Overview

This book, first published in 2007, offers a bold new interpretation of American business history during the formative years 1870–1920, which mark the dawn of modern big business. It focuses on four major revolutions that ushered in this new era: those in power, transportation, communication, and organization. Using the metaphor of America as an economic hothouse uniquely suited to rapid economic growth during these years, it analyzes the interplay of key factors such as entrepreneurial talent, technology, land, natural resources, law, mass markets, and the rise of cities. It also delineates the process that laid the foundation for the modern era, in which virtually every human activity became a business, and, in most cases, a big business. The book also profiles numerous major entrepreneurs whose careers and activities illustrate broader trends and themes. It utilizes a wide variety of sources, including novels from the period, to produce a lively narrative.

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9780511817946

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Reviews

This perceptive study by the accomplished historian Maury Klein vividly reveals how business shaped the United States following the Civil War. Impressively conceived, amazingly comprehensive and delightfully written, The Genesis of Industrial America is must reading for an understanding of the origins of modern America. -H. Roger Grant, Clemson University Genesis of Industrial America is a thoughtful and engaging survey of American economic development during the heyday of industrialism by one of America's most prolific and accomplished business historians. -Richard John, University of Illinois at Chicago The Genesis of Industrial America is well-grounded, consistently insightful, and superbly written. Klein boils down the extensive literature of business and economic history, places major events and actors in proper contexts, and relates them effectively to the larger contexts of American social and political life. -Roger Olien, University of Texas -- Permian Basin Klein has delivered a book that succeeds in summarizing and organizing in coherent fashion the often bewildering array of business developments and ensuing organizational consequences that occurred in this integral period of American history. --Canadian Journal of History The prose is brisk, lively, and readable... -Robert MacDougall, Technology and Culture

This perceptive study by the accomplished historian Maury Klein vividly reveals how business shaped the United States following the Civil War. Impressively conceived, amazingly comprehensive and delightfully written, The Genesis of Industrial America is must reading for an understanding of the origins of modern America. -H. Roger Grant, Clemson University Genesis of Industrial America is a thoughtful and engaging survey of American economic development during the heyday of industrialism by one of America's most prolific and accomplished business historians. -Richard John, University of Illinois at Chicago The Genesis of Industrial America is well-grounded, consistently insightful, and superbly written. Klein boils down the extensive literature of business and economic history, places major events and actors in proper contexts, and relates them effectively to the larger contexts of American social and political life. -Roger Olien, University of Texas -- Permian Basin Klein has delivered a book that succeeds in summarizing and organizing in coherent fashion the often bewildering array of business developments and ensuing organizational consequences that occurred in this integral period of American history. --Canadian Journal of History The prose is brisk, lively, and readable... -Robert MacDougall, Technology and Culture

Author Information

Maury Klein (B.A. Knox College, M.A., Ph.D. Emory University) has been a professor of history at the University of Rhode Island since 1964, receiving a Doctor of Humanities degree and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Knox College in 2001. Klein has been a Newcomen Fellow at Harvard Business School and held a Mellon Fellowship at Hagley Museum and Library. He has published 13 books and his numerous articles have appeared in Forbes, City, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, American History Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, and Civil War Times Illustrated. Klein has also appeared on documentaries on the BBC and PBS, among other networks.

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