The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America Audiobook

Quotes

• “What a splendid book! The rise and fall of A&P provides a rare window into the American experience…The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America shows that even the largest corporate goliaths are not immune to the insistent forces of competition and change. No one could have told this riveting tale better than Levinson—a historian, journalist, and economist—whose crisp and compelling writing makes the narrative’s rich detail always run smoothly.”

  — Robert J. Samuelson, columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post

• “Admirably researched…Provides the details of this history with readable concision…Mr. Levinson writes engagingly, and he exhibits no overt political brief. Anyone with a common-sense grasp of business practices will find the author’s points clearly and fairly presented.”

  — Wall Street Journal

• “Levinson, who has burrowed deep in the archives, makes this story clear and compelling—and shows why A&P was both a boon to consumers and, in the words of an FDR-era federal prosecutor, ‘a gigantic blood sucker.’”

  — Atlantic Monthly

• “The rise of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is a riveting business story, but it turns out the tale of its decline is equally mesmerizing. Levinson brings the rise and fall of the A&P to life in spellbinding prose…Set against the backdrop of America’s rapidly changing business environment over the past century, Levinson skillfully weaves multiple narratives into a fascinating tale that provides a wealth of lessons for any reader interested in American history, economics, politics, or family business dynamics.”

  — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

• “This is the kind of masterful business narrative that explains both the past and the present in an illuminating new light. Marc Levinson’s highly insightful story of A&P—and its opponents—is essential reading for all those who seek to understand the love-hate relationship Americans have with the oversized consumer economy of our own day.”

  — Nelson Lichtenstein, author of The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business

• “The A&P story is a fascinating case history within the evolution of the US grocery industry. Levinson makes it read like a novel, full of interesting anecdotes and references to a large bibliography. Anyone interested in the retail industry may find this book a great study of responding to the need to adapt to market and economic pressures to survive.”

  — Booklist

• “A well-conceived, lively history with obvious contemporary relevance.”

  — Kirkus Reviews