The History of the Standard Oil Company: Briefer Version (Paperback)

by Ida M. Tarbell (Author), David M. Chalmers (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Muckrakers" was the name that Theodore Roosevelt gave journalists of the early part of the 20th century who exposed abuses in American business and government. Ida Tarbell, one of the original muckrakers, was able to help shut down the Standard Oil Company monopoly that had hampered her father's efforts in the oil industry in Pennsylvania. Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, irked by her stinging ?xpose, dubbed her "Miss Tarbarrel."

The History of the Standard Oil Company is listed number five among the top 100 works of twentieth-century American journalism by the New York Times in 1999.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description
This muckraking classic, which eventually led to effective regulation of the Standard Oil Company, was the inaugural work for crusading journalists whose mission was to expose corruption in politics and the abuses of big business during the early twentieth century. The history combined descriptions of John D. Rockefeller's business practices with his personal characteristics, creating an image of a cunning and ruthless person--a picture that not even decades of Rockefeller philanthropy were able to dispel. This "briefer version" of the two-volume original edition (published in 1904) makes the book more accessible to students and teachers of American business history and to anyone interested in the days of unregulated commerce.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (February 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486428214
• ISBN-13: 978-0486428215
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,210 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Early History of Standard Oil, February 21, 2000

By	Tom Larson (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of The Standard Oil Company (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful account of the beginnings of the Standard Oil Company - from the perspective of one of the premier muckracker's of the 19th century. The book is mainly a series of articles strung together detailing some of the more illegal efforts of John D. Rockefeller to create a monopoly in the oil industry. It is a classic account of how to create a monopoly and has stories that involve everything from dynamiting the competition to innovative rebate plans that discourage competition..

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the caspian sea oil, December 17, 2001

By	g. crisp "u11yavisoo" (asheville, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of the Standard Oil Company (Hardcover)

This book is over 800 pages, starting from the early U.S. oil companies competing with one another in an 1890's style industrial struggle. It has detail. If you like hard data this is the source. Daunted by the size of this tome? read the last three chapters first. "The Price of Oil", "The legitimate Greatness of The Company" and "The Conclusion": these three chapters will put the present day in a new light for you. The Caspian Sea was an oil field before the Bolschevik Revolution. At that time czarist Russia was a world contender. Now Caspian Sea oil has been "rediscovered". What was the Burma oil co.? What were the yearly production figures? what were the various allocations of oil use? What role were other countries playing? This is the place to find it.