What do you think?
Rate this book
Du Pont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain
Award-winning journalist Gerard Colby takes readers behind the scenes of one of America's most powerful and enduring corporations; now with a new introduction by the author
Their name is everywhere. America's wealthiest industrial family by far and a vast financial power, the Du Ponts, from their mansions in northern Delaware's "Chateau Country," have long been leaders in the relentless drive to turn the United States into a plutocracy.
The Du Pont story in this country began in 1800. �leuth�re Ir�n�e du Pont, official keeper of the gunpowder of corrupt King Louis XVI, fled from revolutionary France to America. Two years later he founded the gunpowder company that called itself "America's armorer"--and that President Wilson's secretary of war called a "species of outlaws" for war profiteering. Du Pont Dynasty introduces many colorful characters, including "General" Henry du Pont, who profited from the Civil War to build the Gunpowder Trust, one of the first corporate monopolies; Alfred I. du Pont, betrayed by his cousins and pushed out of the organization, landing in social exile as the powerful "Count of Florida"; the three brothers who expanded Du Pont's control to General Motors, fought autoworkers' right to unionize, and then launched a family tradition of waging campaigns to destroy FDR's New Deal regulatory reforms; Governor Pete du Pont, who ran for president and backed Newt Gingrich's 1994 Republican Revolution; and Irving S. Shapiro, the architect of Du Pont's ongoing campaign to undermine effective environmental regulation.
From plans to force President Roosevelt from office, to munitions sales to warlords and the rising Nazis, to Freon's damage to the planet's life-protecting ozone layer, to the manufacture of deadly gases and the covered-up poisoning of Du Pont workers, to the reputation the company earned for being the worst polluter of America's air and water, the Du Pont reign has been dappled with scandal for centuries.
Culled from years of painstaking research and interviews, this fully documented book unfolds like a novel. Laying bare the bitter feuds, power plays, smokescreens, and careless unaccountability that erupted in murder, Colby pulls back the curtain on a dynasty whose formidable influence continues to this day.
Suppressed in myriad ways and the subject of the author's landmark federal lawsuit, Du Pont Dynasty is an essential history of the United States.
Their name is everywhere. America's wealthiest industrial family by far and a vast financial power, the Du Ponts, from their mansions in northern Delaware's "Chateau Country," have long been leaders in the relentless drive to turn the United States into a plutocracy.
The Du Pont story in this country began in 1800. �leuth�re Ir�n�e du Pont, official keeper of the gunpowder of corrupt King Louis XVI, fled from revolutionary France to America. Two years later he founded the gunpowder company that called itself "America's armorer"--and that President Wilson's secretary of war called a "species of outlaws" for war profiteering. Du Pont Dynasty introduces many colorful characters, including "General" Henry du Pont, who profited from the Civil War to build the Gunpowder Trust, one of the first corporate monopolies; Alfred I. du Pont, betrayed by his cousins and pushed out of the organization, landing in social exile as the powerful "Count of Florida"; the three brothers who expanded Du Pont's control to General Motors, fought autoworkers' right to unionize, and then launched a family tradition of waging campaigns to destroy FDR's New Deal regulatory reforms; Governor Pete du Pont, who ran for president and backed Newt Gingrich's 1994 Republican Revolution; and Irving S. Shapiro, the architect of Du Pont's ongoing campaign to undermine effective environmental regulation.
From plans to force President Roosevelt from office, to munitions sales to warlords and the rising Nazis, to Freon's damage to the planet's life-protecting ozone layer, to the manufacture of deadly gases and the covered-up poisoning of Du Pont workers, to the reputation the company earned for being the worst polluter of America's air and water, the Du Pont reign has been dappled with scandal for centuries.
Culled from years of painstaking research and interviews, this fully documented book unfolds like a novel. Laying bare the bitter feuds, power plays, smokescreens, and careless unaccountability that erupted in murder, Colby pulls back the curtain on a dynasty whose formidable influence continues to this day.
Suppressed in myriad ways and the subject of the author's landmark federal lawsuit, Du Pont Dynasty is an essential history of the United States.
1512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1974
167 people are currently reading
925 people want to read
About the author
Gerard Colby
4 books4 followersGerard Colby is an author and past president of the US National Writers Union, where he previously held various chair positions. From 1997 to 2001 he served as chair of the Vermont section.
