The History of the Standard Oil Company, Vol. I (in Two Volumes) by Ida Minerva Tarbell


The History of the Standard Oil Company, Vol. I (in Two Volumes)
Title : The History of the Standard Oil Company, Vol. I (in Two Volumes)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1605207616
ISBN-10 : 9781605207612
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 462
Publication : First published January 1, 1904

In this era of financial crisis compounded, and even perhaps enabled, by a dearth of investigative reporting, it is valuable to go back in time to learn from the work of great journalists with the courage to have taken on avaricious corporations and irresponsible business practices. "Perhaps no book demands our attention and respect as much as the one now in your hands. The unabridged edition, long out of print, of Ida Tarbell's study/expose of the history of the Standard Oil Company is an American classic, a model of careful research, detailed analysis, clear expository writing, and social mission. It has been hailed as one of the top ten of journalism's greatest hits." In Volume I, Tarbell explores: the birth of the oil industry the rise of the Standard Oil Company the "oil war" of 1872 the beginnings of the oil trust the first interstate commerce bill and more. IDA MINERVA TARBELL (1857-1944) is remembered today as a muckraking journalist, thanks to this 1904 blockbuster expose. Originally published as a series of articles in McClure's magazine, this groundbreaking work highlighted the dangers of business monopolies and contributed to the eventual breakup of Standard Oil. As modern-day muckraker Danny Schechter writes in his new introduction, exclusive to this Cosimo Classics edition. He is editor of Mediachannel.org and author of numerous books on the media, including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal (Cosimo).


The History of the Standard Oil Company, Vol. I (in Two Volumes) Reviews


  • Jamie from The Doer Co

    Just finished this as a Librivox audioboook. If you're interested at all in the history of the Rockefellers, Flaglers, or Vanderbilts this is an interesting read. The writing style is very approachable even though the book was written decades ago.

  • Gregory

    Fascinating insight into the inner workings of the early days of the oil industry---The Standard Oil Company in particular.

  • Carol Spears

    This was pretty interesting stuff. I was aware of the existence of this book and then became very curious to read it after reading Ayn Rand's
    Atlas Shrugged which was a celebration of the ideal American Industrialist.

    So, anyways, Ahhh, the power of a two party system (be it socialism or captialism), the parties being "those who have a lot and those who don't have as much or any".

  • Leslie Zunker

    Still can't get a handle on John D. (getting ready to start my third book on him). Quite the paradoxical enigma. This book gets a little tedious in places. Overall, very informative and easy to read.