Business; WHAT THEY'RE READING
COMPILED BY KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Published: December 9, 2001
Philip Langsdale, 45
Chief executive, BBC Technology
BOOK:''The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle'' by Jonathan Sumption (1999)
WHY: ''Sumption's book, which is unbelievably well researched, delves into the detail of this period. The distressing thing is that not a lot has changed in 800 years --- the book describes acts of terror which are still being repeated across the world.''
Stephen Hsu, 35
Chief executive, SafeWeb
BOOK: ''A Beautiful Mind'' by Sylvia Nasar (1998)
WHY: ''This is a stunning intellectual biography of John Forbes Nash Jr., the brilliant mathematician who shared the 1994 Nobel prize in economics for his work, done at age 21, on game theory. Nasar's book is inspiring and full of deep insights into genius, competition and madness. Her description of the creative research process is second to none.''
Sue Bostrom, 41
Senior vice president, Cisco Systems
BOOK: ''Personal History'' by Katharine Graham, the late Washington Post publisher (1997)
WHY: ''I'm a firm believer that there are three types of situations in life: those we can control, those we cannot and those that we can influence. Graham found herself taking on a role she never expected, yet she was able to influence her situation to become a unique leader in her own right.''