Enterprising Elite: The Boston Associates and the World They Made (Harvard Studies in Business History) [Hardcover]

Robert F. Dalzell Jr. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674257650 | ISBN-13: 978-0674257658 | Publication Date: January 1, 1987

The story of the Boston Associates, a group of New England entrepreneurs who, by pooling capital, built up a network of interrelated business enterprises and transformed their local economy during the first half of the 19th century.

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is first-rate business history, combining the stories of the pioneer entrepreneurs of the Massachusetts textile industry and their self-conscious effort to solidify the place of the upper class in a democracy. Francis C. Lowell, Nathan Appleton, and others formed a group of "Boston Associates" that first erected mills at Waltham and then in the 1820s at the planned community of Lowell. Dalzell takes pains to stress that these men were risk-averse entrepreneurs; they fled the shipping business for the safer business of manufacturing. Dalzell offers as well a fine history of how the Associates invested in ancillary fields, e.g., insurance, and how they invented the model of philanthropy as the justification for unequal wealth. Highly recommended for college and public libraries. James W. Oberly, History Dept., Univ. of WisconsinEau-Claire
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (January 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674257650
• ISBN-13: 978-0674257658
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Packed with history, July 8, 2007

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A Pawtuxet Reader (Warwck, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enterprising Elite: The Boston Associates and the World They Made (Paperback)

This book delivers much more than its title suggests. Beginning with the history of the Massachusetts cotton mills, the author takes us through local and national politics, connecting with subjects as diverse as the settlement of Kansas, the founding of Mass. General Hospital, several national elections, the split between north and south, "cotton or conscience" Whigs, and the influence of the Bostonians' example on John D. Rockefeller. By focusing intensely on a group of Boston businessmen, we learn a great deal about the history of America in the early 19th century. Some chapters were a bit difficult to follow, however, for two reasons. First, the author treated different themes (politics, philanthropy, banking, etc.) in separate chapters, which is fine, but that meant that with each chapter we started back at the beginning chronologically - so we went through the 1820's, the 1830's, the 1840's, etc., multiple times. Second, because the book deals with several generations of intertwined families, the same surname can refer to one of several different people. You really have to pay attention to know and remember who is who. Lastly, the author referred to such a rich number and variety of sources that I would have liked a Reference section in addition to the Notes section.