Nothing Like It In the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
by Stephen E. Ambrose
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen E. AmbroseEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-11-06
ISBN: 0743203178
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Nothing Like It In the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
Book Review: A Lack-Lustre Account of a Mighty Enterprise
Summary: 3 Stars
On learning of the appearance of this book I sent away for it with high hopes. I expected a work of the same sweep and ambition as Donald McCullough's two splendid histories of other great American projects, "The Great Bridge" (The Brooklyn Bridge) and "The Path between the Seas" (The Panama Canal). The story of the construction of the first trans-continental railway has the same features as these other mega-undertakings - unprecedented technical and organisational challenges, unbounded financial and political chicanery, straight old-fashioned heroism and drama, high social and historic impact and an almost limitless cast of larger than life characters. It is therefore a disappointment to report that the present work, though it tells the story and covers all the relevant facts, has none of the pace, colour and interest of McCullough's works. The present history gives the impression of being all but overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available. Huge amounts of facts and data, interspersed with brief quotes and extracts from first-hand accounts, are presented, but the narrative remains a dull one. The book is at its most successful in its pen-portraits of the major players (but why is Stanford the only member of "The Big Four" not to be delineated?) and it does come to life in spurts - as when describing how particularly daunting engineering challenges were overcome - the blasting of the Cape Horn road-bed in the Sierra Nevada being a case in point. The account of the mechanics of the Central Pacific's track-laying in the final days before the historic junction at Promontory Summit is similarly exciting. These high points serve however to emphasise the opportunities that are missed in providing more extended coverage of other equally exciting episodes. One would welcome knowing much more about the quite hair-raising Indian attacks on the Union Pacific, these including derailments and train-burnings, and more also on the techniques of timber trestle construction in extreme conditions. Financial skulduggery is another feature of the story but the book outlines enough to confuse, yet not to enlighten. Having said this, the work does serve to give an overview of the enterprise, with all the salient features covered and a fine selection of photographs. The definitive popular narrative history of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific epics does however remain to be written.
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