The Return to the Little Kingdom

Steve Jobs, The Creation of Apple and How it Changed the World

By: Michael Moritz

Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau

Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Twenty-five years later, revisiting the first authorized biography of Apple and its co-founder and celebrity CEO, Steve Jobs. In 1984, The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer told the story of Apples first decade alongside the histories of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Now, completely revised and expanded, Return to the Little Kingdom is the definitive biography of Apple and its founders from the very beginning. Moritz brings readers inside the childhood homes of Jobs and Wozniak and records how they dropped out of college and founded Apple in 1976. He follows the fortunes of the company through the mid-1980s, and in new material, tracks the development of Apple to the present and offers an insider's profile of Jobs, whose genius made Apple the powerhouse it is today. Required reading for everyone who's ever listened to music on an iPod, Return to the Little Kingdom is timely and thorough, and the only book that explains how Steve Jobs founded the company that changed our world.

©2009 Michael Moritz (P)2010 Audible, Inc

Good book… Right up until the last hour

I really enjoyed listened to this audiobook. I've been listening to a couple of different biographies and stories about the early days of silicon valley and I heard a recommendation to listen to this one, so I gave it a try. It was a little convoluted how the story would bounce back and forth between the present (present for when the book was written) to the past. You do get a sense of all the people who helped start Apple and get it going. The worst part of this book, though, is the epilogue. This was added on about a year or two ago (the iPhone4 was referenced). The author tells how he is an investor in Apple and then launches into a praise-a-thon for all that Apple has done since the return of Steve Jobs. It was a little too gushing with praise for me. He did point out Apple's missteps for about a minute, but the other hour of the epilogue kept the theme of Apple's infallibility.

Other than that, I found that this was a great listen. Try it and enjoy!

Interesting book

If you're into apple this is a must listen. It focuses mainly on apple as a business, though there is some Steve Job's worship. Overall it was a good little book though.

Limited in time but much better than Isacsson

Any additional comments?

It seems to relive those times, so real and interesting to someone who, like me, likes to learn everything about when personal computers were born...

Excellent, historical record of Apple Inc

Captivating writing and excellent narration kept me listening to what I initially believed would be very dry subject matter. Michael Moritz brought the story to life!

Might be the best Apple Origin Story ever

Listened to this one twice. Just great from start to finish. If you’re interested in the incredible beginning of this incredible company, this audiobook is fantastic, one of my favorites.

if you liked Walter Isaacson's Jobs bio, get this!

I had been hesitant to pick up The Little Kingdom for a while. I thought that after reading the Isaacson biography on Jobs and just about every other Apple/Jobs book, that a book written in 1985 would just be a rehash of stories I knew. Boy was I wrong! The Little Kingdom gives a deep dive in to the childhoods of Jobs and Woz, detailing their early lives in a way that gives wonderful context to their futures. Moritz gives details that are not present in later books and lays out exactly what it was like at early Apple.

Loved it

I’m biased. Love Apple and Steve Jobs and this is a great background come up story. I’ve read the other relevant books as well and if you’re interested in Apple, this one is worth checking out.

I happen to see this book in someone’s Tesla years ago when visiting a vacation spot that Steve would take his team and just got around to reading it.

Don't bother!

I'm not done this book but thought I would warn others to not bother with this book. It's all over the place and it's hard to follow the progress of Apple. One day he describes moving to a new building and the next time they are international. The book is so boring that I barely pay attention and usually end up thinking about other things while listening!

Great Story BUT

Would you try another book from Michael Moritz and/or Kevin Pariseau?

No problem with Kevin's reading but Michael's story of the two Stevens was written way in the past and not brought up to date in anywhere near the detail.

Any additional comments?

The Steve Jobs story could be much more about the newer Apple products brought up to date with a lot less of the initial history and more of the current challenges and successes.