Customer Reviews

Friends In High Places: The Bechtel Story : The Most Secret Corporation and How It Engineered the World

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

 

 

Laton McCartney has torn the cover off of the Bechtel Group and given us insight into one of the most successful, most influential, and most controversial mega-businesses in the history of the planet earth. A giant octopus with tentacles everywhere imaginable, plunking down projects, and sucking up billions of private and public funds, all over the world. We hear lots about Halliburton and it's foibles, but when was the last time you heard a peep from the Bechtel Group? Bechtel is a "private" corporation with no stockholders and no messy SEC investigations to endure. These guys, as the book tells us, know how to operate out of sight. Even their internal power struggles and disappointments are out of public sight. The book describes Stephen Bechtel, Jr as operating his personal life in a way that would make an experienced undercover spy proud. And then there is "The Grove", the real "friends in high places". There are things in this book you should know, but don't believe everything. A dollop of good sense will guide you through what is on the edge of truth and what isn't. Just be careful not to believe everything.

This is one of the most interesting reads of non-fiction that one will ever make, because it informs us of what has been going on behind our backs, out of reach of the "evening news" or "headline news", Time, or Newsweek, or the New York Times, for that matter. You can thank publishers Simon and Schuster for bringing this to the light of day.

The definitive Halliburton book has not been written yet because so much 'flotsam and jetsam' has yet to be retrieved and examined in the wake of the Iraqi War(s) and disasters like Hurricane Katrina. To be sure, Bechtel was and is involved in both wars AND Katrina, on a parallel track with Halliburton. So knowing Bechtel, gives general strategic insight into Halliburton and vice versa. In addition, when one finishes this book, you must immediately 'google' the word 'Bechtel' to see what they are currently 'up to'. Clues are everywhere on the web, but they are still secretive and still very active, making money 'hand over fist', but not without making their own strategic mistakes. Guess who is responsible for rebuilding the Baghdad electrical grid and water/sewage systems? Well, well! The fact that they have made it through the rough patches attests to their internal strengths as detailed in the book. And yes, there is Reagan, Bush I, George Pratt Schultz, (and probably Bush II involvement, since Riley Bechtel is a presidential advisor on middle eastern trade). Well, well, indeed! The book folds nicely into current events. While Halliburton is getting nothing but grief over Iraq, Bechtel is all but invisible and bullet-proof, just as our author suggests in earlier times.

Some of this is appalling, almost immoral, but it always seems to be quite legal. Like giving a Saudi a 10 percent share in Arabian Bechtel in order to secure the initiation of a project. Sounds like a bribe to me, but it was ruled otherwise and everything proceeded on. Whew! So don't look for Bechtel to be in any courtrooms in the near future. If you 'google' "Bechtel Lawsuit", there is precious little there, since 20 years ago, except for Bechtel suing Bolivia, South America's poorest nation, for $25 Million. Read the book, take some of it with a huge grain of salt, and keep the rest in your storehouse of knowledge. At about 240 pages in a Hardcover, with 30 pages of 'notes' & 'index', it's a brisk, but penetrating read into this corporation, how it operates, and how it affects us all. Ante up! Five PENETRATING Stars!!

An excellent book that provides an interesting insider's view into one of the largest engineering and construction firms of modern times. From the Hoover Dam to the Middle East to the United States Government, this book shows how the Bechtel Corporation did what it wanted to, when it wanted to, and used whom it wanted to as long as it made the few controlling members of it's management very rich. And all this was training for the government deals to come. This book offers a historical detailing of this company's ethical and social violations as well as the building of an empire. Read it.

The author has done a remarkable job in gathering many interesting materials on this secretive and powerful private company which has played a pivotal role in US global expansion. The raw materials should turn any book on this subject into a thrilling and revealing journey. However, the lack of any critical analysis and the white-wash treatment makes the book a disappointment considering its high potential. I reckon this is a conscious choice of the author and a understandable one.

Bechtel? Who? No one really knew that this multi-million (probably billion) dollar corporation existed until Laton McCartney had the courage to do his homework and publish his findings. After the publishing there was objection by Bechtel and the book disappeared. Now it is back, and I for one am quite satisfied with this outcome. As I already had an original copy I purchased this copy for a friend. The information within is unsullied by the objections. Mr. McCartney did his homework to present the corporate and US Government truths about Hoover Dam, The San Fransisco bridge and the replacement of the ships lost at Pearl Harbor. Through mule power Dad Bechtel built an empire!
For a fictional counter perspective please freely visit Legacy: Let the games begin (Volume 2) Although it is best to go in order to understand the foundation for the "more perfect union" one can begin the journey in Vol 2

I appreciate the writers attention to detail. Of course, I have heard that this is the way our corrupt government works, but was not comprehending exactly what that really means. For those who hope in nothing else, this is very dismal news.

However, for those of us who know of a better future according to Bible prophecy, this just reaffirms our faith, because we see this as fulfillment of prophecy. We look forward to the time when these corrupt governments will be wiped out forever. (Daniel 2:44)

This book would make even William Randolf Hearst blush. McCartney uses innuendo, falsehood, and fabrication to create a highly skewed view of the well-known engineering construction company. While seemingly a "well-documented" work, he in fact uses "off the record" quotes and otherwise unattributed sources to paint a extremely unflattering picture of the company and its founders, owners and officers. Despite the apparent effort spent in researching his subject, he demonstrates a consistent ignorance of the industry he writes about including its practices and terminology. He casts a wide net of aspersions on the individuals who built the company by quoting unnamed sources and reiterating disproved allegations. He has a positive gift for making any legitimate business activity seem highly suspect, and alludes to "rumored" charges of impropriety without providing any documentation of such. The reader should view this work in the same manner as the depiction of an industry dinner in Washington D.C. recounted in the book's closing pages. The event described did in fact take place, but Mr. McCartney's insertion of Steven Bechtel Jr. into it is a complete fabrication.

This book shows the public the real Bechtel.
A shadowy Corporation, with slimey leadership from the beginning.
Money is all that matters regardless of international affairs or U.S. patriotism or U.S. policies.
Bechtel has helped out so many of America's enemies.
Bechtel would have built a sarin factory for Saddam if Bechtel thought they could make money and get away with it!