Book Review - The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times by Nancy F. Koehn
Category Book Review Nancy F. Koehn The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times
One of my pet peeves about history is that we often look back at an event with a "sanitized" view of it. There's no mention of dissent, effort, conflict, or personality. The event happened, it turned out the way it did, and look how it shaped history. But it's only when we start digging into the day-to-day dialogue during the event that we find what it was really like to go through it. That's why I like this book I received from Harvard Business Press: The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times edited by Nancy F. Koehn. Koehn takes a number of business eras and looks at them through the lens of the New York Times while the events were still fresh. As such, you see that all things were not obvious at the time, and only in hindsight can we really "predict" how things would play out.
Contents:
Part 1 - The Corporation: The Rise of Big Business; Wall Street - Its Origins, Influence, and Evolution; Merger Mania; Leadership, Past and Present
Part 2 - The Changing Nature of Work: From Farm to Factory; The Fruits of Our Labor; The Changing Workplace
Part 3 - Defining Moments in Technology: The Transportation Revolution; Communications
Epilogue; Appendix; Notes; Index; About the Author
Each chapter starts out with a brief (7 to 10 page) overview of the topic, spanning the 1800's through the present. There's also a high-level timeline that picks out a few key moments, and that's supplemented by a more detailed timeline in the Appendix. From then on, the chapter is a series of articles as printed in the New York Times, from the mid-1800's to the current decade. It's there that I found the most insight and detail as to what it must have been like to deal with change and turmoil. The 1882 article titled "The Great Oil Monopoly" covers how the Standard Oil Company "robs" the public... sound familiar to today? Have we learned much in 130 years? 1909 has an article titled "What Is To Be Done With the Trusts?", going into how government wants to implement anti-trust laws... things we take for granted now, but that were extremely controversial back then. 1930 has an article titled "Shift from Farm to City Goes Steadily On", where it's feared that the contemplative life will not go well with the tempo of the modern city. And to show how fast some things change, there's a 1969 article titled "Bank Cards Thrive As Some Say No", where large retailers like Macy's, Gimbels, and Bloomingdale's refuse to take the increasingly popular "plastic credit cards" as they deem it competition to their own credit policies. Guess we know how THAT one turned out...
One day our current economic crisis will be reduced to 2000 words in a history book, and it will "obvious" how things worked out. The government policies will be lauded or derided as being enlightened or destructive. But right now, there are a thousand opinions, just as many predictions, and emotions are real and often painful in terms of how it all will play out. A book like The Story of American Business helps remind me that every era has gone through this, no one has all the answers, and you don't get to know the ending beforehand.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
One of my pet peeves about history is that we often look back at an event with a "sanitized" view of it. There's no mention of dissent, effort, conflict, or personality. The event happened, it turned out the way it did, and look how it shaped history. But it's only when we start digging into the day-to-day dialogue during the event that we find what it was really like to go through it. That's why I like this book I received from Harvard Business Press: The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times edited by Nancy F. Koehn. Koehn takes a number of business eras and looks at them through the lens of the New York Times while the events were still fresh. As such, you see that all things were not obvious at the time, and only in hindsight can we really "predict" how things would play out.
Contents:
Part 1 - The Corporation: The Rise of Big Business; Wall Street - Its Origins, Influence, and Evolution; Merger Mania; Leadership, Past and Present
Part 2 - The Changing Nature of Work: From Farm to Factory; The Fruits of Our Labor; The Changing Workplace
Part 3 - Defining Moments in Technology: The Transportation Revolution; Communications
Epilogue; Appendix; Notes; Index; About the Author
Each chapter starts out with a brief (7 to 10 page) overview of the topic, spanning the 1800's through the present. There's also a high-level timeline that picks out a few key moments, and that's supplemented by a more detailed timeline in the Appendix. From then on, the chapter is a series of articles as printed in the New York Times, from the mid-1800's to the current decade. It's there that I found the most insight and detail as to what it must have been like to deal with change and turmoil. The 1882 article titled "The Great Oil Monopoly" covers how the Standard Oil Company "robs" the public... sound familiar to today? Have we learned much in 130 years? 1909 has an article titled "What Is To Be Done With the Trusts?", going into how government wants to implement anti-trust laws... things we take for granted now, but that were extremely controversial back then. 1930 has an article titled "Shift from Farm to City Goes Steadily On", where it's feared that the contemplative life will not go well with the tempo of the modern city. And to show how fast some things change, there's a 1969 article titled "Bank Cards Thrive As Some Say No", where large retailers like Macy's, Gimbels, and Bloomingdale's refuse to take the increasingly popular "plastic credit cards" as they deem it competition to their own credit policies. Guess we know how THAT one turned out...
One day our current economic crisis will be reduced to 2000 words in a history book, and it will "obvious" how things worked out. The government policies will be lauded or derided as being enlightened or destructive. But right now, there are a thousand opinions, just as many predictions, and emotions are real and often painful in terms of how it all will play out. A book like The Story of American Business helps remind me that every era has gone through this, no one has all the answers, and you don't get to know the ending beforehand.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
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