First published 2010
In April 1956, an old oil tanker loaded with fifty-eight metal boxes sailed from Newark to Houston. This unremarkable voyage launched a transformation that would reshape world commerce. Economist Marc Levinson traces how entrepreneur Malcom McLean turned a simple concept into a massive industry. The story unfolds through years of financial risk, labor negotiations with union leaders Harry Bridges and Teddy Gleason, and technical battles over international standards. McLean's breakthrough came when he supplied American forces in Vietnam, proving containers could work at scale. Levinson draws on overlooked archives to show how cheap shipping devastated established ports like New York and London while creating new giants like Oakland. Factories could suddenly locate anywhere, turning Asia into the world's manufacturing center and flooding global markets with affordable goods. This is the first complete account of how a metal box made modern globalization possible.
Genres: history, 20th-century, business, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: technological-revolution, underdog
Setting: Newark, Houston, Oakland, New York, London, Asia, Vietnam
Period: 1956, Vietnam War
376 pages · ebook · Princeton University Press