

Biographies like  Built from Scratch  by Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus offer valuable lessons in building and leading successful teams. Blank and Marcus, the founders of Home Depot, emphasize the importance of creating a shared vision and fostering an inclusive culture.

This strategy helps in motivating team members and promoting a sense of ownership.

You can apply these lessons by investing in leadership training. Encourage your team to develop their skills and share their knowledge. This approach not only boosts morale but also enhances overall productivity. Learning how leaders like Blank and Marcus empowered their teams can guide you in creating a more resilient and agile workforce.

Innovation through Learning from the Past

Reading about the journeys of great leaders like Warren Buffett in  The Snowball  can inspire innovative thinking. Buffett’s ability to analyze past business strategies and market trends helped him make informed decisions. By studying these insights, you can adopt similar analytical skills to evaluate your own business environment.

Innovation often comes from understanding past successes and failures. Books like  True North  by Bill George highlight the importance of an internal compass in guiding leaders. This compass is built on core values and principles, which can drive your organizational growth. Learning from the past enables you to avoid common pitfalls and apply proven strategies to innovate and adapt in your industry.

Navigating through Business Literature

Knowing how to navigate business literature can provide invaluable insights into both industry specifics and broader life lessons.

Differentiating Between Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

Understanding the differences between biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs can help you choose the right book for your needs.  Biographies  are written by historians or other writers and provide an extensive look at someone’s life. They often include detailed research and multiple perspectives.

Autobiographies  are written by the subjects themselves, giving you a direct window into their thoughts and experiences. These often include personal anecdotes and insights that you won’t find elsewhere.  Memoirs  focus on specific events or periods in someone’s life, offering a more intimate and narrow perspective.

Balancing Industry Knowledge with Broader Life Lessons

When reading about successful people, you’re not just gaining industry knowledge; you’re also learning valuable life lessons. Books about business leaders often cover their approach to  hard work , innovation, and how they’ve managed to  change the world . Reading these can inspire you to think outside the box and tackle challenges creatively.

Blending industry-specific books with general life lessons helps you become well-rounded. For instance, reading self-help books alongside business biographies can provide you with both  practical skills and motivational advice . By doing so, you can handle various aspects of life more effectively, combining technical know-how with the wisdom gained from real-life experiences.

The Transformative Influence of Biographies on Leadership

Reading biographies can dramatically shape how you lead by teaching essential business values and broadening your vision of what can be achieved. These stories highlight real experiences of notable leaders, providing valuable lessons and fresh perspectives.

Inculcating Business Values and Ethos

Biographies of successful entrepreneurs like  Tony Hsieh  and  Mary Kay Ash  showcase core business values. Tony Hsieh, in his book, illustrates the importance of company culture at Zappos. Similarly, in  Miracles Happen , Mary Kay Ash emphasizes the significance of empowering employees.

Learning about the  HP Way  through the stories of  Bill Hewlett  and  David Packard  can embed values like trust and teamwork. These narratives show how values drive successful companies. Leaders can intuit the importance of integrity and respect which are vital for maintaining a thriving business environment.

Expanding the Notion of What is Possible

Stories of visionaries like  Paul Allen  and  Howard Schultz  inspire you to push boundaries. In  Idea Man , Paul Allen shares how he co-founded Microsoft, turning an unprecedented idea into a global force. His journey encourages innovative thinking and perseverance.

Howard Schultz, in his narrative, demonstrates how he transformed Starbucks into a cultural icon in the USA. His experiences teach you that ambitious goals are achievable with determination and creative strategies. These biographies expand your perspective, showing that even the most audacious dreams can be realized.

By reading these stories, you learn from the successes and failures of others, gaining insights that can be directly applied to your own leadership journey.

Conclusion: Integrating Biographical Lessons into Business Practice

Reading biographies provides valuable  lessons  that you can apply to your  business . These stories show the paths that leaders have taken to achieve success and the mistakes they’ve made.

Learning from others’ experiences can save you time and effort.

Leadership  skills can be honed by understanding how famous leaders handled crises, motivated teams, and made strategic decisions.

The stories of leaders like Steve Jobs or Michael Jordan highlight the importance of resilience and hard work.

Business development  often requires innovation and the ability to overcome setbacks. Biographies offer practical insights into these areas.

For instance, seeing how Blake Mycoskie started TOMS with a simple idea can inspire creative thinking and risk-taking.

Reading for  pleasure  can also be productive. When you enjoy what you read, you’re more likely to retain the information. This can help in applying the lessons effectively.

Incorporating enjoyable reading into your routine can enhance both your leadership and business skills.

You can format your learnings into a  table  or  list  for easy reference:

Using biographical lessons effectively can lead to better decision-making and personal growth in your business journey.

Whether you’re seeking to learn from the experiences of legendary entrepreneurs, gain insights into effective leadership practices, or draw motivation from the stories of those who have overcome incredible odds, our curated list of the best business leadership biographies has something to offer.

These books not only chronicle the lives of extraordinary leaders but also offer practical wisdom and lessons that can be applied to your own leadership journey.

If you’re looking for something different, check our different categories of Leadership Book Recommendations .

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Nonfiction Books » History Books » Ancient History (up to 500)

The best books on leadership: lessons from the ancients, recommended by jeffrey beneker.

How to Be a Leader: An Ancient Guide to Wise Leadership by Jeffrey Beneker & Plutarch

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.

Interview by Sophie Roell , Editor

The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives by Ian Scott-Kilvert & Plutarch

The Greek Alexander Romance by Richard Stoneman

Atticus by Cornelius Nepos & Nicholas Horsfall

Agricola by Harold Mattingly, James Rives & Tacitus

Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Diogenes Laertius (ed. James Miller, trans. Pamela Mensch)

1 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).

T he books you’ve selected: are we talking about them because they’re ancient biographies or because they’re books about leadership? Or are those one and the same?

But I think he’s doing more. It has to do with the reality of the world Plutarch lived in versus the world that those ancient leaders lived in, and just what opportunities there were, and at what level a reader of his could exercise leadership in the Roman Empire of his day versus the Greek city-states or the Roman Republic of the past that he’s writing about.

Why do you think people started writing these kinds of books?

If you leave out the philosophers and Diogenes Laertius, the latest political biographer that I’ve included in the list is Tacitus. He gives, in some ways, the clearest explanation at the beginning of Agricola: that it was a tradition that people would speak about their lives and careers, and the lives and careers of others, as a way of memorializing what they had done. Also, if they had done well, to collect those details into a written life so that their contemporaries and future generations could look back at the qualities that these people had. Then in the ancient world—this is true for Plutarch, Nepos and Tacitus—they would have made a direct connection between the individual qualities, what we would call the character of the individual, and their success in leadership. They would have linked their character and success to education, and to the way they applied that education to make themselves better and then, after making themselves better, making their societies better too. That’s Plutarch’s argument the whole way through: that if you’re thinking about how to be a leader, it’s the character of the individual that is most important.

Nowadays if you pick up a biography , it can be about anybody; there’s no need for the subject to have been a leader. These ancient biographies are really interesting, just because we’re really at the beginnings of biography as a genre.

One of the common type of biographies today is overcoming a personal tragedy. That could be a family tragedy or addiction or something like that. The personal strength and character that’s displayed in overcoming a particularly difficult challenge is something that seems interesting to a modern audience.

Where I think Plutarch—and Tacitus too—are coming from is the perspective of, ‘We live in a society. What’s the individual’s role in that society? What can the individual do for himself or herself to prepare themselves to play a meaningful role and to be effective—to be a good follower if you’re not in charge, and if you are in charge, to be a good leader?’

It made me laugh when in one of the books, somebody was telling off Alexander the Great for playing the harp. They were like, ‘You shouldn’t be playing the harp, you’re supposed to be practising to be a leader. When you’re a leader, other people play the harp for you.’

Yes, and it’s not just knowing how to ride a horse or throw a spear or about the skills that you need to be a good soldier or a good leader. What’s important is having the intellectual capacity and ability to control your own behaviour and to make good decisions.

There doesn’t seem to be much leadership training these days. I suppose if you go to business school you get some version of it and there is demand for leadership books, but it doesn’t seem to be part of the normal school curriculum.

One thing is that the model we’re inheriting through these books is the ‘great man’ theory. The idea was to study the lives of people by recreating them in literary form. So Plutarch, at one point, talks about living with these characters from the past and having them over as guests. It’s a conceit. They’re using the word bios in Greek or vita in Latin—which is the word for both a real life and a written life. It’s the life of a person in the past we’re recreating so we can interact with them and learn from them.

“It was a tradition that people would speak about their lives and careers, and the lives and careers of others, as a way of memorializing what they had done.”

That model seems old-fashioned now. We don’t tend to put up as many statues as we used to; we don’t like to valorize. Again, it’s this trend towards the individual. The individual overcoming great odds is more what we like now—as opposed to putting people up (either figuratively or literally) on a pedestal, and saying, ‘We should all try to be like that person.’ That’s where these authors are coming from, though, and that’s part of why it went out of fashion.

The other thing is that these leaders are all great in one way or another because they conquered other people. So, in Tacitus, Agricola is great because, ‘Look at all the Britons and Scottish people he was able to conquer!’ Expanding the boundaries of the empire was one way of quantifying it, another was lists of the numbers killed. If it’s a big list of your enemy and a small list on your side, that’s a sign of greatness.

Yes, and not one we appreciate as much today.

I think perhaps in the days of, say, the British Empire, schooling would have elevated figures like Julius Caesar because young men especially were being trained to go out and expand, if not the boundaries of direct control, then the commercial boundaries and control over other peoples in the way that the Romans were. These were good models for that sort of career. But we’ve backed off of that. We’ve decided it’s better to have mutually respectful interchange with other peoples in the world.

Still, in the introduction to your book, How to Be a Leader: An Ancient Guide to Wise Leadership , you mention that the American Founding Fathers read Plutarch for insights into leadership: there is some advice in these books which is timeless, is that right?

I think so. The superficial view is, ‘I’m not going to be an Alexander or Julius Caesar, so I don’t need to read Plutarch.’ In fact, Plutarch’s audience had the same problem, because they were living under the Empire. There was an emperor at the top and the ability to rise up was limited. Even if you rose high in government, you were still going to be working under the umbrella and under the authority of an emperor.

Most likely, Plutarch’s readership would be trying to show good leadership in their own small town, or in their family, or among their group of friends. I think that’s why Plutarch focuses so much on the personal qualities that made, say, Alexander or Demosthenes or Cicero great leaders—not because you were going to become just like them in your career, but because you could take those qualities and apply them in much smaller, ordinary circumstances. It’s those qualities that are timeless.

One problem for every organization is that some individuals put their own interests ahead of the organization’s. That could be at the level of empire, it could be at the level of city, it could be at the level of household or just interaction with your friends. And one thing that you can train yourself against—if you follow Plutarch’s ideas of education and his view of the world—is asserting yourself to the detriment of others. Being a good servant is the first step to being a good leader.

For Plutarch, it’s always about putting “city before self”, as you mention in your book.

Let’s talk about these leadership books from the ancient world that you’ve chosen one by one. Obviously, we’ve talked quite a bit about Plutarch already. The specific book and edition you’ve chosen is The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives , translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. For someone interested in approaching this book, could you say a bit about how it’s structured, who it’s about and why it might be enjoyable to read?

