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191st out of 768 books
—
1,036 voters
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
by
T.J. Stiles
A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the...more
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the...more
Hardcover, 736 pages
Published
April 21st 2009
by Knopf
(first published April 18th 2009)
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*Whew* I'm sure that such a ...comprehensive book deserves a comprehensive review, and yet I barely had the fortitude to make it through the reading. Right now I don't even have the desire to attempt a Binksian or Sorensenian book review so I'll just ramble and pretend T.J. Stiles - the author of this book - won't be offended. Maybe he should be. He took the time to organize over 100 pages of footnotes at the end of the thing; the least I owe him is a well-organized book review.
100 pages of note...more
100 pages of note...more
This is a very good book, but like Vanderbilt's life, extremely long. Vanderbilt himself was awkward with language, and consequently neither wrote or spoke publicly much during his life, so there is no introspection in this book. And while he aged, perhaps gracefully, to be the preeminent American businessman of his age (dying with as much as 10% of all American monetary value!!) his life didn't have the progression of Rockefeller or Carnegie who transformed from businessman to philanthropist du...more
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Now that I finally finished this thing up what do I think? I think it's still hampered by the fact that the subject, Cornelius Vanderbilt, just didn't do very many interesting things. The author does a game job of presenting things, and while I appreciate the stunning amount of research that must have gone into this thing, as a book it just reads way too detailed. There's plenty of non-fiction books out there that are really educational but also well-written and entertaining, I'd stick to those....more
I took history classes throughout high school and college, where I remember learning about wars, treaties, politicians and religions for the most part. I don’t recall learning much about the history of business. I had never heard of Cornelius Vanderbilt until a month ago, when I bought this book out of curiosity. What most people probably don’t know is that even after the American Revolutionary War, wealthy aristocrats controlled business activity in the US through government-chartered monopolie...more
Stiles's rendering of Cornelius Vanderbilt starts off strong. For over 100 pages the writing is riveting. What follows is a lot of detail on water and rail routes and deals. While the original research and its presentation are certainly worthy of the National Book Award, for me, and perhaps many other general readers, more than half the book was a slog.
What makes the opening strong is the discussion of the patrician attitudes of the founders, how this manifested itself in not only politics but t...more
What makes the opening strong is the discussion of the patrician attitudes of the founders, how this manifested itself in not only politics but t...more
The Commodore comes alive
It's hard, quite hard, translating 19th century finances to today, or stature.
But, pretend that one person was a pioneer in both the equivalent of computer operating systems AND online communications, and had the money of both. In other words, Cornelius Vanderbilt approaches a combination of Bill Gates and Sergey Brin, or something like that, with a fortune worth a least $100 billion in today's economy.
It would be easy indeed to stereotype this person as a Gilded Age "ro...more
It's hard, quite hard, translating 19th century finances to today, or stature.
But, pretend that one person was a pioneer in both the equivalent of computer operating systems AND online communications, and had the money of both. In other words, Cornelius Vanderbilt approaches a combination of Bill Gates and Sergey Brin, or something like that, with a fortune worth a least $100 billion in today's economy.
It would be easy indeed to stereotype this person as a Gilded Age "ro...more
The book was a national bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for History, but I don't see what all the fuss is about.
The book does do an impressive job of making a compelling historical character out of a man not known for his personality and who was barely literate, and thus left few records. Stiles does manage to show the drama in things like the war for the control of the Erie Railroad in 1869 and Vanderbilt's financial expansion from the Hudson River Railroad into a national system. There a...more
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't take the mask
off that ole Lone Ranger
and you don't mess around with Cornelius Vanderbilt
This book won the Pulitzer Prize and rightfully so. What an amazing life was this one of over 80 years that played such a vital part in the history of the United States.
Knowing absolutely nothing about the Commodore before starting the book, I was eager to find out about him, expected a scoundrel and found a man of character. Stiles obvious...more
You don't spit into the wind
You don't take the mask
off that ole Lone Ranger
and you don't mess around with Cornelius Vanderbilt
This book won the Pulitzer Prize and rightfully so. What an amazing life was this one of over 80 years that played such a vital part in the history of the United States.
