The Fords: An American Epic [Paperback]

Peter Collier (Author), David Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

The Fords: An American Epic is the dramatic story of three generations of Fords and of the dramatic conflict between fathers and sons played out against the backdrop of America's greatest industrial empire. The story begins with Henry I, the mechanical wizard, tinkerer, and mad genius who drove the automobile into the heart of American life and 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 and save the Ford Motor Company. From the details of Henry I's illicit affair, which produced an illegitimate son, to the life and loves of "Hank the Deuce" and 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 William Clay Ford in the quest to control the company in the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Collier and Horowitz (The Kennedys, The Rothschilds) vividly depict the career of Henry Ford, the quirky turn-of-the-century automobile inventor who put America on wheels with his homely everyman-type car, the Model T, in the 1920s"the first and last great giant of the auto industry." He appointed his only son, Edsel, head of the company but tormented him by limiting his authority, promoted anti-Semitism and hired a union-busting tough, Harry Bennett, who nearly took over the company. This saga pulls at the emotions while instructing readers about harsh business realities and human frailty as we watch Edsel's four children and numerous grandchildren contend with celebrity and great wealth, ill health, alcoholism, family jealousy, sense of failure and marital unhappiness. Finally, we're shown Henry Ford II, who after World War II assumed authority as his father never could, and become a national figure by leading the Ford Motor Company to great renewed successat a great personal price. Major ad/promo; BOMC selection; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The team behind family biographies of the Rockefellers and the Kennedys turns to Detroit's automobile dynasty. Henry Ford, his son Edsel, and Harry Bennett are the principals in the book's first half, as an empire is founded, then begins to totter. The authors say nothing new but tell the story well. In part two, the ascendancy of Henry II, the authors examine the lifestyles of rich and famous Fords in titillating, entertaining detail. Drawing upon interviews with family and associates, they bring forth portraits of a grasping Lee Iacocca and an anti-heroic Henry Ford. Similar to Robert Lacey's Ford ( LJ 9/1/86), but slicker, this will be in demand. Robert F. Nardini, M.L.S., North Chichester,
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 411 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; Repack edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554325
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554320
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( F ) > Ford, Henry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting telling of the first three generations that built and ran the Ford Motor Company, September 4, 2005

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This book recounts the origins and life of the Ford family from the rise of Henry Ford, the founding the great automotive company, its ebbs and flows, through the reign of Henry Ford II. It reads very well and has a great deal of interesting information.

One of the difficulties in writing a book like this is how to balance the personal details with the epic story of the global corporation. I believe Collier and Horowitz pull off the balance quite well. However, when this book came out there was a great deal of discussion about the womanizing that the family worked hard to keep out of the public eye. Some condemned this book because of these intimate details. Some claimed they were fabricated. Nowadays, given what we know about public versus private lives, it probably would not raise many eyebrows.

The life of Henry the Great is fascinating because of his genius and his limitations. His son Edsel has a story that is as tragic as any you might read in fiction. Henry II was given the task of saving the family company and with the team he built around himself he did an admirable job. The battles with Lee Iacocca may be slipping into ancient history, but it is still a very interesting story in the history of corporate governance. The recounting of Henry II's divorces and such may be fairly petty and is certainly not as important as his missing the real threat of the Japanese car companies.

The book is now almost twenty years old, but it still has its merits.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fords: A personal look, May 12, 2007

By 

Shawson "Aaradman" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fords: An American Epic (Paperback)

The uniqueness of this book is that it focuses on the personalities of Henry Ford, his son Edsel and his granson, Henry II. The history of Ford Motor Company is presented as an outgrowth of these porsonalities. As a career Ford employee, it is my opinion that Ford Motor Co. has always reflected the personalities of those in charge to a somewhat greater extent than other large corporations. So the author's approach is particularly appropriate. And it works well. This is an absorbing book for anyone with an interest in the Ford family in relation to the growth and decline of Ford Motor Company and, motre widely, the business in the twentieth century.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Superb Family Bio, May 24, 2008

By 

Johnny "Uncle Johnny" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fords: An American Epic (Paperback)

'The Fords: An American Epic' by David Horowitz & Peter Collier

Horowitz & Collier deliver yet another superb narrative of one of America's historic, controversial and complex families. They have this genre down to a science.

This is, without doubt, the best book on the Ford family I have read, and I've read a few. For an unbiased look at Henry's early tinkering in the garage to the perfection of the production line to his controversial stances on important world events, this book has no comparison. The strange inter-family relationships are broken down in detail and explained with clarity. The book focuses on family & business, which was no easy feat: Henry & Edsel's relationship; Lee Iacocca's influence on the Ford Motors; the return of "Hank the Deuce"; to Bill Ford's generation and more recent family activity.

A wonderfully enjoyable read that is as detail laden as it is fast paced. An easy call for 5 stars!

- JC