This is a modern structure. Plutarch wrote Parallel Lives : so he went after a Greek and a Roman that he could put together in a single book. At a scholarly level, we get angry when people rip these books apart and put the lives into new collections, as in, ‘here are Greek lives of the Athenians and here are Roman lives from the Republic.’ That said, this Penguin collection does a really good job of grouping lives that are useful to read together.

So in The Rise and Fall of Athens , you get to see four stages in the development of Athens over time. In the early stages, Plutarch has to push back into legendary and mythological times, with the founders like Theseus and even Solon. Even there, we see resonances of the way we mythologize or turn the stories of our founding figures into legends. In the US, for example, we have George Washington, who cannot tell a lie. We have these little myths that we tell to demonstrate the character of our founding figures. That’s what Plutarch is dealing with in those early lives and he says it quite bluntly: ‘This is the quality of the material I’m working with. I’m trying to turn myth into history and write about these figures as if they were real.’

“If you’re thinking about how to be a leader, it’s the character of the individual that is most important.”

Then we get into the lives of the earliest real historical figures, such as Themistocles and Aristides. They were living at the time of the Persian Wars, when Greece was under attack by this large power and managed to fight it off. The Greeks that were living at this time realized that things were different before and after the invasion of the Persians. This stage resonates with people who have lived through the 20th and into the 21st century, because for Athens, it was like the big industrial push that happened as a result of World War Two. Athens was left with a huge navy—we would probably call it a military industrial complex—and they used it to knit together an empire in the Aegean Sea. Ostensibly, it was to keep the Persians from coming back, but in fact they asserted their own authority over large areas and did much more than simply protect against invasion. So this is the period of empire-building and commercial domination that follows the Persian invasion.

Then, in the age of Pericles, Nicias and Alcibiades—and even Lysander, who is the one Spartan included here—it’s about how the Greek cities got along and interacted in this new, globalized economy. The fact is they didn’t, and a 30-year chunk of the classical period of Greece is taken up by war. It’s waged by Athens and its empire or its allies on one side, and Sparta and its allies on the other. So these lives deal with leaders in that environment. That can be very instructive for the modern situation, seeing what Greeks were doing and how individuals responded. We see what sort of character worked in leadership in those days and what sort of character didn’t. Plutarch has examples of both.

Yes, give me an example of good and bad leadership from the book.

Plutarch really likes Pericles. It’s a hard lesson, perhaps, because the only way that Pericles is successful is by being something of a demagogue and a little bit too authoritarian. He realizes, for example, that the assembly at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War is going to make bad strategic decisions. So he refuses to call them to vote, to keep them from making a mistake. I was actually teaching a class on Greek civilization the very same week your prime minister, Boris Johnson, was refusing to call Parliament into session because he didn’t want them to make certain decisions about Brexit. To my mind, it was a very easy parallel. I could just grab newspaper headlines and put them on the screen for my students and say, ‘The stuff we’re reading about Pericles is not arcane; it’s happening right now again.’ So if you’re looking for examples of leadership, there’s an example of circumventing a democratic process because you’re wary of the outcome.

The flipside is someone who was related to Pericles, Alcibiades. Here’s someone who, in Plutarch’s telling of the story, can never really subordinate his own interests to the interests of the state. It’s always about him. And bad things happen to the Athenians, to the whole state, because of his desire to be this larger than life figure.

One point to mention here, maybe, is that Plutarch has strong views about how a leader conducts his personal life, doesn’t he? The traditional distinction, that it’s fine to behave badly in your private life—JFK, say, could be a terrible womanizer, but he was still regarded as a great leader—Plutarch isn’t having any of it. You have to be a good person in private and in public.

There is no distinction. In fact, Plutarch would argue that what you’re doing in your private life will predict what’s going to happen if we put you in charge of public life. If you can’t run the small economy of your household in a competent way, why would we put you in charge of the city’s economy? It’s that way of thinking.

In your book, How to Be a Leader, the Plutarch texts you’ve translated, are they from the Parallel Lives ?

No, there’s another body of work that’s collectively called the Moralia, which are treatises on lots of different topics. Most of them are philosophical and some of them are political. As he’s writing the Parallel Lives, he’s also writing political essays that take the principles and use examples from the Lives in a briefer form, to reinforce or support the arguments he’s making about how to be successful in politics.

And you mention in the book that you translated the passages of Plutarch that you felt were most relevant to political life in a modern democracy. Do you want to give an example?

There are parts about mentoring, that the best way to start in politics is to attach yourself to someone who’s experienced and learn by example. On the flipside, if you’re an experienced politician, you need to devote some of your energy to bringing the next generation along. You also need to be ready to step out of the way and give them a chance.

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We’re having that struggle right now in our own presidential election, where we have three candidates who are 70 years old or older. They’ve had a long career: shouldn’t they be stepping aside and letting another generation come through and take over? Why does the younger generation have to beat down the older generation to have a chance? That’s an issue Plutarch addressed pretty directly.

And would Plutarch approve of these older politicians?

He wants older politicians to remain engaged, but in a more relaxed way. So he would not approve of a 70-year-old man on stage debating and arguing back and forth with a 40-year-old man. He would like the 70-year-old to step back and be summoned by the people, who recognize his experience and want his help if, say, the ship of state runs aground. To name names, maybe Joe Biden has an argument here. He’s saying, ‘Our state is running aground and I need to come back to help right it. I’m the one with experience who can fix things up.’

So Plutarch would be happy with Joe Biden campaigning?

He would be happy that he’s made himself available to lead, though he’d be a little bit nervous that it’s Biden who’s pushing himself forward. He’s become the frontrunner now, so perhaps the party is saying, ‘Joe, we need you, come back in!’ I think, though, that Plutarch might question whether Biden’s motives are pure or whether he just can’t resist trying to get access to that highest office that’s eluded him in his career.

For Plutarch—and for the other authors as well, though less explicitly—to be a good leader, you have to study philosophy , don’t you?

There’s no other way. Plutarch has an essay, ‘To an Uneducated Leader.’ It sounds like an insult, but it could have been entitled ‘How to Become an Educated Leader,’ and the answer is philosophy. It’s what allows you to realize that an enthusiastic crowd cheering you on is not a good thing in itself, or that gaining wealth or being put in charge of an army is not a good thing in itself: what’s valuable is the good that you can do as a result of wielding power or holding office. If you’re satisfied with doing good—as opposed to gaining glory and gaining wealth—then you can be a good leader. And the only way to develop that realization, to have that maturity of thought, is through philosophy. That’s where you learn what is really valuable, what is really good. That’s where you learn the self-control and the self-discipline and how not to be distracted by the cheering crowd or the ability to become rich. If you can develop that kind of maturity, then you can become a good leader.

I have to say, Plutarch sets the bar quite high. Not only do you have to be this virtuous, perfect person in private and public, but then you also have to be good at public speaking so that everybody can find out about you.

It’s a very elitist system. You have to be well-educated and it’s your family and your money that are going to allow you to learn to speak well and to have access to philosophizing. Our word ‘school’ comes from the Greek word schole , which means leisure time. If you’re able to be educated, it means you don’t have to work every day to live. So the only way you can reach that status is to come from a wealthy, aristocratic background.

I’m going to mention that to my kids, because they’re always complaining about school.

For Plutarch, school is a huge privilege, because the alternative is going out every day and scratching the field and hoping that your land returns you enough to live through this year so that you can repeat the process next year. It’s never-ending. Ancient Greek agricultural life is very dreary. It repeats every year and it never gets better. You never work your way up. So schole is a really big deal. It’s the same in Latin. Ludus is school, but it’s also the word for a game or an entertainment. If you have time for ludus and fooling around, you can become educated, but it’s the one per cent that have that opportunity.

Let’s move on to the next of these leadership books, which is The Greek Alexander Romance . You’ve recommended a version translated and put together by Richard Stoneman. The Alexander Romance was the best-selling novel of the Middle Ages, wasn’t it?

Yes, all the way up to modern times. Alexander was a huge figure in Greece, mostly because of the Romance and the different forms it took. It’s a romance in the sense of a novel, we might call it ‘the Alexander Fiction.’

It’s a whole other take on leadership, in terms of a great leader from the past. Alexander himself seems to have realized that he was great from an early age. We talked earlier about the Athenian leaders when the Persians attacked Greece. Alexander inserted himself right into that history. Both Alexander and his father conceived of uniting the Greek cities under Macedonian leadership and going eastward and attacking the Persian Empire, ostensibly in revenge for their invasions of Greece. We know there were two Persian invasions, but the Persians were a constant presence. The Greeks themselves didn’t know that they weren’t going to come back, and the Persians kept gaining control over Greek cities in Asia Minor. So Alexander took off to conquer the Persian Empire and get rid of the Persian menace once and for all.

“What’s important is having the intellectual capacity and ability to control your own behaviour and to make good decisions.”

Alexander understands that this is a huge undertaking. It’s got major historical implications. So he brings Aristotle’s nephew, Callisthenes, along with him as a historian. He wants to put himself into that historical tradition, but also the tradition of Achilles and Homer. Achilles had Homer to write his story, and his story has become eternal. Alexander seems to have wanted the same sort of thing. So he wants a historian/biographer/romanticizer travelling along with him to write about his exploits.

Then what develops in the ancient tradition is that we have various histories that are histories as we would know them, but it’s these legendary stories that come to dominate Alexander’s reception. So he does all kinds of things in the fictional version—he flies on the back of a bird, he goes under the sea in a diving bell, he fights the Indian king Porus who is seven-and-a-half feet tall (Alexander defeats him in single combat). So he does all the things that a legendary/heroic/mythological figure might do.

But who wrote it and where did it come from, this Romance ?

It’s sometimes described as an open text. People were adding things to it over time. There are different versions of the manuscript tradition. In this edition by Stoneman; he’s knit them together.

For a long time, it was attributed to Callisthenes, and it probably has a historical core that started with him. But it’s been rewritten and augmented so much. For example, when the Greek world becomes a Christian world, Alexander is swept right along with that. He’s modernized and updated as time moves on.

It was only this year that the question about the name of North Macedonia was settled, and Alexander was huge in that debate. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was using him as a symbol and the Greeks were using Alexander, too, to make their own claim. Just six months ago, they put a new statue of Alexander in downtown Athens, near the arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. So, right in the middle of those ancient monuments, there’s a new monument of Alexander on his horse. He’s been a symbol like that for 2,000 years.

Do you think Alexander became famous because of this fiction being written about him, or was it written about him because he was already famous, do you think?

It’s a little of both. It’s a way of communicating just how big Alexander is, by talking about him in a discourse that was used for talking about someone like Hercules or Theseus or these other legendary founders who did larger-than-life things. If we tell Alexander’s story in that same mode, it elevates him and it says something about who he is. It doesn’t mean everyone believes these stories.

The parallel I like to cite is in the dome of the Capitol in Washington DC. There’s a mosaic in the very top, which is the apotheosis of George Washington. He’s shown up in heaven surrounded by 13 young women who are the 13 original colonies and there are other figures that represent characteristics of the United States. No one believes that George Washington was deified when he died, but by putting him into this common scene of apotheosis, by making him divine in art, it allows us to say something about the stature of George Washington and the magnitude of his accomplishments and what we think of him in terms of the history of the United States. It’s a mode of discourse that has immediate resonance and lets everyone understand what the level of achievement of this person is.

