Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into something remarkable and Fortune  journalist Carol Loomis had a front-row seat for it all.

When Carol Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge fund manager in a 1966 Fortune  article, she didnt dream that Warren Buffett would one day be considered the worlds greatest investornor that she and Buffett would quickly become close personal friends. As Buffetts fortune and reputation grew over time, Loomis used her unique insight into Buffetts thinking to chronicle his work for Fortune. writing and proposing scores of stories that tracked his many accomplishmentsand also his occasional mistakes.

Now Loomis has collected and updated the best Buffett articles Fortune  published between 1966 and 2012, including thirteen cover stories and a dozen pieces authored by Buffett himself. Loomis has provided commentary about each major article that supplies context and her own informed point of view. Readers will gain fresh insights into Buffetts investment strategies and his thinking on management, philanthropy, public policy, and even parenting. Some of the highlights include:

• The 1966 A. W. Jones story in which Fortune  first mentioned Buffett.
• The first piece Buffett wrote for the magazine, 1977s How Inf lation Swindles the Equity Investor.
• Andrew Tobiass 1983 article Letters from Chairman Buffett, the first review of his Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters.
• Buffetts stunningly prescient 2003 piece about derivatives, Avoiding a Mega-Catastrophe.
• His unconventional thoughts on inheritance and philanthropy, including his intention to leave his kids enough money so they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.
• Bill Gatess 1996 article describing his early impressions of Buffett as they struck up their close friendship.

Scores of Buffett books have been written, but none can claim this works combination of trust between two friends, the writers deep understanding of Buffetts world, and a very long-term perspective.