Detroit: Engine of America

By: R. J. King

Narrated by: R. J. King

This is the story of how a crude French settlement along the Detroit River in 1701 became the birthplace of the automotive industry in 1900.

Forging the first industrial powerhouse wasn’t easy. Scant inbound supplies from the English colonies took months, if they arrived at all. The first 100 inhabitants led by explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, with the guidance of Native American tribes, built a fledgling economy of fishing, farming, and hunting - the latter propelled mightily by the fur trade.

As the populace sputtered and grew, they developed the machinery and skilled trades that produced - in volume - wagons, stagecoaches, steamships, hearths, locomotives, boxcars, furniture, stoves, equipment, marine engines, pharmaceutical drugs, and, finally, the horseless carriage. Detroit’s grit and brawn ignited ingenuity and self-sufficiency that thrust the first city in the Midwest onto the world stage.

©2021 Hour Media (P)2021 Hour Media

Mispronunciation really distracted

The story is interesting. The presentation was not. The narrator should have been told the correct pronunciation, or asked. Very frustrating, disappointing, and distracting.

Great Book About the History of Detroit

You can tell the author R.J. King did his research and knows the history and origins of the city of Detroit very well. I'm from the Detroit suburbs and I learned about people, places and stories that I never knew. I met the author at an event and bought an autographed and stamped hard cover copy. I really enjoyed the audible version. The narration was smooth throughout and kept my interest. It would be nice to have a sequel for 20th Century Detroit 1900 - 2000.