Big Dams and Other Dreams: The Six Companies Story

ISBN-13: 9780806141626 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 354 str.

Donald E. Wolf

Opis

"A freewheeling saga about western American industrial might"

Who conceived of the Hoover, Bonneville, and Grand Coulee dams? Who laid the financial foundations for the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay bridges? In Big Dams and Other Dreams, Donald E. Wolf recounts how the interests of the visionary men behind these projects coincided during the early twentieth century, what they accomplished, and what has become of the empires they created.

In twelve colorful, thoroughly researched chapters, Wolf gracefully renders the story of Six Companies, a combine of firms led by industrial giants Henry J. Kaiser, Marriner Eccles, Harry Morrison, Charles Swigert, Philip Hart, Felix Kahn, and Charlie Shea, among others. Together, these executives played a major role in developing the modern American West and in building the structures we associate with it. Then, as World War II threatened, they undertook ever more spectacular projects.

Using a wide range of sources and interviews, Wolf weaves personal, political, and industrial history into a compelling account that will appeal to historians and general readers alike.

Who were the men of Six Companies who built the great Hoover, Bonneville, and Grand Coulee Dams and laid the foundations for the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay Bridges? In twelve colorful, thoroughly researched chapters, Richard Wolf tells how the interests of these strong men coincided, what they accomplished, and what has become of the empires they created.The Bechtels designed and built much of the postwar infrastructure on a half-dozen continents while constructing the worlds largest engineering firm. Henry J. Kaiser created an empire of steel, aluminum, chemicals, cement, automobiles, and health care. Marriner Eccles, who succeeded the Wattis brothers as the head of Utah Construction Company, also served as Franklin Roosevelts chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Harry Morrison was head of the Morrison Knudsen Company, which dominated international construction in the mid-twentieth century. Charles Swigert and Philip Hart of Pacific Bridge, Felix Kahn of McDonald and Kahn, and Charlie Shea all were original Six Companies partners. Donald E. Wolf is the former president and chief operating officer of Wolf and Company, a small engineering firm New York State. Richard Lowitt is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma.