
The People's Tycoon
Henry Ford and the American Century
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Narrated by:
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John H. Mayer
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By:
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Steven Watts
About this listen
How a Michigan farm boy became the richest man in America is a classic, almost mythic tale, but never before has Henry Ford’s outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as it is in this engaging and superbly researched biography.
The real Henry Ford was a tangle of contradictions. He set off the consumer revolution by producing a car affordable to the masses, all the while lamenting the moral toll exacted by consumerism. He believed in giving his workers a living wage, though he was entirely opposed to union labor. He had a warm and loving relationship with his wife, but sired a son with another woman. A rabid anti-Semite, he nonetheless embraced African American workers in the era of Jim Crow.
Uncovering the man behind the myth, situating his achievements and their attendant controversies firmly within the context of early 20th century America, Watts has given us a comprehensive, illuminating, and fascinating biography of one of America’s first mass-culture celebrities.
©2006 Steven Watts (P)2008 Books on TapeListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"The implicit claim of Watts's admirable book is almost inarguable that it's impossible to understand 20th-century America without knowing the story of Henry Ford." (The New York Times)
“Steven Watts attempts the most integrated understanding to date of Ford’s enormous influence and varied appeal...The fascinating result may change the way Henry Ford is remembered.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Ford has had many biographers...None, however, comes close to Steven Watts...He brilliantly reveals the nature of Ford's genius." (Chicago Tribune)
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Good book wrong title
- By Hectoris on 10-06-16
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The Chief
- The Life of William Randolph Hearst
- By: David Nasaw
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 30 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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William Randolph Hearst, known to his staff as the "Chief", was a brilliant business strategist and a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including 28 newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and 13 magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power. In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of the man famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane.
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Fascinating but
- By Michael on 02-17-22
By: David Nasaw
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The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
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The construction of the House of Morgan
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Ron Chernow
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The Last Million
- Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War
- By: David Nasaw
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In May of 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, effectively ending World War II in Europe. But millions of lost and homeless POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and concentration camp survivors overwhelmed Germany, a country in complete disarray. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate foreigners, and attempted to repatriate them to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the USSR. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained over a million displaced persons who either refused to go home or had no home to which to return.
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Must read for those who study the WW's in Europe
- By david fazio on 02-09-21
By: David Nasaw
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Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
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He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
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Nazis of Copley Square
- The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front
- By: Charles R. Gallagher
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 13, 1940, FBI agents burst into the homes and offices of seventeen members of the Christian Front, seizing guns, ammunition, and homemade bombs. J. Edgar Hoover's charges were incendiary: the group, he alleged, was planning to incite a revolution and install a "temporary dictatorship" in order to stamp out Jewish and Communist influence in the United States. In Nazis of Copley Square, Charles Gallagher provides a crucial missing chapter in the history of the American far right.
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Overall pretty good, but some glaring flaws
- By Lmaris on 09-19-23
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The Money Kings
- The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America
- By: Daniel Schulman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Joseph Seligman arrived in the United States in 1837, with the equivalent of $100 sewn into the lining of his pants. Then came the Lehman brothers, who would open a general store in Montgomery, Alabama. Not far behind were Solomon Loeb and Marcus Goldman, among the “Forty-Eighters” fleeing a Germany that had relegated Jews to an underclass.
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perfect context for issues of antisemitism & money
- By Marjorie on 04-01-24
By: Daniel Schulman
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Edison
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Although Thomas Alva Edison was the most famous American of his time, and remains an international name today, he is mostly remembered only for the gift of universal electric light. His invention of the first practical incandescent lamp 140 years ago so dazzled the world - already reeling from his invention of the phonograph and dozens of other revolutionary devices - that it cast a shadow over his later achievements. In all, this near-deaf genius patented 1,093 inventions, not including others, such as the X-ray fluoroscope, that he left unlicensed for the benefit of medicine.
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Editors should stand up to Pulitzer winner
- By Porter on 12-03-19
By: Edmund Morris
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The Nazi Spy Ring in America
- Hitler's Agents, the FBI, and the Case That Stirred the Nation
- By: Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The Nazi Spy Ring in America tells the story of Hitler's attempts to interfere in American affairs by spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, stealing military technology, and mapping US defenses. This fast-paced history provides essential insight into the role of espionage in shaping American perceptions of Germany in the years leading up to US entry into World War II. Fascinating and thoroughly researched, The Nazi Spy Ring in America sheds light on a now-forgotten but significant episode in the history of international relations and the development of the FBI.
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Hitler's American Friends
- The Third Reich's Supporters in the United States
- By: Bradley W. Hart
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Hitler's American Friends, by Bradley W. Hart, is an audiobook examining the strange terrain of Nazi sympathizers, nonintervention campaigners, and other voices in America who advocated on behalf of Nazi Germany in the years before World War II. Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less-popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided.
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Excellent Information
- By Laura on 05-09-19
By: Bradley W. Hart
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The Patriarch
- The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
- By: David Nasaw
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 30 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Joseph Patrick Kennedy - whose life spanned the First World War, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and the Cold War - was the patriarch of America’s greatest political dynasty. The father of President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy, 'Joe' Kennedy was an indomitable and elusive figure whose dreams of advancement for his nine children were matched only by his extraordinary personal ambition and shrewd financial skills.
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Commissioned by the Kennedy Family...
- By E.R. on 09-09-13
By: David Nasaw
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American Colossus
- The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 23 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In a grand-scale narrative history, the bestselling author of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize now captures the decades when capitalism was at its most unbridled and a few breathtakingly wealthy businessmen utterly transformed America from an agrarian economy to a world power.
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8 Thoughts on 'American Colossus'
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: H. W. Brands
Great listen!
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An authoritative portrait of an intricate man
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Great and consistent use of different voices for different characters.
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Well Done Gentlemen!!
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I was also surprised how often the author gave his interpretation of events and the use of what seem liked hearsay as fact.
I did enjoy the history of Ford overall but would probably steer clear of future works by this author.
Subjective and repetitive
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Great Biography
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Yes, worth it
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The book is not is chronological and is repetitive.
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The book does an excellent job pointing out Henry Ford's many contradictions and makes no effort to whitewash the unflattering elements of his life (his anti-semitism in particular).
John H. Mayer, the narrator does an effective job or leading you through the story.
50% Longer than it needed to be.
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GREAT Book!
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