Henry Ford (review)

Book Reviews 117 who followed her husband into the wilderness and found herself captured twice. Another essay claims that the favorable post-war image of Tecumseh “became a magnet for folktales and folkways” that magnified his reputation far more than his achievements deserved (p. 220). Other interesting essays deal with the rebuilding of Detroit after the fire of 1805, the role of taverns in political and social life of the village, African Americans’ and African Canadians’ use of the border to achieve freedom and their fighting for both sides at the Battle of Lake Erie, Detroit’s celebration of peace in 1815, and the importance of the 1817 Rush-Bagot Agreement in demilitarizing the lakes. The final essay recounts how William Darby’s 1819 geographic survey of Michigan sought to revise the unfavorable image of the territory to possible emigrants and investors. There’s a lot truth in Joshua Zimberg’s conclusion that “Like a cold breeze across the waters of the Detroit River, the American occupation of Amherstburg spread an icy chill in the region that did not easily thaw” (p. 202). Needless to say, this book covers a lot of territory, often too briefly. Some of it has been discussed previously in greater detail. Many essays fail to see subjects in the wider context of the time, and there are minor errors of fact or emphasis that misinform the reader. Nonetheless, Border Crossings provides an interesting and effective introduction to a complex and controversial period of Michigan and Ontario history. David Curtis Skaggs Professor Emeritus, Bowling Green State University Vincent Curcio. Henry Ford. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 306. Index. Cloth, $24.95. What more is left to be written about Henry Ford? Given the hundreds if not thousands of books written on one of the most famous and influential Americans in history, every biographer who tackles the enigmatic and contradictory Ford deals with this question. Does a fresh biographical look offer new sources? Is it a dramatic new interpretation? Does a new book on Ford focus on a particular event or angle? Emphasize some aspect of his infuriating, engaging and powerful personality? Or, as Vincent Curcio has done in this brief yet accessible biography of the man and his times, does it simply provide, as we recognize the sesquicentennial of Ford’s 1864 birth, a welcome refresher and a useful 118 The Michigan Historical Review reminder of just how important Ford is? Curcio’s Henry Ford shows that despite all the time that has passed since his death in 1947, all the volumes written on Ford, and all his warts, Ford remains a giant of American history, and of modernity itself. If there is a thesis in the book, it is that Ford was a man in motion. Movement defined Ford and the world that he did so much to create. Fast paced, the book breezily covers virtually all of the amazingly hectic episodes of the Ford arc: his early days, the determination to create a car for ordinary people, the success of the Model T, and then the many, many stories of the impact of Ford’s creative destruction, and Ford’s fame. Nor does the book simply gloss over many of the difficulties of the Ford story. There is an able discussion of Ford’s anti-Semitism, his infidelity (leading to a son), and of course his descent as the old man became disconnected, paranoid, and dependent upon unsavory characters. At the same time, Curcio makes some very useful contributions to the Ford narrative, including the emphasis on Ford’s “team of rivals,” wherein Curcio underscores the essential roles of some of Ford’s key subordinates, such as James Couzens, Charles Sorenson, and William Knudsen. As Curcio rightfully points out, these men on their own would be considered giants, but because they are obscured by Ford’s enormous shadow, they are often overlooked. Another welcome emphasis is Ford’s objectionable role in the banking crisis of 1933, providing a useful analogy to our own financial difficulties in the twentyfirst century. Here we see another side of Ford in important events that are often given short shrift in other Ford biographies. Indeed, Curcio doesn...