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The Fords
The Fords: An American Epic is the story of three generations of Fords & of the dramatic conflict between fathers & sons played out against the backdrop of America's greatest industrial empire. The story begins with Henry I, the mechanical wizard, tinkerer & mad genius who drove the automobile into the heart of American life & conquered the world with it. But in the end he became an embittered crank who so possessively loved the company he built that when his son, Edsel, tried to change it to suit the times, Henry destroyed him. It was left to Edsel's son, Henry II, to avenge him & save the Ford Motor Company. From the details of Henry I's illicit affair, which produced an illegitimate son, to the life & loves of "Hank the Deuce" & his celebrated feud with Lee Iacocca, this is an engrossing account of a vital chapter in American history. The authors have added a new preface to this now classic work, showing how Henry II's line lost out to the line of his brother Wm Clay Ford in the quest to control the company in the 20th century.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
14 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Peter Collier
54 books22 followersFounder of Encounter Books in California, Collier was publisher from 1998-2005. He co-founded the Center for the Study of Popular Culture with David Horowitz. Collier wrote many books and articles with Horowitz. Collier worked on the website FrontpageMag. He was an organizer of Second Thoughts conferences for leftists who have moved right.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 7, 2019
Henry Ford was known as Crazy Henry throughout his life. Initially it was a condescending, fond “Crazy” as friends and neighbors watched him tinker with 4 wheeled self propelled vehicles until he was about 40 years old when he created the right combination and found success. Then as a popular instant business leader, tycoon, he was a sentimental “Crazy”, like a fox, producing an industry that changed the world. As he aged, solidifying his empire, his brain also solidified becoming “Whoa, that Henry IS crazy!”
The story is indeed an American epic of family and industry, you can’t make this stuff up. Primarily a tale of 2 Fords, Henry and his grandson Henry Ford II being the main players. The rest of the siblings and wives are also covered, and the industry is also the family, actually, the core of the family.
Don’t worry if you are not a ‘car’ person, as yes, autos have to be mentioned, after all it is the Fords, but there is no ‘nuts and bolts and horsepower’ discussions.
Published in 1987, the coverage stops there, Henry I is positioned somewhat as a crackpot for hating tobacco, and therefore enforcing —a smoke free workplace — also not appreciating red meat or chicken, being a pacifist, and no alcohol (ok that is crazy), imagine how he would fit in today’s headlines, a Saint?!
The Ford family of the 1950s to the 1980s reads a lot like the gossip magazines with all the goings on. I found the business machinations fascinating of all that goes with running a big corporation. Many an auto failed not because the public didn’t like it, but because the Executive of one branch is climbing over some other Executive.
Occasionally I found the book brief in areas I wanted to know more, for example Henry I makes some big U turns in the beliefs in his life. While those are well documented, there isn’t much examination into the Why? For example as a mechanical genius he was stubborn to a bizarre fault in not making improvements to his beloved Model T while the competition took the lead. Then one day he said Yes to the Model A, but what changed his mind? Perhaps that is still a mystery?
Also there is no mention of the famous Ford racing programs of the ‘60s in which Henry II was heavily involved. This takes place at the same time as the release of the Mustang, so perhaps you can only cover so much in one story, after all there are books only on Henry I that are as long as this book.
A fascinating look at one of America’s great industrial families.
The story is indeed an American epic of family and industry, you can’t make this stuff up. Primarily a tale of 2 Fords, Henry and his grandson Henry Ford II being the main players. The rest of the siblings and wives are also covered, and the industry is also the family, actually, the core of the family.
Don’t worry if you are not a ‘car’ person, as yes, autos have to be mentioned, after all it is the Fords, but there is no ‘nuts and bolts and horsepower’ discussions.
Published in 1987, the coverage stops there, Henry I is positioned somewhat as a crackpot for hating tobacco, and therefore enforcing —a smoke free workplace — also not appreciating red meat or chicken, being a pacifist, and no alcohol (ok that is crazy), imagine how he would fit in today’s headlines, a Saint?!
The Ford family of the 1950s to the 1980s reads a lot like the gossip magazines with all the goings on. I found the business machinations fascinating of all that goes with running a big corporation. Many an auto failed not because the public didn’t like it, but because the Executive of one branch is climbing over some other Executive.
