Great book on a legendary company

books:


	• Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed Ben R. Rich, Leo Janos Back Bay Books, 1996 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 76 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Facinating!

If you like information on this subject (jets, stealth, SR71)then this book is for you. I couldn't put this book down because I was facinated by the content, engrossed by the narrative, and just totally sucked in. Formerly Top Secret projects and happenings are revealed in such a entertaining and non technical way, that anyone can understand and enjoy this entire book. Also, this book has great insights into innovation and business management. I really think this is the best book I've ever read, and I'm buying a copy for my boss.

Heroism, Best Found in Real Life!

Why can't Hollywood make a movie out of this? Wait, I take it back. They'd probably turn the Rich and Kelly relationship into an affair, and throw in some cliche ridiculousness about how white, rich guys are evil.

That being said, WHAT A GREAT BOOK! This is wonderful tale of how a group of men with wonderful leadership did what it took to be the best while ignoring all the bureaucratic roadblocks. They really show what it takes to be on the cutting edge. On time, below budget, and meeting specifications. Some do their best to imitate the Skunk Works model, but few understand the philosophy of this men: rational egoism.

for more information click here

What A Great Book !

You can't put this book down ... one of those ones that you end up reading until 3am.
You can see by the way this book was written i.e. logical, pragmatic, practical, humourous ... what the inhabitants of the skunk works are really like, and why the organisation was/is so effective.
Thoroughly recommend this book to anyone.

Great book on a legendary company

This book is based as an (auto)biography of Ben Rich the boss of the legendary Lockheed "Skunk works". It is a lot more than that however with an overview of secret 'black-ops' of the cold war period. The development of the U2 and SR-71 as well as an in depth introduction to the F117 Stealth fighter make this a must have book for the technophile. But it is more than that, there are great snippets from 'other voices' such as engineers, pilots and even the military have their say about the Skunk works and in particular its enigmatic founder Clarence "Kelly" Johnson.

This book does not have a lot of personal details about Ben Rich but concentrates on the three main aircraft that the Skunk works are famous for and allows an insight to military-private sector relationships that is hard to find in other books.

My only criticism is the end chapter on how to make things better for the industry which seems a little 'tacked on' to try and give the book a point and this could have been done throughout the previous chapters in a better constructed manner.

Apart from that it is a good book and due to the co-authorship of Leo Janos (who co-wrote the Chuck Yaeger autobiography) it is very readable and an interesting addition to military history of the cold war.

for more information click here