Whenever I show this book to my friends around me, looking at the book title, the first reaction would often be, “Who is Drucker? Could it be Peter Drucker?”
Indeed. This is a photo book on the life of Peter Drucker. Drucker was an Austrian-born American whose writings contributed to the foundations of the modern business corporation. To quote from the author:
Drucker discerned some of the major trends and events of the twentieth century before almost anyone else spotted them: the Hitler-Stalin pack, Japan’s impending rise to economic power, the shift from manufacturing to knowledge work, the increasing importance of the service factor, the fall of the Soviet Union. “Peter Drucker’s eyeballs,” Harvard University’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter once marveled, “must contain crystal balls.”
Drucker: A Life in Pictures has done a good job in painting a picture of who Drucker was. He was a teacher and was used to give lectures in universities. He was a management consultant, worked with Jack Welch of GE and Donald Keough of Coca-Cola as well as other other large corporations like P&G. He was a counsel for the government and had corresponded with the White House. He was an adviser to the social-sector. His wife and he took a deep interest in Japan after their first visit. His books have been published in more then 40 languages. Druker has played a role in educating the world on the development of management. In his mind, he was always a writer and his legacy is his writing. Of the 39 books of his, two-thirds of these books were written after he had reached his mid-sixties.
Interviewer: If you describe your occupation, would it be “writer”?
Peter Drucker: I always say I write.
Interviewer: What, then, has inspired your books more than anything?
PD: The same thing that inspires tuberculosis. This is a serious, degenerative, compulsive disorder and addiction.
Interviewer: An addiction to writing?
PD: To writing, yes.
Drucker: A Life in Pictures is perhaps one of the more unique books I have reviewed. While written by Rick Wartzman – executive director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, the photographs are by Anne Fishbein, curated by Bridget Lawlor. A majority of graphic content comes from letters and memos, certificates and handwritten notes – all of which reveal a personal insight on one aspect of Drucker that may be less familiar to the readers. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a brief interview, which further illustrates a personal side of Drucker. Reading through the book is like journeying through a museum in my own pace. A recommended read for those who wish to know more about Peter Drucker.
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 15, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0071700463
ISBN-13: 978-0071700467