I haven’t been a fan of books that tell the history of a company or a group of people (i.e., a family). These books introduce numerous people but don’t go very deep into any of their journeys. I enjoy biographies more because the in-depth coverage of a single person’s journey usually includes challenges encountered, lessons learned overcoming adversity, and details about how they applied lessons learned to achieve their goals. Biographies get me thinking and often lead to new ideas and insights, which excites me.

Though books about the history of a company or group of people aren’t my favorite, I now recognize they’re useful for something: links to other people or companies in an industry or time period.

I’m currently reading Newhouse: All the Glitter, Power, & Glory of America’s Richest Media Empire & the Secretive Man Behind It by Thomas Maier. It’s about the Newhouse family and their media empire. But because it covers so many decades and so many people, it’s introduced me to other companies and founders I wasn’t aware of. I’ve ordered biographies about several people mentioned in this book.

My thinking on the value of reading this type of book has changed. While I’m not learning as much about an individual as I’d like, I’m being introduced to more people in the publishing industry and can read about each person’s journey. These books are good discovery mechanisms and help me understand industry periods. I don’t want these to be the majority of my reading, but they’re a helpful supplement to biographies.