Steve Jobs

Archival Summary & Scope

Based on more than forty interviews with the Apple co-founder and over 100 conversations with those who knew him, Walter Isaacson delivers a riveting account of the "roller-coaster life" and intense personality of Steve Jobs. This biography explores the creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six major industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Jobs cooperated fully with the project but famously waived any control over the content, encouraging his friends, family, and adversaries to speak with brutal honesty. The result is an unvarnished view of a man "driven by demons" who could push those around him to both fury and despair. Isaacson illustrates how Jobs's personality was inseparable from his products, treating his hardware, software, and character as part of an integrated system that defined the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination.