Read well in 2008, by Alistair Blair

“Luke Johnson knows a lot of detail about an amazing range of business subjects and has thoughtful views about all the controversial ones. Well-known to investors as the impresario behind many unlikely stock market and private equity successes, he is also, like you and me, a regular investor in many companies – especially small ones. Few such practitioners reveal their thoughts in print on a weekly basis, but Mr Johnson does, currently in the FT and previously in the Sunday Telegraph. Eighty of his best Telegraph columns are collected together in The Maverick. He touches on everything from Machiavelli to the changing fortunes of the Chiquita banana company. Magpies who like their wisdom in 900 word gobbets will enjoy every page.”