Short Review

The book is an analysis on successful people who have accumulated riches in their lives. Napoleon Hill got the inspiration from Andrew Carnegie himself to write this book by researching people who accumulated great wealth over 20 years of his life.

Success is a vague concept. Steps to get there are even more vague. This book clarifies these two into straightforward concepts. The same kind of resolute determination that is required for success echos in the very voice of the book, in the form of unwavering confidence in his analysis.

There are a million different books on success out there. The contents are never unique. Statements like “Imagine yourself successful” or “Set definite goals” – who doesn’t know that’s important? Here is what I think. First, a plain series of adage has little resonance. What’s important is the context. The framework of how the author weaves and selects a handful of virtues brings meaning to the ubiquitous words of wisdom. Second, jumping from one success book to another could be an ill use of time. After just a couple, the next effort may be better spent on actually executing the steps mentioned in a book, say in this case acquiring specialized knowledge on chapter5. According to Amazon, over 100million copies have been sold as of 2015. If you want to start somewhere, I would say why not get onboard with the rest of the 100million people as a starter? It is also a very quick read.