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by chriskelley 4299 days ago
Great write-up, really piqued my interest in Rockefeller. Any good reads you can recommend?
3 comments

I read Titan. Interestingly, it documents how SO's market share was declining steadily throughout the anti-trust trial, and Rockefeller was unable to stop it.

It runs against the conventional story of SO being an inevitable monopoly.

Well, at the time, the kerosene market was declining and there was nothing bringing it back. Right after the breakup, Henry Ford finally perfected the automobile, and Standard Oil came right back.
Market share isn't the same thing as market size. The point being, SO was losing to competitors.
Very true. From 1870 to 1890 SO was 90% of the oil market. By 1907 they were 68%.

Their main competition was from Russia oddly enough.

Thanks. The Prize by Daniel Yergin isn't bad either.
The Prize doesn't get into Rockefeller's business decisions as much as Titan though. If that's what you're after, Titan is a better choice.
It is meticulously researched, though, and the bibliography is as good a place as any to look for further reading on Rockefeller.

Above and beyond that, simply as a history of the most important substance in all of human history beyond sheer biological necessities, it's utterly fascinating. It's principally through Yergin's work that I came to pretty much diametrically opposite conclusions of the future of energy from his.

The documentary series "The Men Who Built America" is a really well done overview of some of these guys.
The problem with these american HC documentaries is that they are employ certain stylistic means which make them impossible to watch for me.
What stylistic means, if you don't mind my asking?
Overtly bias portrayals to an extent that it becomes celebratory in nature. While I can understand the need to do so, it has become so ingrained that it is impossible find any historically objective documentary that allows viewers to understand the mindset of the period.
Thanks. So, hagiographic? Or just plain biased.
Note that the person who answered your question wasn't the person you asked it of.
I wish this was on Netflix streaming. I find this type of history really appealing.
It's on Amazon Prime;)
Very nice, thanks!
You can also watch "The men who built america"