false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170358157m/49255.jpg 49255 12 Abraham Lincoln, who had worked as a riverboat pilot before turning to politics, knew a thing or two about the problems of transporting goods and people from place to place. He was also convinced that the United States would flourish only if its far-flung regions were linked, replacing sectional loyalties with an overarching sense of national destiny.<p> Building a transcontinental railroad, writes the prolific historian Stephen Ambrose, was second only to the abolition of slavery on Lincoln's presidential agenda. Through an ambitious program of land grants and low-interest government loans, he encouraged entrepreneurs such as California's "Big Four"--Charles Crocker, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Leland Stanford--to take on the task of stringing steel rails from ocean to ocean. The real work of doing so, of course, was on the shoulders of immigrant men and women, mostly Chinese and Irish. These often-overlooked actors and what a contemporary called their "dreadful vitality" figure prominently in Ambrose's narrative, alongside the great financiers and surveyors who populate the standard textbooks.<p> In the end, Ambrose writes, Lincoln's dream transformed the nation, marking "the first great triumph over time and space" and inaugurating what has come to be known as the American Century. David Haward Bain's <I>Empire Express</I>, which covers the same ground, is more substantial, but Ambrose provides an eminently readable study of a complex episode in American history. <I>--Gregory McNamee</I> 99506 book 2000 Nothing Like It In the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 total:656|5:126|4:267|3:199|2:53|1:11| 656 2412 979 118 1 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Mar 12 17:42:02 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 17:42:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Apr 12 21:21:53 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 01 20:49:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue May 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 05:34:54 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 06:52:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Dec 02 22:05:06 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 22:15:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Sep 11 09:25:26 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 09:28:43 -0700 2009
Perhaps it was often seeing the particularly difficult construction s...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 15 15:42:14 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 15:42:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Sep 14 19:16:35 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 19:24:18 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 14 10:25:05 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 17 16:02:55 -0700 2009
A great antidote for those who believe that our times are uniquely corrupt. The engineers and surveyors and foremen and workers are the heroes of this tale. The politicians and the businessmen -- most often the same crew -- are t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 28 13:18:27 -0800 2008 Mon Sep 28 14:44:00 -0700 2009
Interesting discussion and description of the financing and land-grant provisions backing the construction of the railroad. I particularly liked reading about the cut-and-fill, tunneling, and problems associated with winter construction especially in the Sierras. Brigha...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 03 12:33:59 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 14 10:54:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Jul 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 06 19:58:58 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 23 06:59:40 -0700 2008 ...more...]]> 4 0 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 07:38:21 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 07:55:33 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jul 10 13:15:27 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 13:24:24 -0700 2007
I'd like to say this book was an exception - it wasn't, BUT it was a fantastic book. Sure, it drags at times and the details are DETAIL...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 14:59:35 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 18:00:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 29 15:14:08 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 15:27:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 15:33:12 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 09:44:51 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 20:14:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 20:17:16 -0800 2009
It was also really interesting to note the history of the political process that le...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri May 15 11:27:58 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 11:35:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 11:25:26 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 11:32:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 07:03:21 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 11:47:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=49255