16 h 19 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 16 h 19 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does it take to investigate a powerful company—and build a working life around patient, careful inquiry?
In All in the Day's Work, Ida M. Tarbell follows her path from Pennsylvania oil country to Paris and the offices of national magazines. Family, schooling, editors and mistakes all have their place. This is a memoir of learning a trade, one assignment at a time, in a field that does not expect women to succeed.
Her investigation of the Standard Oil Company helps change how Americans look at big business. But Tarbell looks beyond that famous work. Her studies of Napoleon and Abraham Lincoln, her portraits of businessmen and her meetings with presidents reveal the long labor behind a writing life—and her insistence on fairness when examining power.
What you’ll discover
- An oil country childhood Enter a landscape of derricks, mud and hope that shapes Tarbell's early view of business.
- A woman choosing study Follow her to Allegheny College, where she is the only woman in her entering class.
- The craft behind the articles See how magazine work, editors and demanding assignments teach her the trade from within.
- A close look at power Explore the patient inquiry behind her investigation of Standard Oil and its hold on American business.
- Work beyond one investigation Discover how Napoleon, Lincoln and business leaders become subjects for her sustained attention.
Who will love it
Readers who love American history, journalism, and the lives of working women will find plenty here. It suits anyone curious about oil, Lincoln, and a career spent finding out what was true.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Childhood Beside the First Oil Wells
- Privilege Became the Enemy in 1872
- College Taught Enthusiasm and Poland Taught Failure
- A Temporary Job Became a Career
- Paris Gave Her Freedom and a Subject
- McClure's Taught Her to Find What Others Missed
- The Standard Oil Series Meant Weighing a Powerful Man
- After McClure's, She Studied How Industry Might Play Fair
- War and Peace Tested Her Faith in People
- A Working Life Ends With the Day's Work
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Au fil des jours
by Ida M. Tarbell · 1939
A girl raised beside the first oil wells grows up to investigate the company that swallowed them, and tells how.
Medium level10–20 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What does it take to look a giant in the eye and describe him fairly? Ida Tarbell did it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Childhood Beside the First Oil Wells
Ida Tarbell was born on November 5, 1857, in Pennsylvania's Erie County, where her first home was a log house. Her parents had planned to farm in Iowa, but the Panic of 1857 stopped them. Her father, Franklin Tarbell, heard of the new well near Titusville and saw that oil would need tanks. He built one that would not leak, and by 1860 he had a shop at Cherry Run and a shanty for the family.
Ida remembers open oil pits and a derrick at the door. On April 17, 1861, a careless light set off gas at a gusher, and nineteen men burned to death. One burned friend stumbled to the Tarbell door, where her mother nursed him for weeks.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1939
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 10 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Tarbell, Ida M. All in the Day's Work. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/all-in-the-days-work.
Tarbell, I. M. (2026). All in the day's work. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/all-in-the-days-work (Original work published 1939)
Tarbell, Ida M. All in the Day's Work. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/all-in-the-days-work.
@book{tarbell2026all,
author = {Tarbell, Ida M.},
title = {All in the Day's Work},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/all-in-the-days-work},
note = {First published 1939}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Au fil des jours
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is All in the Day's Work about?
It is Ida Tarbell's memoir of her working life, from a childhood in the Pennsylvania oil region to her years as a magazine writer, her Lincoln research, her Standard Oil history, and her later travels and public service.
Who is Ida Tarbell and why is she remembered?
She was an American journalist who wrote the History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904, and several books on Lincoln. Her careful use of documents helped shape investigative reporting in the early twentieth century.
Did Ida Tarbell really know Rockefeller and Henry Rogers?
She saw Rockefeller once, at a Cleveland church in 1903, and never interviewed him. She did meet Henry Rogers many times over two years, and the memoir describes those talks and why they ended.
The author
Ida M. Tarbell
1857–1944 · American investigative journalist
Ida M. Tarbell (1857–1944) was an American journalist born in Pennsylvania. She lived in Paris, New York, and Connecticut. She wrote for McClure’s Magazine. Her books included The History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904, and her autobiography, All in the Day’s Work, published in 1939.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
