Ford: Decline and rebirth, 1933-1962

Ford #3

by Allan Nevins

"We have remade the country with automobiles," boasted Henry Ford in 1926. "The progress of the world has been in direct ratio to the convenience of communication." But the imagination of the great manufacturer was not unlimited. As Allan Nevins and Frenk Ernest Hill tell us in this the third and final volume of the history of the Ford Motor Company, the giant enterprise tottered on the brink of disintegration in the great depression and its aftermath. Plant after plant was distracted by labor troubles that could not be solved by the imperious methods of Ford's lieutenant Harry Bennett. This most dramatic pages of "Decline and Rebirth" deal with Ford and labor. But even in 1945 the Ford organization was in jeopardy, with Henry's son Edsel dead and many high executives leaving what seemed to be a sinking ship. However, with the coming to power of the founder's grandson Henry II, the company was built anew.

508 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Allan Nevins was an American historian and journalist, renowned for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as President Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller.

Reviews

[Tom Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the third volume of a fine biography of Henry Ford and the entire Ford Motor Company. This is the best of all the Ford biographies. Full of detail and the full stories that are only summarized in lesser volumes. This was a giant, epic, lovely read. Highly recommended.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitive history of the Ford Motor Company is heavy on labor relations and short on automotive technology. Still, those who loathe unions would do well to learn about the brutal conditions that once existed in American auto plants. As for the book's title, it might someday be changed to "First Decline and Rebirth" - but only if a successor to Nevins can be found to write a fourth (and maybe even fifth) volume in this series.