HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

This week, Aaron Stark joins the show to discuss his new book Disrupting Time: Industrial Combat, Espionage, and the Downfall of a Great American Company, which chronicles an attempt by a foreign power to infiltrate, emulate, and eventually annihilate a great American company. In the late 19th century, watches were at the forefront of technological innovation, and the Waltham Watch Company made some of the finest watches in the world. Unlike their Swiss competitors, whose products were fancy, handcrafted works of art, the Watham company specialized in mass produced, affordable, and reliable watches for the masses. At an 1876 World’s Fair, they announced their arrival on the world’s stage, and the world took notice. The Swiss, in particular, took notice, and they took it by sending spies to steal the secrets of Waltham’s success.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/284/

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Aaron Stark is a West Point graduate and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot in the US Army. After attending Harvard Business School, he returned to the US Military Academy at West Point as a professor of finance, before moving on to a career in business. Disrupting Time is his first book. Visit aaronstarkbooks.com to read primary sources and view historical images related to the books, including portraits of Eliza Putnam and Jacques David.