In Wal-Mart: The Bully of Bentonville author Anthony Bianco explains the love-hate relationship between consumers and the company. First of all I have to say that it was an enjoyable read! All the elements and statistical data that a historian looks for are present despite B Bianco's anti-Wal-Mart inclination. Wal-Mart tells the story of big retailer Sam Walton B who may have himself been the bully of Bentonville B and the Wal-Mart corporation. Bianco recounts the elements that made Walton so beloved and innovative (e.g., omnidirectional integration, self-service checkouts, and automated performance monitoring) and his company so reviled. It also delves into Wal-Mart's battles against unionization, fair trade practices, and the importation of foreign-made goods. Finally, explore the real sociological cost of Wal-Mart's low prices. Bianco's approach to analyzing Wal-Mart is interesting. By combining hard facts and arguments with home-made anecdotes, he is able to captivate the reader into sympathizing with his vitriolic attacks on the retail giant. In the first chapter, Bianco lays out the objective evidence against Wal-Mart as if he were a prosecutor pursuing a murderer on trial. Chief among Bianco's arguments are Wal-Mart's blatant violations of laws and corporate ethics. Wal-Mart's arrogance, Bianco says, is eradicated. . . in his presumption that selling large quantities of goods at reduced prices gives him the right to represent[]@ the American consumer. (page 3). Bianco takes extensive note of Wal-Mart's data, government reports, and employee attestation@ in building his case against Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's criminal record is a mile long when it comes to union busting, child labor law violations, overtime pay violations, minimum wage issues, gender and racial bias, community crushing, theft of small businesses, security issues like locking in employees despite the fact that emergency personnel would be locked out, and I'm sure if Bianco were to look closely enough he could find an actual murder or two. On the defense side is H. Lee Scott, Jr., watching every inch of the CEO of America's largest and most powerful corporation.@ (p. 1). Scott is quick to tout (and rightly so) Wal-Mart's accomplishments, primarily in providing Americans B, especially those on limited budgets, with quality products at low prices. In 2004, Wal-Mart's prices helped Americans save about $900 each, boasting revenues of hundreds of billions. Bianco writes that AWal-Mart is bigger than any company has ever been.@ (p. 9 (emphasis added)). What's wrong with that? This is not the goal of capitalism?