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The account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad-the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads, against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. At its peak, the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the golden spike was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. This is the story of the brave men, the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.… (more)
User reviews
This story begins with the advent of rail travel in the United States and continues forward to the joining of the rails in Utah. It shifts back and forth between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific rail lines, chronicling the race they created, including all the dirty money schemes, political maneuvering and side effects caused by laying a ribbon of steel across a continent. One I hadn't thought of before was the effect the rails had on buffalo. The herds would not cross the rails. So, if a herd was caught on the wrong side of the tracks, whole Indian tribes were cut off from the food supplies they had depended on for generations. Another interesting fact I hadn't known before was that Abraham Lincoln was the first politician to get behind and push for the railroad. As president, he set the wheels in motion, convinced that unifying the East and West of the United States would be the healing force needed after the Civil War.
The book is an easy read, well written and fast paced. Mr. Ambrose is a gifted writer. He refrains from judgments, merely pointing out the facts and showing how at the time those decisions made sense and how history has treated them. If how the West was tamed is of interest, this book goes a long way in explaining it well.
The story of this engineering feat revolves around many of the same demands and cynical behavior we are familiar with in America today: get it done quick, figure out how to pay for it later, and fix it once its built. The railroad helps, in some ways to fulfill the melting pot mythology of America, with Irish, Chinese, and Mormons sacrificing uncountable hours and lives to the service of a great engineering and economic feat.
Nevertheless, like a very long train ride, this story was at times a bit monotonous. Another day another mile can only fill so many pages. I'm glad I read it, but none of the main players really stood out to me, it was difficult to keep the two companies (Union Pacific and Central Pacific) separate in my mind, and I'm not sure how much I will retain beyond what I already knew. Solid, but if you've got other things to read, go for those first.
By any measure, the building of the Transcontinental Railroad was a remarkable achievement, requiring capital, labour and material in stupendous quantities. This masterful
Early on, the author makes the point that a project on this scale had never been attempted before and almost certainly could not have succeeded without the army officers whose experience in marshalling large bodies of men, both Union and Confederate, was crucial, and the support of the Federal government, with issue of bonds and grants of land adjoining the way.
The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad united the east and west coasts of the USA for the first time, reducing the travel time from months to days and unlocking unimagined economic benefits.
This book recounts a remarkable chapter in American history, in vivid detail, and it is a rollicking good read.
Other than
I particularly enjoyed the 30+ pages of photographs included.
The book includes a bibliography and a fine
Persons interested in the development and growth of railroads in the United States may find this book to be of value.
When his Nothing like it in the world, the story of the making of the Transcontinental Railroad fell into my lap I was looking forward to a crackling good read. And I do love trains.
But this one just - well - never
He gets the role of the Chinese immigrants right - at a time when California was trying to limit immigration the railroad people sent a ship at their own expense to bring in more Chinese laborers. And the Chinese knew explosives and how to blast tunnels and probably saved the CP weeks if not months with their expertise and their hard work.
He gets all the little facts right but never gets around to telling the big picture.
Sometimes the rhythm of the engine click clacking along the rails is rich and elegiac - and sometimes the writing in this is too. But mile after mile of it can get to be a bore.
Your mileage may vary.
Stephen Ambrose shows no empathy for the Indians and barely any for the Chinese, so this history is more incomplete than I'd have liked, but the overall history was interesting.
I would have liked more and better maps- maybe it was hard for me because I don't know the geography of the West very well. And there are so many characters in the book that it's hard to keep them all straight.
But overall I liked it a lot.