Michael Smith has compiled the first essentially complete record of modern business enterprise in France. He details, sector by sector, the rise of leading firms, whose similarities far outweighed their differences with counterparts in other countries. This study makes a valuable, long-needed contribution and will serve as the reference for all subsequent work within the field.
Michael B. Miller, University of Miami A wonderful work, heroic in its ambitions and level of research. With his comprehensive coverage of the span of French economic and business history, Smith explains why France must be considered alongside Britain, Germany, and the United States in discussions of the dynamic growth of modern capitalism.
Walter A. Friedman, author of Birth of a Salesman Smith's writing is clear and articulate. His organizational structure remains consistent throughout, which is critical given the vast amount of material he seeks to synthesize...By recasting our perspective on the development of French "big business" through a comprehensive synthesis of the current literature and the application of individual histories of some of France's most important firms, Smith has made a valuable contribution to the field, useful for specialists and nonspecialists alike. He is to be commended for his effort and accomplishment
Eileen S. DeMarco
American Historical Review
Smith has produced an extremely useful synthesis of a vast number of studies of business history, as well as of his own research...[He] offers a well-developed...assessment of the shifting balance between continuity and change in the economy during the nineteenth century.
Roger Price
English Historical Review