He is notable for authoring Du Pont: Behind The Nylon Curtain. The 1974 publication was put under contract by Prentice-Hall in anticipation of a significant quantity of books sold to Book of the Month. The book painted a portrait of DuPont enterprises and the DuPont family that was characterized as "sober but unflattering" by some but as presenting a Marxist interpretation of the company by others. In response to pressure from DuPont, Book-of-the-Month cancelled its preorder. In anticipation of lower sales, Prentice-Hall reduced its print run and scaled back its marketing plans. Colby (Zilg) sued Prentice-Hall for breach of contract. In the federal case Zilg v Prentice-Hall, Inc., the Federal District Court in New York awarded Colby damages of $24,000. In 1984 the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the ruling. The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal the same year. The suit is an important example of case law relating to the practice of privishing (private publishing) where a publishing house reduces its print run and support of a book so much that the book fails to reach the public.
He is notable for authoring Du Pont: Behind The Nylon Curtain. The 1974 publication was put under contract by Prentice-Hall in anticipation of a significant quantity of books sold to Book of the Month. The book painted a portrait of DuPont enterprises and the DuPont family that was characterized as "sober but unflattering" by some but as presenting a Marxist interpretation of the company by others. In response to pressure from DuPont, Book-of-the-Month cancelled its preorder. In anticipation of lower sales, Prentice-Hall reduced its print run and scaled back its marketing plans. Colby (Zilg) sued Prentice-Hall for breach of contract. In the federal case Zilg v Prentice-Hall, Inc., the Federal District Court in New York awarded Colby damages of $24,000. In 1984 the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the ruling. The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal the same year. The suit is an important example of case law relating to the practice of privishing (private publishing) where a publishing house reduces its print run and support of a book so much that the book fails to reach the public.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 10, 2014
The Du Ponts, who are known for their chemical company have been part of the American landscape from almost the beginning. The family came to America to get away from the violence and persecution related to the French Revolution. They settled in the State of Delaware where they based their first industry manufacturing gunpowder. By the Civil War, they profited from one of the first “Trusts”, as they tried to control the market for gunpowder used in bullets and artillery.
When the family split over control of the company, Alfred du Pont set-up in Florida and help to make Palm Beach the resort of the rich and powerful. During WW One they were accused of war profiteering, during the ‘30s they sold munitions to Chinese Warlords and the Nazis. After gaining a major stake in General Motors they were in the forefront of fighting unionization and the use of strikebreakers.
Being staunch Republicans, they spent millions trying to stop Roosevelt from becoming and staying President. They funded volunteers and organizations advocating the defunding of many of Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation and reforms. They have been a major power in the State of Delaware, both as politicians (such as Governor Pierre (Pete) du Pont) and backers of the Republican Revolution (in 1994) under Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
The Du Pont Company has spent millions over the years trying to undermine environmental regulations and regulatory bodies. They have been accused of cover-ups of the dangers of Freon’s effect on the ozone layer, pollution of the air and water near their manufacturing plants and the use of paid specialist to act as experts at government hearings. Little of what they do ends up in the news due the use of money to pay-off many of those affected by their pollution problems.
Colby spent years interviewing ex-employees and discredited whistle-blowers as well as a large legal team that bury people under paper and counter-lawsuits. At one point Colby was subjected to this legal nightmare when he filed a federal lawsuit against DuPont. He documents the way Du Pont treats people who cross them, as well as the feuds that have erupted among the family.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
When the family split over control of the company, Alfred du Pont set-up in Florida and help to make Palm Beach the resort of the rich and powerful. During WW One they were accused of war profiteering, during the ‘30s they sold munitions to Chinese Warlords and the Nazis. After gaining a major stake in General Motors they were in the forefront of fighting unionization and the use of strikebreakers.
Being staunch Republicans, they spent millions trying to stop Roosevelt from becoming and staying President. They funded volunteers and organizations advocating the defunding of many of Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation and reforms. They have been a major power in the State of Delaware, both as politicians (such as Governor Pierre (Pete) du Pont) and backers of the Republican Revolution (in 1994) under Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
The Du Pont Company has spent millions over the years trying to undermine environmental regulations and regulatory bodies. They have been accused of cover-ups of the dangers of Freon’s effect on the ozone layer, pollution of the air and water near their manufacturing plants and the use of paid specialist to act as experts at government hearings. Little of what they do ends up in the news due the use of money to pay-off many of those affected by their pollution problems.
