Accounts of the Central Pacific R.R. (Heading East) and the Union Pacific R.R.(Heading West)The Owners who gave everything they had and the Civil Engineers who roamed the country and gave the vision to the Railroads, Congress and a young America. A president who loved Railroads and had the vision to carry on the Great Civil War and a impossible project that could have been our country's demise. It is about the Irish immigrants,our Civil War Veterans and the Chineese immagrents who to the delight of the Railroads were truly the backbone and spirit of the building of such a Great undertaking. If you are a history buff, Railroad buff or just plain curious you will love this book. It reads like a movie and is awesome in the details such as the Civil war Battles interspersed with insurmountable achievements going on between the two railroads until they reach together finally celabrating an undertaking were there was nothing like it in the world.Read full review
If you even remotely like anything about railroading you will really appreciate this book. Ambrose's research is outstand. Considering the epic job the men that built the transcontinental railroad undertook it is amazing it ever happened especially considering the technology of the day. Ambrose's account of this is truely outstanding, you can almost feel what the men faced as Ambrose's recounts the tail. As a side not there is a great history lesson and a side the you never realized the civil war played in what became the transcontinental railroad. I would rate this better than excellent if there was such a choice to select.
Excellent history of a interesting period in our history. US History is not without its mistakes. Though the building of the railroad was quite an engineering undertaking and not without risk, but it highlights the grave mistreatment of many classes of society at the time. Read it for the understanding of this important time in our history, but also read it for some insight that there is not much in US History that is truly pure and good.
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This is another well written historical work that is so typical for Stephen Ambrose. He provides insight into the people who were behind and deeply involved in the building of the railroad. I appreciated the insight into the corruption and political aspects of the railroad. It's interesting how not much has changed in the way major projects are handled when private companies and the government are involved. This book will give the reader a new insight into how difficult it was to accomplish this significant engineering feat. I highly recomment this book to anyone who appreciates history.
The book is informative and detailed. It is packed with the history of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific when the U.S. transcontinental railroad was built from 1863-1869. One can truly understand and feel the muscle power it took to built such a road across the U.S. The terrain was tough and life was hostile in open country especially dealing with the Indians. Incredible. Ambrose captures the moment very well.
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