And Alexander consciously cultivated this idea that he would be remembered historically?

Let’s go on to the next book, which is Atticus by Cornelius Nepos. Atticus was a major figure of the late Republic and a friend of Cicero. Why do you think this book is worth reading? It’s quite short, actually.

Yes, that’s one of its virtues; it doesn’t try your patience at all. It’s maybe a little too brief: it’s written for an audience who knows the history of the time and the individuals involved, so it can be a little hard to read when things are just mentioned and alluded to.

The reason I think it’s interesting to read is because it’s written by a contemporary of Atticus. There’s a point in about chapter 19 where he writes, ‘I’d written up to this point while Atticus was alive. Now he’s dead and I’m going to put this little epilogue onto it.’ So it’s written by someone who was there to witness the events that were unfolding. In terms of people who study political history, this is one of the most interesting times in the history of Rome, because it’s right at the transition from Republic to Empire. It’s when the mechanism that allowed the Romans to run their government through a power-sharing system falls apart. It was an aristocratic elite, but they were sharing power among themselves.

Atticus is famous because he doesn’t choose sides. He’s incredibly wealthy and he could easily—and perhaps should—have picked a side and stuck with it. He’s an example of someone who’s able to navigate these difficult times. He doesn’t end up proscribed and in exile. He doesn’t end up dead, like Cicero, one of his best friends, did. He doesn’t choose the wrong side. We talk a lot about polarization now: either you’re on one side or the other, and there’s no room for compromise in the middle. Atticus is an example—and again, not to say things are exactly the same—of someone who was living in a similarly polarized time and who found a way to navigate that middle.

Cornelius Nepos writes, “He sought no offices though they lay open to him.” He was deliberately keeping a low profile, wasn’t he?

That’s right, and that could be a lesson as well, about how to get along in these times.

Another lesson is that some Romans had a hard time learning that you need to stop at some point. Going back to Joe Biden, is the last big thing he is going to do is get rejected by his party? Is that going to be the end of his career? Or should he have stepped back, and said, ‘I was vice president under one of the most popular presidents we’ve ever had’ and let that be enough.

Atticus is extreme in that he doesn’t want anything, or if he takes an office, he sets conditions on it such that it won’t involve him in politics in any larger way. A friend of his, Asinius Pollio, who has a family connection with Atticus and is mentioned in the book, seems to do a similar thing. He’s with Caesar during the first round of civil wars. He works his way up and goes on to become consul, which is the highest office in the state. He has a military triumph and then retires. I suspect that he looked around him and thought, ‘If I keep going, it can only end badly.’ Pompey, Caesar’s opponent, had three triumphs and he ended up beheaded in Egypt. So I think people who were savvy looked around and saw what happened to others.

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This is where we can make a connection back to Plutarch. Atticus is called Atticus because Attica is the region around Athens and he went to Athens to study. He has that philosophical background that allows him to see what’s really important. He avoids the stature, the glory and the wealth that he might have acquired by a political career and stays above and separate from it. Asinius Pollio sets a similar example. He goes to a certain point and stops. He becomes an intellectual figure. He writes a history. He creates the first public library in Rome. He is probably also someone who is educated and able to make an intellectual choice and not just be driven by the emotion and the excitement of politics.

In the introduction of the edition of Atticus you’ve recommended, which is translated by Nicholas Horsfall, it says that Atticus was an Epicurean, but that it’s not mentioned in the text. Is Atticus’s Epicureanism relevant?

So we’re now looking at a book about a leader by the great Roman historian Tacitus. He’s writing about his father-in-law, Agricola , who made his name in Britain. Again, it’s quite a short book, and quite fun to read if you’re based in the UK. He has lots of commentary about Britain, including about the foulness of the weather.

On the surface, Agricola is a tribute to his father-in-law and it’s really nice to have this family connection. A lot of ancient literature can oftentimes seem so distant and cold that it’s hard to see the human connection, but it’s strong in this book. In the introduction and especially in the conclusion, you can feel the real bond that Tacitus must have felt with this person.

It’s also a history of the times. So the dynasty that was established by Julius Caesar and Augustus died out in the year 69 with Nero. Then you have what’s typically called the Flavian dynasty, which ruled until 96. The third emperor in that dynasty was Domitian, who comes across in this biography as jealous of anyone who might be getting attention or might have a claim to power. Because he’s not part of the founding family and his dynasty has only just been established, he’s very protective. It’s therefore a difficult time to be involved in politics. Tacitus starts out with a discussion of how, in former days, if someone did something great, we would lift them up and we would tell their stories. But in Agricola’s day, we couldn’t do that because it would only cause danger, so that sort of thing was repressed. So, at the end of the biography, when Agricola comes back from Britain, he wants to keep a low profile. He doesn’t want anyone to talk about him. He doesn’t want anyone to thank him or raise him up. He wants to blend into the crowd because he’s worried that if he is seen as having done something too great or too important, he’ll be taken out. He manages to navigate that, and Domitian grudgingly gives him an honorary province at the end.

“Plutarch has an essay, ‘To an Uneducated Leader.’ It sounds like an insult, but it could have been entitled ‘How to Become an Educated Leader’ and the answer is philosophy”

By the time Tacitus is writing, Domitian is gone. There’s more openness; the leaders are more secure and not so jealous of other people. So Tacitus can write this story just like in the old days. He can lift up someone like Agricola, who had to be anonymous after all the great things he did in Britain. Tacitus is going to make sure Agricola gets his due for what he did and couldn’t talk about under Domitian.

Does it end badly for Agricola? Is he poisoned?

No, he dies of disease. But he’s young, in his 50s, so he doesn’t get a long life.

And again, as in all these leadership books, there’s a focus on education. Tacitus says Agricola was “trained in the liberal arts.” And then trained all the leading Brits in the liberal arts as well. That’s worth remembering in this day and age, when the liberal arts are often looked down on.

Yes, the theme that comes out of all of these books is that if you want to do great in business or in government, study philosophy and the liberal arts, because that’s your foundation. That’s what gives you the mindset, the self-control, the sense of values that are going to allow you to succeed.

The other thing that’s interesting in terms of leadership in this book is that when Agricola goes to Britain, he’s everywhere at all times. He’s working hard 24 hours a day. He’s putting the needs of his army and of his country ahead of his own comfort. The leaders before him were sitting back, saying, ‘I’m a general and I’m a big figure up here in Britain’ and then suffering losses and not doing well. Whereas Agricola puts his nose to the grindstone and gets it done, through hard work and self-sacrifice.

Also, he’s modest. Tacitus writes, “His very refusal to acknowledge his fame increased it.”

I think we’re at the last book now, which is by Diogenes Laertius. This is a delightful book, translated by Pamela Mensch. It ties in with the others—which emphasize how philosophy is critical to leadership—in that it’s an account of The Lives of the Eminent Philosophers . It says in the introduction, by James Miller, that this is a crucial source for much of what we know about the origins of philosophy in Greece, which I didn’t realize. Tell me more about it.

We don’t really know anything about Diogenes outside this book, but he’s living in the third century, when there was a tradition of collecting stuff. The Romans sometimes referred to the people who did this as antiquarians; they just liked to collect information and then organize it.

This is what Diogenes is doing. He’s got access to lots of sources and material that is lost to us. He had an eye on preserving those, but also on creating something that was useful for him for his own times. He sets it up chronologically, so he goes back and Book One contains the early, legendary philosophers. That is what allows us to observe the development of philosophy in a way that we couldn’t have otherwise.

He’s collected information on 82 philosophers, so it’s quite a lot of ground he’s covering.

One thing that is worth mentioning is that if your website were six books, I could have added hagiography to my list—either an individual or a collection of saints’ lives. Because this is also what happens with saints : their lives are collected and if you read through them all, you’ll notice there’s a familiar form. They all seem the same. You read about their childhood and then there’s something that happens that causes a conversion (if they’re living in the early days). Then they go on to do wonderful things and then they usually have either a good ending or a bad ending that further proves their saintliness.

“The theme that comes out of all of these books is that if you want to do great in business or in government, study philosophy and the liberal arts, because that’s your foundation.”

Life writing becomes very formulaic when we get to this stage of collecting and bringing lives together. The format is normally that the first part of each life is about the life itself, how the person lived. Then, at the end, there’s a collection of sayings or teachings that are the real legacy of the philosopher.

He says that the first person to use the term philosophy and call himself a philosopher was Pythagoras. I thought that was quite interesting, because I’d always presumed he was a mathematician. But Diogenes is very emphatic that philosophy started with the Greeks.

Philosophy for Diogenes—and for everyone before him—is a much broader term than it is for us. A better translation for it might be science, in the sense of scientific enquiry. We typically talk about the humanities and science as two separate things, but if you think about a systematic intellectual approach to a problem as scientific—whether it’s in a lab or it’s a mental or an ethical problem—that’s what these philosophers were doing. So, for example, the atomists (the first people to propose that everything is made up of atoms) are philosophers, not strictly scientists—because of the way that philosophy had this broad application.

The introduction points out that a type emerges of what philosophers are like. They’re adept at argument. They’re interested in the order of the world or how to live, or both. They’re often absentminded and indifferent to personal hygiene. They have body lice.

That gets at the type. Is that Diogenes’s mental image of a philosopher? It’s the other Diogenes, the Cynic, who is famous for living in a tub and ignoring personal hygiene. Does Diogenes Laertius take these 80+ philosophers and jam them into these same characteristics?

It’s actually not that different from the way we sometimes characterize an intellectual, philosophical type: not so concerned about personal appearance or social norms and things like that, but living in their heads.

And definitely absent-minded.

I was reading the entry about Aristotle, which describes his life and then, as you say, at the end there’s a collection of his sayings. Aristotle is asked how the educated differ from the uneducated and he replies that it’s “as much as the living from the dead.”

That’s the theme that’s run through our whole discussion, that education is the foundation of everything.

Another trope that emerges in this book is that philosophers always seem to be being asked questions and then coming up with one-line, pithy answers that are irrefutable. Again, I think they’re all being forced into a mould, that dialogic mode.

Did you read Diogenes in Greek before this translation came out?

Diogenes is one of those authors that you don’t—or I don’t—really read as much as, if you need to know something about Aristotle, or you need to know something about Pythagoras, you go into it and you read the section about that philosopher. I think that’s how he intended the work. It’s like an encyclopaedia or a reference work, more than a book with a beginning and an end.

He claims that Aristotle died by drinking Wolfsbane and he has four different versions of how Pythagoras died. How seriously should we take his accounts?

With a grain of salt. In the introduction it says, “modern scholars have generally dismissed Diogenes Laertius as a mediocre anthologist if not an ‘ignoramus.’” We probably shouldn’t trust anything that we can’t find in another source, but many of the things you read in here pop up everywhere when you read about these philosophers in modern accounts because, in the end, it’s all we have.

March 7, 2020

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Jeffrey Beneker

Jeffrey Beneker is Professor of Classics at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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The 30 best biographies of all time.

Biographer Richard Holmes once wrote that his work was “a kind of pursuit… writing about the pursuit of that fleeting figure, in such a way as to bring them alive in the present.”

At the risk of sounding cliché, the best biographies do exactly this: bring their subjects to life. A great biography isn’t just a laundry list of events that happened to someone. Rather, it should weave a narrative and tell a story in almost the same way a novel does. In this way, biography differs from the rest of nonfiction .