Colby spent years interviewing ex-employees and discredited whistle-blowers as well as a large legal team that bury people under paper and counter-lawsuits. At one point Colby was subjected to this legal nightmare when he filed a federal lawsuit against DuPont. He documents the way Du Pont treats people who cross them, as well as the feuds that have erupted among the family.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
November 14, 2014
This detailed account of the rise of the Du Pont family from humble beginnings in 1800 when they arrived from France and started to manufacture gunpowder, to today when they are America’s wealthiest family and have an enormous business empire with a wide range of interests, makes for some riveting – and at times very uncomfortable – reading. The author’s exhaustive (and it must be stated sometimes exhausting) research, meticulous and detailed as it is, can surely have left no stone unturned in what at times reads more like an exposé rather than a biography. Having settled in Delaware where many of the clan still live, their power and influence spread out all over the United States and into all sorts of industrial and manufacturing concerns. Almost without exception, as individuals they come across as ruthless and driven – and not people to cross. At times I found the detail somewhat overwhelming, especially with the relentless stream of facts and figures, but this is an important and eye-opening account of the dynasty who to this day seem to have lost none of their power.
March 22, 2018
'Merchants of Death', etc. Eye opening...if you want to know the untold story behind one of the world's wealthiest families then this is it. A tragedy that so few humans could destroy so many lives. They truly could have led fantastically comfortable lives while doing the right thing....
July 9, 2025
This mammoth, "door stop" of a familial and corporate biography rightly deserves 3.75 stars instead of the 3 stars Goodreads allows in its' rating system.
This book on the du Pont family and of DUPONT corporation is extremely detailed. One tip: Make certain that if you decide to read this book, that you get the most recent edition. This "forbidden bookshelf" history has several editions as I believe that it was first published in the 1970's. The edition which I read brought me up to speed as late as the early 2000s.
Is this book worth reading? Yes. Is it written by a self admittedly left leaning, anti-capitalist author? Yes. Does it take issue with both the family itself and the corporation? You better believe it! Does it impart information which you might not learn otherwise? Yes. Did I happen to agree with everything written in it? No, but having read the book, I still feel that it was informative enough about the family and the corporation that it was worth the many hours it took for me to read it.
Which brings me to the second tip: Should you decide to read "Du Pont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain" make certain that you give yourself plenty of time to read it - you may even want to allocate daily reading time in your calendar for this one.
Otherwise it may take you about two months to read it, as it did for me!
This book on the du Pont family and of DUPONT corporation is extremely detailed. One tip: Make certain that if you decide to read this book, that you get the most recent edition. This "forbidden bookshelf" history has several editions as I believe that it was first published in the 1970's. The edition which I read brought me up to speed as late as the early 2000s.
Is this book worth reading? Yes. Is it written by a self admittedly left leaning, anti-capitalist author? Yes. Does it take issue with both the family itself and the corporation? You better believe it! Does it impart information which you might not learn otherwise? Yes. Did I happen to agree with everything written in it? No, but having read the book, I still feel that it was informative enough about the family and the corporation that it was worth the many hours it took for me to read it.
Which brings me to the second tip: Should you decide to read "Du Pont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain" make certain that you give yourself plenty of time to read it - you may even want to allocate daily reading time in your calendar for this one.
Otherwise it may take you about two months to read it, as it did for me!
December 18, 2021
Very interesting and well researched book about a dynasty that touched so many aspects of American history. However, it has perhaps 200 pages worth of superfluous information about every Du Pont's stock holdings, residences, and much more. The book's editor was sleeping on the job with this book and missed an opportunity to craft a better packaged history.
April 7, 2018
Very interesting, but I wish this book was shorter so it was more accessible.
August 27, 2019
Someone doesn't like the DuPont family I guess. None the less they helped America and it's a good dense read.
November 16, 2021
Well, the authors obviously have an opinion about the DuPonts. A very through description of their history and evolution. As a resident of SE PA, it felt like I was home. While extremely interesting, it was a tough read. The book is very detailed, and with the family names, I had a hard time of keeping track of the characters. However, one walks away understanding the power that wealth holds in this country. Some things really haven't changed since the the Gilded Age. Wealth holds power. Period. While the authors take aim at the DuPonts, I wonder if the same story could be written about all the families and wealth that came out of the Gilded Age.
September 23, 2015
Truly a tome - a great way to learn some American history since it begins with E I Du Pont's immigration to USA in 1800 - fascinating but densely written story of this family in terms of business, commerce, politics. I had hoped for more personal stories but those are few and far between. Sometimes frightening, sometimes beyond belief (e.g. their staggering profits off war and on the backs of exploited labor pool), usually disconcerting. So many parts of their story do not show up in the little plaques at the various Delaware mansion museums that housed the kinfolk - for good reason.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews