The History of the Standard Oil Company The History of the Standard Oil Company The History of the Standard Oil Company is a 1904 book by journalist Ida Tarbell. It is an exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in American history. Originally serialized in nineteen parts in "McClure's" magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries. "The History of the Standard Oil Company"
The History of the Standard Oil Company of Standard Oil's unfair and business strategies of questionable legality. One review from the "Economic Journal" fixated on the monumental nature of Tarbell's work, stating that "it is difficult to write about Miss Tarbell's remarkable achievement without using language approaching the edge of hyperbole. So careful is she in her facts, so sane in her judgements, that she seems to have reached the high-water mark of industrial history." Though Standard Oil Company accrued more cumulative value after it was broken up, the exposure of immoral and illegal business practices at the hands of Ida Tarbell became a striking symbol of