Requiem for a Family Business Book

Jonathan Guinness was a non-executive director on the Board of Guinness PLC for 27 years. He inherited the title "Lord Moyne" and his seat in the House of Lords in 1992 from his father, Bryan Guinness. In his third book, Requiem for a Family Business, he gives a fascinating account of one of the biggest corporate scandals ever seen in the UK. The book starts with Arthur Guinness and the founding of the company with its move to St James's Gate, Dublin in 1759 and continues through the history of the company to the appointment of Ernest Saunders as Managing Director. Guinness then focuses on the boardroom battles and criminal trials which made the headlines and shamed the company. He gives calm, considered and well-explained answers to the attacks made on the company by Saunders in his own book, Nightmare. Overall, Requiem for a Family Business is a fair, well-observed account of the wheeling and dealing that took place. Its strength lies in that it is written from an insider's point of view; the insider having been part of the dynasty that had a stake in the company for over 200 years. --Pat NaylorRead More