Reviews
"If you want a crash course in the evolution of postmodern capitalism over the last five decades read Kochland ." -- New York Journal of Books, "Should be in every business, economics, and political history collection....it holds wide-ranging implications for understanding the course of American and business history as a whole, weaving the Koch story into the broader fabric of U.S. affairs and social issues. The result is a powerful, winning examination that links Charles and David Koch to not just wealth acquisition or business evolution, but American economic and political developments as a whole." -- MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, "Deeply and authoritatively reported... [ Kochland ] marshals a huge amount of information and uses it to help solve two enduring mysteries: how the Kochs got so rich, and how they used that fortune to buy off American action on climate change." -- Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, "Leonard's visionary, decade-spanning, and heart-rending investigation into the Koch Empire is indispensable not just for understanding the rise of corporate power in America, but for understanding America itself. Kochland will take its place alongside Chernow's Titan and Coll's Private Empire as one of the great accounts of American capitalism." -- Jesse Eisinger, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Chickenshit Club, "Few studies on the Kochs, or any other US corporation, match Christopher Leonard's Kochland ." -- International Policy Digest, "Kochland is the most definitive account yet of how one of America's richest and most powerful families amassed its fortune....'Kochland' is the third major book to explore the Kochs' influence....but it's the first to investigate fully the companies that are the source of that power." -- Suzanne Goldenberg, The Washington Post, "A landmark book... on par with Steve Coll's Private Empire and even Ida Tarbell's enduring classic The History of the Standard Oil Company ." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review), "Impressive... Telling this story as well as Kochland does is harder than it looks." -- The New York Times, "Impressive... Kochland is the most definitive account yet of how one of America's richest and most powerful families amassed its fortune." -- The Washington Post, "Intricately developed and extensively researched... Sheds important light on this closely guarded enterprise while simultaneously scrutinizing the nefarious underpinnings of American economic policies and practices." -- Booklist, "Sheds important fresh light on the issue at hand: Denial of the science of global warming." -- Philadelphia Inquirer, "Superb... Among the best books ever written about an American corporation... Not since Andrew Ross Sorkin's landmark Too Big to Fail (2009) have I said this about a book, but Kochland warrants it: If you're in business, this is something you need to read." -- Bryan Burrough, The New York Times Book Review, "Impressive... A corporate history, lucidly told, about the enormous energy conglomerate that has inserted itself into nearly every aspect of daily life, raking in billions along the way." -- The New York Times, "This is fast-paced business history. An episode about ammonia runoff at an oil refinery keeps you turning pages like a John Grisham thriller." -- NPR.org, "At times the book reads like a thriller, with epic characters waging battles worthy of Game of Thrones." -- Lee Woodruff, New York Times bestselling co-author of In an Instant, "An extraordinarily detailed, illuminating and, at times, terrifying account of the massive impact of a corporate industrial giant on American society... A tour de force of investigative journalism... [ Kochland ] makes a compelling case that, in contrast to the iconic ad for a carbonated beverage, things do not go better with Koch." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Deeply researched and deeply revealing... [Leonard] does a remarkable job of making a corporate history as compulsively readable as a thriller." -- TruthDig.com, "A landmark book... A massively reported deep dive into the unparalleled corporate industrial giant Koch Industries... This impressively researched and well-rendered book... is on par with Steve Coll's Private Empire and even Ida Tarbell's enduring classic The History of the Standard Oil Company ." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review), "With deep reporting and narrative flair, Leonard has rendered a revealing portrait of the Koch family as ruthless businessmen and savvy political operatives who quietly built an empire and defined the face of American capitalism and its hold on Washington over the last fifty years." -- William Cohan, New York Times bestselling author of House of Cards, "A masterpiece of nonfiction writing... I can't recommend this one highly enough... One of the most remarkable aspects of Kochland is Leonard's ability to convey arcane industry concepts simply enough for those of us with no background in the subject to grasp... Leonard not only helps his readers grasp the complex concepts but also makes his explanation entertaining." -- BookBrowse, "Extraordinary... Don't let its 700-page length put you off: Leonard's book reads like a thriller, and a dark one at that. It's peopled with myriad characters as fascinating as those in 'Game of Thrones.'" -- BookPage, "Leonard's investigation stands out for its dissection of the cultish ethos of a company he calls 'Charles Koch's privately controlled free-market utopia'. Better than any previous account, it also shows how seamlessly Koch's worldview ties together his business and political activities." -- Financial Times, " Kochland is a dazzling feat of investigative reporting and epic narrative writing, a tour de force that takes the reader deep inside the rise of a vastly powerful family corporation that has come to influence American workers, markets, elections, and the very ideas debated in our public square. Leonard's work is fair and meticulous, even as it reveals the Kochs as industrial Citizens Kane of our time." -- Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Private Empire, "Extraordinary... A fascinating, in-depth analysis of Koch Industries and its astounding influence and power. Don't let its 700-page length put you off: Leonard's book reads like a thriller, and a dark one at that. It's peopled with myriad characters as fascinating as those in 'Game of Thrones'... Kochland is essential reading for anyone concerned about the America our children and grandchildren will inherit." -- BookPage, "A Robert Caro-like narrative of business and political power with a brilliant, ruthless, and fascinating monopolist at its center. Leonard devoted eight years to this gem of a book, seeking to understand the mysterious Charles Koch and the Goliath he has taken a half century to construct." -- Ken Auletta, New York Times bestselling author of Googled, "Those who believe in unfettered free-market capitalism will find much to feast on in Kochland , while those concerned with the corrosive effects of growth at all costs will find more than enough to gorge on as well. But both sides should be able to agree on what this story is really about, which is power--and a terrifying amount of it." -- Duff McDonald, New York Times bestselling author of The Firm, "Leonard's superb investigations and even-handed, clear-eyed reportage stand out... American capitalism at its most successful and domineering is at the center of this sweeping history." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review), "An indispensable guide to how Koch Industries developed and grew to a place where the profits from the companies it controls were converted into currency in the marketplace of ideas, and ultimately into political and policy decisions that impact every American... Kochland is an essential read for anyone curious about the economic and political underpinnings of a society in which the wealth is concentrated and public goods, from education to infrastructure, are left to erode." -- Inside Higher Ed, "With balance and evenhandedness, Leonard traces the phenomenal rise of Koch Industries from an obscure Wichita oil company into a global behemoth." -- New York Times Book Review , Editor's Choice, "Leonard has produced a hugely readable, entirely original, magisterial work on one of the most important subjects of our time -- the weirdly cultish, terrifyingly successful empire built all-but invisibly by the billionaire sphinx Charles Koch." -- Steve LeVine, author of The Oil and the Glory
