About book Fordlandia: The Rise And Fall Of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City (2009)
Reviews were somewhat mixed (with some saying there is too much detail), so I went into reading the book with low expectations. What a surprise to find that it was absolutely fascinating reading! Not only did I learn about an unknown (to me) slice of early to mid-twentieth century history, I gained insight into Henry Ford; an enigmatic, paradoxical, complex, contradictory, and just plain strange individual. Very glad I took the time to read Fordlandia.The book was meticulously researched and I personally loved all the details. Good work, Mr Grandin This book is more than just a description of the rise and fall of Henry Ford's failed rubber plantation in the Amazon. It juxtaposes the changing social norms unleashed by industrialists like Ford with his paradoxical desire to return to a simpler and perhaps mythical past. I learned about Amazonian history, the transformation of the Ford Motor Company from its initial paternalistic altruism of the $5 day to horrible working conditions and anti-union thuggery of the 1920s and '30s, to how (not) to grow a rubber tree plantation. If you like history, you will like this book.
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This was a part of American history I never knew. Fascinating story!
—Lou
Lots of information about a project I had never heard about.
—luvnonapollo
