The History of the Standard Oil Company the power of the press. As such, "The History of Standard Oil Company" harbors great significance as a standard-bearer of modern investigative journalism. In his 2008 book "Taking on the trust : the epic battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller", Steve Weinberg described "The History of the Standard Oil Company" as "arguably the greatest work of investigative journalism ever written". 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
Standard Oil York State Legislature in 1879 to investigate the railroads' practice of giving rebates within the state. Merchants without ties to the oil industry had pressed for the hearings. Prior to the committee's investigation, few knew of the size of Standard Oil's control and influence on seemingly unaffiliated oil refineries and pipelines - Hawke (1980) cites that only a dozen or so within Standard Oil knew the extent of company operations. The committee counsel, Simon Sterne, questioned representatives from the Erie Railroad and the New York Central Railroad and discovered that at least half of their long-haul traffic granted rebates, and