Industry expert picks of 2011
The Big Shortby Michael Lewis“An absolutely incredible book showing the complete lack of moral fibre of the banks who conspired and schemed to produce vast piles of steaming "junk/sub prime" bonds hiring people from the rating agencies so they knew how to manipulate the highest ratings. Then their complete insanity as they invested in this junk themselves! Meanwhile the few who saw the truth were ridiculed for their views - an experience familiar to all of us who have been in similar positions.” recommended by John Piper 
Foundation - The History of Englandby Peter Ackroyd“If you want insight into the wonderful world of money and business you can do a lot worse than starting at the beginning. A fascinating and strangely uplifting read in this new age of austerity. In the good old days it wasn't so much about whether you could afford to shop at M&S but more if you might survive the winter without food and adequate shelter. Before bankers were helped themselves to our money they were speaking French and burning our homes to the ground unless we gave them everything we possessed. Unemployment and savings were less of a worry thanks to the Black Death, religious fervour and widespread slavery.” recommended by Toby Walne 
The Fear Indexby Robert Harris“Ever wondered about the complexities of hedge fund management? The new novel from Robert 'The Ghost' Harris takes you behind the scenes in the dealing room. But this is no ordinary dealing room. The stakes are high. Characters ooze evil. And there's a superb line where the Leader of the Pack muses about immense personal wealth being the toxic by-product of successful hedge fund management. Fast-moving, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable... it's a BUY!” recommended by Sally Nicoll/Karen Ross 
Money Makersby Jonathan Davis“Great insights into top professional investors ...Money Makers was one of the inspirations for my own book Free Capital.” recommended by Guy Thomas 
Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hardby Chip and Dan Heath“This is a fantastic book for everyone to read as it deals with one challenge that we all face on a pretty regular basis - change. The book provides a very useful framework for change and is full of great stories and research examples that illustrate the authors key messages. A must have read for all who want to embrace change either at an organizational or a personal level.” recommended by Steve Ward 
The Mindful Workplace: Developing Resilient Individuals and Resonant Organizations with MBSRMby Michael Chaskalson“The concept of mindfulness is slowly becoming more and more mainstream, and the author of this book Michael Chaskalson has been at the forefront of bringing it to the workplace. What makes this book such a great read is that it combines the practicality of useable mindfulness techniques with the psychological and neuroscience research that underpins its benefits. Take your first step to becoming more mindful with this book!” recommended by Steve Ward 
The New Gameby Wayne Malcolm“I love this book firstly because I follow the teachings of Wayne and he has a truly inspiring perspective on life and business as a whole which has personally helped me enormously over the last eight years or so. Secondly, and more so, because it talks about how the "game" has changed. The old game was go to university, get a good job, work for 40 years and then retire at 60 with a pension and die happily ever after. The global recession has turned all this upside down - millions of people have lost jobs that are never going to be replaced; there is no longer any such thing as a "secure" job or a job for life so the "new game" is to create multiple streams of income for yourself instead of relying on just a job as we were taught to in the old days. Only by doing this will we be able to survive this long-term global economic crisis!” recommended by Mildred Talabi 
The Rare Findby George Anders“This book talks about how to identify talent as a recruiter - not just any talent, but that "rare find" that goes on to transform the organisation and consequently the world we live in. The book is based on many years of research where George spent time with some of the top companies in the US and elsewhere (such as Google) and spoke to them about their talent finding process. From this, he was able to group together his observations into specific strategies that will help any business owner recruit the right staff and think outside the box. Of course it can also help jobseekers who want to be that rare find...” recommended by Mildred Talabi 
