By 1920, the immense scale Henry Ford's international fame could be matched only by the size of his financial assets and the magnitude of his ego. Though Henry would not wrest sole control of Ford Motor Company—the automobile manufacturer he founded with twelve investors in 1903—until the 1920s, the wild success of the car maker was attributed entirely to his individual genius. During Ford's early years, the company was virtually indistinguishable from its founder. "Fordism," as it came to be known—a system of mass production which combined the principles of "scientific management" with new manufacturing techniques, such as the assembly line—created more than fantastic profits for his company: it literally revolutionized industry on a global scale within twenty years of its implementation at Ford's factory in Highland Park, Michigan. Away from the factory, the Model T, produced between 1908 and 1927, defined the mass...