"The Fords: An American Epic" by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, is an older book (1987), but a very readable history. I've read a number of books on Henry Ford and found this one to be the book I'd most recommend for readability. Ford was a fascinating man who proved that genius in one area doesn't necessarily translate into even common sense in other areas.

Whoops, of course I meant Douglas Brinkley. Here's a link to the book on amazon. I should mention that while this book was written by an historian, it is very readable. So much so that I'm certain Brinkley had a wide readership in mind while he was writing. Wheels for the World

Pubes:

Any good Ford bio covers Ford's wickedness.

Anybody can type in "Henry Ford" into Amazon.com search box in order to get books about him as well as reader reviews. I can't take Eugene's request as genuine. I'll say one positive thing about Ford though: his philosophy was to pay his factory workers well. It wasn't altruism that drove this policy, but rather he hoped that his workers would purchase Fords with their savings. Wal-mart doesn't seem to feel the same way towards its employees. Btw, the activities of many of America's iconic business leaders, past and present, like Rockefeller, Ford, Kennedy etc. were of the most unethical or illegal kind. It is generally not a romantic story. Crooks have succeeded and gotten away with millions because of weak laws, corrupt politicians, public apathy etc. Because I believe in deterents, I favor the death penalty (firing squad) for white collar crime that resulted in the looting of vast sums of money. Maybe then the Kowalskis of the country will think twice.

"It wasn't altruism that drove this policy, but rather he hoped that his workers would purchase Fords with their savings."

Stupid. Ford could only dream of recovering a fraction of what he gave them. Perhaps on some marginal level, where they were right on the cusp of being able to afford a car, would it make sense to give them a raise. But as a general principle that makes little sense. It wasn't altrusim, of course, he wanted the best workers to come, and the best workers to stay. The monotonous work resulted in lots of workers leaving, the "higher" wage he gave them was necessary to keep his turnover at acceptable levels.

Also, Volokh's request is of course sincere. He believes that his readership will give a more reliable recommendation than random amazon reviews. What is so crazy about that? Please take your vitriole and agenda somewhere else.

Doesn't it matter why you are reading the biography, Jeff? If you are reading it for business ideas or finding out where Ford fits in the dynamics of the automobile industry's history, his religious, political or social views are not worth much. While his anti-semitism is a part of his life story, it has nothing to do with his contribution to the auto industry.

Indeed, Ford was somewhat of a idiot savant. His genius was making simple the complexity of the machinery and the business of the autmobile, seeing how it would revolutionize the transportation industry. Otherwise, he was surprisingly uneducated, ignorant, stubborn and naive. Unfortunately, the wealth his genius brought him allowed him to indulge activities about which he was abysmally ignorant.

Good heavens! Now I must apparently have ulterior motives for a simple request for advice about a book. My request can't be "genuine" because "Anybody can type in 'Henry Ford' into Amazon.com search box in order to get books about him as well as reader reviews." Well, as you might gather, I did type it in, I did see lots of books, I did see that they mostly got pretty good reader reviews -- but could it be that I just wanted to get a bit more perspective from my readers?

Plus, what would my ulterior motive be? It would be a little odd for me to be trying to spread anti-Semitism. Isn't it a little more plausible that the ostensible reason is in fact the real reason -- I'm trying to get, as a present for someone, a biography of an interesting and important figure (one who has bad sides to him as well as good ones), and I'm looking for tips about which is the most readable one? Sounds to me like Puberty is having some hormonal problems.