Occasionally I found the book brief in areas I wanted to know more, for example Henry I makes some big U turns in the beliefs in his life. While those are well documented, there isn’t much examination into the Why? For example as a mechanical genius he was stubborn to a bizarre fault in not making improvements to his beloved Model T while the competition took the lead. Then one day he said Yes to the Model A, but what changed his mind? Perhaps that is still a mystery?
Also there is no mention of the famous Ford racing programs of the ‘60s in which Henry II was heavily involved. This takes place at the same time as the release of the Mustang, so perhaps you can only cover so much in one story, after all there are books only on Henry I that are as long as this book.
A fascinating look at one of America’s great industrial families.
October 20, 2013
Authors did a complete background study of 4 generations of Fords. Henry, founder was a benevolent man when he started making cars. But sadly he later became cruel and finally a bitter person. Worse was his treatment of Edsel, his only child. mocking him when he came up with good car ideas. Poor Edsel spent his life trying to please his father and it cost him his health & then his life. Edsel's son Henry II despised his grandfather for the treatment his dad got. The other two of Edsel's sons, Benson & Bill were at loose ends and there was dysfunction thruout those generations. Infighting in the Ford Co., Bennett, McNamara & Iacocca to name a few.
July 10, 2025
Interesting and sad story of a financially successful family that played a huge role in shaping our culture and identity as a nation. I kept thinking about Mark 8:35 (what does it profit a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul) as I read. This family had money, nice houses, any material possessions you could want, but they were all pretty miserable people. Nobody mentioned having a relationship with God; they were all out for worldly success, severing relationships left and right in pursuit of wealth, power, and notoriety. Sad.
I also kept thinking about generational ripples - how one person in a family can change the course of history for generations down the line - either for good or bad. What we do matters - how we spend our days turns into legacy for our children and grandchildren. What I got most out of this book is a sense of gratefulness for my simple life, and a clear reminder that true success in life isn’t what you can amass, but who you love. Who you know (God). Without God, nothing else in life will satisfy or bring true happiness.
I also kept thinking about generational ripples - how one person in a family can change the course of history for generations down the line - either for good or bad. What we do matters - how we spend our days turns into legacy for our children and grandchildren. What I got most out of this book is a sense of gratefulness for my simple life, and a clear reminder that true success in life isn’t what you can amass, but who you love. Who you know (God). Without God, nothing else in life will satisfy or bring true happiness.
June 28, 2009
According to his mother, Henry Ford was a "born mechanic." His father, brothers, and sisters were less charitable, for Henry would have every clock or toy with a wind-up mechanism in pieces, which he would then attempt to reassemble. He was an inveterate experimenter. Once, dissatisfied with his father's explanation of what would happen if he plugged up the hole on the teakettle when boiling water, Henry did so. The kettle blew up spewing boiling water and shrapnel into his cheek.
Peter Collier and David Horowitz retell these and other stories in The Fords: An American Epic. I had heard Collier interviewed about his new family history of the Roosevelts on Brian Lamb's Booknotes. I was intrigued so I ordered all of Collier's previous histories.
Ford was constantly tinkering with cars, and it is ironic that he made his name racing cars that broke all the existing speed records, though driving them scared him to death, convincing him, perhaps, that small, reliable, efficient, and safe cars were what he wanted to build. He was also a visionary who realized the enormous effect a cheap vehicle would have on the society. "The proper system, as I have it in mind, is to get the car to the people... just as one pin is like another pin when it comes from the pin factory."
Ford was not the inventor of the assembly line. It was actually the conception of several others, but he was the first to realize its potential. More significant was his early attitude toward his employees. Much to the consternation of his competitors, he doubled his workers' salaries at a time of labor unrest. The idea was not his, but that of James Couzens, his business manager. Ford had to be persuaded as to the amount ($2.50 to $5.00), but immediately Ford realized its benefits, for it turned his workers into immediate allies and part of the middle class, making them able to buy his product, which kept dropping in price. The reaction was mixed among the business community. The Wall Street Journal, in a classic statement of rapacity disguised as religion, editorialized that Ford's raises were "blatantly immoral, a misapplication of Biblical principles in a field where 'they don't belong."'
