Description
Author: Anthony Rhodes, Hardbound, 233 Pages, ISBN: B0006BYYI2, First American Edition, 1970 - Second-Hand book in excellent unread condition !
The career of France's "Henry Ford" makes a fascinating story. Louis Renault built up his eventually vast holdings from scratch. From the early days of the automobile, when he and his brother entered the wild races then popular in Europe, to his ultimate defeat and imprisonment after World War II for alleged collaboration with the Germans, his work was his life. His success reached a peak during and after World War I, when he was decorated with the Legion of Honor for his contribution of efficient light tanks. He had no serious competitor until the thirties, but the ensuing extensive strikes -broke his stride, and other firms began to compete successfully with him, especially Citroen.
Yet his company held its own until World War II. Catastrophe followed. Short-handed, lacking materials, he could not produce the many different vehicles demanded of him. There followed the Occupation. Like most French industrialists, he was fast to accept, at least partially, the demands of the Germans. Mr. Rhodes charges that the imputed excessive collaboration was unjust. At any rate, Louis Renault ended his life in prison.
These are a few of the central facts of Renault's life. They cannot do justice to the fascination the reader will feel as he almost literally participates in the exciting adventure of building a huge enterprise single-handed. The career of Renault, the greatest French industrialist of his time, spans the first half of the 20th century and symbolizes the whole panorama of French political and industrial life through this great transition period in Western history.
