false 16007 5 In <I>Last Train to Paradise</I> novelist Les Standiford has written a lively, felicitous account of the building of the Florida East Coast Railway, which, for a little over two decades, connected mainland Florida with Key West. Henry Morrison Flagler, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil partner and, in many eyes, the true genius behind that company, embarked on the project in 1905 when he was 74 years old. The railroad, which crossed more than 150 miles of open sea, was an engineering feat nearly equal in scale and difficulty to the digging of the Panama Canal. Standiford's narrative skillfully blends tales of construction perils (not the least of which were escadrilles of mosquitoes) with brief, illuminating travelogues and natural histories, pocket descriptions of life in early 20th-century Florida, and a truly gripping description of an epic standoff between Mother Nature, in the form of a monstrous hurricane, and a stalled, 160-ton steam locomotive. With nary a single missed note, this fascinating tale is popular history at its best. <I>--H. O'Billovich</I> 17799 2002 Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean total:89|5:14|4:39|3:29|2:6|1:1| 89 326 122 30 5 0 false false Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 29 19:25:28 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 20:27:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 15 10:35:34 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 06:37:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Nov 15 13:45:04 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 13:46:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Wed Nov 21 06:58:15 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 21 06:58:59 -0800 2007 Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean on The Radio Reader last March [2002]. I sent a recommendation to the local library and got to be the first reader of the copy they purchased.

As noted...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 19:01:08 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 25 10:36:47 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri Aug 03 08:34:44 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 08:35:25 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun May 17 13:40:26 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 13:41:45 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 09:23:26 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 20:56:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 true false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 06 12:14:51 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 08:34:47 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:45:36 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:50:07 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jun 18 09:53:38 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:54:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Mar 14 08:29:57 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 19:59:16 -0700 2009
This would be a useful book to take along if you ever drive to Key West.]]> 3 0 false false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 19:08:11 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 19:09:07 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Sun May 17 09:07:41 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 09:08:15 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 18:03:07 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 08:52:52 -0700 2007
Without the Key West Extension, I wouldn't ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 07:56:55 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 07:59:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 27 18:28:56 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 18:30:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 20 00:04:54 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 27 07:57:31 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Jan 04 22:09:28 -0800 2008 Sat Sep 13 19:23:40 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Apr 13 21:14:33 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 13 21:15:34 -0700 2007
Reading it while in the Keys made it extra fun.]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=16007