Another Ford innovation was his Sociological Department. Ford believed that he could renovate humans. He would hire ex-cons and other social misfits, believing that a good job could resurrect any soul. His "social workers" would visit the homes of his workers to paternalistically verify they were using their money wisely, investing, saving, educating themselves, and becoming better citizens. "I do not believe in charity, but! do believe in the regenerating power of work in men's lives."
The Ford family story reflects some of the benefits of a single-owner business: better focus, ability to plow more money into the company. That single-minded focus can also become an albatross, and so it was in Henry Ford's case. He refused to see the changes in American culture that no longer regarded the car as a mechanism to get from one place to another - a role the Model T fulfilled very nicely - but as emblems of status and comfort. Henry's son Edsel saw these changes, and as president of the company, tried to implement some of them, but a power struggle (not much of a struggle really with Henry holding all the cards) resulted. Henry fired Edsel's allies, and the result was bad feeling (and loss of market share to General Motors) that injured the company and family for years.
Ford had accomplished something no other major industrialist had he gained complete control over his company. He should have been on top of the world, but his sunny optimism disappeared following a libel suit he brought against Robert McCormick's Chicago Tribune. McCormick hadn't liked Ford's forays into peace activism - McCormick has been described as the greatest mind of the fourteenth century. During the trial, Ford was humiliated by the Tribune's attorneys who ridiculed his homespun manners. Ford never forgave the legal profession after that experience, and he withdrew even more from the public eye, now despising notoriety he had previously relished.
His myth continued to swell. "Henry Ford had become a representative American. He was a man of limited formal education, yet he had inspired something like mass hypnosis in the American heartland. lie stood for the populist values that grassroots Americans believed in, values which were increasingly under assault in the modern world."
The collapse of the Edsel is told in humorous detail. The Ford brothers were barely speaking to one another by that time, yet pictures were taken by the image-makers, showing them smiling and ostensibly happy. Another public relations wizard purchased 5,000 handcrafted fireworks from Japan that exploded and released a nine-foot scale model that floated to earth on a parachute. Evidently the front grill was considered by some critics to resemble female genitalia, so there were the inevitable jokes about the tail-fin bedecked Cadillac backing into an Edsel and producing an Edsellac.
The internal machinations, the battle between Henry Ford (the grandson) and Lee Iaccoca are spectacular, each building a power-base, with Iacocca, in particular, doing anything to wrest control of the company away from the Ford family. It is sad, however, to read of such flagrant disrespect for customers and the company's long-term future, while preserving and building one's own empire. Given the implosion of General Motors, one has to wonder how much worse they are than Ford.
Peter Collier and David Horowitz retell these and other stories in The Fords: An American Epic. I had heard Collier interviewed about his new family history of the Roosevelts on Brian Lamb's Booknotes. I was intrigued so I ordered all of Collier's previous histories.
Ford was constantly tinkering with cars, and it is ironic that he made his name racing cars that broke all the existing speed records, though driving them scared him to death, convincing him, perhaps, that small, reliable, efficient, and safe cars were what he wanted to build. He was also a visionary who realized the enormous effect a cheap vehicle would have on the society. "The proper system, as I have it in mind, is to get the car to the people... just as one pin is like another pin when it comes from the pin factory."
Ford was not the inventor of the assembly line. It was actually the conception of several others, but he was the first to realize its potential. More significant was his early attitude toward his employees. Much to the consternation of his competitors, he doubled his workers' salaries at a time of labor unrest. The idea was not his, but that of James Couzens, his business manager. Ford had to be persuaded as to the amount ($2.50 to $5.00), but immediately Ford realized its benefits, for it turned his workers into immediate allies and part of the middle class, making them able to buy his product, which kept dropping in price. The reaction was mixed among the business community. The Wall Street Journal, in a classic statement of rapacity disguised as religion, editorialized that Ford's raises were "blatantly immoral, a misapplication of Biblical principles in a field where 'they don't belong."'
Another Ford innovation was his Sociological Department. Ford believed that he could renovate humans. He would hire ex-cons and other social misfits, believing that a good job could resurrect any soul. His "social workers" would visit the homes of his workers to paternalistically verify they were using their money wisely, investing, saving, educating themselves, and becoming better citizens. "I do not believe in charity, but! do believe in the regenerating power of work in men's lives."
