Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City Audiobook

" If I were to write a book about the rise and fall of Henry Ford's socialistic experiment in the Amazonian rain forest, this would be the book. While it was incredibly long, it was at the same time incredibly detailed. There aren't many people alive today who would understand, let alone remember, the context of these events. Greg Grandin does an excellent job of telling the story while also setting the context for them. I discovered an entire era of world history in this book, not just the tale of a larger-than-life man and his eccentric quest to reign in that which he had created (including his company, the industrial age, the loss of innocence, the war machine, and even his son). Worth the read. "

" Dull and long - don't bother "

" This book tells the story of Henry Ford's ambitious, well intentioned yet disastrous attempt to embed a slice of 1920's main street America into the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Fordlandia was meant to be the place that would supply Henry Ford's rubber insufficiencies back in the States. On account of arrogance, mismanagement, naivety, and plain stupidity however, Fordlandia only every amounted to a money pit for a Ford and a slum of discontented and broken down native Brazilian workers. Grandin's historical portrayal throughout the book is exceptional. Ford was a complex man full of the grandest ambitions and dreams that he hoped would shape America and the later the whole world. He was also a man who through his actions contradicted nearly everything that he claimed to believe in. He left behind a legacy of both good and bad by my assessment. Fordlandia was only one of Ford's many great endeavor's. Grandin's treatment of Ford's handling of this Brazilian industrial utopia sheds a lot of light on not only the history of the town itself but on Ford and what made him tick. "

" While the topic was interesting, this book took forever to get through and I found it a bit boring, if I'm honest. "

" Kind of a tough slog but wow Henry Ford had the ego. Who knew about this city? I never had... "

" For fans of Brave New World and 1984, this is an interesting book to get an idea of the social climate surrounding the writing of both books. "

" Awesome read. I had no idea what a role he played in the Amazon. "

" Excellent book. Greg Grandin does a great job covering this little known story of Ford's attempt to transplate midwest America in the Amazon. "

" Rated it a bit higher than the actual writing merits - only because the story is so fascinating. Henry Ford was such a complex character, transformational not just for creating the industry, but for his ideas to build a society & mold people in the ways he wanted Americans to be. "

" Interesting story primarily documenting the story of Ford's push into the Amazon Rain Forest to create a city for cultivated rubber production. Overall, the lessons and information about Henry Ford was fascinating--both the positive and the more negative attributes. "

" This is a fascinating book about Henry Ford, the early years of the auto industry, and his hare-brained scheme to build a city in the middle of the Amazon jungle. I had to turn it back in after reading up to page 100. "

" Ended up stopping this one before finishing....after it took more than the first third for them to GET to the Amazon, it fell short of expectations. "

" Ford's personality comes through pretty clearly in this book--apparently, you can create a nice car and still be a wackjob. Not sure the biography builds to the big, insightful finish that the author intended, but the portrait of the main character is solid and memorable. "

" Interesting. But if you want to read a book about the Amazon, read The Lost City of Z, by David Grann. "

" Superb book on a piece of history that I never knew about.Beau SmithThe Flying Fist Ranch "

" Rated it a bit higher than the actual writing merits - only because the story is so fascinating. Henry Ford was such a complex character, transformational not just for creating the industry, but for his ideas to build a society & mold people in the ways he wanted Americans to be. "

" An interesting story told with admirable thoroughness but, to be honest, I found it a bit of a slog towards the end. "

" Pretty good, but I didn't finish it. "

" Extremely eye-opening and an amazing cultural commentary. My only complaint is that they didn't include more pictures! "