The Box

How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger

By: Marc Levinson

Narrated by: Adam Lofbomm

In April 1956, a refitted oil tanker carried 58 shipping containers from Newark to Houston. From that modest beginning, container shipping developed into a huge industry that made the boom in global trade possible.

The Box tells the dramatic story of the container's creation, the decade of struggle before it was widely adopted, and the sweeping economic consequences of the sharp fall in transportation costs that containerization brought about.

Published on the 50th anniversary of the first container voyage, this is the first comprehensive history of the shipping container. It recounts how the drive and imagination of an iconoclastic entrepreneur, Malcom McLean, turned containerization from an impractical idea into a massive industry that slashed the cost of transporting goods around the world and made the boom in global trade possible.

But the container didn't just happen. Its adoption required huge sums of money, both from private investors and from ports that aspired to be on the leading edge of a new technology. It required years of high-stakes bargaining with two of the titans of organized labor, Harry Bridges and Teddy Gleason, as well as delicate negotiations on standards that made it possible for almost any container to travel on any truck or train or ship. Ultimately, it took McLean's success in supplying U.S. forces in Vietnam to persuade the world of the container's potential.

Drawing on previously neglected sources, economist Marc Levinson shows how the container transformed economic geography, devastating traditional ports such as New York and London and fueling the growth of previously obscure ones, such as Oakland. By making shipping so cheap that industry could locate factories far from its customers, the container paved the way for Asia to become the world's workshop and brought consumers a previously unimaginable variety of low-cost products from around the globe.

©2006, 2007 Princeton University Press (P)2014 Marc Levinson

Like others have mentioned

Great book a lot of amazing stories and knowledge with a solid performance but it is numbers heavy and some may find it easier in print then audio just to keep up. Outstanding content though.

Great book, poor editing

A good example of a great book suffering from poor editing. There are parts where it wants to be a history book, parts when it fantasizes about future, parts where it’s focused on global economy, parts when it wants to be an investigative journal,… it’s a mess. But the overall story is indeed super interesting - how such a “trivial” invention changed the global trade forever and in ways no one could ever imagine.

So I recommend it, but feel free to skip chapters.

Super Interesting But The Narration Can Get Tiring

This is a fascinating look into the history of shipping containers and how a seemingly simply concept revolutionized the shipping industry. The writing style made it very easy to understand and kept my interest. There is a bit of history of the shipping industry in the beginning but you quickly get into the history of the shipping container. It is crazy to think that just 70 years ago in the 50's, the shipping container wasn't even a concept in anybody's mind. Today the world is much smaller thanks to Malcolm McLean and his relentless mission to efficiently get widgets from Point A to Point B.

The narration was pretty good but after awhile, I would have appreciated some changes in tone or tempo. I fully realize reading a book like this must be difficult but the last few chapters got to be a bit of a chore.

fascinating view of economic changes and why

interesting story of how technology intertwines with world economics and politics. definitely recommend reading it

Good book.

This is an excellent account fo an innovation. Deeper looks at the regulatory frameworks and environmental and international perspectivesis now needed.