Customer Reviews

Crosley: Two Brothers and a Business Empire That Transformed the Nation

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't read very many biographies but I made an exception with Crosley and I'm glad I did. I just finished it last night and it was one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in quite awhile. The book covers the lives of two brothers, Powel and Lewis Crosley, and their remarkable careers; Powel was the creative genius and Lewis was the hard-working, reliable partner who made everything happen.

So what exactly did these two do? Not a whole lot, other than create radios "for the masses, not the classes", build one of the leading AM radio stations in the country, pioneer and build home refrigeration systems, manufacture explosive devices that helped win World War II, design and manufacture automobiles and own the Cincinnati Reds. (I left a few of the smaller items out, btw.)

If you're from the Cincinnati area you're probably familiar with the Crosley name. The Reds used to play at Crosley Field before Riverfront Stadium opened in 1970 -- that was the extent of my Crosley knowledge prior to reading this great book. Now I feel like a bit of a Crosley expert, primarily because the authors did a fantastic job of assembling the facts and telling the story. There's also a companion website for the book where you can find more information about the authors and loads of Crosley family pictures, including several that aren't in the book.

Even if you're like I was and aren't that familiar with the Crosley family, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy of this and read it cover to cover -- you won't be disappointed.

Fantastic! This book is one of the most captivating that I've read. I received "Crosley" for Christmas from my son. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The 500 pages just flew by leaving me looking for more stories about the Crosley brothers. Being a native of Cincinnati, I was always aware of the Crosley name and WLW, the Reds, the cars, the radios, and the appliances that bore it. What I found so intriguing is the life story behind all of the great inventions and products. The egotistic, flamboyant style of Powel, the "average guy" style of Lewis and how their personalities complemented each other to create the driving force that was Crosley.

The book gave a rich history of life in Cincinnati during the first half of the 20th century. It was excellent in bringing to life the family members, their friends, and their relationships. Finally, it described the latter years of tragedy and disappointments that characterized Powel's life. In contrast were the peaceful and fulfilling days of Lewis's golden years.

After reading this book, I couldn't wait to drive around Cincinnati and locate Crosley Square, the production plants, the Pinecroft mansion and the location where the Crosley airport stood. It heightened my awareness of the great technology, products and aviation history that came from Crosley. The name Crosley certainly ranks along side that of Ford and Edison as industrial giants of the 20th century. This is a must read for anyone interested in Cincinnati or any of the great products that came from Crosley.

I'm sitting in a home full of computers, MP3 players, dvd recorders and players, a satellite TV box, and scores of electric appliances that are smarter than I am. Reading of a time when consumer electronics were unknown, and the primary electric appliance was a lightbulb, is like looking into the dark ages. Well, not quite. But you know what I mean.

The Crosley name is one that I've heard around my home throughout my life, but with the exception of a Crosley radio on a shelf, my knowledge of the company or the men that founded the firm was fuzzy at best. The authors have done an outstanding job at fleshing out Powel and Lewis Crosley and the world they lived in and revolutionized.

Many a novel I've read non-stop, but this is the first biography that I've done an "all-nighter" with.

The authors had no axe to grind, the times were well fleshed out, and one's faith in the ability of someone to think it up and do it, is reaffirmed. It was chock full of interesting information and facts, and I found myself checking Google satellite maps for locations mentioned in the book (Yes, the Arlington St. location still exisits and the satellite pic catches the executive tower, one-time home of WLW).

There is some bumpy writing, as noted in a few other reviews. I blame not the authors, but the editor. The boys really like their cliches. Lawyers are always "Sharpening their pencils," people come and go "Exit Stage right/left, Enter stage right/left;" and so many variations of "Masses not the classes" permeated the text, I wondered if they had some sort of Bolshevik thing going on.

That aside, this guy will be giving several copies of this book for Christmas this year - and I can't think of a better testimonial to the book.

This is a very interesting book that tells the story of a true genius and the unsung brother that could make things happen. The Crosley brothers were a team that accomplished major radio first. Anyone interested in the hay day of radio will love this book. It is an easy read that will be hard to put down!

