Christmas gift book review: The Economist Business Miscellany

Okay, so it's not really about leadership, but the Economist's Business Miscellany is quite fun, and can make you sound very smart at dinner parties (not that I go to a lot of those).

It's a real "did-you-know" sort of book, with sections about the origins of well-known brand names, when companies started (including Japan's Kongo Gumi construction company, established 578 AD!), "leading lies on CVs", and a searching section on "bad boys - and one bad girl".

There's some really good stuff here too, like summaries of the teachings of leading management thinkers. If you're looking to start learning management informally, or at least sound like you know what you're talking about, the lists in this book will give you a good starting point to go find out some more.

In short, you'll close Business Miscellany feeling like you know the top layer of everything there is to be known about the business world today.