Book of the week: The Company Town by Hardy Green

Companies such as Hershey once maintained workers and their families in towns close to the work site. Green expertly chronicles the history of these communities and the good and bad intentions that motivated their founders.

(Basic Books, $26.95)

Before cheap cars gave rise to the suburban commute, many companies maintained workers and their families in towns near the factory floor, said Bill Kauffman in The Wall Street Journal. There, as author Hardy Green chronicles, company founders controlled everything from entertainment options to local politics. Some had good intentions: Milton Hershey brought a zoo, library, golf course, and free schools to his Pennsylvania community.

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