All the biographies on this list are just as captivating as excellent novels , if not more so. With that, please enjoy the 30 best biographies of all time — some historical, some recent, but all remarkable, life-giving tributes to their subjects.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great biographies out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized biography recommendation  😉

Which biography should you read next?

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1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

This biography of esteemed mathematician John Nash was both a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and the basis for the award-winning film of the same name. Nasar thoroughly explores Nash’s prestigious career, from his beginnings at MIT to his work at the RAND Corporation — as well the internal battle he waged against schizophrenia, a disorder that nearly derailed his life.

2. Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition by Andrew Hodges

Hodges’ 1983 biography of Alan Turing sheds light on the inner workings of this brilliant mathematician, cryptologist, and computer pioneer. Indeed, despite the title ( a nod to his work during WWII ), a great deal of the “enigmatic” Turing is laid out in this book. It covers his heroic code-breaking efforts during the war, his computer designs and contributions to mathematical biology in the years following, and of course, the vicious persecution that befell him in the 1950s — when homosexual acts were still a crime punishable by English law.

3. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton is not only the inspiration for a hit Broadway musical, but also a work of creative genius itself. This massive undertaking of over 800 pages details every knowable moment of the youngest Founding Father’s life: from his role in the Revolutionary War and early American government to his sordid (and ultimately career-destroying) affair with Maria Reynolds. He may never have been president, but he was a fascinating and unique figure in American history — plus it’s fun to get the truth behind the songs.

Prefer to read about fascinating First Ladies rather than almost-presidents? Check out this awesome list of books about First Ladies over on The Archive.

4. Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston

A prolific essayist, short story writer, and novelist, Hurston turned her hand to biographical writing in 1927 with this incredible work, kept under lock and key until it was published 2018. It’s based on Hurston’s interviews with the last remaining survivor of the Middle Passage slave trade, a man named Cudjo Lewis. Rendered in searing detail and Lewis’ highly affecting African-American vernacular, this biography of the “last black cargo” will transport you back in time to an era that, chillingly, is not nearly as far away from us as it feels.

5. Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert

Though many a biography of him has been attempted, Gilbert’s is the final authority on Winston Churchill — considered by many to be Britain’s greatest prime minister ever. A dexterous balance of in-depth research and intimately drawn details makes this biography a perfect tribute to the mercurial man who led Britain through World War II.

Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are not as well known as Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the \'dominion of matter\' with \'a great stillness\'--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening.

Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well; namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--a view that would change the world. --Gregory McNamee

6. E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

This “biography of the world’s most famous equation” is a one-of-a-kind take on the genre: rather than being the story of Einstein, it really does follow the history of the equation itself. From the origins and development of its individual elements (energy, mass, and light) to their ramifications in the twentieth century, Bodanis turns what could be an extremely dry subject into engaging fare for readers of all stripes.

7. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

When Enrique was only five years old, his mother left Honduras for the United States, promising a quick return. Eleven years later, Enrique finally decided to take matters into his own hands in order to see her again: he would traverse Central and South America via railway, risking his life atop the “train of death” and at the hands of the immigration authorities, to reunite with his mother. This tale of Enrique’s perilous journey is not for the faint of heart, but it is an account of incredible devotion and sharp commentary on the pain of separation among immigrant families.

8. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera

Herrera’s 1983 biography of renowned painter Frida Kahlo, one of the most recognizable names in modern art, has since become the definitive account on her life. And while Kahlo no doubt endured a great deal of suffering (a horrific accident when she was eighteen, a husband who had constant affairs), the focal point of the book is not her pain. Instead, it’s her artistic brilliance and immense resolve to leave her mark on the world — a mark that will not soon be forgotten, in part thanks to Herrera’s dedicated work.

9. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Perhaps the most impressive biographical feat of the twenty-first century, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about a woman whose cells completely changed the trajectory of modern medicine. Rebecca Skloot skillfully commemorates the previously unknown life of a poor black woman whose cancer cells were taken, without her knowledge, for medical testing — and without whom we wouldn’t have many of the critical cures we depend upon today.

10. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Christopher McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, hitchhiked to Alaska and disappeared into the Denali wilderness in April 1992. Five months later, McCandless was found emaciated and deceased in his shelter — but of what cause? Krakauer’s biography of McCandless retraces his steps back to the beginning of the trek, attempting to suss out what the young man was looking for on his journey, and whether he fully understood what dangers lay before him.

11. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families by James Agee

"Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.” From this line derives the central issue of Agee and Evans’ work: who truly deserves our praise and recognition? According to this 1941 biography, it’s the barely-surviving sharecropper families who were severely impacted by the American “Dust Bowl” — hundreds of people entrenched in poverty, whose humanity Evans and Agee desperately implore their audience to see in their book.

12. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

Another mysterious explorer takes center stage in this gripping 2009 biography. Grann tells the story of Percy Fawcett, the archaeologist who vanished in the Amazon along with his son in 1925, supposedly in search of an ancient lost city. Parallel to this narrative, Grann describes his own travels in the Amazon 80 years later: discovering firsthand what threats Fawcett may have encountered, and coming to realize what the “Lost City of Z” really was.

13. Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

Though many of us will be familiar with the name Mao Zedong, this prodigious biography sheds unprecedented light upon the power-hungry “Red Emperor.” Chang and Halliday begin with the shocking statistic that Mao was responsible for 70 million deaths during peacetime — more than any other twentieth-century world leader. From there, they unravel Mao’s complex ideologies, motivations, and missions, breaking down his long-propagated “hero” persona and thrusting forth a new, grislier image of one of China’s biggest revolutionaries.

14. Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson by Andrew Wilson

Titled after one of her most evocative poems, this shimmering bio of Sylvia Plath takes an unusual approach. Instead of focusing on her years of depression and tempestuous marriage to poet Ted Hughes, it chronicles her life before she ever came to Cambridge. Wilson closely examines her early family and relationships, feelings and experiences, with information taken from her meticulous diaries — setting a strong precedent for other Plath biographers to follow.

15. The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

What if you had twenty-four different people living inside you, and you never knew which one was going to come out? Such was the life of Billy Milligan, the subject of this haunting biography by the author of Flowers for Algernon . Keyes recounts, in a refreshingly straightforward style, the events of Billy’s life and how his psyche came to be “split”... as well as how, with Keyes’ help, he attempted to put the fragments of himself back together.

16. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

This gorgeously constructed biography follows Paul Farmer, a doctor who’s worked for decades to eradicate infectious diseases around the globe, particularly in underprivileged areas. Though Farmer’s humanitarian accomplishments are extraordinary in and of themselves, the true charm of this book comes from Kidder’s personal relationship with him — and the sense of fulfillment the reader sustains from reading about someone genuinely heroic, written by someone else who truly understands and admires what they do.

17. Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

Here’s another bio that will reshape your views of a famed historical tyrant, though this time in a surprisingly favorable light. Decorated scholar Andrew Roberts delves into the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, from his near-flawless military instincts to his complex and confusing relationship with his wife. But Roberts’ attitude toward his subject is what really makes this work shine: rather than ridiculing him ( as it would undoubtedly be easy to do ), he approaches the “petty tyrant” with a healthy amount of deference.

18. The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IV by Robert A. Caro

Lyndon Johnson might not seem as intriguing or scandalous as figures like Kennedy, Nixon, or W. Bush. But in this expertly woven biography, Robert Caro lays out the long, winding road of his political career, and it’s full of twists you wouldn’t expect. Johnson himself was a surprisingly cunning figure, gradually maneuvering his way closer and closer to power. Finally, in 1963, he got his greatest wish — but at what cost? Fans of Adam McKay’s Vice , this is the book for you.

19. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser

Anyone who grew up reading Little House on the Prairie will surely be fascinated by this tell-all biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Caroline Fraser draws upon never-before-published historical resources to create a lush study of the author’s life — not in the gently narrated manner of the Little House series, but in raw and startling truths about her upbringing, marriage, and volatile relationship with her daughter (and alleged ghostwriter) Rose Wilder Lane.

20. Prince: A Private View by Afshin Shahidi

Compiled just after the superstar’s untimely death in 2016, this intimate snapshot of Prince’s life is actually a largely visual work — Shahidi served as his private photographer from the early 2000s until his passing. And whatever they say about pictures being worth a thousand words, Shahidi’s are worth more still: Prince’s incredible vibrance, contagious excitement, and altogether singular personality come through in every shot.

21. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

Could there be a more fitting title for a book about the husband-wife team who discovered radioactivity? What you may not know is that these nuclear pioneers also had a fascinating personal history. Marie Sklodowska met Pierre Curie when she came to work in his lab in 1891, and just a few years later they were married. Their passion for each other bled into their passion for their work, and vice-versa — and in almost no time at all, they were on their way to their first of their Nobel Prizes.

22. Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson

She may not have been assassinated or killed in a mysterious plane crash, but Rosemary Kennedy’s fate is in many ways the worst of “the Kennedy Curse.” As if a botched lobotomy that left her almost completely incapacitated weren’t enough, her parents then hid her away from society, almost never to be seen again. Yet in this new biography, penned by devoted Kennedy scholar Kate Larson, the full truth of Rosemary’s post-lobotomy life is at last revealed.

23. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

This appropriately lyrical biography of brilliant Jazz Age poet and renowned feminist, Edna St. Vincent Millay, is indeed a perfect balance of savage and beautiful. While Millay’s poetic work was delicate and subtle, the woman herself was feisty and unpredictable, harboring unusual and occasionally destructive habits that Milford fervently explores.

24. Shelley: The Pursuit by Richard Holmes

Holmes’ famous philosophy of “biography as pursuit” is thoroughly proven here in his first full-length biographical work. Shelley: The Pursuit details an almost feverish tracking of Percy Shelley as a dark and cutting figure in the Romantic period — reforming many previous historical conceptions about him through Holmes’ compelling and resolute writing.

25. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

Another Gothic figure has been made newly known through this work, detailing the life of prolific horror and mystery writer Shirley Jackson. Author Ruth Franklin digs deep into the existence of the reclusive and mysterious Jackson, drawing penetrating comparisons between the true events of her life and the dark nature of her fiction.

26. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

Fans of Into the Wild and The Lost City of Z will find their next adventure fix in this 2017 book about Christopher Knight, a man who lived by himself in the Maine woods for almost thirty years. The tale of this so-called “last true hermit” will captivate readers who have always fantasized about escaping society, with vivid descriptions of Knight’s rural setup, his carefully calculated moves and how he managed to survive the deadly cold of the Maine winters.

27. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The man, the myth, the legend: Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, is properly immortalized in Isaacson’s masterful biography. It divulges the details of Jobs’ little-known childhood and tracks his fateful path from garage engineer to leader of one of the largest tech companies in the world — not to mention his formative role in other legendary companies like Pixar, and indeed within the Silicon Valley ecosystem as a whole.

28. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Olympic runner Louis Zamperini was just twenty-six when his US Army bomber crashed and burned in the Pacific, leaving him and two other men afloat on a raft for forty-seven days — only to be captured by the Japanese Navy and tortured as a POW for the next two and a half years. In this gripping biography, Laura Hillenbrand tracks Zamperini’s story from beginning to end… including how he embraced Christian evangelism as a means of recovery, and even came to forgive his tormentors in his later years.

29. Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) by Stacy Schiff

Everyone knows of Vladimir Nabokov — but what about his wife, Vera, whom he called “the best-humored woman I have ever known”? According to Schiff, she was a genius in her own right, supporting Vladimir not only as his partner, but also as his all-around editor and translator. And she kept up that trademark humor throughout it all, inspiring her husband’s work and injecting some of her own creative flair into it along the way.

30. Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

William Shakespeare is a notoriously slippery historical figure — no one really knows when he was born, what he looked like, or how many plays he wrote. But that didn’t stop Stephen Greenblatt, who in 2004 turned out this magnificently detailed biography of the Bard: a series of imaginative reenactments of his writing process, and insights on how the social and political ideals of the time would have influenced him. Indeed, no one exists in a vacuum, not even Shakespeare — hence the conscious depiction of him in this book as a “will in the world,” rather than an isolated writer shut up in his own musty study.

If you're looking for more inspiring nonfiction, check out this list of 30 engaging self-help books , or this list of the last century's best memoirs !

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10 Must-Read Inspiring Biographies of Business Leaders Take a page from the book of the lives of these famous entrepreneurs.

By Lindsay LaVine Feb 13, 2013

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Starting a business from the ground up can be at times lonely, stressful and all-consuming. Take a break and read the advice from successful entrepreneurs who've mastered the fields of technology, fashion, retail, real estate and more.

These men and women have been in your shoes and lived to tell the tale. Read on to find inspiration in their trials and triumphs.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs (Simon & Schuster , 2011) By Walter Isaacson

What began in Steve Jobs' parents' garage in the 1970s laid the groundwork for revolutionary innovation in technology. From personal computers to animated films, how we listen to and purchase music, use our phones and even read books, Jobs left his indelible print on how we communicate, entertain and live. Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs himself and hundreds more with those who knew him, this no-limits, warts-and-all biography sheds light on a complicated man and his vision for how technology could be.

Inspirational Quote: "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." -- Steve Jobs

Related: Remembering Steve Jobs: One Year Later

Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson

Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way (Crown Business, 2011) By Richard Branson

Don't be intimidated by the more than 600 pages in this entertaining autobiography. In Losing My Virginity, Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, shares how his early experiences shaped his later business ventures. When he met with "experts" who advised he not enter an already crowded field, Branson followed his gut, with his trademark slogan, "Oh, screw it. Let's do it." Part memoir, part business guide for entrepreneurs, Branson's belief that customer service reigns supreme is a theme throughout his businesses, from airlines to mobile and beyond.

Inspirational Quote: "Most 'necessary evils' are far more evil than necessary." --Richard Branson

Related: Richard Branson on Entrepreneurial Determination

Built from Scratch by Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus

Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew the Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion (Crown Business, 1999) By Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, with Bob Andelman

In 1978, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were executives who'd just heard the two words that strike fear in the hearts of employees everywhere: You're fired. Their perspective changed, however, when a friend told them they'd "been kicked in the a** with a golden horseshoe." The firings, in fact, were a blessing in disguise. Built from Scratch is the inside story of how two determined executives constructed the Home Depot empire from the ground up.

Inspirational Quote: "You want a formula for success? Take two Jews who have just been fired, add an Irishman who just walked away from a bankruptcy and an Italian running a no-name investment banking firm." -- Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hseih

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose (Business Plus Hachette Book Group, 2010) By Tony Hsieh

Tony Hsieh's entrepreneurial spirit emerged when he was just nine years old and launched his first business -- a worm farm. When that didn't pan out, he moved on, undeterred, to businesses ranging from publishing a newsletter and selling it to classmates and running garage sales, all before high school. In 1998, at age 24, he sold his company LinkExchange, an online banner advertising program, to Microsoft for $265 million. He joined Zappos shortly after and helped create a company culture that infuses the science of happiness into its business model. That vision statement, to deliver happiness to the world, has drawn new and repeat customers to the site.

Inspirational Quote: "We wanted to run our own business, and be in control of our own destiny. We had no idea where it would lead us, but wherever it was, we knew it had to be better than feeling bored and unfulfilled. We were ready for an adventure." -- Tony Hsieh

By Invitation Only by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop (Penguin Group, 2012) By Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Fashionistas, rejoice! The co-founders of Gilt Group, the first invite-only online trunk show brought excitement to thousands of savvy shoppers and brought the thrill of a daily sample sale to the masses when it started in 2007. What began as a friendship at Harvard Business School over a shared love of fashion blossomed into a business reportedly valued at over $1 billion. With chapters ranging from how to hire an effective team to dealing with the recession, By Invitation Only shares the inspiring true story of one of the most successful startups of the past decade.

Inspirational Quote: "On that first day we sensed something revolutionary was happening: people were genuinely excited about Gilt. We had created a website that could potentially change the rules of retail, for both shoppers and brands." -- Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Idea Man by Paul Allen

Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-Founder of Microsoft (Penguin Group, 2011) By Paul Allen

In 1974 at 21 years old, Paul Allen teamed up with childhood friend Bill Gates to create programming language for the first personal computer. They worked together since their teens on professional programming jobs, but believed they were the ones who could write the code that, at the time, engineers didn't believe was possible. The famously private Allen opens up about the founding of Microsoft, as well as his adventures after he stepped down from the company he helped create (advances in space travel and brain mapping, to name a few).

Inspirational Quote: "Any crusade requires optimism and the ambition to aim high." -- Paul Allen

Wild Company by Mel and Patricia Ziegler

Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic (Simon & Schuster, 2012) By Mel and Patricia Ziegler

When Mel and Patricia Ziegler met (in the newsroom of the San Francisco Chronicle) they wanted to travel the world, but as a young writer and artist they lacked the money or means to do so. Wild Company tells the story of how the pair, armed with creativity and passion (but no business training), built an empire from military surplus clothing finds plucked from their travels to create Banana Republic.

Inspirational Quote: "The only asset we had was our own oblivion. That would keep us blissfully ignorant of the bewildering and arbitrary impediments that would entangle us until we became so embroiled that quitting was no longer a possibility." -- Mel Ziegler

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie

Start Something That Matters (Spiegel & Grau, 2011) By Blake Mycoskie

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie traveled to Argentina to take some time off from his fourth startup and explore the culture of another country. What he found was a great need among children's charities for shoes. Mycoskie knew he had to help, and the idea for TOMS shoes was born. The concept for the company is simple: Sell a pair of shoes today, give a pair of shoes to a child in need tomorrow. Mycoskie shares with readers lessons learned while creating TOMS, how to develop and tell your company's story, and how to be resourceful without having resources.

Inspirational Quote: "You don't have to have a lot of money, a complicated business plan, or a great deal of experience to start something." -- Blake Mycoskie

Shark Tales by Barbara Corcoran with Bruce Littlefield

Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 Into a Billion Dollar Business (Penguin Group, 2011) By Barbara Corcoran with Bruce Littlefield

Before becoming one of the Sharks on ABC's Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran held 22 jobs by the age of 23. It was number 23, a small real estate company that would eventually lead her to founding the Corcoran Group, a $6 billion dollar company. Combining lessons learned from her childhood in New Jersey among nine brothers and sisters with lessons from the cut throat world of New York real estate, Corcoran offers entrepreneurs valuable advice for starting their own business. Inspirational Quote: "The story of my billion-dollar business starts like this: I borrowed $1,000 from a friend." -- Barbara Corcoran

The Martha Rules by Martha Stewart

The Martha Rules (Rodale, 2005) By Martha Stewart

The Martha Rules consists of ten rules and a roadmap for entrepreneurs to create their own successful businesses. The book started as a project to help fellow inmates during her incarceration in a federal prison in 2004. The Martha Rules examine the importance of passion, quality, growth and taking risks. The first chapter, for example, is devoted to finding your passion and developing a business. Later chapters tout the importance of continued learning, innovation, and surrounding yourself with the right people.

Inspirational Quote: "Build your business success around something that you love -- something that is inherently and endlessly interesting to you." -- Martha Stewart

Lindsay LaVine is a Chicago-based freelance writer who has worked for NBC and CNN.

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The 21 most captivating biographies of all time

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• Biographies illuminate pivotal times and people in history. 
• The biography books on this list are heavily researched and fascinating stories.
• Want more books? Check out the best classics , historical fiction books , and new releases.

For centuries, books have allowed readers to be whisked away to magical lands, romantic beaches, and historical events. Biographies take readers through time to a single, remarkable life memorialized in gripping, dramatic, or emotional stories. They give us the rare opportunity to understand our heroes — or even just someone we would never otherwise know. 

To create this list, I chose biographies that were highly researched, entertainingly written, and offer a fully encompassing lens of a person whose story is important to know in 2021. 

The 21 best biographies of all time:

The biography of a beloved supreme court justice.

"Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg" by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $16.25

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon who spent her life fighting for gender equality and civil rights in the legal system. This is an inspirational biography that follows her triumphs and struggles, dissents, and quotes, packaged with chapters titled after Notorious B.I.G. tracks — a nod to the many memes memorializing Ginsburg as an iconic dissident. 

The startlingly true biography of a previously unknown woman

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $8.06

Henrietta was a poor tobacco farmer, whose "immortal" cells have been used to develop the polio vaccine, study cancer, and even test the effects of an atomic bomb — despite being taken from her without her knowledge or consent. This biography traverses the unethical experiments on African Americans, the devastation of Henrietta Lacks' family, and the multimillion-dollar industry launched by the cells of a woman who lies somewhere in an unmarked grave.

The poignant biography of an atomic bomb survivor

"A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb" by Paul Glynn, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $16.51

Takashi Nagai was a survivor of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. A renowned scientist and spiritual man, Nagai continued to live in his ruined city after the attack, suffering from leukemia while physically and spiritually helping his community heal. Takashi Nagai's life was dedicated to selfless service and his story is a deeply moving one of suffering, forgiveness, and survival.

The highly researched biography of Malcolm X

"The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X" by Les Payne and Tamara Payne, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $18.99

Written by the investigative journalist Les Payne and finished by his daughter after his passing, Malcolm X's biography "The Dead are Arising" was written and researched over 30 years. This National Book Award and Pulitzer-winning biography uses vignettes to create an accurate, detailed, and gripping portrayal of the revolutionary minister and famous human rights activist. 

The remarkable biography of an Indigenous war leader

"The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History" by Joseph M. Marshall III, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $14.99 

Crazy Horse was a legendary Lakota war leader, most famous for his role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn where Indigenous people defeated Custer's cavalry. A descendant of Crazy Horse's community, Joseph M. Marshall III drew from research and oral traditions that have rarely been shared but offer a powerful and culturally rich story of this acclaimed Lakota hero.

The captivating biography about the cofounder of Apple

"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $16.75

Steve Jobs is a cofounder of Apple whose inventiveness reimagined technology and creativity in the 21st century. Water Issacson draws from 40 interviews with Steve Jobs, as well as interviews with over 100 of his family members and friends to create an encompassing and fascinating portrait of such an influential man.

The shocking biography of a woman committed to an insane asylum

"The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear" by Kate Moore, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $22.49

This biography is about Elizabeth Packard, a woman who was committed to an asylum in 1860 by her husband for being an outspoken woman and wife. Her story illuminates the conditions inside the hospital and the sinister ways of caretakers, an unfortunately true history that reflects the abuses suffered by many women of the time.

