| Description |
296 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-288) and index. |
| Contents |
Part I. Muscle Shoals. Where the river sings -- The Wonder City at war -- Uncle Henry -- $8 a second -- Camping with the presidents -- Politics and public relations -- The twin wizards -- Roadblock -- President Henry Ford -- Boomtown. Swampland and whiskey -- A party of one -- The 75-mile city -- Gutters of political filth -- The last meeting -- Scandal -- Part III. TVA. The Alabama ghost -- A new deal -- "I'm goin' to die for the government' -- Electric nation -- A sign in the sky |
| Summary |
"During the roaring twenties, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, two of the most revered and influential men in America, proposed to transform one of the country's poorest regions into a shining metropolitan paradise. It would be a new kind of city, with giant factories and small farms stretching for miles. Powered by renewable energy, their 'Detroit of the South' would be ten times the size of Manhattan, and it would reshape American society, introducing mass commuting by car, and be paid for with a new kind of currency call 'energy dollars.' The whole audacious scheme almost came off with southerners rallying to support what became known as the Ford plan and many pushing for the car magnate to run for president. But while some saw it as a way to conjure the future and reinvent the South, others saw it as one of the most brazen land grabs of all time. Both were true. Electric City is a rich chronicle of the time and the social backdrop and offers a fresh look at the lives of the two men who almost saw the project to fruition, the forces that came to oppose them, and what rose in its stead: one of the greatest achievements of the New Deal."--book jacket. |
| Subject |
Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
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Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931.
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Cities and towns -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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City planning -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Muscle Shoals (Ala.) -- History -- 20th century.
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Tennessee River Valley -- History -- 20th century.
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| Added Title |
Lost history of Ford and Edison's American utopia |
| ISBN |
9781419747960 |
|
1419747967 |
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