Once a shoestring operation built on plywood sets and Australian rules football, ESPN has evolved into a media colossus. A genius for cross-promotion and its near-mystical rapport with its viewers empower the network to set agendas and create superstars, to curate sports history even as it mainstreams the latest cultural trends. Travis Vogan teams archival research and interviews with an all-star cast to pen the definitive account of how ESPN turned X's and O's into billions of $$$. Vogan's institutional and cultural history focuses on the network since 1998, the year it launched a high-motor effort to craft its brand and grow audiences across media platforms. As he shows, innovative properties like SportsCentury, ESPN The Magazine, and 30 for 30 built the network's cultural cache. This credibility, in turn, propelled ESPN's transformation into an entity that lapped its run-of-the-mill competitors and helped fulfill its self-proclaimed status as the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." Ambitious and long overdue, ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire offers an inside look at how the network changed an industry and reshaped the very way we live as sports fans.

There's a pervasive sense of betrayal in areas scarred by mine, mill and factory closures. Steven High's One Job Town delves into the long history of deindustrialization in the paper-making town of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, located on Canada's resource periphery. Much like hundreds of other towns and cities across North America and Europe, Sturgeon Falls has lost their primary source of industry, resulting in the displacement of workers and their families. One Job Town takes us into the making of a culture of industrialism and the significance of industrial work for mill-working families. One Job Town approaches deindustrialization as a long term, economic, political, and cultural process, which did not begin and simply end with the closure of the local mill in 2002. High examines the work-life histories of fifty paper mill workers and managers, as well as city officials, to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of the formation and dissolution of a culture of industrialism. Oral history and memory are at the heart of One Job Town, challenging us to rethink the relationship between the past and the present in what was formerly known as the industrialized world.

'A brilliantly readable account, based on exceptional access, of the transformation of the old Quaker bank into a hard-charging capitalist adventurer ... both a thriller and a reminder that business is fascinating because all human life is there' John Plender, Financial Times Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with compelling pace and drama, The Bank that Lived a Little describes three decades of boardroom intrigue at one of Britain's biggest financial institutions. In a tale of feuds, grandiose dreams and a struggle for supremacy between rival strategies and their adherents, Philip Augar gives a riveting account of Barclays' journey from an old Quaker bank to a full-throttle capitalist machine. The disagreement between those ambitious for Barclays to join the top table of global banks, and those preferring a smaller domestic role more in keeping with the bank's traditions, cost three chief executives their jobs and continues to divide opinion within Barclays, the City and beyond. This is an extraordinary corporate thriller, which among much else describes how Barclays came to buy Lehman Brothers for a bargain price in 2008, why it was so keen to avoid taking government funding during the financial crisis, and the price shareholders have paid for a decade of barely controlled ambition. But Augar also shows how Barclays' experiences are a paradigm for Britain's social and economic life over thirty years, which saw the City move from the edge of the economy to its very centre. These decades created unprecedented prosperity for a tiny number, and made the reputations of governments and individuals but then left many of them in tatters. The leveraged society, the winner-takes-all mentality and our present era of austerity can all be traced to the influence of banks such as Barclays. Augar's book tells this rollercoaster story from the perspective of many of its participants - and also of those affected by the grip they came to have on Britain.

This engaging book begins with the history of Triumph, its rescue by the Standard Motor Company and the quest to replace the bestselling Herald with a more modern design, including the strong influence of the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. Triumph 1300 to Dolomite Sprint covers the full range of models that succeeded the successful Triumph Herald. Starting with the front-wheel drive 1300 and 1500 models, author Kevin Warrington covers the conversion from front to rear-wheel drive, the introduction of the two-door Toledo and four-door Dolomite range and finishes with the range-topping high performance but fragile Dolomite Sprint. Including coverage of the Dolomite's strong sporting history, and with accompanying period and modern colour photographs, this book provides all the information the enthusiast will need about this remarkable range of mid-range Triumph cars.

