Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose
Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose PDF, ePub eBook D0wnl0ad
In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers a historical successor to his universally acclaimed Undaunted Courage, which recounted the explorations of the West by Lewis and Clark.Nothing Like It in the World 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 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.
From reader reviews:
Kelly Blow:
Have you spare time to get a day? What do you do when you have more or little spare time? Yes, you can choose the suitable activity with regard to spend your time. Any person spent their particular spare time to take a wander, shopping, or went to the Mall. How about open or even read a book eligible Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869? Maybe it is to get best activity for you. You already know beside you can spend your time with your favorite's book, you can better than before. Do you agree with it is opinion or you have additional opinion?
Brenda Robert:
Your reading 6th sense will not betray a person, why because this Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 e-book written by well-known writer who knows well how to make book that can be understand by anyone who read the book. Written in good manner for you, dripping every ideas and creating skill only for eliminate your personal hunger then you still hesitation Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 as good book not simply by the cover but also through the content. This is one guide that can break don't judge book by its handle, so do you still needing another sixth sense to pick this particular!? Oh come on your reading sixth sense already alerted you so why you have to listening to yet another sixth sense.
Roxie Jenkins:
That guide can make you to feel relax. This book Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 was colorful and of course has pictures around. As we know that book Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 has many kinds or type. Start from kids until teens. For example Naruto or Private investigator Conan you can read and believe you are the character on there. Therefore , not at all of book are usually make you bored, any it offers up you feel happy, fun and relax. Try to choose the best book for you personally and try to like reading which.
Read Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose for online ebook
Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose Free PDF d0wnl0ad, audio books, books to read, good books to read, cheap books, good books, online books, books online, book reviews epub, read books online, books to read online, online library, greatbooks to read, PDF best books to read, top books to read Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose books to read online.
No comments:
Post a Comment