商品簡介
Largely forgotten, the Bat'a siblings were, in the interwar years, as important to international organized capitalism and the revolution in its processes as Henry Ford in the USA. Originally from Czechoslovakia, their concern dominated the footwear industry for several decades. Their model of industrial organization was widely discussed at the time and is considered one of the pinnacles of private planning. In this volume, several primarily European scholars take a new look at the history and legacy of the Bat'a concern. After introductory material and a historical overview, the main part of the book is dedicated to case studies of particular company towns in Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia--and Maryland, USA and Canada, as well. Their rise, decline, and their current circumstances are analyzed in the context of social and political changes of their host nations and localities. The final part of the book is a study of the Bat'a concern's influence on, and contributions to, architecture and urbanism, including their concept of the functional city, as well as their legacy in the function and the urban environmental approach of other important businesses, such as Nike and Volkswagen. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2014 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
