Review by Choice Review
This well-written, scholarly book examines the origins of the American capitalism as we know it today. Through an analytical biography of four great entrepreneurs of antebellum America--Samuel Colt, Horatio Nelson Slater, John Fox Slater, and Amos Adams Lawrence--B. Tucker (history, Eastern Connecticut State Univ.) and K. Tucker (sociology, Mount Holyoke College) show that many of the now commonplace facets of the American manufacturing industry such as mass production, brand promotion, least-cost input combination, government protection, and even globalization have their roots in the work of those early entrepreneurs. The authors' main conclusion is that contrary to the general belief among economists that any production system changes its nature only in response to economic variables, there is constant interaction between the cultural values of a society and its economic system. For example, people's way of life, national aspiration, and history play a big part in shaping an economic system and vice versa; economic phenomena such as product prices, input scarcity, and production techniques greatly influence the cultural values. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, and faculty. M. Seyedian SUNY Fredonia
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
