End of the Line: The Rise and Fall of AT&T

As a retired AT & T employee, I found this book very gripping in describing the downfall of this great company. To me, the infighting, big egos, reckless decisions and irrational decisions made during the Internet mania of the late 90's makes it clear what happened. Anyone wanting to know what caused the downfall of AT & T should read this book. Well written and a fast page turner to see what happens next.

Written like a good novel and researched in depth, this perspective on the rise and fall of AT & T was not only a fascinating historical piece on this great American corporate institution, but also an expos'e on the egotism and ineptitude of a handful of corporate officers who disregarded common sense and good counsel and brought this great corporation to it's knees.

Leslie Cauley's "The End of the Line" is that rare thing -- a business book that reads like a novel. Ms. Cauley shrewdly shapes her narrative around the two things readers care about, namely, plot and character. You couldn't find a much better plot. One of the world's greatest companies, one that truly made a difference in the lives of hundreds of millions of people, is faced with difficult, fundamental choices. Through an escalating series of stupendous blunders and poor decisions, the company chooses badly and seals its doom. Even though you know the outcome, you keep wanting to know what happens on the next page. That's a credit to the liveliness of Ms. Cauley's writing. The plot is good, but the characters are even better. Ms. Cauley creates some wonderfully detailed sketches of the senior executives at the heart of this drama. These men emerge as extraordinarily complex and compelling figures who are anything but the sterotypically one-dimensional man in the gray flannel suit. Most compelling of all, perhaps, is C. Michael Armstrong, who was brought in to save AT & T and ends up presiding over its death. He ultimately reminds one of King Lear, howling on the heath at the utter whimsy and injustice of the universe. Even if you never worked at AT & T, as I did for twenty years, you will enjoy this utterly fascinating and ultimately sad book.

I thought that Leslie did a wonderful job escribing the events and underlying issues that led to the decline of AT & T. Leslie describes both the events and personalities that contributed to the demise of AT & T. It is facinating to think about the fact that a national icon was driven into a state of insolvency in just a matter of about 12 months. In addition, I thought that the description of Mike Armstrong was elucidating. Some other books on the subject have excused him in spite of the fact that he was at the wheel when this all happened. The book flows well and is a fairly easy read. This is absolutely a must read from a management case study perspective and retrospective on the telecom bubble.

I am (still) a current employee of AT & T. I am on the 'front-line' which is all the way at the bottom of the totem pole as a customer service rep in consumer long distance. I started working at AT & T in February of 1997 and everything that Leslie Cauley wrote in this novel-happened!!! I kept nodding my head at every turn of the page and remembering everything that happened. I decided to work for the company because of its name and in my 8 years I can't believe what has happened and how quickly it has deteriorated. Thank you Leslie Cauley for writing a book that the public (and customers) can read how fudged up Corporate America really is!!!! With the SBC merger Ms. Cauley can write a sequel to this book and hopefully call it "A New Era: The Triumphant Return of AT & T"