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  • Power Failure

  • The Rise and Fall of General Electric
  • By: William D. Cohan
  • Narrated by: Eric Martin
  • Length: 28 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

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Power Failure

By: William D. Cohan
Narrated by: Eric Martin
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

A magisterial history of the astounding rise—and unimaginable fall—of America's most iconic corporation.

Perhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of leadership success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America's most eminent financial journalists, argues that GE's legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand American business.

Power Failure limns the eventful 130-year history of GE, bringing fresh analysis drawn from rare interviews with key figures of the company's golden era, including Jack Welch himself.

As Cohan recounts, Welch traded on a sterling legacy to make GE the most valuable company in the world, while cloaking its vulnerabilities. What he handed to his successor Jeffrey Immelt was, Cohan argues, both an impossible standard and a more troubled reality.

Tracing the company's leaps and stumbles through the personalities that defined it, Power Failure offers a surprising retelling of the GE story, puncturing the myth we know for a fresh look at its legacy—and what it tells us about the state of business in America.

© 2022 William D. Cohan (P)2022 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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Brilliant analysis of the demise of GE

A superb and riveting analysis of what happened to GE. It’s very candid and supremely well researched

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    4 out of 5 stars

incredible amount of research

worth reading. narration was great and gripping. The story was new to me, and the amount of research is incredible. It tells the story from the invention of electricity to how it became commercialised. Just didn't like 1 or 2 comments from the author, where he shared personal opinions, but these are few in the nearly 30h duration.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Extremely well-researched account of GE’s history

First things first, the narration is a bit wooden. Not bad enough that you can’t get over it. But it has that slightly unconvincing feel of an audiobook that isn’t narrated by its author.

This is a monster. A 28-hour long monster. Worth your time? If you’re interested in the highs and lows of corporate America through the history of one of its historic companies, yes.

The GE story with its many twists and turns is certainly worth telling. A huge amount of research has gone into this book and it shows. Despite the length, I devoured it in no time.

My only criticism is the author’s tendency to lionise Jack Welch without fully making the connections between his actions and many of GE’s subsequent problems.

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Enlightenment

An excellently researched and narrated book.
The rise and fall of GEC covered in great detail.
A long book that I wished was longer,

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