The book presents the stories of the more successful Dutch American
entrepreneurs, active in the United States, with some going back as far
as 400 years. The majority of the entrepreneurs covered in the book were
active during the past 150 years. Each of the individuals covered
represent an enterprise that was well known during its respective era.
In some of the cases the individuals were better known than the
enterprises they represented, and some became historic figures. Some of
the more famous Dutch American entrepreneurs are Cornelius Vanderbilt,
and his son William Vanderbilt, transportation entrepreneurs in the
nineteenth century. Also famous during the early nineteenth century was
DeWitt Clinton, the driving force behind the building of the Erie Canal.
During the twentieth century, there were such famous Dutch American
entrepreneurs as Cecil B. DeMille, Darryl Zanuck, and others in the
entertainment industry. The most successful entrepreneurs, still alive
today, are the billionaire businessmen, the Koch brothers, who own the
multibillion dollar Koch Industries, an oil and chemical industry firm.
The book's audience consists of academics, the public, and specifically
the Dutch American public, numbering from 6 to 10 million people. The
book is also an important source book and reader for college courses in
Entrepreneurship, American History, Culture, Society and Economy.