Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie's autobiography — one of the canonical texts of American self-made entrepreneurship, describing his rise from Scottish immigrant poverty to the world's richest man.

The Carnegie narrative: from bobbin boy in a cotton factory to steel empire builder — the classic American immigrant success story. But Carnegie's autobiography is also a sophisticated philosophical document: his 'Gospel of Wealth' (the duty of the rich to give away their wealth for public benefit during their lifetimes) is woven throughout. The autobiography documents Carnegie's genuine intellectual curiosity and his complicated relationship with the violent suppression of his own workers (Homestead Strike, 1892).