Ida Tarbell

Ida Tarbell's The History of the Standard Oil Company, serialised in McClure's Magazine from 1902 to 1904, explained how John D. Rockefeller's firm used secret railway rebates and pipelines to crush rivals. She built it from court records, legislative testimony and interviews, including with a senior Standard Oil executive, Henry Rogers. The series helped lead to the company's break-up in 1911.