Book excerpt: This meticulously researched biography of Pierre S. du Pont, head of the Du Pont Company and later General Motors, describes how the Delaware scion took a loosely run, family gunpowder factory and turned it into a giant corporation. Moreover, by astute business management he transformed a faltering General Motors into one of the world's most profitable enterprises. Chandler and Salsbury, who had access to business and personal records rarely available to historians, made the most of them. It is truly one of the finest business histories ever written.