The Fords: An American Epic

Collier and Horowitz (The Kennedys, The Rothschilds) vividly depict the career of Henry Ford, the quirky turn-of-the-century automobile inventor who put America on wheels with his homely everyman-type car, the Model T, in the 1920s""the first and last great giant of the auto industry.'' He appointed his only son, Edsel, head of the company but tormented him by limiting his authority, promoted anti-Semitism and hired a union-busting tough, Harry Bennett, who nearly took over the company. This saga pulls at the emotions while instructing readers about harsh business realities and human frailty as we watch Edsel's four children and numerous grandchildren contend with celebrity and great wealth, ill health, alcoholism, family jealousy, sense of failure and marital unhappiness. Finally, we're shown Henry Ford II, who after World War II assumed authority as his father never could, and become a national figure by leading the Ford Motor Company to great renewed successat a great personal price. Major ad/promo; BOMC selection; author tour. (October)