Synopses & Reviews
Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behavior by the American oil industry. In this pathbreaking synthesis of cultural, business, gender, and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was createdand how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals of reformers and the public interest.
By turning a critical eye on sources that have often been accepted at face value and examining the self-interests of oil industry critics, the authors produce a more balanced, complex picture of the industry than has previously been offered. Their case study of the impact of ideology offers a striking example of how business must be understood through its cultural context and offers a new approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform.
Review
[Readers] come away with a more thorough understanding of an important industry and an important time in American life.
Choice
Review
The Oliens have produced an innovative study that yields fascinating insight .
Enterprise and Society
Review
The Oliens offer a fresh and valuable contribution to the historiography of the American petroleum industry.
Journal of Southern History
Review
They have written an important book for historians, policymakers, and the general, informed reader.
William R. Childs, Ohio State University
Review
The Oliens know the history of oil.
Business History Review
Synopsis
Using the story of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, this book reveals how the negative image of the American petroleum industry was created and how it shaped public policy in ways sometimes at odds with the goals of reformers and public interest. This case study of the impact of ideology offers a new approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform.
Table of Contents
ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Manhood against Money
Chapter 2. Hasting to Get Rich
Chapter 3. Numerous Offenses against Common Morality
Chapter 4. Believing the Worse
Chapter 5. Running Out of Oil
Chapter 6. A Wasting Asset
Chapter 7. Talking Past One Another
Chapter 8. Visions of Chaos
Chapter 9. Monopoly Revisited
Chapter 10. Fightin' Oil
Conclusion
Notes
Index