Elon Musk. (Image: The Royal Society)

Many of Walter Isaacson’s biographies have dealt with those safely dead, like Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci. In the case of Steve Jobs, he spent two years on the writing, and had 40 interviews with the Apple CEO.

The book came out 19 days after Jobs’ death from pancreatic cancer in 2011. Isaacson got in early with Henry Kissinger, in 1992, when the former secretary of state was a mere stripling of 69. This year, it was the turn of Elon Musk. The book also took two years to write, and Isaacson had as much access as he wanted to Musk, his family and friends, both current and former. Like the Jobs book, there was no vetting prior to publication. The writing also coincided with Musk buying Twitter, which lengthens the book, but also showed his thinking behind the $44 billion purchase and his efforts to mould the company, some may say, into his own image.