Title: Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Publication Date: 2009
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0805082360
ISBN 13: 9780805082364
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Edition
Condition: As New
Dust Jacket Condition: As New
Dimensions: 2.86 centimeters width by 15.24 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
Weight: 703.068 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The stunning, never before told story of the quixotic attempt to recreate small-town America in the heart of the Amazon

In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon. His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a more ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice-cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets.

Fordlandia, as the settlement was called, quickly became the site of an epic clash. On one side was the car magnate, lean, austere, the man who reduced industrial production to its simplest motions; on the other, the Amazon, lush, extravagant, the most complex ecological system on the planet. Ford's early success in imposing time clocks and square dances on the jungle soon collapsed, as indigenous workers, rejecting his midwestern Puritanism, turned the place into a ribald tropical boomtown. Fordlandia's eventual demise as a rubber plantation foreshadowed the practices that today are laying waste to the rain forest.

More than a parable of one man's arrogant attempt to force his will on the natural world, Fordlandia depicts a desperate quest to salvage the bygone America that the Ford factory system did much to dispatch. As Greg Grandin shows in this gripping and mordantly observed history, Ford's great delusion was not that the Amazon could be tamed but that the forces of capitalism, once released, might yet be contained.
Fordlandia is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

About the Author

Greg Grandin is the author of Fordlandia, Empire's Workshop, The Last Colonial Massacre, and the award-winning The Blood of Guatemala. An associate professor of Latin American history at New York University, and a Guggenheim fellow, Grandin has served on the United Nations Truth Commission investigating the Guatemalan Civil War and has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New Statesman, and The New York Times.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Come see our shop at 901 Throckmorton in downtown Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Mon - Fri 11-3, Saturday 11-4. Our website is barbersbookstore dot com or you can see us on facebook under Barber's Bookstore. Our bookstore is the oldest in Texas. Our online inventory is viewable by appointment.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Association Member

Members of these associations are committed to maintaining the highest standards. They vouch for the authenticity of all items offered for sale. They provide expert and detailed descriptions, disclose all significant defects and/or restorations, provide clear and accurate pricing, and operate with fairness and honesty during the purchase experience.

Seller's business information

Thylacine Books
TX, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

If paying by check or money order please make them to Brian Perkins. Books are shipped surface mail unless by prior special arrangement. We ship books once a week. A reciprocal 10% discount is offered to the owners of brick & mortar bookstores located in Texas. No refunds on genealogical materials. We no longer accept paypal on international orders.

Shipping Terms

Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	5 to 14 business days	5 to 6 business days
First item	US$ 6.00	US$ 6.00

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.