The defining biography of a formerly enslaved man

"Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $12.79

50 years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States, Cudjo Lewis was captured, enslaved, and transported to the US. In 1931, the author spent three months with Cudjo learning the details of his life beginning in Africa, crossing the Middle Passage, and his years enslaved before the Civil War. This biography offers a first-hand account of this unspoken piece of painful history.

The biography of a famous Mexican painter

"Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo" by Hayden Herrera, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $24.89

Filled with a wealth of her life experiences, this biography of Frida Kahlo conveys her intelligence, strength, and artistry in a cohesive timeline. The book spans her childhood during the Mexican Revolution, the terrible accident that changed her life, and her passionate relationships, all while intertwining her paintings and their histories through her story.

The exciting biography of Susan Sontag

"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $20.24

Susan Sontag was a 20th-century writer, essayist, and cultural icon with a dark reputation. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, archived works, and photographs, this biography extends across Sontag's entire life while reading like an emotional and exciting literary drama.

The biography that inspired a hit musical

"Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $11.04

The inspiration for the similarly titled Broadway musical, this comprehensive biography of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton aims to tell the story of his decisions, sacrifice, and patriotism that led to many political and economic effects we still see today. In this history, readers encounter Hamilton's childhood friends, his highly public affair, and his dreams of American prosperity. 

The award-winning biography of an artistically influential man

"The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke" by Jeffrey C Stewart, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $25.71

Alain Locke was a writer, artist, and theorist who is known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Outlining his personal and private life, Alain Locke's biography is a blooming image of his art, his influences, and the far-reaching ways he promoted African American artistic and literary creations.

The remarkable biography of Ida B. Wells

"Ida: A Sword Among Lions" by Paula J. Giddings, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $15.99

This award-winning biography of Ida B. Wells is adored for its ability to celebrate Ida's crusade of activism and simultaneously highlight the racially driven abuses legally suffered by Black women in America during her lifetime. Ida traveled the country, exposing and opposing lynchings by reporting on the horrific acts and telling the stories of victims' communities and families. 

The tumultuous biography that radiates queer hope

"The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" by Randy Shilts, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $11.80

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in California who was assassinated after 11 months in office. Harvey's inspirational biography is set against the rise of LGBTQIA+ activism in the 1970s, telling not only Harvey Milk's story but that of hope and perseverance in the queer community. 

The biography of a determined young woman

"Obachan: A Young Girl's Struggle for Freedom in Twentieth-Century Japan" by Tani Hanes, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $9.99

Written by her granddaughter, this biography of Mitsuko Hanamura is an amazing journey of an extraordinary and strong young woman. In 1929, Mitsuko was sent away to live with relatives at 13 and, at 15, forced into labor to help her family pay their debts. Determined to gain an education as well as her independence, Mitsuko's story is inspirational and emotional as she perseveres against abuse. 

The biography of an undocumented mother

"The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story" by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $18.40

Born in Mexico and growing up undocumented in Arizona, Aida Hernandez was a teen mother who dreamed of moving to New York. After being deported and separated from her child, Aida found herself back in Mexico, fighting to return to the United States and reunite with her son. This suspenseful biography follows Aida through immigration courts and detention centers on her determined journey that illuminates the flaws of the United States' immigration and justice systems.

The astounding biography of an inspiring woman

"The Black Rose: The Dramatic Story of Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Black Female Millionaire" by Tananarive Due, available on Amazon for $19

Madam C.J. Walker is most well-known as the first Black female millionaire, though she was also a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and born to former slaves in Louisiana. Researched and outlined by famous writer Alex Haley before his death, the book was written by author Tananarive Due, who brings Haley's work to life in this fascinating biography of an outstanding American pioneer.

A biography of the long-buried memories of a Hiroshima survivor

"Surviving Hiroshima: A Young Woman's Story" by Anthony Drago and Douglas Wellman, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $15.59

When Kaleria Palichikoff was a child, her family fled Russia for the safety of Japan until the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima when she was 22 years old. Struggling to survive in the wake of unimaginable devastation, Kaleria set out to help victims and treat the effects of radiation. As one of the few English-speaking survivors, Kaleria was interviewed extensively by the US Army and was finally able to make a new life for herself in America after the war.

A shocking biography of survival during World War II

"Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival" by Laura Hillenbrand, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $8.69

During World War II, Louis Zamperini was a lieutenant bombardier who crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1943. Struggling to stay alive, Zamperini pulled himself to a life raft where he would face great trials of starvation, sharks, and enemy aircraft. This biography creates an image of Louis from boyhood to his military service and depicts a historical account of atrocities during World War II.  

The comprehensive biography of an infamous leader

"Mao: The Unknown Story" by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $15.39

Mao was a Chinese leader, a founder of the People's Republic of China, and a nearly 30-year chairman of the Chinese Communist Party until his death in 1976. Known as a highly controversial figure who would stop at very little in his plight to rule the world, the author spent nearly 10 years painstakingly researching and uncovering the painful truths surrounding his political rule.

The emotional biography of a Syrian refugee

"A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival" by Melissa Fleming, available on Amazon and Bookshop from $15.33

When Syrian refugee Doaa met Bassem, they decided to flee Egypt for Europe, becoming two of thousands seeking refuge and making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. After four days at sea, their ship was attacked and sank, leaving Doaa struggling to survive with two small children clinging to her and only a small inflation device around her wrist. This is an emotional biography about Doaa's strength and her dangerous and deadly journey towards freedom.

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18 Best Business Biographies to Read

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: October 21, 2021

You found our list of top business biographies .

Business biographies are narratives that tell the stories of entrepreneurs and the birth and growth of influential companies. These works deal with topics such as childhood influences, education and early career, business founding, and the evolution of entrepreneurial empires. The purpose of these books is to provide further context and insight into the personal factors that contributed to the creation of companies, and to inspire and educate current and future entrepreneurs.

These works are a subset of business books and are similar to entrepreneur books and CEO books .

This list includes:

• autobiographies of business founders
• biographies of business leaders
• entrepreneur biographies
• business biographies about women

Here we go!

List of business biographies

Here is a list of biographies of business leaders that shed light on how to launch and nurture legacies and empires.

1. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Shoe Dog is one of the most popular autobiographies of business founders of all time. This memoir has received endorsements from the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

In his own words, Nike founder Phil Knight recounts the journey of founding the sneaker company and its ascent into a top athletic wear brand. Knight gives a peek into his early life and influences, as well as insights into his leadership and business philosophy. Shoe Dog is a masterful illustration of tenacity, vision, and the business lifestyle.

Notable Quote: “Beating the competition is relatively easy. Beating yourself is a never-ending commitment.”

Read Shoe Dog .

2. Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire by Brad Stone

Amazon Unbound is Brad Stone’s followup to the bestselling book, The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. This latest biography about the founder of Amazon charts the company’s rise to global titan status and chronicles Bezos’ evolution as a leader within the past decade. The work includes the company’s development of cloud technology, Alexa, and Prime Video, as well as acquisitions of Whole Foods and The Washington Post . The book continues the narrative of the story of Amazon and its founder and lays forth the next chapter in the saga of the e-commerce giant.

Notable Quote: “Jeff is master of ‘this isn’t working today, but could work tomorrow.’ If customers like it, he’s got the cash flow to fund it.”

Read Amazon Unbound .

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3. Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca

Iacocca: An Autobiography is a firsthand account of the life of the legendary auto executive. Lee Iacocca’s life is a prime example of the American dream– raised by immigrants, he rises up the ranks in corporate America and dominates the auto world. In the course of this journey, Lee Iacocca revolutionized the automobile industry and earned icon status. The autobiography traces the highlights of Iacocca’s illustrious career, from his part in creating the Mustang and ascent to president of Ford, to saving the Chrysler brand, and defeating hurdles along the way. Iacocca: An Autobiography is a motivational read and a rallying call for resilience.

Notable Quote: “In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits. People come first. Unless you’ve got a good team, you can’t do much with the other two.”

Read Iacocca: An Autobiography .

4. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

Titan  traces the life of legendary businessman John D Rockefeller. This biography aims to examine Rockefeller through a new lens. Many other accounts either overly-glorify Rockefeller as a hero or condemn him based on The Standard Oil Company’s later scandals. Ron Chernow angles to lift the veil on and gain insight into the notoriously private Rockefeller by compiling a comprehensive account of his full life. The book follows John Rockefeller Sr from his childhood to death. In doing so, the author not only recounts the moves and deals that helped build a business and charity empire, but also shares stories and quotes that more thoroughly flesh out the figure behind the great deeds.

Notable Quote: “Rockefeller equated silence with strength: Weak men had loose tongues and blabbed to reporters, while prudent businessmen kept their own counsel.”

Read Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

5. The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman

The Man Who Solved the Market is a bestselling book about Jim Simons, the mathematician who pioneered an algorithm-driven approach to investing that achieved unheard-of market returns. The book unpacks Simon’s backstory by tracing the codebreaker’s early adolescence, education at MIT, early career, and finally the late-life acclaim and founding of Renaissance Technologies. Gregory Zuckerman connects Simons’ story to the broader current climate and notes the influences the discovery had on the wider world. The Man Who Solved the Market also holds lessons about teamwork and professional collaboration.

Notable Quote: “Scientists and mathematicians are trained to dig below the surface of the chaotic, natural world to search for unexpected simplicity, structure, and even beauty”

Read The Man Who Solved the Market .

6. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big is equal parts amusing and profound. In this book, Dilbert comic creator Scott Adams traces his career, paying special attention to the flops, setbacks, and disappointments. By focusing on failure, Adams explains how he was able to transform losses into lessons and eventual opportunities. The author’s signature wry sense of humor elevates the underdog narrative beyond motivational fluff and into actionable advice.

While telling his own tale, Adams drops tidbits such as:

• Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners.
• The most important metric is to track your personal energy.
• Conquer shyness by being a huge phony (in a good way.)

While this book is structured more like a self-help guide than a traditional biography, it is full of personal anecdotes that provide a much more rounded picture of the famous cartoonist.

Notable Quote: “Failure always brings something valuable with it. I don’t let it leave until I extract that value.”

Read ​​ How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big .

7. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

The Snowball provides a personal portrait of the Oracle of Omaha. In this exclusive biography, Warren Buffet allows Alice Schroeder and the readers intimate access into his inner life by way of years of one-on-one interviews with the author. The book reveals previously non-public details about Buffet’s childhood, career, and relationships, and sheds light on the investor’s inner-drivers, values, and areas of personal growth. The Snowball shows Warren Buffet’s human side and gives extra context to the magnate’s extraordinary accomplishments.

Notable Quote: “Intensity is the price of excellence.”

Read The Snowball .

8. Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last by Wright Thompson

Pappyland is a tale of familial entrepreneurial duty and legacy preservation. The book tells the tale of Julian Van Winkle III’s battle to save his father and grandfather’s lifework and the reputation of the family whiskey business. The work chronicles Van Winkle’s early struggles to keep the business afloat in leaner years to the eventual rise to several-hundred-dollar-a-bottle prestige, and the resulting need for innovation and reinvention that stayed true to the company’s roots. Few entrepreneur biographies touch so heavily on themes of family devotion and obligation, making Pappyland a moving and relatable read as well as a practical business study.

Notable Quote: “That’s the work of adulthood. Sorting out the good and bad within.”