While growing up in the sixties I went to Crosley field many times. Interesting that Powel, the elder brother, had many issues with parking, and bribed Cinci officials to do something about the parking by threatening to move the team out of the city.
This book is a fascinating snapshot of the elder, driven brother, who was a classic "Idea man" who left the implementation to his brother Lewis, the soft spoken engineer type who made ideas happen, but longed to be a farmer.
Many of their ideas did not pan out, interesting that when Powel threw out an idea they talked about how much money it was ok to lose on an idea before going ahead with it.
When their station WLW was at its peak my dad told me that you could light up a flourescent bulb by standing near the antenna- at their peak they transmitted with 700,000 watts of broadcast power, and could be heard a large distance around the globe.
I literally wasted, no invested, a Sunday with this well written book, and could not put it down until I finished it. The Gearhead in me would have loved some more technical pictures and engineering analysis about their projects. These can be accessed via the web however, and is not a significant fault.
To capture the essence of two dynamic, historical figures and the times they lived in is remarkable, to do so in only 400 some pages is outstanding. WELL DONE!

Could not put it down once I got into it. I enjoyed every single page; what a learning experience. Although I only live near Cincinnati, I love to delve into anything that has to do with Cincy, and this book sped me to the head of the class. Did you know that "sport utility vehicle" was coined by Powel Crosley himself? Betcha didn't! Thanks for a great read.

This book is excellent. I am a native of Cincinnati. This is the history behind the Crosley family and how the family first got involved with many facets of Cincinnati. The old baseball stadium for the Cincinnati Reds was known as Crosley Field. This town was the first to have a baseball team. Their father, Powel Crosley,Sr, started working with the Red Stockings in the late 1800. He then had two sons who followed in his footsteps trying to be involved in many projects related to Cincinnati.
Some of the projects were: a law practice, a electronics business dating back to the Crosley Radio days, the baseball team, and the Crosley automobile. This is well written.

Bought this book as a Christmas gift for my Dad and he has all ready read the full book. He is a big history buff and loves the Reds - can't do better than that. When I asked him he told me he had finished it and really enjoyed it.

I received the book on the Crosley Brothers this Christmas. Having lived in and around Cincinnati my entire life, The Crosley name was very familiar, in fact my father owned a Crosley Automobile. I thought thisbook would be a simple trip dpwn memory lane but I was most surprised to find that it is full of fascinating information about the most chaotic beginnings of both the auto and the radio industry. The information is incorporated into the personal story of the Brothers in a clear and yet exciting narrative. I couldn't put the book down. The story is a truly amazing one. Many famous names are encountered along the way and we see them a real people rather than icons. It is a wonderful book. You will not regret one minute spent reading it.
p.s. the only reasob I did not give it a full 5 stars is because I am not quite finished reading[@ 85 pages to go]

I was looking forward to immersing myself in this hefty tome about some of my hometown heroes. But frankly, the writing style and lack of good editing made this a chore rather than a pleasure. The authors throw in every imaginable detail about the lives of the Crosley brothers, including the misadventures of Lewis' dog - though what that poor creature had to do with the business successes of the Crosleys, I have no idea. The excessive repetition of cliches got to be annoying, such as "exit stage left" to indicate some minor character leaving the narrative. And then there's the thing I really hated.

Single-sentence paragraphs.

They're everywhere.

And there are better ways to add dramatic emphasis to a narrative.

Misused punctuation, spelling errors, and factual errors also made this a disappointing read. Powel's house in Sarasota cost $350,000 to build, which was "nearly five times that of Pinecroft"... which cost $750,000 according to an earlier paragraph. Math isn't my strong point, but there's an error in there somewhere.

I don't blame the authors for this... they needed a good editor, and the small, local publisher (which seems to specialize in travel books) apparently didn't offer one. The book would have benefited from greater focus and less wandering off into side stories that didn't move the narrative forward.

The Crosley brothers accomplished a lot, and their story taught me a lot about their inventiveness, their risks, and their contributions to the global business landscape. I just wish the story had been told in a tighter, cleaner manner.