Ford: The Times, the Man, the Company Hardcover – January 1, 1954

This is a marvelous book, and it's only the first of a trilogy.In this book, Allan Nevins goes there. Before he tells you what a revolution Henry Ford wrought, he goes to sufficient length to remind the reader what it was like before there were cars, before there were roads other than muddy ruts. In example after example, Nevins gives tremendous context. The Seldin suit is explained better than anywhere--you understand all the wrinkles in this eight-year law suit that ended up vindicating the Ford Motor Company.I also will say that he handles with more grace than several other bios of Henry Ford that I have read the painful parts of HF's life, the flirtation with antisemitism, the fighting organized labor. Yet, Nevins does not wallow in these periods the way other biographers seem to. In short, this was a wonderful read, one that does not skimp on any details. (I was motivated to buy the next two volumes even though they were pricy.

It was an old used library book. Difficult read but interesting.

Anyone who wants to see what a suprebly done business history book looks like should read this one. Nevins and Hill can almost be said to have invented the genre. It truly lives up to its title. The authors deftly tell the stories of both Henry Ford and the FoMoCo enterprise against a background of the times which createde their success. Here we see the early Henry Ford (this volume ends whin Ford was 52 years old), grasping for a way to make money out of this infant technology. We also see the chaotic state of an industry which had great potential, but which had not as yet determined what the nature of its product would be (gas, electric, steam, tool for the masses, plaything for the rich). The treatment of Ford's fight against the Seldon patent is especially well told.

Being a 1954 book, the condition totally surprised me. I am overjoyed with owning this bit of history.

The Nevins and Hill trilogy is the basis every Ford historian.