Start It Upby Luke Johnson“If ever there was a need for entrepreneurs, it is surely now. We need their efforts, ingenuity and commitment to meet our needs and create jobs. For inspiration, motivation and guidance, aspiring entrepreneurs would do well to read Luke Johnson's book: 'Start it Up'. He quotes Goethe's maxim: 'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.' Drawing upon long experience 'at the sharp end', he exposes many of the myths which surround entrepreneurs, like the idea that they are mainly motivated by money, or are gamblers. And he reminds us: failures are just setbacks, and persistence pays.” recommended by Ian Whalley 
Trading on Targetby Adrienne Toghraie“One of the best books on trading psychology I have ever read.” recommended by Malcolm Pryor 
Screw Business as Usualby Richard Branson“The book is about how doing good is good for business and how the profit motive is now only one part of a 'triple bottom line' that encourages businesses to consider people and planet as well as profit. It's inspirational.” recommended by Guy Rigby 
Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insuranceby Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner“It's the most original business book I have ever read.” recommended by Robin Bennett 
Adam Smith: An Enlightened Lifeby Nicholas Phillipson“Puts the founder of modern economics in the context of his time and explains the intellectual pressures upon him.” recommended by Eamonn Butler 
Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End Warby Margaret Macmillanrecommended by Dimitris Chorafas 
Slow Finance: Why Investment Miles Matterby Gervais Williams“In the book he draws direct parallels between the adverse effects of globalisation on food production and those of the investment world. He articulates some very interesting arguments why not only small cap stocks should revert to their long term norm of significantly out-performing large caps, the latter he sees as being very correlated to the paltry world economy and fuelled in recent times by credit expansion, which was significantly less available to small companies. He also believes small companies should come into their own in terms of delivering better, stronger income streams than large cap stocks, whose debt hinders their dividend-paying capabilities. With investors looking for income, this is an interesting argument.” recommended by Maike Currie 
Trading Systems That Work: Building and Evaluating Effective Trading Systemsby Thomas Stridsmanrecommended by Christopher Grafton 
How to Value Shares and Outperform the Marketby Glenn Martin“The ultimate advice in my own Red Joker Rules is to find the right horse in the right race at the right price. Substitute 'share' for 'horse' and you've got exactly how to do that, here in this book, from the experienced Glenn Martin.” recommended by Pat Holland 
How charts can help you in the Stock Marketby William Jiler“The best book ever written on bar chart analysis.” recommended by Jeremy du Plessis 
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowdsby Charles MacKay“Explains everything you need to know about how humans behave.” recommended by Jeremy du Plessis 
Boomerangby Michael Lewis“My outstanding recommendation is Boomerang by Michael Lewis. The book shows the writer's clear understanding of the interrelationship of the banking system and the economy. It succinctly explains why the Eurozone is failing, but in a lighthearted and at times, amusing manner, which is a refreshing change from all the doom and gloom publications that have been spawned by the 2008 crisis.” recommended by John Michael Sheehan 
The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Centuryby Dr. Dickson Despommier“Intensive agriculture in urban environments will allow the world's supercities to continue to grow and attract top entrepreneurial talent by assuring stable food prices and plentiful supplies, independent of climate change, politics, and economic factors.” recommended by Mark Ingebretsen 
The Wolf of Wall Streetby Jordan Belfort“A fantastic true story of living life beyond excess with ill-gotten gains achieved through the shadier side of trading. Whilst inspirational and motivating in places, the underlying message in this book clearly shows that greed can be very bad for your health!” recommended by Gary Ford 
Net Profitby Jordan Belfort“There's lots of first-hand experience in here of starting and building a major web company (Cheapflights) and also plenty of stories of other real companies that have succeeded. I think it would be helpful to just about anyone starting or in the early building stages of an internet-based company.” recommended by Gary Ford 
The Rational Optimistby Matt Ridley“I liked "The Rational Optimist" by Matt Ridley (Harper). Journalists favor alarming stories, so often the truth is a useful correction.” recommended by Gary Ford 
Exploring Leadership: Individual, Organizational and Societal Perspectivesby Richard Bolden and Jonathan Gosling and Beverley Hawkins and Scott Taylorrecommended by Stephanie Jones |
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