Hershey by Michael D' Antonio

I had decided that in keeping up with my blog's cultural theme, my next book would be Nabokov's Lolita. As I walked around the library carrying the 400+ paged book I began dreading the task ahead. I kept remembering the summer I had spent reading Anna Karenina. I had begun reading it in June and didn’t finish until September, not my idea of summer reading. As I made my way to the circulation desk, I spotted D'Antonio's book on a book display. I quickly abandoned Lolita and snatched up Hershey. What can I say; I have a weakness for business history.

After completing the book in a mere two weeks, I can't help but wonder, "Where was this book when I was in business school?" What an informative read. It chronicles the life and legacy of Milton S. Hershey. He brought affordable milk chocolate to America. This task did not come easy. He started his career as a printer (which he hated) before becoming a worker at a candy store. He then had several failed business attempts and was the owner of a caramel factory before inventing his special milk chocolate recipe. The story follows his career as he develops massive factories, a sugar plantation and the perfect utopian town he built for his employees to live in also called Hershey. In the end he bequeathed his entire empire to the Hershey Industrial School, a school he had founded for orphan boys. M.S. Hershey was a true entrepreneur and a man of mystery that overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the most ambitious men of his generation. This amazing book is a lesson in business and history.

If you enjoy business history I highly recommend this book.