Ben Love: My Life in Texas Commerce

Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History

by Ben F. Love

In a city known for its powerful business leaders, Ben Love towered as one of the most influential. Under his competent management as CEO of Texas Commerce Bancshares in the 1980s, TCB was the only "Big Five" Texas bank to survive that decade's collapse of the Texas banking industry. Love's story provides an insightful perspective on the evolution of Texas banks after World War II, their decline, and their subsequent recovery. It also offers a glimpse into the kind of character that creates men of power. " . . . a compelling story of a boy growing up in the East Texas cotton belt during the ravages of the Great Depression, a young man facing possible death flying twenty-five missions in B-17 bombers over Nazi- occupied Europe, and an adult building the most successful banking organization in Texas history. . . . A `must-read' for aspiring business and community leaders."--Joseph M. Grant, Chairman and CEO, Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.

331 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[M Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly, my rating is the outlier here and others really like it. Hopefully, they will write reviews and explain why.

Nonetheless, in my opinion, this is not a good book. It is essentially an alpha male listing his achievements and leadership positions and excusing his one, defining failure. Love's lack of self-awareness is striking. There is zero reflection in this book. Those who thwarted him were all selfish or petty.

It is worth mentioning that the book lifts paragraphs from Buenger and Pratt's 1986 history of Texas Commerce without attribution.