This is a book review, Fordlandia: the rise and fall of Henry Ford’s forgotten jungle city, written by Professor Greg Grandin. It talks about how Henry Ford built the American city in South America, Amazon, for rubber trees Grandin (2010). Ford needed rubber for cars production; it was the only suitable place in South America. He was looking for a place which looked like the American cities; with good streets and water to drink Watts(2005). The people there did not like how Henry Ford did his business and paid wages, so they developed a certain habit Raff and Summers (1987). They could get mad and drink their sorrows off all the time. After some time, the city Henry Ford was building was disorganized and got destroyed due to the people’s irresponsible behavior. Nobody could work in this place due to the unsuitable conditions that were present.
In this article, Macintyre explains the state of Fordlandia. He says that Fordlandia was a commercial enterprise, which was intended to extract raw materials for the production of motor cars Macintyre (2009). Things turned out differently as it was described as a civilizing mission; an attempt to build an ultimate American society within the Amazon. As put across in this mesmerizing account, also, it was a reflection of one man’s personality; that is arrogant, brilliant and very odd.
Macintyre comments about this book as very good book since it show the good and bad sides of Henry Ford. It also describes the way he made decisions that affected the way he made money in the areas that he visited. Another theme it explains is how he gave jobs to the people around the site he established so as to improve their livelihoods and the ways of living. Habit was first used as a noun in the 13th century to describe a certain attire of clerical of religious order. It was obtained from the Old French word ‘abit’. In the 14th century, habit was used to mean to possess or have. Habit can also be used to describe the form of addict of drugs Ford (1887).
Work Cited
Ford, H. (1887). Library reserch. Retrieved 03 20, 2014, from www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=habit&allowed_in_frame=0
Grandin, G. (2010). Fordlandia: The rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Fogotten Jungle City. New York : Picador.
Macintyre, B. (2009, July 16). Dearbor-on-Amazon. Retrieved 03 20, 2014, from New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/review/Macinntyre-t.html?pagewanted=all
Raff, D.M.G. & Summers, L.H. (1987, Oct). Did Henry Ford Pay Efficiency Wages. Retrieved 03 20, 2014, from Jounal of Labor Economics: gatton.uky.edu/faculty/sanford/401_s09/ford.pdf
Watts, S. (2005). The peoples tycoon; Henry Ford and the American Century. New York: A.A. Knopf.
