The New Alchemists

There have been plenty of books for entrepreneurs, giving advice on how to run their business. The New Alchemists by Charles and Elizabeth Handy is somewhat different, in that it is a series of short articles on existing entrepreneurs, and so aims to give an example for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow.

The articles are generally 6 pages, comprising one page with just the title, two pages with Elizabeth Handy's photographs of the subject, and three pages of text. Some of the subjects are well known, such as Trevor Baylis and Richard Branson.. Other articles are look at people running small enterprises. The book includes people running non-profit organisations as well as those involved in more traditional businesses.

Unfortunately I found the layout of the book wasn't really what I would have liked. The choice of subjects were based on those who the Handy's felt set an example, which other people might usefully follow, but this does not really come through in the short articles. Also the photographs are an important part of the book, but as they are before the text it is very easy to skip over them - they would be better mixed in with the text (even if they didn't look so artistic). Having said that, the articles are very readable, and it would suitable for reading in odd moments. In summary this is very much a coffee-table book.