Knowing absolutely nothing about the Commodore before starting the book, I was eager to find out about him, expected a scoundrel and found a man of character. Stiles obvious...more
Stiles, T. J. THE FIRST TYCOON: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. (2010). ****. I’ve been reading this biography in bits and pieces for two weeks now, and finally came to the end. If this isn’t a great example of an exhaustive biography, then I’ve never seen one before. It is extremely well written, and well researched. The author manages to maintain the reader’s interest even in the face of otherewise boring business maneuvers by the group of tycoons of the time. Vanderbilt started out as...more
I did it! Four doorstoppers on Nineteenth Century America. Before 'The First Tycoon': 'What Hath God Wrought' by Daniel Walker Howe, 'A Country of Vast Designs' by Robert Merry, and 'Team of Rivals' by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
The funny thing is I enjoyed it, and actually am inspired to read more American history. As I was finishing Stiles' excellent biography, I heard about President Obama reading Edmund Morris's 'The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,' and immediately wanted to read that. (Obama was the...more
The funny thing is I enjoyed it, and actually am inspired to read more American history. As I was finishing Stiles' excellent biography, I heard about President Obama reading Edmund Morris's 'The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,' and immediately wanted to read that. (Obama was the...more
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This is the last book that needs to be written on Vanderbilt for many years--possibly ever. The scholarship is astounding, highly detailed and complete. While it was fascinating, I had to set it down about every hundred pages to keep from being overwhelmed. One simple example of the author's meticulous approach: throughout the book the author recounts well-known Vanderbilt anecdotes. These appear to be true but the author's research has proven them bogus. One of these tales is printed in Vanderb...more
This 700 page 2009 biography was an award winner for nonfiction. The author is a Carlton grad. I found it very well researched, and a wonderful sketch of American economic development centered on Cornelius' businesses running from about his age 15 (around 1810 he had his own ferry) through to his death in his 80's in the 1870's when he essentially controlled the railroads in the NY and nearby areas. His statue is outside Grand Central Station - that was his back in the day.
I am thrilled to be do...more
I am thrilled to be do...more
I'm a great fan of biography and have a fascination with how we came to be the way we are. This books fills both needs. The picture Stiles paints of Cornelius Vanderbilt is completely different from any vague notion you may have had of the robber barons of the gilded age. He was the richest man in America at one time, but lived very simply - his progeny built the Breakers and the other palaces of wealth. He was a huge man who in in his youth never hesitated to enter a brawl or a barroom fight. H...more
Insightful biography of Commodore Vanderbilt
Robber baron Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt emerges from T.J. Stiles’s biography as a captivating character and a ferocious competitor. Nineteenth-century America’s most powerful tycoon had an imposing presence. At more than 200 pounds and six feet tall (two inches taller than the average American male at the time), Vanderbilt stood ramrod straight. A ferocious street fighter in his youth, he remained hale and hearty into his 80s. As a young steamboa...more
Robber baron Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt emerges from T.J. Stiles’s biography as a captivating character and a ferocious competitor. Nineteenth-century America’s most powerful tycoon had an imposing presence. At more than 200 pounds and six feet tall (two inches taller than the average American male at the time), Vanderbilt stood ramrod straight. A ferocious street fighter in his youth, he remained hale and hearty into his 80s. As a young steamboa...more
Though Stiles's admiration for the man who inspired the phrase "robber baron" shines throughout this extraordinary rags-to-riches story, he harbors no illusions about his vindictive and bad-tempered subject. Stiles is quick to set the record straight when the past has condemned Vanderbilt unfairly, but he details his unscrupulous business dealings and troubled relationships with equal aplomb. Stiles's exhaustive research has resulted in a massive, carefully edited book, and critics were surprise
...more
It has taken me several months to finish this gigantic book. It's stuffed with fascinating facts about the birth of New York City, steamboats, the Gold Rush, Central America, the development of the green back dollar, the Civil War, Wall Street, Reconstruction, and corporate monopolies... yet the dry, clinical style of the writing made it difficult to get lost in this incredible world. OMG, reading a few paragraphs was sure to put me to sleep.
I bought the book because I've read too many lifeless...more
I bought the book because I've read too many lifeless...more
The story begins in Staten Island in a traditional Dutch/American family, and boats. Vanderbilt worked his way up the business ladder in New York City at a time of war and the advent of steam power. Vanderbilts life coincides with the early USA and a changing understanding of the Constitutional relationship of the states to each other and to the central government. Rules we take for granted now were being worked out then and Vanderbilt would have fit in just fine today as he understood competiti...more
This is one of the most cohesive biographies I have ever--or, perhaps, will ever--read. It starts off as strong, opening with the trial for the will of Cornelius Vanderbilt and using that as a starting point to expound upon the marvellous long life of the Commodore. It's almost novel-like, really, and it grabbed my interest from the very start. I especially liked the author's seeming fixation with the people's interest in the Commodore's secrets.
But, as with other readers, I thought that this b...more
But, as with other readers, I thought that this b...more
One huge meatball of a read about this rich guy with a passion for screwing his competitors and escaping from his so-so home life. A businessman who gets all sanctimonious about playing by the rules, having first ascertained the game is rigged to his advantage. Today we've seen his type doing the perp walk. But back in his day, there was no such thing as insider trading or labor laws or level playing fields. In his day, Cornelius was revered.
