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Did you know that Hitler promoted, or insisted on the development of a small, affordable, everyman’s car, more notably the Volkswagen. I didn’t know this.

There is question regarding who actually came up with the Volkswagen design. Two new books, The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz: The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen by Paul Schilperoord and Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle by Andrea Hiott, research the issue, and come up with different conclusions. According to Paul Schilperoord, Josef Ganz designed a car called the Maikafer, or May bug. The car was a tremendous hit in Germany. One of the test drivers was an Austrian-born automotive engineer name Ferdinand Porsche. In 1931 Porsche had no experience designing light-weight models with rear-mounted engines and fully independent suspension, but after his test drive of the May bug, he commenced developing drawings of his own small car, including many features of Ganz’s Volkswagen design.

So who should get credit for the Volkswagen design? Read the books by Paul Schilperoord and Andrea Hiott and decide for yourself.

On Sunday, December 11th, the Washington Post published the Best of 2011: 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction. Did you read any of the best? I’ve highlighted several of the business works and provided a brief book review.

Best of 2011

Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present by Jeff Madrick – Looking for the roots of our financial decline, Madrick narrates a history that brims with powerful men, ugly fights, infamous scandals, twists and turns, and true to the book’s title, lots of shameless cupidity.

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis – In his latest book on the planet’s seemingly endless financial implosion, Lewis drops in on Iceland, Greece, Ireland and Germany and chronicles the messes they’ve made of their markets and money.

In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy – A detailed intellectual history of Google’s major innovations that lays bare its outsize ambitions and prodigious talents.

Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner – The authors make a powerful argument that cozy connections between government and the financial industry were the primary cause of the financial crisis.

I’ve started my reading list for 2012. Have you? Here’s my list for Q1 along with some quick book reviews:

Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet by Marc Ostrofsky - Get Rich Click! is a comprehensive source of information from one of the world’s most successful Internet entrepreneurs. The book outlines proven strategies and techniques for the Internet entrepreneur, and is full of real-life success stories about people of all ages who have made millions on line!

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne - Written by the business world’s new gurus, Blue Ocean Strategy continues to challenge everything you thought you knew about competing in today’s crowded market place. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, authors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne argue that lasting success comes from creating ‘blue oceans’: untapped new market spaces ripe from growth.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated) by Timothy Ferriss - Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.

Knowledge is power, so invest in yourself by reading a new book.

Share your book reviews with me.

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Who Came Up With The Volkswagen Design?

Book Reviews – Best of 2011