This work is an examination in words and pictures of the way particular individuals, like Anita Roddick (Body Shop), Tim Waterstone (Waterstones) or Charles Dunstone (Carphone Warehouse) have created businesses/careers from nothing but their own drive and talent.

Charles Handy is just about the only modern management thinker worth reading. His books are wise, entertaining and always contain a strong dose of common sense. This one suggests that "perhaps we are all alchemists at heart. If so, we need to know what makes it real for some and not for others." Which just about sums the book up and captures the wise undercurrent throughout.

The New Alchemists is a series of interviews with people who have made something out of nothing. It is enhanced by Elizabeth Handy's own photography which captures each interviewee in their own environment. So we have an at-home and relaxed Richard Branson having a bet with the author that in three years time Virgin will be "by far the best railway", Robert Ayling from British Airways, Terence Conran and Charles Dunstone (Carphone Warehouse). Each short piece offers interesting insights into events that changed their lives and what makes them tick.