Howard Shultz was the Founder of Starbucks and Chairman/CEO until the early 2000's, when he stepped down as CEO (but stayed as Chairman). After about 5 years (in 2007), he saw that Starbucks culture was changing and it was no longer profitable or really a fun place to work. He stepped back in as President/CEO, and effected a large turnaround of the company. This book is his chronicle of that process. It's sort of an insider's tale of what makes Starbucks tick, and they were able to turn around the company in 2008 and 2009.
As far as business books go, it's very readable. Lots of good stories, as well as good leadership principles for business leaders. I found myself wanting to go into a Starbucks, just to see if the things he was saying they changed really were true at my local store. Lots of the book focused on the guiding principle of Starbucks - to have the best-tasting, boldest coffee on the market. Again, if I was a coffee drinker, I'd want to experiment and try it out. Alas, I'll just have to take his word for it...
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