Shedding light on success of Nortel Networks, corporate climbing.(The Dallas Morning News)

``Nortel Networks,'' by Larry McDonald (Wiley, $27.95).

Nortel Networks, a well-known leader in the telecommunications industry, began more than 100 years ago as the manufacturing arm of Bell Telephone.

In his biography of Nortel, author Larry McDonald takes his tale right back to that unprepossessing beginning and continues to the present day, detailing the company's recent spinoff from its parent company, BCE.

McDonald drills beneath the surface to explore the secrets to Nortel's success. He closely examines the key lessons for Nortel employees and outlines what technology investors must look for when seeking a long-term winner.

The book offers a penetrating look at Nortel and attempts to explain why Nortel continues to move forward when other companies have failed.

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``The Secret Handshake: Mastering The Politics of the Business Inner Circle,'' by Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Ph.D. (Doubleday/Currency, $24.95)