The Profiteers
Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World
Published on 1. March 2016
Book
Hardback
448 pages
978-1-4767-0646-7 (ISBN)
Description
The tale of the Bechtel family dynasty is a classic American business story. It begins with Warren A. Bechtel, who led a consortium that constructed the Hoover Dam. From that auspicious start, the family and its eponymous company would go on to "build the world," from the construction of airports in Hong Kong and Doha, to pipelines and tunnels in Alaska and Europe, to mining and energy operations around the globe.
Today Bechtel is one of the largest privately held corporations in the world, enriched and empowered by a long history of government contracts and the privatization of public works, made possible by an unprecedented revolving door between its San Francisco headquarters and Washington. Bechtel executives John McCone, Caspar Weinberger, and George P. Shultz segued from leadership at the company to positions as Director of the CIA, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State, respectively.
Like all stories of empire building, the rise of Bechtel presents a complex and riveting narrative. In The Profiteers, Sally Denton, exposes Bechtel's secret world and one of the biggest business and political stories of our time.
Today Bechtel is one of the largest privately held corporations in the world, enriched and empowered by a long history of government contracts and the privatization of public works, made possible by an unprecedented revolving door between its San Francisco headquarters and Washington. Bechtel executives John McCone, Caspar Weinberger, and George P. Shultz segued from leadership at the company to positions as Director of the CIA, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State, respectively.
Like all stories of empire building, the rise of Bechtel presents a complex and riveting narrative. In The Profiteers, Sally Denton, exposes Bechtel's secret world and one of the biggest business and political stories of our time.
Reviews / Votes
"Investigative reporter Sally Denton has deftly pulled back the curtains on one of the most consequential business dynasties in America. "The Profiteers" is eye-opening reading for anyone who truly wants to understand how money, government and power intersect." - Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money and staff writer for The New Yorker magazine "In the highest tradition of investigative journalism, Sally Denton tells the compelling, troubling story of a vast enterprise that has blurred the lines between governmental and corporate power. This is how our nation really works, and this is a book that's impossible to ignore. So don't." - Walter Kirn, author of Blood Will Out and Up in the Air "Investigative journalist Denton offers an ambitious "empire biography" of the Bechtel family and the secretive, privately held construction company-turned-diversified international conglomerate that has been "inextricably enmeshed" in U.S. foreign policy for seven decades. In this incredible-seeming but deeply researched book, the author traces the phenomenal rise of the California-based corporation that became famous for building the Hoover Dam and went on to handle billion-dollar projects from the Channel Tunnel to the Big Dig.... Filled with stories of cronyism and influence peddling, Denton's riveting and revealing book will undoubtedly displease the so-called "boys from Bechtel."- Kirkus "The author's journalistic writing style is fast paced, hard-hitting, and engaging.... This book will interest readers who enjoy contemporary U.S. history, Middle Eastern history, political science, and public works spending." - Library Journal "Denton dutifully reports Bechtel's denials of influence-peddling but plainly doesn't believe them. Instead, she maps coincidences between the government tenure of a Bechtel executive, such as George Schultz, and projects his former agency later awarded to Bechtel. However readers view the company, Denton's extensively researched work informs readers about the firm's maintenance as a privately held concern during its growth into a huge, multinational enterprise."
- Booklist "In this compelling corporate history, she artfully detail show Bechtel accrued power by exploiting the "revolving door of capitalism," through which its executives have glided effortlessly, moving between the company headquarters and the corridors of power in the nation's capital." - The National Book Review
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
2x8pg 4-c inserts;
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
667 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4767-0646-7 (9781476706467)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sally Denton is an investigative reporter, author, and historian who writes about the subjects others ignore-from a drug conspiracy in Kentucky to organized crime in Las Vegas; from corruption within the Mormon Church to the hidden history of Manifest Destiny; from one of America's bitterest political campaigns to the powerful forces against Franklin D. Roosevelt. She has received the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Woodrow Wilson Public Scholar Fellowship, and the Black Mountain/Kluge Fellowship. She is the author of, among others, The Money and the Power, American Massacre, The Bluegrass Conspiracy, and The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World.