The Ford family story reflects some of the benefits of a single-owner business: better focus, ability to plow more money into the company. That single-minded focus can also become an albatross, and so it was in Henry Ford's case. He refused to see the changes in American culture that no longer regarded the car as a mechanism to get from one place to another - a role the Model T fulfilled very nicely - but as emblems of status and comfort. Henry's son Edsel saw these changes, and as president of the company, tried to implement some of them, but a power struggle (not much of a struggle really with Henry holding all the cards) resulted. Henry fired Edsel's allies, and the result was bad feeling (and loss of market share to General Motors) that injured the company and family for years.
Ford had accomplished something no other major industrialist had he gained complete control over his company. He should have been on top of the world, but his sunny optimism disappeared following a libel suit he brought against Robert McCormick's Chicago Tribune. McCormick hadn't liked Ford's forays into peace activism - McCormick has been described as the greatest mind of the fourteenth century. During the trial, Ford was humiliated by the Tribune's attorneys who ridiculed his homespun manners. Ford never forgave the legal profession after that experience, and he withdrew even more from the public eye, now despising notoriety he had previously relished.
His myth continued to swell. "Henry Ford had become a representative American. He was a man of limited formal education, yet he had inspired something like mass hypnosis in the American heartland. lie stood for the populist values that grassroots Americans believed in, values which were increasingly under assault in the modern world."
The collapse of the Edsel is told in humorous detail. The Ford brothers were barely speaking to one another by that time, yet pictures were taken by the image-makers, showing them smiling and ostensibly happy. Another public relations wizard purchased 5,000 handcrafted fireworks from Japan that exploded and released a nine-foot scale model that floated to earth on a parachute. Evidently the front grill was considered by some critics to resemble female genitalia, so there were the inevitable jokes about the tail-fin bedecked Cadillac backing into an Edsel and producing an Edsellac.
The internal machinations, the battle between Henry Ford (the grandson) and Lee Iaccoca are spectacular, each building a power-base, with Iacocca, in particular, doing anything to wrest control of the company away from the Ford family. It is sad, however, to read of such flagrant disrespect for customers and the company's long-term future, while preserving and building one's own empire. Given the implosion of General Motors, one has to wonder how much worse they are than Ford.
June 11, 2016
“The Fords” truly are an American Epic and this book is their tale. Beginning with the patriarch, Henry, it tells the story of a Midwestern farm boy who was intrigued by machinery, learned what makes it go, and applied his knowledge to put America on wheels. Henry is depicted as an eccentric genius who figured out how to build a car that would run on primitive rural roads, was affordable to the masses, rescued a hospital that still bears his name and set up a business that is remains in the control of his family to this day despite having subjected it to a reign of terror presided over by his enforcer, Harry Bennett. He was also a believer in reincarnation and was distrustful of Jews, bankers, lawyers and doctors.
Edsel was the son of promise who, before dying of cancer, made the transition to upper class respectability and was a respected corporate executive but who could never take a position in opposition to his father.
This work concludes with the third generation, Henry’s grandchildren who resented him for his treatment of their revered father. Each of them faced their own challenges and demons. Henry II entered the executive suite after his father’s death and quickly revitalized a company that had limped into and through the depression and needed rapid modernization if it was going to prosper in the post-World War II era. Benson and Bill would be minor players in the company although Bill would find his fulfillment in the Detroit Lions. All of this generation struggled with alcoholism and Henry, despite his commercial successes, endured a series of family failures.
Authors Peter Collier and David Horowitz have succeeded in blending a commercial and family history into a very readable book that appeals to a wide variety of readers. Students of American industrial history will learn much about the origins and development of the auto industry. Fans of dynasties and celebrities will be fascinated by the complex relationships among Ford Family members. For the rest it can make a very enjoyable read.
Edsel was the son of promise who, before dying of cancer, made the transition to upper class respectability and was a respected corporate executive but who could never take a position in opposition to his father.
