Belyaev, N. Henry Ford (Genri Ford), 1936. ZhZL. In Russian

Беляев Н. Генри Форд. / Серия биографий под редакцией М. Горького, М. Кольцова, А. Тихонова. Обложка: Г. С. Бершадский.
Москва : Журнально-газетное объединение (Жургаз), 1936.
204 с. Мягкая издательская обложка, формат 12,5 × 17 см. (Жизнь замечательных людей; Вып. 73–74 [11–12]).
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Belyaev, N. Henry Ford (Genri Ford). / Series of biographies edited by M. Gorky, M. Koltsov, A. Tikhonov. Cover design by G. S. Bershadsky.
Moscow : Journal and Newspaper Association (Zhurgaz), 1936.
204 pp. Softcover, 12.5 × 17 cm. (Lives of Remarkable People; Issue 73–74 [11–12]).

This 1936 biography of Henry Ford is a fascinating artifact from the "Gorky era" of the Lives of Remarkable People (ZhZL) series. Published at a time when the Soviet Union was undergoing rapid industrialization, Ford's figure loomed large as a symbol of technological efficiency, "Fordism," and the assembly line system—concepts that the Soviet state sought to adapt to its own planned economy.
Written by N. Belyaev, the book provides a complex Soviet-era portrait of the American industrialist. It traces Ford’s journey from a self-taught mechanic to the founder of the Ford Motor Company, detailing his revolutionary implementation of the moving assembly line and the creation of the Model T. The narrative balances a genuine respect for Ford’s engineering and organizational genius with a critical Marxist analysis of his social and economic views, his relationship with labor, and the "capitalist contradictions" inherent in his massive empire.
The edition features a striking cover design by G. S. Bershadsky, typical of the avant-garde influenced graphics of the 1930s. Edited by literary giants like Maxim Gorky and Mikhail Koltsov, this volume was intended to educate the Soviet public on the masters of Western industry while reinforcing the ideological boundaries of the era.
For collectors of the ZhZL series, historians of technology, and those interested in early Soviet-American cultural and industrial relations, this pre-war softcover is a rare and compelling find. It documents a moment when the USSR looked toward Detroit for technical inspiration while formulating its own unique industrial identity.