Taming the Octopus

"[A] bold new book...Both activist critics and paternalist CEOs [are] colorfully accounted for...An excellent vehicle for clarity.--Hamilton Craig ""Compact"" Reveal[s] how alluring narratives have nurtured corporate power...a detailed and timely history.--Adam M. Lowenstein ""The American Prospect"" [A] sharp study of the struggle to hold corporations accountable in the 20th century....[A] riveting look at corporations' ever-shifting role in American society.-- ""Publishers Weekly"" In this astute history, [Kyle Edward] Williams charts the evolution of the corporation into its outsized and seemingly predatory role in American life, along with prominent efforts undertaken to reform it...[T]he author's consistently lively presentation of the drama involved in battles over profits and social welfare creates an engaging narrative...A fascinating account of efforts to rein in the excesses of capitalism.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" The history of the corporation finally comes to life in Kyle Edward Williams's gripping and surprising new book. Deftly moving inside and outside the boardroom, Williams uncovers a wide cast of characters engaged in a fierce debate about the purpose of the central economic institution in American life. I know of no better single book on the relationship between corporate power and social responsibility in American life. Essential reading.--Jonathan Levy, author of Ages of American Capitalism: A History of the United States Do the huge corporations that now so control our economy and pollute our politics have any obligations other than the pursuit of profit? Taming the Octopus tells the surprising, chilling story of how America originally had, then lost, then gained again, and then surrendered protections--even from the Goliaths now fueling authoritarianism and ecological collapse.--Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America Fascinating and timely, Taming the Octopus is a revelatory history of the fight to make corporations more responsible to their stakeholders, and to the larger society. Kyle Edward Williams shows that social responsibility has been imposed on corporations not primarily by liberal reformers from the outside but often by business leaders themselves. A must-read for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of corporate capitalism.--Adam Winkler, author of We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights"