This book is terrific entertainment, for these stories are stories of ordinary human beings rising to stunning heights. Each is a man who took his material environment as he found it and conquered it absolutely. In a sense, then, these are fairy tales.

Which brings up the second good reason for reading this book: The lives of the very, very rich gathered here are highly instructive. Their secrets and methods can be learned from, adapted and applied by all those who themselves harbour dreams of supreme fortune.

Max Gunther (1926-1998), born in England, went to the United States when he was 11 years old, attended schools in New Jersey and received his BA from Princeton University in 1949. He served in the US Army in 1950 and 1951 and was a staff member of Business Week from 1951 to 1955. Mr Gunther then served as a contributing editor of Time for two years. From 1956 he published articles in several magazines, including Playboy. Among his other books are The Zurich Axioms, The Luck Factor, Instant Millionaires, Wall Street & Witchcraft and How to Get Lucky.

Mr Gunther lived in Ridgefield, Connecticut, where his wife was a real-estate broker. They had three children. The author said that his diversions included surfing and skating, carving chess sets and playing chess, and painting.