Sách The Michelin Men: Driving an Empire

From Publishers Weekly
Lottman (Man Ray's Montparnasse), former European correspondent for PW, delivers an intriguing history of the French family-controlled tire company that had its beginnings in 1832, when two cousins opened a factory in the small central French town of Clermont-Ferrand. Two of the founders' grandsons, Edouard and Andre Michelin, took over and began manufacturing rubber bicycle tires. They later expanded to the production of tires for automobiles and planes, advertising their wares by sponsoring long-distance races and, in 1900, publishing the first Guide Michelin, which encouraged travel by car. Even more successful promotion occurred when Bidendum, the rotund company logo, was created. Considering that Lottman did not have the cooperation of the Michelins, renowned for obsessive secrecy in product development and finances, his readable account is surprisingly detailed about the inner workings of the business. He presents the positive aspects of their enterprise, including a reputation for quality and innovation (they invented a detachable tire in 1891 and the radial tire in 1946) that insured dominance of the international tire market. Their highly popular, incorruptible travel guides still advise travelers where to eat and lodge. Lottman, however, does not neglect Michelin's less attractive activities. The company has always been paternalistic and virulently anti-union, and, in the early years, fired labor activists. Lottman explains that before WWII, some family members were involved in a right-wing terrorist bombing and, during the war, the company cooperated with the Vichy government and produced war materiel for the Nazis. Photos.
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From Booklist
Lottman's saga of the Michelin family and the tire and travel guide empire it built begins with a preceding operation, which by 1833 had evolved into a producer of rubber products. Brothers Edouard, an engineering mastermind, and Andre, a marketing and advertising genius, revived the small company, located in the Auvergne region of France. While car production grew and changed radically after 1900, rubber tires remained a necessity, and the Michelins were prepared to take advantage of that fact. They searched relentlessly for new ways to publicize and market their products, in the process creating an automobile-based tourist industry with guidebooks sporting the world-famous logo of the Michelin Man. With a legacy of growth and flexibility built upon a companywide commitment to quality, by the end of the twentieth century Michelin dominated the world tire market. This fascinating story was written without the help of company management, enhancing its objectivity. Mary Whaley
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