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Nothing Like It in the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose (2000, Hardcover)

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In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers a historical successor to his universally acclaimedUndaunted Courage,which recounted the explorations of the West by Lewis and Clark.Nothing Like It in the Worldis 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 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 Union had won the Civil War and slavery had been abolished, but Abraham Lincoln, who was an early and constant champion of railroads, would not live to see the great achievement. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes to life.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. Locomo-tives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. This was the last great building project to be done mostly by hand: excavating dirt, cutting through ridges, filling gorges, blasting tunnels through mountains.At its peak, the workforce -- primarily Chinese on the Central Pacific, Irish on the Union Pacific -- approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as fifteen thousand workers on each line. The Union Pacific was led by Thomas "Doc" Durant, Oakes Ames, and Oliver Ames, with Grenville Dodge -- America's greatest railroad builder -- as chief engineer. The Central Pacific was led by California's "Big Four": Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, were latter-day Lewis and Clark types who led the way through the wilderness, living off buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope.In building a railroad, there is only one decisive spot -- the end of the track. Nothing like this great work had been seen in the world when the last spike, a golden one, was driven in at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined.Ambrose writes with power and eloquence about 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.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10
0684846098
ISBN-13
9780684846095
eBay Product ID (ePID)
102862033

Product Key Features

Book Title
Nothing like It in the World : the Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869
Author
Stephen E. Ambrose
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Railroads / History, Civil / Transportation, United States / General, Industries / Transportation
Publication Year
2000
Genre
Technology & Engineering, Transportation, Business & Economics, History
Number of Pages
432 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length
9.2in
Item Height
1.3in
Item Width
6.1in
Item Weight
25.9 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number
Tf23.A48 2000
Reviews
Time, naming Nothing Like It in the World as the #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year This magnificent tale of high finance, low finagling, and workers hacking through 2,000 miles is magnificently told., Henry Kisor The New York Times Book Review Richly readable...[Stephen Ambrose] bears the reader on shoulders of wonder and excitement., Conn Nugent New York Post Climb aboard...this lively tale, a colorful, edifying story of U.S. history....Ambrose is the bard of American accomplishment., Bob Minzesheimer USA Today Historian Stephen Ambrose has done it again....Ambrose should be read as much for his muscular prose and talent to get at the heart of the matter as for his research.
Table of Content
ContentsIntroductionONE Picking the Route 18301860TWO Getting to California 18481859THREE The Birth of the Central Pacific 18601862FOUR The Birth of the Union Pacific 18621864FIVE Judah and the Elephant 18621864SIX Laying Out the Union Pacific Line 18641865SEVEN The Central Pacific Attacks the Sierra Nevada 1865EIGHT The Union Pacific Across Nebraska 1866NINE The Central Pacific Assaults the Sierra 1866TEN The Union Pacific to the Rocky Mountains 1867ELEVEN The Central Pacific Penetrates the Summit 1867TWELVE The Union Pacific Across Wyoming 1868THIRTEEN Brigham Young and the MormonsMake the Grade 1868FOURTEEN The Central Pacific Goes Through Nevada 1868FIFTEEN The Railroads Race into Utah January 1April 10, 1869SIXTEEN To the Summit April 11May 7, 1869SEVENTEEN Done May 810, 1869EpilogueNotesBibliographyIndexMapsFrom Chicago to OmahaNebraskaWyomingNevadaUtahCalifornia
Copyright Date
2000
Lccn
00-041005
Dewey Decimal
385.0973
Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
21
Illustrated
Yes

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4.9

4.9 out of 5 stars based on 21 product ratings

21 product ratings

20 users rated this 5 out of 5 stars
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See all 21 reviews

5 out of 5 stars
by Bj7sbC82Rtu@Del...Mar 30, 2017
Hell on Wheels
A book that's well written about actual history of the building of the railroad that connected the East Coast and the West Coast of the US: making us one Nation. But doomed the poor native Americans to hell.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
5 out of 5 stars
by fooudingbrotherJul 04, 2020
More then I expected
At first it seemed like a boring treatise on engineering and surveying but it quickly morphed into a fascinating journey into politics, states rights, real estate speculation, immigration, graft and to a small degree labor rights. Really a good book
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
5 out of 5 stars
by private0524Mar 31, 2021
A great glimpse into history
The story behind this enormous project is very interesting, lots of pictures to help you see the many challenges.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
5 out of 5 stars
by o0DuWH-ARka@Del...Oct 21, 2015
All of Steven Ambrose books are GREAT, I read it years ago and this was for a gift!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
5 out of 5 stars
by mesa-nanaAug 26, 2020
Greatly worth the read!
Railroads today are all but forgotten. Great to see the history of the railroads as well as the interplay between the building of the railroads and the Civil War. Greatly surprised by Abraham Lincoln's contribution to the railroad effort.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned

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Nothing Like It in the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose (2000, Hardcover)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

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Additional Product Features

All listings for this product

Ratings and Reviews

Most relevant reviews

Hell on Wheels

More then I expected

A great glimpse into history

All of Steven Ambrose books are GREAT, I read it years ago and this was for a gift!

Greatly worth the read!

Best Selling in Books

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