<div align="justify"><p>The trials of the UK's early dot-coms and how some of them laid the foundations for success is the subject of a new book. </p><p>Dot Bomb, The Strange Death of Dot Com Britain covers a time in British industrial history that many venture capitalists may want to forget, but for those who watched the share values of previously unheard of companies shoot through the roof and then come crashing back down to earth it makes for fascinating reading. </p><p>Starting with the day that Lastminute.com began selling shares and ending in the spring of 2003 when the firm's value was creeping back up, this volume covers a time in which everyone from bedroom entrepreneurs to the Queen wanted to get involved in online operations. </p><p>Author Rory Cellan-Jones writes: "For a short period, roughly stretching from September 1999 to May 2000, Britain had been in the grip of an extraordinary wave of enthusiasm about the potential of the internet economy to create new wealth. It was a time of energy and optimism that promised to change the way the nation looked at itself." At the time Cellan-Jones was reporting for the BBC on the UK's financial and business markets. His excitement at seeing a new breed of entrepreneurs shake up industry and the stock market is clear. In the first chapter Cellan-Jones observes: "A stuffy business community, accustomed to making deals over lunch at the Savoy Grill, was suddenly finding that the real action was happening in cafes in Clerkenwell. The fifty-something pinstriped titans of the FTSE 100 were taken aback to discover that upstarts were now making bigger waves than them." </p><p>Many of these "upstarts" are featured in the book. Most notable perhaps are Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman, the partners in Lastminute.com. </p><p>Their stock market flotation turned the two of them into multi-millionaires within a few hours - on paper at least. </p><p>The dot-com boom and bust is perhaps best illustrated by these two and their company. But many other firms are covered in this book. In fact, the author seems to have spoken to almost all of the movers, shakers and money spenders of those fast-paced times, and has some fascinating insights as a result. </p><p>However, there are times when Cellan-Jones appears too close to his subjects. </p><p>In cases where you might expect some commentary from the author, none is present. For example, following the flotation of Lastminute, Fox found herself under stress, as she explained to Cellan-Jones: "It was another very early morning - we had not had a break for a month. I came into the office, saw Brent and just burst into tears. I couldn't explain why I was so hysterical." Cellan-Jones simply adds that "(To calm her down, Brent) took her up the road to Selfridges and bought her a silver bracelet. </p><p>It worked" - as though this is a regular occurrence in companies across the UK during times of difficulty. </p><p>Other telling indications that Cellan-Jones's sympathies lie with the dot-com entrepreneurs litter the book. For example in the tongue-in-cheek glossary venture capitalists are defined thus: "Rapacious ignorant bastards who demand half of the company you have just thought about in the pub with two friends." As a result, Cellan-Jones's analysis of the reasons for success and failure have shortcomings, but readers can draw their own conclusions from the events described. </p><p>However, on the whole Dot Bomb is a very interesting read, with less emphasis on the money spent and more on the ideas that burgeoned into businesses, and on the people behind them.</p></div>