Review
Bak (Detroit Across Three Centuries) gives new life to the well-known story of industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947) and his rise from Michigan farm boy to the powerful head of an automobile manufacturing company. Deeply interested in anything mechanical, Ford left the family farm to become a machinist's apprentice, an engineer, a race-car builder and, in 1903, founded the Form Motor Company. In 1908, the company produced the Model T, a simple designed car form the average family that was wildly successful and make Ford a millionaire. Responsible for implementing the assembly line in the mass production of cars, Ford also initially provided his workers with a living wage. In this engrossing history, the author traces the power grabs at Ford Motor, focusing particularly on the relationship between Ford and his only son, Edsel, both of whom spring to life here. Although Form initially planned to have Edsel take over the company, he relied on the advice of Henry Bennett, the tyrannical security chief, who thought that Edsel was a weakling. According to Bak, Edsel was a cultured, talented man and an expert at designing cars. He did not share his father's hatred of unions that translated into repeated violence against organizers. Ford outlived his son, who dies of cancer, a death many believed to have been hastened by conflicts with his father. Despite their problems, Ford loved his son and was deeply grieved by his death. Fully documented here (though not for the first time) is Ford's virulent anti-Semitism, which he expressed through articles in the Dearborn Independent. Photos. (Oct.) (Publishers Weekly, August 18, 2003) One of many books on the Ford Motor Company published in this, its centennial year, Bak's work focuses on the relationship between founder and patriarch Henry Ford and his son, Edsel. It is a true story perhaps better suited to a TV movie: the strong-willed father runs the company with an iron fist. marginalizing his talented son and instead relying on fixer/brawlerwler Harry Benrtett. Why Ford Sr. embraced Bennett and not his son comes down to ego. Even after Henry, at age 75, finally turned the company over to his son, Bennett was still on the payroll. Edsel died of cancer in 1943 after leading the Ford Motor Company for only two years. An elderly Henry, loath to give lip his leadership role, resumed the presidency. But while Edsel has often been portrayed as a weak and ineffectual leader, Bak counters that Edsel was a sensible manager whose creative business solutions helped the company survive the many tough challenges in its first decades. This work is valuable as both a sociological and a psychological study, and business and automotive historians will also be interested. —Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. lib., Providence, RI (Library Journal, September 15, 2003)
"...the book is rich in detail..." (Director, January 2004)
"...good at illuminating the often ridiculous quarrels between the pair..." (Focus, February 2004)
"...offers a new perspective on the human drama that changed the shape of Ford...must reading for anyone interested in business..." (Bolton Evening News, 11 March 2004)
From the Inside Flap
One hundred years after a rawboned mechanical genius transformed his vision of "a car for the masses" into one of the world’s first major automobile manufacturers, a great story remains to be told. It is a multigenerational saga of fathers and sons and the epic struggle for control of an industrial empire. Henry and Edsel is the first biography to focus on both the legendary founder of the Ford Motor Company and the son who led the company’s transformation from successful manufacturer to business empire. Author Richard Bak offers a daring new perspective on the human drama that changed the shape of Ford. He examines the ongoing friction between Henry and Edsel over adapting to a changing competitive environment and lays bare the stark contrasts between the two men–both their personalities and their approach to the design, construction, and marketing of automobiles.
In these pages, Henry Ford emerges as a complex and self-contradictory man who was not entirely comfortable in the new world that he had done so much to create. Renowned as an innovator, he resisted desperately needed changes in his own company–everything from painting cars any color other than black to providing financing for car buyers. A self-styled friend of the working man, he despised labor unions and appointed the ruthless Henry Bennett to squash any hint of unionization at Ford.
Among the many surprises in this fascinating exploration of the ultimate family business run by the quintessential business family is its portrait of Edsel Ford. Often viewed as a weak and ineffectual manager, Edsel is revealed as a gifted, levelheaded, and imaginative businessman with a keen sense of where the market was headed. When the company’s very survival was at stake during the tumultuous 1920s and 1930s, it was Edsel who envisioned and pushed for the daring changes that turned Ford into a powerful, modern corporation.
Another compelling character in this classic American story is Henry Bennett, often referred to as Ford’s second son. A hard-drinking barroom brawler in his youth, Bennett rose through sheer toughness and force of will to become Henry Ford’s heir apparent. The climactic struggle among these three very different men to control the vast and growing Ford empire was one of the most dramatic conflicts in the history of American business.
Complete with compelling portraits of important Ford competitors, executives, and family members, as well as a fascinating array of family and official company photos, Henry and Edsel is must reading for anyone interested in business, the auto industry, or the fascinating world of the early twentieth century.
From the Back Cover
An Epic Battle of Generations It is commonly believed that Henry Ford was a dynamic, innovative visionary who ran his company with an iron hand and an eye to the future–while his son Edsel was a weak, if dutiful, heir and an uninspired manager, who followed his father’s orders. Henry and Edsel, the first biography to focus on both father and son, turns that common belief on its ear.
Offering a daring new perspective on the human drama that changed the shape of Ford Motor company, author Richard Bak explores the ongoing friction between Henry and Edsel over adapting to a changing competitive environment and lays bare the stark contrasts between the two men. Henry emerges as a complex and self-contradictory man who was not entirely comfortable in the new world that he had done so much to create, while Edsel is revealed as a gifted, levelheaded, and imaginative businessman with a keen sense of where the market was headed. Among the many issues examined in this fascinating history are:
- The years-long conflict over modifying the Model T
- Edsel’s successful development of the Lincoln Continental
- Henry’s hatred of labor unions and the rise of Henry Bennett
- Edsel’s relentless struggle to modernize and transform the company
- The climactic struggle between Henry, Edsel, and Henry Bennett for control of the Ford empire
About the Author
RICHARD BAK is a veteran journalist who grew up in Detroit and now lives in Dearborn, Michigan. Bak, who worked on the assembly lines at Ford and Chrysler, has written widely on the Fords and the automobile industry. His twenty books include biographies of Charles Lindbergh and Joe Louis. Bak has received two book of the year awards from ForeWord magazine: one for a narrative history of Tiger Stadium and the other for a chronicle of Detroit’s first three centuries.
