Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller - Hardcover

Weinberg, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393049353 ISBN 13: 9780393049350

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008

Synopsis

Long before the rise of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart and Microsoft, Standard Oil controlled the oil industry with a monopolistic force unprecedented in American business history. Undaunted by the ruthless power of its owner, John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), a fearless and ambitious reporter named Ida Minerva Tarbell (1857-1944) confronted the company known simply as "The Trust." Through her peerless fact gathering and devastating prose, Tarbell, a muckraking reporter at McClure's magazine, pioneered the new practice of investigative journalism. Her shocking discoveries about Standard Oil and Rockefeller led, inexorably, to a dramatic confrontation during the opening decade of the twentieth century that culminated in the landmark 1911 Supreme Court antitrust decision breaking up the monopolies and forever altering the landscape of modern American industry. Based on extensive research in the Tarbell and Rockefeller archives, Taking on the Trust is a vivid and dramatic history of the Progressive Era with powerful resonance for the first decades of the twenty-first century.

About this title

Review:

The perfect marriage of author and subject. -David Maraniss, author of They Marched Into Sunlight

The perfect marriage of author and subject. -- David Maraniss, author of They Marched Into Sunlight

The perfect marriage of author and subject.--David Maraniss, author of They Marched Into Sunlight

The perfect marriage of author and subject. --David Maraniss, author of They Marched Into Sunlight"

As a journalistic icon, Tarbell serves as both a high water mark for effective journalism and a sobering reminder of the limited power of the pen.--Tom Abate

Should be required reading in every newsroom in America.--Kitty Kelley, author of The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty

A story that ought to thrill any investigative reporter.--Michael Kazin

Synopsis:

This is the story of how a female journalist brought down the world's greatest tycoon and broke up the Standard Oil monopoly.Before the rise of mega-corporations like Microsoft, Standard Oil controlled the oil industry. Undaunted by the ruthless power of its owner, John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), a fearless and ambitious reporter, Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), confronted the company known as 'The Trust'. Through her fact gathering and devastating prose, Tarbell, a reporter at "McClure's Magazine", pioneered the practice of investigative journalism. Her discoveries about Standard Oil and Rockefeller led to a dramatic confrontation that culminated in the landmark 1911 Supreme Court antitrust decision which altered the landscape of American industry forever. Based on extensive research, "Taking on the Trust" is a dramatic history of the Progressive Era with powerful resonance for the first decades of the twenty-first century.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0393049353
• ISBN 13: 9780393049350
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320