Do you know anybody who hasn’t purchased something on Amazon.com? Neither do I. That’s quite a statement — a company that hasn’t even been around for 20-years and it has so revolutionized retailing that everybody uses it. Sam Walton, were he alive, would be impressed.

One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com by Richard L. Brandt is an interesting look at the man who made Amazon.com what it is today. Jeff Bezos is the founder, innovator, CEO, chief owner, and full time visionary of Amazon.com. The book explores his background and leadership style. It only briefly touches some of the “why” questions, like figuring out why he is so driven or whether the online retailer is harming small businesses. The book instead focuses much of the attention on the decisions Bezos has made and the impact on the business world.

What I like about this book is that Bezos is not treated with kid gloves. The author smacks him a couple of times, making clear that Bezos is a tough competitor who likes to spin information sometimes. He gives Bezos plenty of praise for his innovation and vision, while pointing out that some of Amazon.com’s image is just that: an image of an enlightened employer bringing good things to the world. Basically, the author sweeps that all away and says it’s a business focused on good customer service as a way to make a huge profit. Glad somebody finally said the obvious and took some of the rhetoric out of the new age business models.

This is a short book, easy to read, and will be of interest to business people as well as consumers. It’s a fair book that praises the success of Amazon.com, admires the leadership and vision of Bezos, but recognizes that it’s not all a bed of roses for the company. Not exactly groundbreaking, but still informative.