Read Pappyland .

9. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger

The Ride of a Lifetime is a self-penned profile of Disney executive Robert Iger. The book recounts Iger’s rise from entry-level employee at ABC to head of the most powerful media company in the world. Iger reflects on the industry changes that he saw and had a hand in during his long and lucrative career, and highlights the keys to his professional success. While the book is not strictly a memoir, Iger structures this guide with personal details that give context to his business behaviors. The Ride of a Lifetime provides a direct look at the philosophies of the man behind the mouse.

Notable Quote: “Ask the questions you need to ask, admit without apology what you don’t understand, and do the work to learn what you need to learn as quickly as you can.”

Read The Ride of a Lifetime .

10. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson’s official profile on Steve Jobs ranks as one of the best biographies of business leaders. Drawing on over 40 interviews with Jobs and hundreds more with family and friends, colleagues, and rivals, Isaccson weaves a thrilling account of the icon’s life. The result is a comprehensive collection of life events that shaped the subject told from multiple perspectives. From childhood to college, inventions and product launches, collaborations and clashes, career setbacks and redemptions, and roller-coaster relationships, Steve Jobs paints an appropriately complex portrait of a larger than life figure with undeniable human flaws.

Notable Quote: “One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are.”

Read Steve Jobs .

11. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

Ashlee Vance’s Elon Musk is a profile of a monumental current businessman. This biography retells Musk’s extraordinary story of overcoming childhood adversity in South Africa only to become one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley and modern industry. The book touches on Musk’s early pursuits in PayPal, the founding of Tesla, as well as the eventual decision to set sights on space and enter the aerospace frontier. The book is an exploration of Musk’s character and vision, charting his life through his innovations and ideas.

Notable Quote: “Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”

Read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future .

12. Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton

Sam Walton: Made in America is the story of Walmart and the man who made Walmart the behemoth that it is today. This autobiography reveals how Walton grew a single dime store into a retail giant. The book explores how Walton built his foundations, structured his business, grew the company, bounced back from missteps, and kept control over his mission even as his empire expanded around the country and the world. Sam Walton: Made in America is a book about big business world ambition paired with small-town values, and is a distinctly American tale of commercial success and the achievement of a distinct vision.

Notable Quote: “Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them. You never know who’s going to have a great idea.”

Read Sam Walton: Made In America .

13. Empire State of Mind: How Jay Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office by Zack O’Malley Greenburg

Empire State of Mind is a love letter to Jay Z’s business acumen. This biography recounts the rapper’s meteoric rise from ghettos to boardrooms. The book highlights some of the key points in Carter’s career, including the inception of Roc-a-Fella records, marriage to Beyoncé, birth of Roc Nation, and expansion into the streetwear, alcohol, and streaming spaces. Viewing Jay-Z as a businessman above all and hailing his hustler mindset, Empire State of Mind spins a tale of entrepreneurship, self-creation, and re-invention.

Notable Quote: “One of the main reasons for this success is Jay-Z’s ability to build and leverage his personal brand. As much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle.”

Read Empire State of Mind .

14. Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans by Paul Van Doren

Authenti c is one of the final projects of Vans founder Paul Van Doren. The memoir tells the tale of how a high school dropout went on to helm one of the most beloved shoewear brands in the world. This autobiographical account charts Van Doren’s journey of working in a rubber factory as a teenager to creating the renowned skateboard shoe company, to preserving the legacy throughout the decades. The book examines the decisions that made the foundations of the empire and the elements that rocketed the company to fame. The story also deals with the personal and professional obstacles that threatened and informed the work. Authentic is a parable for following passions and staying true to style and vision even in the face of change.

Notable Quote: “What I’ve accomplished comes down to one thing: my knack for identifying and then solving problems. What I do better than anything else is cut out distractions. If a system isn’t working efficiently, I can see where it’s jammed, eliminate the problem, and find a way to keep everything moving forward.”

Read Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans .

15. Believe IT: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable by Jamie Kern Lima

Believe IT tells the life story of Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics and waitress-turned-entrepreneur who overcame the odds to build a company worth a billion dollars and to become the first female CEO of a L’Oreal brand. The book lays out defining events such as Lima learning of her adoption in early adulthood, and shows how the authors’ life hardships prepared her to face the adversity of a beauty industry that constantly told her she would not succeed. Believe IT is part manifesto and part memoir, and full-throttle motivational read.

Notable Quote: “How we react to times of uncertainty, and whether we make decisions based in love or fear, can change the course of our life. Champions aren’t made when the game is easy. In any area of life.”

Read Believe It: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable .

16. The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J Mazzeo

The Widow Clicquot is a historical business biography, and is one of the most fascinating business biographies about women. The book tells the tale of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, a businesswoman who gained control of her family’s business and revolutionized champagne. The biography describes how Clicquot Ponsardin turned misfortune into fortune and made a mark on the world at a time when opportunities for women were limited. The Widow Clicquot is an empowerment message and fascinating historical story wrapped into one riveting account.

Notable Quote: “Widowed at the age of twenty-seven, with no formal business training and no firsthand experience, Barbe-Nicole transformed a well-funded but struggling and small-time family wine brokerage into arguably the most important champagne house of the nineteenth century in just over a decade.”

Read The Widow Clicquot .

17. Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson

Losing My Virginity is billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson’s first autobiography. The book pinpoints the most essential events and influences in Branson’s life. As most business biographies do, the work starts with the executive’s upbringing and moves through his life chronologically. Branson’s many adventures include professional forays into the music and airline industries, as well as personal exploits such as trying to circle the globe in a hot air balloon. Alongside his colorful stories, the businessman shares his personal and professional philosophies, chiefly the belief of working hard yet having passions and wins beyond work. Losing My Virginity advocates for living a full and rounded life and taking control in both personal and business spheres.

Notable Quote: “I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive then I believe you are better off not doing it. A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”

Read Losing My Virginity .

18. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built is a striking profile of the founder of one of the most expansive eCommerce companies in China and the world at large. The book highlights Ma’s humble beginnings as an English teacher as well as his late start to the world of entrepreneurship, and explores how the businessman rapidly climbed from running a company out of an apartment to securing a record-setting multi-billion dollar IPO. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built provides a comprehensive history of Jack Ma’s life and professional journey and Alibaba’s evolution.

Notable Quote: “Today is brutal, tomorrow is more brutal, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful. However, the majority of people will die tomorrow night.”

Read Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built .

Founders, CEOs, and industry leaders are so often mythologized and painted as larger-than-life, that it can be easy to forget that these figures are humans with backstories and deeply personal lives. Business biographies provide perspective and additional insight into the motivations and influences of these legends and help flesh out more fully-formed profiles of these grand personas. These memoirs also portray the history of major companies and can paint fuller portraits of organizations’ origins and growth. By reading biographies on business leaders, professionals can be more mindful and in-control of their own work aspirations.

For more reading recommendations, check out this list of books on leadership or these business books by women .

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FAQ: Business biographies

Here are answers to common questions about business biographies.

What are business biographies?

Business biographies are narrative nonfiction works that follow the lives of industry leaders and chart the launch and growth of important organizations. These books often draw from interviews and mix facts and history with philosophy.

What are the best business biographies?

The best business biographies include Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, The Snowball by Alice Schroeder, and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com.

Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Jeremy Anderberg • February 14, 2021 • Last updated: June 4, 2021

The 10 Best Biographies of American Presidents

In 2017, I embarked on a project of reading a biography of every American president. Forty-five men and over 25,000 pages later, I finally finished just before Joe Biden assumed the helm. It wasn’t an easy task, and certainly sometimes dull (especially through long parts of the 1800s), but always intriguing and unendingly fascinating. 

As with all biographies, the books were full of life lessons. Though these presidents attained the highest office in the land, they also dealt with obstacles and issues that are universal to the human condition — upbringings that were more or less loving, weighty decisions and crossroads, death and sickness, love and betrayal. They all had personal idiosyncrasies that aided or hindered their rise, and allowed them to do better and worse jobs while in office. The power they held really only amplified and brought into relief the potential and pitfalls we all share, and I found plenty of takeaways from their lives (and highlighted one in particular for each president on my Instagram page ).

At the same time, the biographies also, of course, broadened and enriched my understanding of the course of American history in general, and of the ups, downs, and evolution of this country’s politics in particular. Because of my reading, I’m better able to place the crazy political climate of today into context . 

Though I personally found my reading project a real boon, I doubt there are many who have quite the same appetite for presidential biographies. And that’s quite alright, as you can garner much of the same benefit by reading just a fraction of these books. If you’re interested in reading about the presidency and the remarkable characters who’ve held the office — if you’d like to gain a deeper understanding of our nation and how we got to here — below I present my 10 favorite POTUS biographies. 

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

There have been thousands of books published about George Washington, the first appearing nearly right away after his passing in 1799. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of award-worthy titles and series, including Douglas Southall Freeman’s 7-volume set from the 1950s and James Flexner’s 4-volume treatment which came about a decade later. (Each also has a single-volume abridgement!) So where do you possibly start with the man who set the most important precedents for the office of President of the United States? 

For the modern reader, there’s no doubt that Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life is where to turn. While Chernow’s books are long and admittedly intimidating (and aren’t exactly easy reads), he’s indisputably a master storyteller who has a knack for cracking the inner psyche of his characters better than nearly any biographer I’ve encountered. Washington inevitably retains some of his stone-like stature, but Chernow chips away at it better than most in order to reveal the human being inside. Washington: A Life is an incredibly rewarding read which will leave you certain that George Washignton was the perfect man to be America’s first president.  

American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis  

Thomas Jefferson has become the poster boy of public opinion’s changing tides in regards to the Founding Fathers. For nearly 200 years he was revered without reservation; but as his relationship with his slaves came to light in the last couple decades, Jefferson has swung the other way almost towards villainy. So which is it, hero or scoundrel? To read any biography of our third president is to understand what an enigma he was; even historians who have spent their careers studying the man have ultimately found him to be, as Merrill Peterson puts it, “impenetrable.” 

Suffice it to say, modern readers have no shortage of options for digging into Thomas Jefferson’s life. I began with Jon Meacham’s The Art of Power , which was a very good place to start. I also found our third president “impenetrable,” though, and so continued on to Joseph Ellis’ fascinating and enlightening American Sphinx . Less a cradle-to-grave biography than a series of essay-like chapters on Jefferson’s life, this book gets at the heart of what has made the man so appealing and, as of late, so pilloried. Inside its pages, you’ll find treasures about character, independence, and America’s contradictory founding legacy. 

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald 

How does someone possibly pick a single book to study up on the most written about man in American history? It’s a tall task, to be sure. Estimates put the number of published books about him at around 16,000, with more and more hitting shelves each year. From dual biographies (of, say, Lincoln and John Brown , or Lincoln and Frederick Douglass ), to his frontier boyhood, to his parenting, and even to his specific speeches, you can find books on just about any aspect of Lincoln’s life and presidency. 

The job of picking a biography among this trove is actually made a little easier when you focus on cradle-to-grave biographies and not those that narrow in on a single element. If you’re looking for a one-volume option, there’s a general consensus among both readers and historians that David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln or Ronald White’s A. Lincoln are where to turn. I read Donald’s work and immensely enjoyed it. Given the enormity of the man, the book’s 600 pages seemed to go by in a flash, and every period of Lincoln’s life is given the proper space — some give too much time to his youth; some give too much to the war years; Donald nailed a perfect balance. 

