American Business History

This volume explores the variety of business enterprise in the United States and analyzes its presence in the country's economy, its evolution over time, and its meaning in society.  

A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read “Eye opening, deeply researched, and snort-out-your-nose funny. I dare you to put it down.” —William Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing “Refreshingly unequivocal advice.” —Publishers Weekly In richly told stories and wild...

A leading economic historian traces the evolution of American capitalism from the colonial era to the present—and argues that we’ve reached a turning point that will define the era ahead. “The best one-volume history of American capitalism . . . It is impossible to understand the United...

READ BY ACTOR GEORGE NEWBERN NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Franklin Foer’s dark and witty tale of the soccer world reveals the meaning of globalization in all its joys and horrors.”—Robert Kagan Now available in audio, just in time for the 2026 World Cup in North America, the bestselling sports...

An absorbing and original narrative history of American capitalism NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY THE ECONOMIST From the days of the Mayflower and the Virginia Company, America has been a place for people to dream, invent, build, tinker, and bet the farm in pursuit of a better life. Americana...

The gripping, definitive account of the private family behind one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. “Pulls the curtain back on one of the country's most powerful and mysterious financial institutions … It’s a must read.” ―William D. Cohan , New York Times...

2019 was the last great year for the world economy. For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it. America...

A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.

In a grand-scale narrative history, the bestselling author of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize now captures the decades when capitalism was at its most unbridled and a few breathtakingly wealthy businessmen utterly transformed America from an agrarian economy to a world power. The years...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An explosive, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America’s oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies—from an award-winning investigative journalist “A damning portrait.”—Associated Press “A page-turning drama that raises...

From Wall Street to Main Street, John Brooks, longtime contributor to the New Yorker, brings to life in vivid fashion twelve classic and timeless tales of corporate and financial life in America. What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible...

Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business...

“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.” —New Yorker The famous bestseller with “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (Wall Street Journal) by the legendary San Francisco longshoreman. A...

"Read this book to understand human nature." (Preet Bharara) "An amazing story, well told.” (Anderson Cooper) "A masterful telling." (Dahlia Lithwick) From CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams, a revelatory account of how one man, four teenagers, and a struggling city collided over race...

“Authoritative… a tale that sits at the heart of the most significant geopolitical relationship today.” – Financial Times “There’s probably no better account of China’s rise to economic dominance as seen through the prism of a single company.” – The Wall Street Journal ABOUT...

A New York Times bestseller “Reading Davis is like returning to the classroom of the best teacher you ever had!” —People magazine From the arrival of Columbus through the historic election of Barack Obama and beyond, Kenneth C. Davis carries readers on a rollicking ride through more...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER What would actually make America great: more people. If the most challenging crisis in living memory has shown us anything, it’s that America has lost the will and the means to lead. We can’t compete with the huge population clusters of the global marketplace by keeping...

Should we stop caring about fading regional powers like China, Russia, Germany, and Iran? Will the collapse of international cooperation push France, Turkey, Japan, and Saudi Arabia to the top of international concerns? Most countries and companies are not prepared for the world Peter Zeihan...

*VANITY FAIR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025*ONE OF NEW REPUBLIC'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR*KIRKUS' BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2025*ONE OF AV CLUB'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025* "[An] indictment of an industry that has cannily tilted the playing field in its favor. Bad Company details how clichéd abstractions like...

Following in the footsteps of Robeson, Ali, Robinson and others, today’s Black athletes re-engage with social issues and the meaning of American patriotism Named a best book of 2018 by Library Journal It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state...