A little more than a generation ago, a stealthy revolution swept America. It was a dual changing of the guard: Two tribes, two attitudes, two approaches to a good society were simultaneously displaced by upstart rivals.

In the world of business, the manufacturing bosses gave way to Wall Street dealmakers, bent on breaking up their empires. “Organisation Man”, as the journalist William H. Whyte had christened the corporate archetype in his 1956 book, was ousted by “Transaction Man”, to cite Nicholas Lemann’s latest work of social history.

Atlantic