This work concludes with the third generation, Henry’s grandchildren who resented him for his treatment of their revered father. Each of them faced their own challenges and demons. Henry II entered the executive suite after his father’s death and quickly revitalized a company that had limped into and through the depression and needed rapid modernization if it was going to prosper in the post-World War II era. Benson and Bill would be minor players in the company although Bill would find his fulfillment in the Detroit Lions. All of this generation struggled with alcoholism and Henry, despite his commercial successes, endured a series of family failures.
Authors Peter Collier and David Horowitz have succeeded in blending a commercial and family history into a very readable book that appeals to a wide variety of readers. Students of American industrial history will learn much about the origins and development of the auto industry. Fans of dynasties and celebrities will be fascinated by the complex relationships among Ford Family members. For the rest it can make a very enjoyable read.
July 23, 2020
What a great book! I learned a lot about the Ford Dynasty. (not hard to do since I really didn't know anything.) The role of the Ford women until Henry II was very strong and influencing. Encouraging Ford men to take a leadership role in the company. Ford was plagued with leadership difficulties-- In- fighting, back stabbing, and brow beating by bully-leadershp. The expectation of a Ford leading the company ended with Henry II who reorganized the company more like GM. Written in 1987, it reads more like a family saga novel. At the end of the book, William Clay Ford (Bill), Sr. was entering the company. His son is now the CEO.
August 8, 2020
A very easy read about the Fords and the Ford Motor Company. Looks at 4 generations of the family but focuses on Henry Ford and his grandson Henry II. Difficult to fathom the problems the family had in their personal and business lives with the opportunity for them to succeed. The family was the leader in the auto industry for 70 years with good and negative results.
This was written in 1987. It would be interesting how Collier and Horowritz would handle the material today as they have moved from the left to the right and are now Trump supporters. Would they have the same view of the antics, moves and life styles of the Fords?
This was written in 1987. It would be interesting how Collier and Horowritz would handle the material today as they have moved from the left to the right and are now Trump supporters. Would they have the same view of the antics, moves and life styles of the Fords?
February 3, 2022
This is a great, detailed, historical perspective into one of most famous names in American lore. It goes pretty far back into the minds, politics and struggles of Henry Ford and the battles he faced while building the Ford brand. I really liked the book and the details of learning about a true historical dynasty.
August 28, 2020
Excellent Biographical sketch of the Ford motor company beginnings all the way through the Turbulent War years ( World War 1&2) up through the Introduction of the Mustang , Pinto and Fairlane and the ousting of Lee Iacocca and the eventual changing of the guard to a Non-Ford Chairmanship.
June 29, 2022
Very interesting book and well researched. Exceptional narrative of the two dynamic histories of the Henry Fords I and II. I would have liked to have heard more of the story behind Ford’s entry into car racing at Lemans with the Shelby Mustang.
February 10, 2020
I loved the way they were able to incorporate a plethora of people with being able to focus on the Henry Fords
April 7, 2023
Muy buena lectura, para entender acerca de la vida en una compañía familiar. Así mismo, la proyección e influencia mutua qué se tiene en las relaciones internas de la familia y de la empresa. Como esto genera una presión en todos los miembros, y finalmente como eventos externos configuran la autopercepcion. Una maestría para enseñar sobre administración de empresas familiares
July 10, 2012
An interesting read about the first family of the American Automobile Industry. The creating of a dynasty and the making of America's car and the family who built it. The relationships to other automobile and tire pioneers, in particular, Firestone.
November 27, 2013
Two bios. History. Eccentricity. Celeb scandal and gossip. Car talk. Business and industry. Rivalries. A few too many bureaucrats and bean counters.
A better book would focus on cars.
A better book would focus on cars.
August 13, 2016
If you like bibliographies, the history of the Ford Motor Company, you'll be pleased. Easy reading. Goes through the 3 generations of the Fords. You'll read about the good, the bad and ugly business and personal decisions they made.
January 3, 2009
Read this maybe 15 years ago; now time to read it again. Old Henry was a genius if ultimately a nut, but Hank the Deuce got most of the good lines.
May 4, 2013
LOVED this book. Managed to tell the whole story, good and bad, and likewise show value in the lives of those recorded.
December 30, 2015
More entertaining than a lot of nonfiction novels out there
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews