Invisible Hands tells the story of how a small group of American businessmen succeeded in building a political movement. Long before the “culture wars” of the 1960s sparked the Republican backlash against cultural liberalism, these high-powered individuals actively resisted New Deal economics and sought to educate and organize their peers.

Kim Phillips-Fein recounts the little-known efforts of men such as W. C. Mullendore, Leonard Read, and Jasper Crane, drawing on meticulous research and narrative gifts to craft a compelling history of the role of big and small business in American politics—and a blueprint for anyone who wants insight into the way that money has been used to create political change.

‘’Combining piquant profiles of corporate firebrands with a trenchant historical analysis . . . Phillips-Fein makes an important contribution to our understanding of American conservatism.’’ -Publishers Weekly

‘Engaging history from a talented new scholarly voice.’’ -Kirkus Reviews

“A compelling and readable story of resistance to the new economic order.”-Boston Globe