Free PDF Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, by David Haward Bain
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Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, by David Haward Bain
Free PDF Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, by David Haward Bain
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Review
"Rich with scandal, tragedy, and visionary characters".-- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
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From the Back Cover
Beginning in 1842 with a visionary's dream to span the continent with twin bands of iron, Empire Express captures three dramatic decades in which the United States effectively doubled in size, fought three wars, and began to discover a new national identity. From self-made entrepreneurs such as the Union Pacific's Thomas Durant and the Central Pacific's Collis Huntington, to era-defining figures such as President Lincoln, Generals Grant and Sherman, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman, to the thousands of nameless laborers -- especially the Irish and Chines -- whose backbreaking work made the railroad possible, this extraordinary narrative summons an astonishing array of voices to give new dimension, not only to this monumental endeavor, but also to the culture, political struggles, and social conflicts of an unforgettable period in American history.
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Product details
Paperback: 848 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books (August 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140084991
ISBN-13: 978-0140084993
Product Dimensions:
6.1 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.1 out of 5 stars
82 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#183,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
If you want to know the history of the transcontinental railroad, this book is for you. It is extremely detailed and seems to be the best researched of many books on the subject. But it's a tome and requires strong wrists to hold the book, especially if you are reading in bed. The amount of detail and number of characters can be a challenge to the reader, but that only reflects the magnitude of the undertaking. This is the full story from concept through completion.People interested in this topic might also read "Nothing Like It in the World" by Steven Ambrose which is less of a challenge and a fun read. In addition, the TV series "Hell on Wheels" (on AMC) tells a entertaining fictional story set in the context of the Wild West environment that surrounded the "end of the track" towns that popped to service the railroad workers.
This a hard review to write. First of all, it's very difficult to criticize Mr. Bain as he has clearly put forth a tremendous amount of effort and time in telling this story. The amount of information and detail here is astounding, he clearly knows his subject. But that effort is ultimately this book's undoing in my opinion.Simply put, this book is a real chore to read with WAY too many details of minutiae that often really doesn't directly pertain to the main storyline. One of example of the "side trips" the author takes the reader on are details of battles with various Native American tribes that really had nothing to do with building the railroad. I truly believe this book could have been cut in half and with judicious editing, one could have still gotten the point of the story across. Or in the alternative, perhaps it should have been put forth as a two volume set, one volume focusing on the actual building and engineering challenges of the transcontinental railroad, and the other volume could have been about the political and financial machinations going on behind the scenes. Unfortunately Empire Express focuses way too much on the latter and not enough on the former.Ultimately I gave up and was unable to finish the book. A damned shame too, as I have an interest in this subject matter, I picked the book up the Golden Spike National Historic site, and I love the AMC show Hell On Wheels. (Imagine my surprise to learn the character Thomas Durant was based on an actual person.) But the storyline just become overwhelming with minutiae and not at all enjoyable to read. This from someone who loves all manner of history books.In summary, this is a very scholarly work that serious historians or students doing a research project would find invaluable. But for the average reader, the person reading for his own entertainment, or self enrichment, it just becomes too painful to try to take it all in. A shame too, because there is some very good information in there, but it will take a lot of time and patience to find it. If you have a lot time to sit down and read uninterrupted for long stretches, you may enjoy this book. If have more limited time, or only a passing interest in the subject matter, you probably want to pass on this title.
This is a huge book and I'm wading through it as we speak. I'm a few hundred pages into it and still fascinated. Writing is crisp and even humorous in a sly way. Lots of interesting pictures too. I bought this one used and the price was well, well worth it (something like $5 with shipping). I decided to pick up the book after watching a couple of seasons of "Hell on Wheels." I like to be better informed when I'm watching TV shows that make some claim to being based on history. In any case, how the railroads got from here to there (East-Midwest-West Coasts) is a extremely fascinating story. It was the Internet of the time, if you think about it.
As some of the reviews have stated this book has a lot of detail and NOT a lot of maps to help you keep on top of areas that are described. I had pages that got repeated in my download for some reason so I would be reading along and all of a sudden find myself reading a part that I had already been through a hundred pages back. This happened more then once and made the read kind of difficult as it was confusing at first and then caused me to have to skip through the repeats to get back to the story.Good book though...Makes you want to take a good cross country rail trip to experience some of the vistas these guys saw and worked in.... Especially through the Sierras.Gave it 3 stars for lack of maps to go with the text.
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