American Journey gives an inside, personal look at the lives of Henry Ford, John Burroughs, and Thomas Edison. This is non-fiction about how they road-tripped together, camping along the way.

Henry Ford was an avid reader and appreciator of John Burroughs’ nature essays, so as a fan, he sent him the gift of  a car. John Burroughs, ever the naturalist, unexpectedly loved it, and wrote to thank Ford, sparking off a lifetime friendship that evolved to include Thomas Edison, as well and sometimes Harvey Firestone (who mostly tried to insinuate himself on the scene).

It is an interesting friendship between industrialists who impacted the environment so much, loving both nature and the homespun naturalist, John Burroughs. The friends didn’t agree on many things, but they still got along well, which is refreshing.

The backstory reveals Ford as a brilliant engineer and businessman, but when people wanted him to run for public office, or even president, he was hopeless as a politician. He paid his workers much more than the going wage, championed women’s rights, hiring women as well, and gave away many cars.  He was enthusiastic and geeky, and his loving wife publicly put the kibosh on any suggestion of him having a political career, by quipping in a speech that she wouldn’t vote for him, and neither should you.

I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near Greenfield Village, which is a museum for both Ford and Edison, so it was interesting to me to get the story behind their friendship, and why they are both honored there together. But I also enjoy a car camping trip myself, so it was fun to hear how it was done in the very earliest days of the horseless carriage, roughing it among famous friends, before the road system was any good.

This narrative non-fiction is good on audio book, which is how I read it. You might enjoy it too. I give it four stars.