Chris Manno reviews<\/span><\/span> The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip <\/em>by Fort Worth’s Jeff Guinn<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pilots and sailors know that in a boundless expanse such as the sky or the sea, you have to choose a deliberate focal point, or crucial details will remain indistinguishable to the naked eye. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the strategy behind Jeff Guinn\u2019s The Vagabonds<\/em>\u2014it\u2019s not about Edison, and it\u2019s not about Ford; rather, this is a richly detailed view of their friendship, set against the backdrop of the early twentieth century. There are a dozen ways this strategy could go wrong\u2014but it doesn\u2019t. In fact, Vagabonds<\/em> is a cohesive, richly detailed historical narrative that you get to live rather than just read.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing I turn to in a nonfiction book is the reference section in the back to know if I can trust what I read up front. The plentiful factual details are there, and Guinn reports that he actually drove the route the Edison-Ford-Firestone party took on each of their road trips. Most importantly, Guinn resists the inclination to summarize and pronounce conclusions, the downfall of many historical accounts, in favor of an objective telling of detailed, factually supported research through which he achieves the ideal balance of a comprehensive narrative with a nearly invisible narrator. The end result is a vivid and fascinating reader experience.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The narrative opens in the early part of the twentieth century against the backdrop of industrialization and modernization that catapulted both Edison and his younger admirer Ford to national prominence as leaders, innovators, and social icons. The end result is a volatile interaction between not only the two inventors, but also their relationship and the wider perspective of America embracing not only the two innovators, but also their innovations. This is America waking up to modernization in both thinking and culture.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many startling revelations in the book, but again Guinn doesn\u2019t preach or judge. Rather, the reader discovers the peculiar cultural biases\u2014most startling, in Ford\u2019s case, was his antisemitic strategies and Nazi recognition of his antisemitism by Hitler\u2014and socio-political efforts by both men. There\u2019s no modern context by which any of this could be judged, and Guinn wisely doesn\u2019t try. Instead, the reader is fully immersed in the twentieth-century animas of America navigating the crises of two world wars and multiple financial disasters. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ford and Edison each leveraged their cultural and political ethos not only to sell their products, but also their heartfelt visions for a better America. The hindsight of a century allows the reader a unique, fascinating perspective of a crucial period in American history. I would go so far as to say Guinn has created an essential companion reader for any American history course examining the early twentieth century.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Guinn\u2019s style is smooth and easily readable, engaging and quietly self-effacing. The Vagabonds<\/em> is an innovative, captivating, close-up experience that puts the reader in the driver\u2019s seat\u2014literally, with Ford and Edison aboard\u2014on multiple, intriguing, often surprising road trips through not only American history, culture, and politics, but also the lives of two key twentieth century figures. I hated to see it end.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Manno reviews The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip by Fort Worth’s Jeff Guinn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[920,1008,870,813,830,917,812],"class_list":["post-1677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biography","tag-history","tag-lonestarindiereview","tag-lone-star-literary-life","tag-lonestarliterarycom","tag-nonfiction","tag-texas-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}