Synopses & Reviews
In this monumental work, one of our finest historians reveals the riveting details of Ford Motor Company’s epic achievements, from the outlandish success of the Model T and V-8 to the glory days of the Thunderbird, Mustang, and Taurus. Brilliant innovators, colorful businessmen, and clever eccentrics, as well as the three Ford factories themselves, all become characters in this gripping drama. Douglas Brinkley is a master at crafting compelling historical narratives, and this exemplary history of one of the preeminent American corporations is his finest achievement yet.
Review
"A comprehensive and briskly paced account of the man, the machines, and the company that dramatically influenced the course of 20th-century America... highly readable and engrossing." —
BusinessWeek
"[A] comprehensive and highly readable...first rate corporate history." —The New York Times
About the Author
Douglas Brinkley is the award-winning author of ten works of nonfiction, including biographies of Dean Acheson, Jimmy Carter, Franklin Roosevelt, and Rosa Parks. He is the winner of the 1998 Benjamin Franklin Book Award. Brinkley is a frequent commentator on NPRs Weekend Edition and is an editor of American History magazine.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part One: The Farm Boy
1. Origins
2. Starting Up
3. Founding Ford
4. Growing Successes
5. Growing Pains
6. Model T Mania
7. Fordism
8. The $5 Day
Part Two: The Forward March
9. Alone at the Top
10. Making an Impact
11. Challenging Every Foe
12. Withstanding the Downturn
13. The Rouge
14. Lincoln Motor
15. Ford Aviation
Part Three: The Battle Joined
16. Good-bye, Model T; Hello, Model A
17. Model A and Trade Abroad
18. Coping with the Great Depression
19. Model Y: The Ford Americans Never Knew
20. For Better and For Worse in Dearborn
21. Mercury
22. Building Up to War
23. Willow Run and the B-24 Liberators
Part Four: The Modern Corporation
24. Peaceful Revolution
25. Death in Dearborn
26. Human Engineering
27. Fifty Years Old and Still Growing Up
28. Grand Thunderbirds, Tough Trucks, and the Edsel Flop
29. A Whole New Business
30. Mustang Generation
Part Five: The Turnaround Years
31. Jet Set
32. Trouble All Around
33. Financial Crisis
34. The Quality Crisis
35. Team Taurus
36. New Horses
37. Momentum
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index