My Life and Work

Henry Ford tells how a farm boy who loved machines built his first car, founded the Ford Motor Company and created the Model T, a simple, strong car cheap enough for ordinary families. He explains the ideas behind mass production: standard parts, the moving assembly line introduced in 1913, constant cutting of costs and prices, and the famous decision of 1914 to pay workers five dollars a day, double the usual wage, so that they could buy what they made. He also gives his opinions on money, business, wages, charity and education.

Ford (1863–1947) wrote the book in 1922 with the journalist Samuel Crowther, and it was a best seller; 'Fordism' became a name for the age of mass production. It is also a document of his strong and sometimes notorious opinions. Its methods built on Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management.