Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress

ANNOTATION

Staff Favorite of 2003

This engrossing biography of a great inventor and the colorful, dynamic, and prototypically American company he founded offers us everything a great book should: vividly drawn characters, a sweeping narrative, and fresh insight into our own time. There's no better way to mark Ford's centennial than by reading this vast, sprawling, and always thoughtful narrative.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Few endeavors in history can match Ford Motor Company's impact on human civilization. Launched a century ago by a bumptious squad of clever eccentrics -- led by the odd visionary mechanic Henry Ford -- the first mass-production auto manufacturer pushed the rest of the industrialized world into the modern age. Along with other social upheavals, Ford's reasonably priced and well-made assembly-line Model T mobilized America's middle class, while the company's cleverly generous "$5 Day" did no less than redefine industrial labor relations.

Wheels for the World by Douglas Brinkley, one of our finest and most engaging historians, is the sweeping saga of how Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company changed our world. In this monumental work, Brinkley reveals the riveting details of Ford Motor Company's epic achievements, from the outlandish success of the Tin Lizzie to the beloved Model A and V-8, through the glory days of the Thunderbird, Mustang, and Taurus. A revolving door of brilliant innovators appears in every chapter, including Thomas Edison, Alfred Sloan, the Wright brothers, Diego Rivera, and Charles Lindbergh. Three factories also become characters in this gripping drama: Highland Park, River Rouge, and Willow Run, where B-24 airplanes were mass-produced during World War II. Brinkley tells of Ford Motor Company's expansion throughout the world, as well as the amazing acquisitions of Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Mazda in the 1990s. His narrative also explores Ford Motor Company's darker aspects, including its founder's anti-Semitism and ill-considered wartime pacifism.

Along the way, Brinkley introduces us to a whole cast of colorful businessmen, from the irascible early brains of the outfit, James Couzens (later a U.S. senator), to feisty CEO Lee Iacocca to the earnest young chairman and CEO of today, William Clay Ford Jr., whose dedication and vision currently guide Ford through difficult times. A first-rate narrative and business history of one of the preeminent American corporations, Wheels for the World is distinguished not only by the freshness of the fascinating new material that Brinkley has uncovered but also by the sweep of his story and the compelling clarity of his prose. In his many previous books, Brinkley proved himself a master at crafting brilliant, accessible historical narratives, and Wheels for the World is his finest achievement yet.

SYNOPSIS

Brinkley tells the story of the eccentric inventor who built the Ford Motor Company into an empire, and the epic achievements of the company whose cars—from the Tin Lizzie and Model A, through the Thunderbird and Mustang—became cultural icons. The book also touches on darker aspects of the company, from its founder's anti-Semitism to its unpopular wartime pacifism. Along the way, Brinkley (history, Eisenhower Center for American Studies, U. of New Orleans) introduces a cast of colorful innovators, from the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh to modern-day Ford CEO William Clay Ford Jr. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

Like the hedgehog in Isaiah Berlin's fable, Henry Ford had one great idea: cheap cars for the masses. And he achieved it with the no-frills, basic black Model T, which dominated the American car market between 1908 and 1927 and winched America into the auto age. This story lies at the heart of Douglas Brinkley's sprawling history of the Ford Motor Company, Wheels for the World, a big S.U.V. of a book, comprehensive and highly readable. — Richard Lingeman

The Washington Post

Drawing on previously closed corporate archives, along with the massive secondary literature, Brinkley has crafted an impressive historical narrative. He does not advance a new interpretation, nor structure his account around any single line of argument, but rather offers a wide-ranging synthesis that is accessible and entertaining, yet thoughtful and analytic. Even readers with considerable knowledge of Ford's biography and the history of the U.S. auto industry will find new material in these richly detailed pages. — Ruth Milkman

Publishers Weekly

Two other histories of Ford are slated for publication this year; four were published last year. Brinkley, a University of New Orleans history professor, distinguishes his as the only "single volume business and social history of Ford Motor from 1903 to 2003." In fact, it's something different: a book about the people of Ford, including the Ford family, executives, workers, union organizers and others. Extensive new documentary materials tell Ford's story in the words of its people. Brinkley's focus never strays far from Ford plants in Highland Park, River Rouge and Willow Run, Mich., yet he reflects events taking place in the outside world through the actions and feelings of people in nearby Dearborn, Mich. This does for 20th-century history what Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 did for the prior era: relate world events from a fixed perspective on a human scale. For example, Brinkley infuses a discussion of Ford's design shift in the late 1950s with Henry Ford II's scandalous (for the time) pursuit of his European mistress. And he mentions the Korean War because it led to government-imposed production controls that prevented Ford from surpassing Chrysler in sales. Readers interested in the history of the Ford Motor Company can find accounts better-written (Robert Lacey's Ford: The Men and the Machine) and more authoritative (Allan Nevins's Ford, Companies and Men), but will value this book for its new details and quotes. For general readers, it's a fascinating epic saga of ordinary and extraordinary people who built a great company. (On sale Apr. 28) Forecast: The aforementioned books on Ford are out of print, so Brinkley's book could appeal to a new generation of business history readers. A plug from Robert Caro will help, too. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

As Ford Motor Company celebrates its centennial this year, expect to see a number of books on the venerable automaker. Historian Brinkley (The Unfinished Presidency) provides a complete warts-and-all history of Ford. While founder Henry Ford is remembered as an icon of American business, credited with the invention of the moving assembly line, $5-per-day wages for workers, and the introduction of the first car built for the masses, the Model T, he was also a dictatorial executive who was not above using force to control workers. Ford was also a prominent wartime pacifist even while his overseas operations built armaments for the German army. In the second half of the century, after Henry finally stepped aside, the company celebrated success with the Mustang and on racetracks, but by the early 1980s it was close to bankruptcy. A comeback late in the decade led to spectacular profits, and amid increasing consolidation in the industry, Ford bought high-line producers Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo. The company's future, the book notes, looks bright. Among many titles on Ford, the best is still Robert Lacey's Ford: The Men & the Machine. This exhaustively researched new work is a useful adjunct to Lacey's and brings the story up to date. (Index not seen.)-Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, RI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Here is history on the grand scale! In this sweeping, absorbing book, Douglas Brinkley paints, in a compelling narrative, a fascinating figure and his titanic impact on his age. Wheels for the World is a balanced, judicious, unflinching examination of the great issues of Henry Ford's life. — Robert A. Caro

Ford politically and economically was the most significant industrialist of his time. Here, in Doug Brinkley's Wheels for the World, in all relevant detail, is the story down to the present day. More than the author's literary and historical skills are to be thanked. The Ford family, the Company and many others have contributed. Abandoning all petty commitments to secrecy, the Company made available its more than ample files. My recommendation of the book is second only to my admiration of the historical effort and literary talent here so admirably evident. — John Kenneth Galbraith

Wheels for the World is a groundbreaking epic that separates fact from myth about Henry Ford and his company. Written with analytical savvy, clear prose and a deep grasp of automotive history, Douglas Brinkley has produced a first-rate book. In his able hands he manages to transform iconic cars like the Model T, V-8, Thunderbird, and Mustang into lively characters in an exciting Detroit-Dearborn drama. His understanding of international finance is formidable. This is business and social history at its absolute finest. A marvelous achievement just in time for Ford Motor Company's centennial. — Lee Iacocca

Robert Dallek