The History of the Standard Oil Company

by Ida Tarbell, Danny Schechter (Introduction)

"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 • 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 exposé. 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 Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal (Cosimo).

Genres: History, Politics

406 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American teacher, author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era, work known in modern times as "investigative journalism". She wrote many notable magazine series and biographies. She is best-known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company, which was listed as No. 5 in a 1999 list by the New York Times of the top 100 works of 20th-century American journalism.[1] She became the first person to take on Standard Oil. She began her work on The Standard after her editors at McClure's Magazine called for a story on one of the trusts.

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Reviews

[Jamie from The Doer Co · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Robert K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this book but sadly Ida Tarbell was not a storyteller but rather an accumulator of facts that left me still not knowing exactly what John D. Rockefeller did or did not do to establish his reputation. I like someone like Erik Larson who can weave a tapestry of facts into a fine story.

[Carol Spears · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.