Panhard & Levassor was a ground-breaking company whose innovations set the standard for modern motoring. Not only was it the first company to produce a vehicle with an internal combustion engine mounted at the head of the chassis rather than under the driver's seat, the entire 'Panhard' layout of engine, gearbox, shaft drive to rigid rear axle, set the standard which is still used today. As the author reveals, Panhard & Levassor can also claim to be the first manufacturer to sell cars commercially. Author David Beare follows the fortunes of the company and its two founders, the affable and portly Rene Panhard complementing the intelligent and somewhat haughty Emile Levassor. From the late 1800s through the two world wars, they continued to produce revolutionary designs, including sleeve valves, monocoque chassis units and the new economy cars with air-cooled flat-twin engines and bodies and chassis made largely of aluminium. As an important contributor to the design and performance of their subsequent road cars, Panhard & Levassor's pioneering competition successes in early road-racing in the period from 1894 to 1903 are also covered, when the company was at the forefront of motor-racing technology and won many races. The story ends with the take-over of the company by Citroen, which ultimately absorbed the Panhard & Levassor creative genius into their own designs.

For over 130 years, Imperial Oil dominated Canada's oil industry. Their 1947 discovery of crude oil in Leduc, Alberta transformed the industry and the country. But from 1899 onwards, two-thirds of the company was owned by an American giant, making Imperial Oil one of the largest foreign-controlled multinationals in Canada. Imperial Standard is the first full-scale history of Imperial Oil. It illuminates Imperial's longstanding connections to Standard Oil of New Jersey, also known as Exxon Mobil. Although this relationship was often beneficial to Imperial, allowing them access to technology and capital, it also came at a cost, causing Imperial to be assailed as the embodiment of foreign control of Canada's natural resources. Graham D. Taylor draws on an extensive collection of primary sources to explore the complex relationship between the two companies. This groundbreaking history provides unprecedented insight into one of Canada's most influential oil companies as it has grown and evolved with the industry itself.

'A fast-paced, highly readable history of one of the defining companies of our time. If you're interested in Snapchat, or just plain mystified by it, you must read this book' -- Brad Stone Would you turn down three billion dollars from Mark Zuckerberg? When he was just twenty-three years old, Evan Spiegel, the brash CEO of the social network Snapchat, stunned the world when he and his co-founders walked away from a three-billion-dollar offer from Facebook: how could an app teenagers use to text dirty photos dream of a higher valuation? Was this hubris, or genius? In How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, Billy Gallagher takes us inside the rise of one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups. Snapchat began as a late-night dorm room revelation before Spiegel went on to make a name for himself as a visionary CEO worth billions, linked to celebrities like Taylor Swift and his fiancee, Miranda Kerr. A fellow Stanford undergrad and fraternity brother of the company's founding trio, Billy Gallagher has covered Snapchat from the start. His inside account offers an entertaining trip through the excess and drama of the hazy early days with a professional insight into the challenges Snapchat faces as it transitions from a playful app to one of the tech industry's preeminent public companies. In the tradition of great business narratives, How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars offers the definitive account of a company whose goal is no less than to remake the future of entertainment.

Reed Hastings is one of the world's foremost business leaders. As co-founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix, he has built one of the largest media and entertainment companies on the planet, with an estimated personal net worth of $3.6 billion. A notable philanthropist, he has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organisations as well as Facebook and Microsoft. This concise but detailed biography provides an overview of Hastings' career trajectory. From his unique management style to the biggest mistakes he has made along the way, to the reasons behind his decision to take Netflix from a business that dealt with products (rental DVDs) to a technology company that focuses on streaming, Burgess sheds light on Hastings' success and looks to what the future may bring for him and his ventures. Aspirational and positive, this is the perfect book for those looking for a concise and accessible account of a true global business visionary.

If you lived at Downton Abbey, you shopped at Selfridge's.
Harry Gordon Selfridge was a charismatic American who, in twenty-five years working at Marshall Field's in Chicago, rose from lowly stockboy to a partner in the business which his visionary skills had helped to create. At the turn of the twentieth century he brought his own American dream to London's Oxford Street where, in 1909, with a massive burst of publicity, Harry opened Selfridge's, England's first truly modern built-for-purpose department store. Designed to promote shopping as a sensual and pleasurable experience, six acres of floor space offered what he called "everything that enters into the affairs of daily life," as well as thrilling new luxuries--from ice-cream soda to signature perfumes. This magical emporium also featured Otis elevators, a bank, a rooftop garden with an ice-skating rink, and a restaurant complete with orchestra--all catering to customers from Anna Pavlova to Noel Coward. The store was "a theatre, with the curtain going up at nine o'clock." Yet the real drama happened off the shop floor, where Mr. Selfridge navigated an extravagant world of mistresses, opulent mansions, racehorses, and an insatiable addiction to gambling. While his gloriously iconic store still stands, the man himself would ultimately come crashing down.
The true story that inspired the Masterpiece series on PBS - "Mr. Selfridge" is a co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece
"Enthralling . . . an] energetic and wonderfully detailed biography."--"London Evening Standard"
"Will change your view of shopping forever."--"Vogue" (U.K.)

