The most readable corporate profile I have read in years, maybe ever, but Cohan has really written detailed biographies of Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt.

It succeeds at that level. Cohan sums up the first eight decades of GE’s existence in about 150 pages, which felt way too rushed. But when Welch shows up, Cohan’s focus tightens in, and the book shines.

Cohan doesn’t fall into idol-worship of Welch. He admires his leadership, but gives lots of room for Welch’s detractors. Cohan is meticulous in documenting Welch’s failures both professionally and personally.

Immelt, however, gets nothing but the stinkeye. The guy had bad luck, bad timing and bad instincts, amplified by being the guy after Welch. Welch left him a house of cards, and Immelt was not up to the task of managing it. Cohan quotes liberally from Immelt’s book and from firsthand interviews, and often Immelt’s reasoning or analysis comes off as petty, small minded, or dishonest.

Cohan falls a bit into the weeds in the second half of the book, writing detailed histories of bit players – several figures are introduced with long and detailed histories that seem disproportionate to their role in the book.

The last few chapters are the aftermath of Immelt’s actions, and the unwinding of the company after his firing. Cohan does an excellent job of articulating how complex a task it was, and how much of a mess John Flannery inherited. Cohan has no time for current CEO Larry Culp.

Cohan’s real scorn is reserved for the Board of Directors though. Several times he piles blame for the decline of the company on them, and it’s hard to disagree. Almost all of the board members declined to be interviewed for the book, and I imagine a few of them regret that decision. He ends with a direct shot at the board for enriching Culp at the expense of the shareholders.

Anyway, this is great. Cohan writes with personality and it makes this 750 page corporate history an actual page turner.