The Land of Enterprise, Benjamin C.  Waterhouse
The Land of Enterprise, Benjamin C.  Waterhouse
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Land of Enterprise
A Business History of the United States

Author: Benjamin C. Waterhouse

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 7 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/11/2017


Synopsis

This groundbreaking account of the development of American business from the colonial period to the present explains that the history of the United States can best be understood not as a search for freedom—but as a search for wealth and prosperity.

The Land of Enterprise charts the development of American business from the colonial period to the present. It explores the nation’s evolving economic, social, and political landscape by examining how different types of enterprising activities rose and fell, how new labor and production technologies supplanted old ones—and at what costs—and how Americans of all stripes responded to the tumultuous world of business. In particular, historian Benjamin Waterhouse highlights the changes in business practices, the development of different industries and sectors, and the complex relationship between business and national politics.

From executives and bankers to farmers and sailors, from union leaders to politicians to slaves, business history is American history, and Waterhouse pays tribute to the unnamed millions who traded their labor (sometimes by choice, often not) or decided what products to consume (sometimes informed, often not). Their story includes those who fought against what they saw as an oppressive system of exploitation as well as those who defended free markets from any outside intervention. The Land of Enterprise is not only a comprehensive look into our past achievements, but offers clues as to how to confront the challenges of today’s world: globalization, income inequality, and technological change.

About Benjamin C. Waterhouse

Benjamin C. Waterhouse is a historian of American politics, business, and capitalism. Waterhouse graduated from Princeton University and received his PhD in history from Harvard University. He is currently an associate professor and Grauer Scholar at the University of North Carolina. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife Daniela and their two children. He is the author of Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA and The Land of Enterprise: A Business History of the United States.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Oktay on March 14, 2020

The Land of Enterprise is not only a comprehensive look into America's past achievements, but offers clues as to how to cope with the challenges of today’s world: globalization, income inequality, and technological change.......more

Goodreads review by B on February 07, 2023

An excellent book that traces how business (and small business in particular) has developed in the US from the colonist era to present time. Waterhouse analyses how small entrepreneurs used to be the organic backbone of the American economy and were gradually replaced by big corporations, how vertic......more

Goodreads review by Dean on June 25, 2017

Very disappointing. Might have been because I read after just finishing a very good read. Might be because as a student of American history and a capitalist that I knew everything in it already. I was definitely expecting more. Usually, when I read a great history book from a University professor I......more

Goodreads review by Ross on June 28, 2017

For those interested in the commercial history of the U.S. this is a nice overview from colonial days right up to the present. For this audience, there is probably little you haven't already heard of, but it is interesting to go through it all again. The author cites Coolidge's remark "The business o......more

Goodreads review by Brian on March 27, 2018

Sorry, but this book just left me feeling disappointed. Too much opinion, not enough objective analysis, especially toward the end.......more