Winner, Alberta Historical Resources Foundation Heritage Award, Canadian Museums Association Outstanding Achievement in Publications, and Redgees Legacy AwardShortlisted, Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book PrizeRemember pearl-snap Western shirts, Scrubbies jeans, and denim jackets, George W. Groovy, Cowboy Kings, Red Straps? Take a trip down memory lane and relive the GWG story! Remember the slogans "Anything Goes," "They wear longer, because they're made stronger," and Wayne Gretzky's declaration that "I grew up in GWGs"? GWGs have been a cultural icon in Canada since the company's founding in 1911. Here, at long last, is the complete, lushly illustrated history of the Great Western Garment Company, whose products were staples for some generations and defined cool for others. This lavish book includes archival photographs, advertisements, product photos, and insights on the long history of this iconic Canadian company. Begun in Edmonton, GWG not only manufactured jeans, but also helped immigrant women support their families, becoming a model of management and labour working collaboratively. GWG eventually became the largest workwear manufacturing company in Canada, providing different styles of work and leisure clothing for men, women, and children, and for the military during both world wars. Although Levis acquired the company during the 1960s and '70s and closed the last factories in 2004, the GWG brand remains a part of pop culture. It is firmly fixed in the Canadian psyche and still holds a place in Canadian hearts.

One of Canada's most successful homegrown buisnesses, Black's Photography grew from a single store to a national, and international, chain. Robert Black, the former Vice President, weaves his own, and his family's, story into the history of the company. Beginning with his great-grandparents, Robert takes the story through the generations, imparting what each had contributed to the success of Black's. Part family history, part autobiography, and part business history, Picture Perfect is a unique look at a unique family business that rewrote the book on photography. Black and his brothers used new methods of advertising, took advantage of every innovation, did their own photofinishing, and introduced the practice of printing 4 x 6 photos, when no one else was doing it.

Part "Fast Food Nation," part "Bobos in Paradise," STARBUCKED combines investigative heft with witty cultural observation in telling the story of how the coffeehouse movement changed our everyday lives, from our evolving neighborhoods and workplaces to the ways we shop, socialize, and self-medicate.
In STARBUCKED, Taylor Clark provides an objective, meticulously reported look at the volatile issues like gentrification and fair trade that distress activists and coffee zealots alike. Through a cast of characters that includes coffee-wild hippies, business sharks, slackers, Hollywood trendsetters and more, STARBUCKED explores how America transformed into a nation of coffee gourmets in only a few years, how Starbucks manipulates psyches and social habits to snare loyal customers, and why many of the things we think we know about the coffee commodity chain are false.
""Starbucked" is ...smart cultural criticism minus any academic gobbledygook. Mr. Clark is quite funny as he dryly sends up the excess of the corporate behemoth, and Starb"u"cked is an entertaining, highly readable book....Full of cocktail-party-worthy tidbits." --Adelle Waldman, "New York Observer"

Knitting is a booming pastime, enjoying a resurgence of interest, spawning books, movies, a brisk online trade in wool and knitted goods -- even trade fairs. In Canada, Cottage Craft has long held a strong reputation for its fine wool, dyed to the palette of the local landscape, and the fine craftsmanship of the women who weave and knit its quality materials. Behind Cottage Craft is the story of a woman of vision and remarkable resolve. Grace Helen Mowat looked upon traditional rural crafts -- knitting, weaving, and rug hooking -- as cash crops for the straitened farm women of Charlotte County, New Brunswick. In 1911, unmarried and with limited means, she commissioned a handful of St. Andrews women to make rugs according to her designs, which were then sent to Montreal. The Arts and Crafts movement was in full swing -- the rugs sold quickly. This is the story of how Grace Helen Mowat built Cottage Craft into a burgeoning home-grown business that continues to attract customers the world over.

