It makes money at every end of almost every deal. And it controls much of the Wall Street trading in all of these commodities.

It controls the building materials that make our homes and offices. It controls the chemicals that make our bottles and pipes. It controls the synthetics that make our diapers and carpets.

It controls the fertilisers at the foundation of our food system. In doing so, Leonard also tells the epic tale of the evolution of corporate America over the last half-century, in all its glory and rapaciousness. Now, in Kochland, Christopher Leonard has managed what no other journalist has done before: to tell the explosive inside story of how the largest private company in the world became that big. But very few people have ever heard of Koch Industries because the billionaire Koch brothers want it that way.

Leonard's work is on par with Steve Coll's Private Empire and even Ida Tarbell's enduring classic The History of the Standard Oil Company.'Kirkus Reviews ‘Leonard's superb investigations and even-handed, clear-eyed reportage stand out.American capitalism at its most successful and domineering is at the center of this sweeping history of a much-vilified company.' Publishers Weekly ‘Leonard's intricately developed and extensively researched history of the Koch empire is a colossal corporate biography that sheds important light on this closely guarded enterprise while simultaneously scrutinizing the nefarious underpinnings of American economic policies and practices.'Booklist ‘This page-turning exposé reveals the full extent of the Koch brothers' influence on American capitalism.'Book Riot ‘If you want a crash course in the evolution of postmodern capitalism over the last five decades read Kochland.Leonard's study is exhaustive and engaging.'New York Journal of Books The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Google, Goldman Sachs and Kraft Foods combined. ‘A landmark book.A massively reported deep dive into the unparalleled corporate industrial giant Koch Industries.This impressively researched and well-rendered book also serves as a biography of Charles Koch, with Leonard providing an evenhanded treatment of the tycoon.

Kochland review