If a really deep dive is what you’re after, Michael Burlingame’s two-volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life will keep you busy for a while, as will Sidney Blumenthal’s series — of which three of a proposed five volumes are currently done. 

Grant by Ron Chernow

Though ignored and written off for a long time as a bad president, Civil War general-turned-politician Ulysses S. Grant has been re-invigorated in a handful of major biographies in the last decade or so. While there are a number of quality options, Ron Chernow’s epic, 1,000-page Grant is impossible to beat. The best biographies are those that not only reveal their subject, for both good and bad, but also provide a moving and even inspiring reading experience. Grant does that in spades. 

The psychological penetration that Chernow achieves is eye-opening and often rousing. A number of biographers have captured the war years quite well — it was a dramatic period that just isn’t too hard to make exciting and evocative. The real trick is to capture Grant’s eight years as president with the same verve, which the master historian undoubtedly does. As with the other Chernow title on this list, it will take some dedication, but the effort is well worth it. Grant , in my opinion, is Chernow’s best book.  

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris  

America’s most charismatic president has been written about extensively and unendingly since the day he died. It takes a talented writer to fully capture Roosevelt’s energy and vitality — something that only a handful of historians have really done. For the complete picture, you simply cannot beat Edmund Morris’ epic and stirring trilogy: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and Colonel Roosevelt . 

In a Top 10 article, however, I didn’t want to officially take up three spots with the trilogy, so I picked the first volume, which details Roosevelt’s path up until the day he became president (a shorter path than any other president; he remains our youngest POTUS). From the very beginning, Morris captures the reader’s attention and brings us breathlessly along from TR’s aristocratic upbringing and meteoric rise in politics, to the heartbreaking loss of his first wife and subsequent time in the literal wilderness, and back again to Washington, DC as a politician with some serious life experience. You could read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on its own and get a fuller picture of the man than a lot of one-volume cradle-to-grave bios would offer. And I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be sucked in enough to read the other two volumes.   

It’s worth noting that Candice Millard also captures the strenuosity of Roosevelt in documenting his post-presidency travels to South America in her thrilling book, River of Doubt .   

Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin  

I came to have quite a soft spot for our 27th president, William Howard Taft, after reading about him in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit . Theodore Roosevelt actually gets top billing in the subtitle of this book, but I imagine that has more to do with the publishing marketing machine than the content of the book, which is more about Taft and his relationship with TR. It certainly functions quite well as a biography of Big Bill. 

As Doris Kearns Goodwin often does, she weaves in a number of tangential plot threads, but always comes back to the tender-turned-fraught relationship between TR and Taft. It’s a wonderful read with a compelling narrative and a number of inspiring takeaways. I’m glad Goodwin chose to give William Howard Taft the spotlight here; hardly any other biographers or historians have. 

The Accidental President by AJ Baime

Though David McCullough’s Truman is often cited as one of the great presidential biographies (which it is!), AJ Baime’s more efficient volume is actually the POTUS bio I recommend most to average readers. Distilled into 360 jam-packed pages of inspiring leadership and unbreakable character, Baime shows us that Truman was one of the truly decent men to have held the office of President of the United States. 

Spending the entire first chapter on April 12, 1945 — the day FDR died and Truman became president — Baime sets the scene for how out of his depth the Missouran really was. The reader then gets a bit about Truman’s beginnings, before embarking on the bulk of the book, which focuses on the spring and summer months of 1945 as WWII approached its end on both the European and Pacific fronts. You’ll most certainly come away from The Accidental President with a greater appreciation of who Harry S. Truman really was. 

An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek

With John Fitzgerald at the center of the Kennedy universe, nearly every member of the family has been studied and written about a number of times — grandparents, parents, children, and all eight of his siblings. The books about them could fill entire shops. Perhaps surprisingly, though, comprehensive biographies of John himself are somewhat of a rarity. A number have been started and abandoned due to uncooperative surviving family members (Jean Kennedy, the final living sibling, died just last year), unclassified top secret documents (much of his presidency, and especially his death, was shrouded in secrecy), and his famously impenetrable inner psyche. 

Robert Dallek penned what I believe to be by far the best treatment of JFK with An Unfinished Life . While unsparing in detailing the flaws of Kennedy’s personal life, Dallek unveiled for the first time the depth of his debilitating medical problems and also offered a well-balanced and dramatic account of his 1,000 days as president. 

One more book worth mentioning in regard to JFK: William Manchester, famed biographer of Winston Churchill, wrote an oft-overlooked account of his death in 1967’s The Death of a President . It doesn’t get the same attention as Manchester’s other books, but is just as expertly written.  

Master of the Senate by Robert Caro

When it comes to the art of presidential biography, there is Robert Caro and there is everyone else. After writing his first (and now classic) biography on New Yorker Robert Moses 50 years ago, Caro has dedicated the decades since to studying the mechanics of power through the inimitable character of Lyndon B. Johnson. 

Through four volumes and more than a few thousand pages , Caro profiles not only Johnson, but also the major characters who surrounded his life and political rise, and even the hardscrabble Texas landscape itself. The best of the series (so far) is a title that can be read on its own: Master of the Senate . This third volume details the years between 1948 and 1957, when Johnson displayed a mastery of the United States Senate not seen before or since. It’s not an easy book to get through, but the prose is often jaw-droppingly good and I can guarantee it’ll be among the more memorable reading experiences of your lifetime. 

Amazingly, Caro has yet to finish his epic series. He’s hard at work on the fifth and final volume, which means that readers only get through Johnson’s first year or so of the presidency. To get the full life in a single volume, Randall Woods’ LBJ is very good. 

Richard Nixon: The Life by John Farrell  

Humans love to not only study and learn from failure, but gawk at it too. Given Nixon’s place in the pantheon of disgraced presidents, there’s been a lot of books about the man. The true task of any Nixon biographer goes beyond presenting the unflinching truth (and uncovering the question of why he did what he did), but also in providing context from his boyhood, innate personality, and learned behaviors to not necessarily inspire sympathy, but at least understanding. No man is one-dimensional, Richard Nixon included. 

The biographer who unveils the true man best, in my opinion, is John Farrell in Richard Nixon: The Life . The narrative is remarkably readable and penetrative; there were, no doubt, clues throughout Nixon’s life that he would be a gifted politician but also a nefarious one, willing to do just about anything in order to win. Farrell certainly doesn’t explain away Nixon’s failures, but he does provide the nuance needed to come away from the book with a more complete picture of our 37th president. Plus, the Watergate drama makes for flat-out gripping reading. 

Keep up with all my presidential reading (and other reading, too) by subscribing to my weekly books newsletter . Coming soon is a roundup of all the bios I read for this project over the last few years. 

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Best Biographies Of All Time: 8 Essential Reads

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Anthony Bourdain (file Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP)

I recently listed some of my favorite history books of all-time and because people are the most interesting aspects of history, I included a few great biographies of significant historical figures like Malcolm X, Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar, and others.

But there are so many others Here are some of the best biographies of all time, many of which are written to inspire you to take risks in business—and in life.

The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy by Charles R. Morris 

The Tycoons by Charles R. Morris

What powered American industry, from the devastating aftermath of its civil war, to become the catalyst behind the world largest economy within decades? The answer has much to do with four men: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould and Morgan. These industrialists, financiers, railroaders and oil tycoons became as big and wealthy as America itself, and along the way paved the road for what is today the laws, regulations and infrastructure of our modern markets. I enjoyed this book as not just a biography of these four men, but as an economic history of the United States during one of its most tumultuous eras.

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War and Peace: FDR's Final Odyssey by Nigel Hamilton

War and Peace by Nigel Hamilton

Nigel Hamilton's acclaimed trilogy (which is available as a three-part boxed set ) ends with this volume that happened coincide with the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. This book makes me think of perhaps my favorite presidential biography of all time:  Truman   by David McCullough. While many under-appreciated Truman during his term in office, today's readers of McCullough's 1992 biography will truly understand how he capably overcame the enormity of the challenges he faced and the impact his leadership has on our society today. But as Hamilton's FDR trilogy makes clear, many of Truman's successes (and failures) or due to what he inherited from Roosevelt.

Mozart: A Life by Peter Gay

Mozart by Peter Gay

Is it possible to summarize the life of the world's arguably greatest composer in just 160 pages? Peter Gay, a historian and previous National Book Award winner, pulls it off expertly, with a quick, engaging and informative narrative that not only digs into the nature and personality of the musical genius but also gives a great background of the economic and political times that influenced his life and his work. Gay 1999 biography takes pains to debunk some of the myths surrounding Mozart's life (no, he wasn't poisoned by a rival composer and, no, he wasn't buried in a pauper's grave).  This book isn't a deep dive or an expanded narrative. But for me, it provided all the information I wanted to learn about a musician whose works have helped me navigate my way through the mundane work—I am an accountant, after all—of my professional life.

Anthony Bourdain Remembered  by CNN

Anthony Bourdain Remembered

I've been interested in Anthony Bourdain—who tragically took his own life in 2018—long before he became a nationally known TV star of the hit CNN series "Parts Unknown." I didn't love reading   Kitchen Confidential — his first and most famous book—simply because of all the crazy stories of drug use and partying that went on behind the scenes at the restaurants where he worked. I enjoyed it because I like to go to restaurants and I'm curious—from a business and creative standpoint—about how they work. But it's Bourdain's legacy that's considered in   Anthony Bourdain Remembered , a bestseller released just last month compiling memories and anecdotes from his fans, friends, and colleagues at CNN.

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore 

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Montefiore's 2003 biography of Stalin is about a man who lived with death every single day of his life to become the leader of millions and an infamous reminder of what can happen when the wrong leaders rise to power. But as the book explains—in great and sometimes gory detail—he achieved that power through many murderous and violent ways. More interestingly, Montefiore provides countless examples of how Stalin befriended his fellow politicians, party members and others only to abandon (and oftentimes eliminate them) in pursuit of his goals. Can a ruthless monster rise to the top and stay there his entire life? This book shows how it's possible.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow 

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

With all due respect to the hit musical—which is fantastic—the book it's based on is better.  That's because Ron Chernow's 2004 biography more deeply describes Hamilton's days as a soldier under Washington's command and the complexities involved in financing a young nation's growth and creating a central bank amidst the monumental political and financial challenges of the day. Hamilton—the nation’s most famous immigrant to some—never held elected office. But his influence on our lives today is still very much apparent.

The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro 

The Passage of Power by Robert Caro

Robert Caro's latest entry in his series of LBJ biographies (there were three previous volumes) covers from approximately 1958 to 1964 and explains in great detail how Johnson—the powerful leader of the Senate who so aspired to the presidency —rose out of the political wilderness of the vice-presidency to use the skills he learned in over 30 years of government service to rescue the country from a devastating presidential assassination and guide it back to stability.

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson 

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson—the former editor of Time , best known for his other great biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs—not only illuminates some of da Vinci's greatest artistic works, but also reveals the genius behind this self-taught, self-confident entrepreneur. Leonardo was constantly promoting his artistic abilities to wealthy benefactors and had the creativity to come up with flying machines and giant crossbows while studying anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. Few geniuses like this have ever walked the earth.

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S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography, Volume One: The Singapore Lion

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