"Let's suppose your goal is to raise a child who will grow up and make The Forbes 400 list someday. How do you feed her brain and nourish her spirit? What secrets of wealth-building do you pour into his pulsing veins?" Rich Karlgaard composed a list of 53 books whish would help your children achieve outsize success: "Here are 53 books that I and some of my self-made, rich friends recommend. These books range from the theoretical to the practical, the instructional to the inspirational".
THEORY OF CAPITALISM
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World - by Alan Greenspan;
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - by Nassim Nicholas Taleb;
Wealth and Poverty - by George Gilder;
Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction - by Thomas K. McCraw;
On the Wealth of Nations - by P. J. O'Rourke;
The Road to Serfdom- by Friedrich Hayek;
Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS - by Steve Forbes;
The Way the World Works - by Jude Wanniski;
The Twilight of Sovereignty - by Walter Wriston.
HISTORY AND HEROES
Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way - by Richard Branson;
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people )'s Cofounder - by Kenny Moore;
Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company - by Michael S. Malone;
Gates: How Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people )'s Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America - by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews;
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist - by Roger Lowenstein;
Walt Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ): The Triumph of the American Imagination - by Neal Gabler;
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - by Benjamin Franklin; T
he House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance - by Ron Chernow;
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression - by Amity Shlaes.
HOW CAPITALISM WORKS TODAY
Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes - by Mark Penn and E. Kinney Zalesne;
The New Normal: Great Opportunities in a Time of Great Risk - by Roger McNamee;
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail - by Clayton Christensen;
The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us - by Robyn Meredith;
Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy - by Thomas Sowell.
INSTRUCTIONAL TIPS
Bull's Eye Investing: Targeting Real Returns in a Smoke and Mirrors Market - by John Mauldin;
Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! - by Phil Town;
Boomtown USA: The 7 1 / 2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns - by John M. Schultz;
The Intelligent Investor - by Benjamin Graham; T
he Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't - by Kenneth L. Fisher;
The Elements of Style - by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White;
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - by Al Ries and Jack Trout;
Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits From Your Small Business - by Jay Conrad Levinson;
Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! - by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter;
How We Got Here: A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets - by Andy Kessler;
The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything - by Guy Kawasaki;
Accounting Workbook for Dummies - by John A. Tracy.
MANAGEMENT SECRETS
In Search of Excellence: Lessons From America's Best-Run Companies - by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman;
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques From the Best Damn Ship in the Navy - by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff;
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don't - by Jim Collins.
FOOD FOR THE SOUL
They Call Me Coach - by John Wooden with Jack Tobin;
Think and Grow Rich - by Napoleon Hill;
The Fountainhead - by Ayn Rand;
The Acts of the Apostles - by Luke;
The Purpose-Driven Church - by Rick Warren;
Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking - by Robert Schuller;
The Greatest Salesman in the World - by Og Mandino;
The Richest Man in Babylon - by George Clason;
The Soul of a New Machine - by Tracy Kidder.
USEFUL ENTERTAINMENT
Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody - by Fake Steve Jobs;
The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between a Little Craziness and a Lot of Success in America - by John D. Gartner;
Investment Biker - by Jim Rogers;
All the Money in the World: How The Forbes 400 Make--and Spend--Their Fortunes - by Peter Bernstein and Annalyn Swan;
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game - by Michael Lewis;
The Bonfire of the Vanities - by Tom Wolfe.
