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The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison's Ten-Year Road Trip Audiobook
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The fascinating story of two American giants—Henry Ford and Thomas Edison—whose annual summer sojourns introduced the road trip to our culture and made the automobile an essential part of modern life, even as their own relationship altered dramatically.
In 1914 Henry Ford and naturalist John Burroughs visited Thomas Edison in Florida and toured the Everglades. The following year Ford, Edison, and tire maker Harvey Firestone joined together on a summer camping trip and decided to call themselves the Vagabonds. They would continue their summer road trips until 1925, when they announced that their fame made it too difficult for them to carry on.
Although the Vagabonds traveled with an entourage of chefs, butlers, and others, this elite fraternity also had a serious purpose: to examine the conditions of America’s roadways and improve the practicality of automobile travel. Cars were unreliable and the roads were even worse. But newspaper coverage of these trips was extensive, and as cars and roads improved, the summer trip by automobile soon became a desired element of American life.
In The Vagabonds Jeff Guinn shares the story of this pivotal moment in American history. But he also examines the important relationship between the older Edison and the younger Ford, who once worked for the famous inventor. The road trips made the automobile ubiquitous and magnified Ford’s reputation, even as Edison’s diminished. The automobile had come of age and it would transform the American landscape, the American economy, and the American way of life.
Guinn brings to life this seminal moment when a new industry created a watershed cultural shift and a famous businessman became a prominent political figure. The Vagabonds is a wonderful story of two American giants and the transformation of the country.
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"[Guinn] has a lot of fun documenting the double takes from unsuspecting souls who saw Ford and his friends on the road…One of the pleasures of The Vagabonds is remembering a time when travelers—even those as wealthy as Firestone—did get lost, without the benefit of navigation systems to set them straight.”
— Christian Science Monitor
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“Highly recommended, especially for social historians, travel and camping enthusiasts, automotive specialists, naturalists, and also for general readers.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“As with many good books, this one is fun, serving as a chronicle of the trips and the eccentricity of the men who made them memorable…Guinn also shows us how different America was in the halcyon years before World War I.”
— Dallas Morning News -
“A fascinating slice of rarely considered American history.”
— Booklist -
“A fascinating snapshot of some of the less-famous years of American history…[and] a portrait of America’s burgeoning love affair with the automobile.”
— NPR
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About Jeff Guinn
Jeff Guinn is the bestselling author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Last Gunfight and Go Down Together, which was a finalist for an Edgar Award in 2010. Formerly an award-winning investigative journalist and now a frequent guest on national radio and television programs, he lives in Fort Worth, Texas.
About Josh Hamilton
Josh Hamilton was born in New York City, New York. His Broadway credits include Proof, The Cider House Rules, and The Coast of Utopia, and his films include Kicking and Screaming, The House of Yes, Alive, Online, and Outsourced. Josh has narrated several audiobooks, including Lando by Louis L’Amour and Stoner & Spaz by Ron Koertge. He and his wife Lily have one child.