This book offers a bold new interpretation of American business history during the formative years 1870–1920, which mark the dawn of modern big business. It focuses on four major revolutions that ushered in this new era: those in power, transportation, communication, and organization. Using the metaphor of America as an economic hothouse uniquely suited to rapid economic growth during these years, it analyzes the interplay of key factors such as entrepreneurial talent, technology, land, natural resources, law, mass markets, and the rise of cities. It also delineates the process that laid the foundation for the modern era, in which virtually every human activity became a business, and, in most cases, a big business. The book also profiles numerous major entrepreneurs whose careers and activities illustrate broader trends and themes. It utilizes a wide variety of sources, including novels from the period, to produce a lively narrative.
Contents
Prologue: a hothouse for economic growth; 1. The marvel of men and machines; 2. The lure of lovely and lucrative land; 3. The defeat of distance and desolation; 4. The potential of plentiful power; 5. The fabrication of familiar forms; 6. The burden of bargaining with behemoths; 7. The collision of city and country; 8. The mastery of mass markets; Epilogue: the boundaries of big business.
Reviews
"This perceptive study by the accomplished historian Maury Klein vividly reveals how business shaped the United States following the Civil War. Impressively conceived, amazingly comprehensive and delightfully written, The Genesis of Industrial America is must reading for an understanding of the origins of modern America." -H. Roger Grant, Clemson University
"Genesis of Industrial America is a thoughtful and engaging survey of American economic development during the heyday of industrialism by one of America's most prolific and accomplished business historians." -Richard John, University of Illinois at Chicago
"The Genesis of Industrial America is well-grounded, consistently insightful, and superbly written. Klein boils down the extensive literature of business and economic history, places major events and actors in proper contexts, and relates them effectively to the larger contexts of American social and political life." -Roger Olien, University of Texas -- Permian Basin
"Klein has delivered a book that succeeds in summarizing and organizing in coherent fashion the often bewildering array of business developments and ensuing organizational consequences that occurred in this integral period of American history." --Canadian Journal of History
"The prose is brisk, lively, and readable..." -Robert MacDougall, Technology and Culture
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