Henry Leland Biography Recommendation

[DNC]

Can anyone recommend a good biography on Henry Leland? Thank you.

[caddyshack]

I would suggest the book "Cadillac, standard of the world, The Complete Seventy-year History" by Maurice D. Hendry.

I have a first edition, second printing, 1973, and Henry Leland is discussed in great detail.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Friartuck]

Three references:

Book, Master of Precision, Henry M. Leland, by Mrs. Wilfred C. Leland with Minnie Dubbs Millbrook, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1966 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-10501

Book, Henry Leland: The Story of the Vermonter Who Created Cadillac and Lincoln, by Gloria May Stoddard, The New England Press, Copyright 1986, ISBN 0-933050-39-9

http://www.friartuck.x10.mx/Lincoln/lincoln_history/lincoln_history.html

[scott12180]

Three references:

Book, Master of Precision, Henry M. Leland, by Mrs. Wilfred C. Leland with Minnie Dubbs Millbrook, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1966 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-10501

http://www.friartuck.x10.mx/Lincoln/lincoln_history/lincoln_history.html

I've had the book Master of Precision sitting on my shelf for many years , all the time reading several biographies of Henry Ford and others. I hesitated on the Master of Precision book because it was written by family members. Such books like that and others written by admirers tend to be "hero worship" oriented and not academically rigorous.

But I finally am reading it now. I like it. So far, it's more factual and not too much of a "rose colored glasses" view. I'm not up to Lincoln yet, though. In the book, suspect in that episode with Henry Ford Leland will be painted in a glowingly innocent light and Ford as the devil incarnate. We'll see. It's hard to believe that Ford could have been so deceptive in his dealings with the Lelands. I wish I knew the whole, true story.

As far as Leland goes, from just about everything I have read about automotive history, there's not a lot of criticism one can level at Leland. Of course he had flaws we we all do, and I wish there were more objective books out there. Like Henry Ford, Leland certainly was a major force in the development of the automobile. Perhaps because he was a genuinely nice guy could be the reason why so little has been written about him.

-Scott

[Guest BJM]

I wish there had been more follow up from the original poster to see if any of these had been purchased and read. I have read the sections in the Hendry book on Leland and it is pretty comprehensive. In fact, I find that a flaw in the Hendry book - that is so much emphasis on Leland's early impact on Cadillac.

I would disagree with Scott regarding the treatment of the Leland's by Ford. But my comments are antidotal based on the readings on Ford I have done and automotive history in general. Henry Ford was autocratic. If he treated Edsel and his lieutenants the way he did, imagine how he treated Leland and his son.

[DNC]

BJM, This is a timely post and reply by you. I am the original poster and just received the first book I ordered of the one suggested. Yesterday I received "Henry Leland: The story of the Vermonter who created Cadillac and Lincoln", by Gloria May Stoddard. I finished reading the book in short time as it is quite small. It is a pleasant story but not for the car enthusiast. There is a lot improvising by the author of little things such as what Leland might have been thinking when he was walking in the woods, the kind of things no one could know and seeming to be an attempt by the author to lead the reader with really no information.

I am not going to bore you with a review of each book I have purchased, but I will mention those I find worth mentioning among the one's I purchased.

[Guest BJM]

BJM, This is a timely post and reply by you. I am the original poster and just received the first book I ordered of the one suggested. Yesterday I received "Henry Leland: The story of the Vermonter who created Cadillac and Lincoln", by Gloria May Stoddard. I finished reading the book in short time as it is quite small. It is a pleasant story but not for the car enthusiast. There is a lot improvising by the author of little things such as what Leland might have been thinking when he was walking in the woods, the kind of things no one could know and seeming to be an attempt by the author to lead the reader with really no information.

I am not going to bore you with a review of each book I have purchased, but I will mention those I find worth mentioning among the one's I purchased.

Thanks for the review. I won't be getting that one. Sometimes, that is how one finds out, they just have to buy the book and see. Some books are great, others are disappointments. The Hendry book is a good one, including period photos.