Be forewarned. The author marches you through the arc...more
Be forewarned. The author marches you through the arc...more
I think I took on this very long biogrpahy of someone I knew nothing about because the Confidence Men, adn Margin Call and the emerging Presidential campaign has gotten me thinking more about capitalism adn its discotnents. . Vanderbilt was teh first caplitalist in America, so I thought i would go to teh source. The book underscored the difference between a Robber Baron and a Vulture Capialist- Vanderbilt actually created things and put lots of people to work, not like the Romneys and Robert Rub...more
Jul 26, 2011
John Harder
added it
T.J. Stiles’, The First Tycoon is a wonderfully detailed biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Given the topic, this is a daunting task. Vanderbilt kept his cards close to his vest and hated to write. Stiles has managed to cobble together a picture of Vanderbilt based upon newspaper accounts, court records and reminiscences of his contemporaries.
Cornelius rose from nothing – a real Horatio Alger story. Uneducated, he rose from operating a single boat ferrying commuters to and from Manhattan, to bu...more
Cornelius rose from nothing – a real Horatio Alger story. Uneducated, he rose from operating a single boat ferrying commuters to and from Manhattan, to bu...more
This massive book is the first extensively researched and documented biography of Vanderbilt in many years. It traces the long life of as very poorly educated man who, due to his energy, drive, and foresight, became the wealthiest person in America. He developed steamboat transportation in his native New York, along the East Coast, to Central America and from Central America to California in support of the Gold Rush, and to Europe; helped the Union cause in the Civil War but afterward encouraged...more
One thing is obvious after reading this book, Cornelius Vanderbilt was an impressive man in many ways. Going from being a son in a small merchant family to one of the richest and most powerful men in our modern history is not something for everyone. Being at the right place at the right time helps, but there must have been thousands or millions of people with the same basic start as him that still never came close.
But if we return to the book. This is the first real biography I've read and it is...more
But if we return to the book. This is the first real biography I've read and it is...more
Great fun. Stiles correctly harps on the truly epic nature of the Commodore's life. He lived through at least two very distinct eras and helped to bring about the transition. His business life was long enough to share with both the nation's founders, and the founders of a lot of the corporations we still deal with today. The biography contributed immensely to my understanding of American history. Stiles did rigorous research on Vanderbilt, which he claims has not really been done before. The fin...more
I've had a day or two to absorb this huge biopic after spending a month in it. Let's do this one in bullet points:
Pros:
* Cornelius Vanderbilt was a financial titan who shaped a very formative America. He is the founder of big business, by consolidating corporations for efficiencies' sake..
* He had humble, but industrious beginnings. He began his work life at a very young age by ferrying people and produce across the bay. It led into sloops, then steamships, then routes, then competition, then su...more
Pros:
* Cornelius Vanderbilt was a financial titan who shaped a very formative America. He is the founder of big business, by consolidating corporations for efficiencies' sake..
* He had humble, but industrious beginnings. He began his work life at a very young age by ferrying people and produce across the bay. It led into sloops, then steamships, then routes, then competition, then su...more
Brings alive the extraordinarily complex history of steam ferries in New York Harbor. Who would have guessed that such a subject could be so interesting?
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This was a very long, but enjoyable book. Stiles took his readers from Vanderbilt’s early days all the way up to a few years after his death and showed us what happened to the fortune that the Commodore had amassed.
The First Tycoon shows us how Vanderbilt went from being very concerned with simply surviving all the way through his empire-building. It shows his relative lack of concern about what his competitors were doing and simply focusing on the task of providing the best service at the leas...more
The First Tycoon shows us how Vanderbilt went from being very concerned with simply surviving all the way through his empire-building. It shows his relative lack of concern about what his competitors were doing and simply focusing on the task of providing the best service at the leas...more
This was a little dry and most of the financial stuff went right over my head. I do think that it is worth it to read about the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt for a couple of reasons. First, when he died in 1877 he was the richest man in America. If he had liquidated his fortune it would have represented one dollar for every 9 in circulation. His life story embodies the possibility that was available to an American in his generation who rose from relatively humble origins to incredible wealth with...more
A deserved Pulitzer Prize winner. T. J. Stiles recreates the many atmospheres of 19th Century America as it grew into an industrial, capitalist society, and his depiction of Cornelius Vanderbilt as a very complex man enmeshed in one grand battle after another is a winning portrayal. Some segments are landmarks of popular history writing, particularly his chronicle of Vanderbilt's attempt to build a canal in Nicaragua which failed partly at the hands of William Walker. The only criticism is that...more
Vanderbilt was a fascinating man - self made multi millionaire. He had a big impact on transportation (steam boats and railroads) but I thought it more interesting to learn about his impact on the stock market and the large corporation. He was a pioneer in forming corporations which didn't really exist before his time. He also had a big impact on the development of New York City as a leading trading center and financial center. His success was due to his extreme competitiveness and agressiveness...more
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