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.

ピーター・コリアーとデイヴィッド・ホロウィッツが描く本作は、単なる企業の成功譚ではありません。そこにあるのは、アメリカという巨大な帝国を築き上げたフォード一族の、愛憎渦巻く父と子の相克という普遍的な悲劇です。初代ヘンリーの狂気じみた天才性と、その歪んだ所有欲によって押し潰された息子エドセルの苦悩。この血脈に流れる確執は、ギリシャ悲劇にも似た崇高な重みを湛えています。 本書の白眉は、歴史の激流と個人の情念が重なり合う瞬間の描写にあります。産業界の覇者がいかにして孤独な独裁者へと変貌し、次世代がその影から逃れ、あるいは復讐を果たすのか。ビジネスの裏側に潜む権力闘争を、人間性の深淵を覗き込むような筆致で描き出す手法は、ノンフィクションの枠を超えた文学的興奮を読者に約束してくれるでしょう。