The Michelin Men: Driving an Empire

Herbert R. Lottman

Bloomsbury Academic, 2003 - Biography & Autobiography - 310 pages

This is the remarkable story of how two brothers - Edouard and Andre Michelin - turned a sleepy, family tyre firm in the heart of rural France into one of the most innovative and successful industrial empires in the world. Edouard, a landscape painter at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, displayed an engineering genius for tyre-making and product innovation, whilst Andre, trained as an engineer, displayed a creative genius for advertising and marketing. Together they kick-started the world motor industry and created a tourist industry around the motor car and their now legendary "Michelin Guides". The Michelin history, as described here by Herbert Lottman, reveals insights into the development of this remarkable business.

About the author

Herbert Lottman was a journalist, biographer, and historian of French intellectual life. After World War II, he moved to Paris, France. He wrote a variety of articles and reviews for several American periodicals including Harper's, Saturday Review, the New York Times, and the New York Times Book Review. He was Publisher's Weekly's European correspondent for more than 30 years. After leaving Publisher's Weekly, he began contributing a regular European column to Bookseller. He wrote several books about France and its literary culture. He also wrote a series of authoritative studies of French authors Camus, Flaubert, Colette, and Jules Verne. After suffering through several degenerative diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, he died on August 27, 2014 at the age of 87.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Michelin Men: Driving an Empire
• Author: Herbert R. Lottman
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2003
• ISBN: 1860648967, 9781860648960
• Length: 310 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Business; Business & Economics / Corporate & Business History; History / General; Technology & Engineering / Manufacturing