Ford Tough: Bill Ford and the Battle to Rebuild America's Automaker »

DAVID MAGEE is the author of Turnaround: How Carlos Ghosn Rescued Nissan and The John Deere Way, to be published in 2005. He is also the founder and owner of Jefferson Press, a small literary publisher. He lives in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, with his wife and three children.

Throughout its 100-plus-year history, Ford Motor Company has proven itself to be one of the world’s most tenacious, resilient, and forward-looking business organizations. As the company approached the century mark, however, a series of disastrous years made it clear that Ford’s problems went deeper than those caused by a cyclical downturn and a weak overall economy. The company that virtually invented the auto industry was close to losing its footing. Clearly, it would take more than the average CEO to put the legendary automaker back on track.

Ford Tough tells the inspiring story of Bill Ford, scion of one of America’s most celebrated business dynasties, and his heroic battle to revive and reshape the company. His objectives: to compete successfully in a rapidly changing environment and to reinvigorate Ford Motor Company’s role as an industry innovator and standard-bearer, facing and overcoming the daunting challenges faced by every twenty-first-century automaker.

This crisply written narrative is the product of author David Magee’s unequaled behind-the-scenes access, both to the dynamic young CEO and to the inner workings of the company. Magee examines Ford Motors’ past successes and failures, explains the lessons Bill Ford has drawn from them, and reveals how he is using these lessons to drive the company toward a new era of innovation and growth. He also offers a richly detailed portrait of the first Ford to take charge of the company since 1979, a self-professed environmentalist who cares deeply about his employees and possesses a deep sense of personal and corporate responsibility—characteristics that have played a crucial role in thecompany’s turnaround.

Ford Tough is more than a powerful business biography, more than a fascinating company history, and more than an insightful portrait of a unique management style. It is a stirring, modern-day epic, the compelling tale of one man’s battle for the things we value most in life, including family, tradition, and a promising future.