The automaker's controversial legacy at the 150th anniversary of his birth

"An illuminating collection of quotes, offering new insights on Henry Ford's sweeping achievements as one of America's greatest industrialists. His pithy perspectives will remain an inspiration well into the twenty-first century."3/4Sarah Miller Caldicott, great-grandniece of Thomas Edison, coauthor of Innovate Like Edison and author of Midnight Lunch

"Provides unique insight into Henry Ford's uneven mind, a mind that both shaped and reflected early twentieth-century American life. Albion's clear, concise introductions to each chapter help the reader place Ford's words in proper and helpful context."3/4Kevin Borg, author of Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth-Century America

"Helps us to understand something of Ford's influence through this extremely interesting selection of his statements on a range of topics."3/4Paul Israel, director of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University

Brilliant businessman, successful entrepreneur, pioneer of the low-price, mass-produced motor vehicle, and profoundly important to twentieth-century American life, Henry Ford was also a character of little-known but surprising contradictions.

Ford sported a hefty ego yet suffered from a pathological dislike of public speaking. He pioneered forty-hour work weeks and a minimum wage yet hated labor unions. He was a pacifist yet admired the efficiency of Nazi Germany. Such fascinating inconsistencies stand out sharply in The Quotable Henry Ford, an uncompromising presentation of the automaker's own voice.

Michele Albion's selection of quotes addresses widely varying topics: cars, employees, money, education, nature, family, politics, urbanization, and even world peace. "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black," said Ford, who knew that black paint dried faster, allowing for increased production of vehicles. He also told women to go easy on cheating husbands, explaining "they are simply trying to hold on to their youth"--a statement made the same year as the birth of a boy who was likely his illegitimate son.

Historians, teachers, car experts, Ford enthusiasts, and anyone interested in early twentieth-century America will discover that Henry Ford was very complicated, and very human. His words were often brilliant, often folksy, but often his own worst enemy.

Michele Wehrwein Albion was the first professional curator of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. She is the author of The Florida Life of Thomas Edison and The Quotable Edison.