From twice-Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Steve Coll comes Private Empire, winner of the FT/GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012 The oil giant ExxonMobil makes more money annually than the GDP of most countries; has greater sway than US embassies abroad; and spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. Yet to outsiders it is a mystery. In Private Empire, award-winning reporter Steve Coll tells the truth about the world's most powerful and shadowy company. From the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, via Moscow, the swamps of the Niger Delta and the halls of Congress, he reveals a story of dictators, oligarchs, civil war, blackmail, secrecy and ruthlessness. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and newly declassified documents, this is a chilling portrait of unchecked power. Reviews: 'Magisterial ... a revealing history of our time' New York Review of Books 'Meticulous, multi-angled and valuable ... Coll's prose sweeps the earth like an Imax camera' Dwight Garner, The New York Times 'Jaw-dropping reading' Kirkus Reviews 'The definitive work on its subject ... at every stop there are vivid anecdotes, sharp insights and telling details' Ed Crooks, Financial Times About the author: Steve Coll is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory journalism while working at the Washingon Post. He is the author of six other books, including the bestseller Ghost Wars, which won him a second Pulitzer prize. He lives in Washington and New York.

At nineteen, Michael Dell started his company as a freshman at the University of Texas with $1,000 and has since built an industry powerhouse. As Dell journeys through his childhood adventures, ups and downs, and mistakes made along the way, he reflects on invaluable lessons learned.

Michael Dell's revolutionary insight has allowed him to persevere against all odds, and Direct from Dell contains valuable information for any business leader. His strategies will show you effective ways to grow your business and will help you save time on costly mistakes by following his direct model for success.

For Heineken, 'rising Africa' is already a reality: the profits it extracts there are almost 50 per cent above the global average, and beer costs more in some African countries than it does in Europe. Heineken claims its presence boosts economic development on the continent. But is this true? Investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen has spent years seeking the answer, and his conclusion is damning: Heineken has hardly benefited Africa at all. On the contrary, there are some shocking skeletons in its African closet: tax avoidance, sexual abuse, links to genocide and other human rights violations, high-level corruption, crushing competition from indigenous brewers, and collaboration with dictators and pitiless anti-government rebels. Heineken in Africa caused a political and media furore on publication in The Netherlands, and was debated in their Parliament. It is an unmissable expose of the havoc wreaked by a global giant seeking profit in the developing world.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1952.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1952.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1956.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

A family owned business specializing in light duty horse-drawn carriages, buggies, and wagons, the McFarlan Company, like many manufacturers of its era, entered the automobile industry soon after the turn of the twentieth century. Instead of trying to outproduce and outsell its competition, McFarlan catered to the individual desires of an affluent clientele. For nearly 20 years, McFarlan automobiles were recognized for their quality, custom features, powerful engines, and enormous size. This full history covers the company from start to finish, with emphasis on its prestigious cars.

'Such a dazzling version of the boo phenomenon that as readers turn the pages they will be rooting for the company to survive even though they know the story ends in disaster.' The Sunday Times'boo hoo is an engrossing account of how two childhood friends persuaded some of the world's savviest investors and fashion houses - including Bernard Arnault's LVMH and the Benetton family - to fund a sports and designer clothing company to the tune of $100m.' The Guardian '[his] tale captures the hype and excitement of developing what was seen by many as a ground-breaking company with state-of-the-art technology- Along the way, it tells of endless rounds of raising finance, glamorous parties, staff clashes and bitter sparring with the press.' BBC.co.uk 'The game would be to bring boo.com to market, when it would soon be worth more than $1 billion and make its backers rich. Can all this have happened last year? It seems more like a tale from a different aeon, but the lessons it teaches are timeless.' The Spectator'

One of the hottest books on the shelves at Waterstones.' Sunday Times Style magazine'boo hoo-is 386 pages of oddly gripping text made nearly unbelievable by the amount of money that was given voluntarily to two twentysomething Swedes-the very readable book-adds lurid colour to [the] story.' The Daily Telegraph 'Reading [this] has the fascination of watching a high-speed car crash replayed in slow motion. You know what's going to happen, you can see the confident glow on the drivers' faces, but can't warn them about the curve in the road that is coming to unstick them. Schadenfreude is irresistible. And yet everyone walks away unhurt.' The Independent'With its evocative and colourful narrative, you'll quickly find yourself transported to the duo's world of ridiculous money-fuelled excess. Boo hoo offers up a truly entertaining insight into the frenzied and dizzying world of dotcommery at a time when everybody with a bright idea had a chance to make a million.' Virginstudent.com