Nothing Like It in the World

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating subject but disappointing
Review: I've always loved Stephen Ambrose's writing-- "Undaunted Courage" is one of my favorite books-- but I was disappointed by "Nothing Like It in the World." The subject is inherently fascinating: how was the transcontinental railroad built? But Ambrose's account is rife with sloppiness and inaccuracies. As a former editor of history textbooks, I found the sloppy editing and inaccuracy rampant throughout this book to be infuriating, and inexcusable. It's hard to understand how this happened-- seems like, they were rushing to publish it in time for the holidays and couldn't be bothered to clean up the first draft.

Ambrose skips over many important details-- ie: how did the Big Four get so wealthy? If they were broke while they were cutting the Summit Tunnel, how did they manage to buy up all the other railroads in California? And the editors should have caught the many repetitions of stories and quotations. And it sure would have helped to have some diagrams to illustrate the laborious terminology and technology-- how is the layperson to know the difference between a tie and a rivet, for example? If Ambrose's goal is to show how a railroad is built, how about some illustrations?

Something else the editors should have caught: the maps were remarkably superficial. They showed no topography at all except for a couple of vague looking scratches which I guess were supposed to represent mountains. Since topography plays such an important role in the story, it was extremely frustrating to not be able to refer to a map. It also would have helped to have some dates on the maps-- ie: when the CP and UP reached certain points. Moreover: many of the places mentioned in the text aren't in the maps. And most bizarrely, some of the maps were actually in the WRONG chapters! And there were really astonishing factual errors. An example: Oregon was already a state when the transcontinental rr was being built and Ambrose lists it as a territory. Wasn't there a factchecker working on this book?

I recently read "Bad Land: An American Romance" by Jonathan Raban. This book, about the immigration of Europeans to Montana in the wake of the railroads touches on many troubling aspects of the railroad building which Ambrose seems totally oblivious to. The railroads created glossy brochures that they used to lure naïve European immigrants with such "attractive details, that readers would commit their families and their life savings, sight unseen." In these brochures, the railroads pertetuated the absurd myth that "rain follows the railroad." Ambrose mentions this myth once-- and never debunks it. Overall, though I enjoyed aspects of this book-- in particular, the sections about Lincoln's work as a railroad lawyer and the process of blasting tunnels through the Sierra Nevada-- to me, the sloppiness of the editing and fact checking detracted a great deal from its quality. If you want to read a really great historical account of the railroads' impact on the American West, read "Bad Land."

Rating:
Summary: Terrible - read Empire Express
Review: With "Nothing Like it in the World" eminent historian Stephen E. Ambrose appears to be resting on the laurels he earned with his earlier works. This book is a disjointed compilation of anecdotes about the building of the transcontinental railroad, lacking any sort of compelling or even coherent narrative. Worse still, the anecdotes are repetitive; he appears to have "copied and pasted" entire pages 5 or even six times, differentiated only by a few extra lines he tacked on here and there. One has to wonder if Ambrose bothered to have an editor read his manuscript before sending a first draft to the presses.

I would like to point out some redeeming feature that might have made this book worth my time and money. Unfortunately, I found none, and am left wishing that I could get a refund for both.

Rating:
Summary: At least he tried
Review: What saves this effort at all is the subject matter. The transcontinental railroad and its story is so grand that it is hard to screw it up. Stephen Ambrose has made a valiant effort but even with his great literary prowess he has proved unable to destroy the magic of the tale. Other reviewers have pointed out the repetitions, the errors, the plagarisms. I will point out just one strange one. On my copy of the book the rear cover prints reviews and raves for his Lewis and Clark book. At first glance you are prone to interpret it applying to this one. Mr. Ambrose, we still love you and know you can do better.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Confusing?
Review: I found this book difficult to read. It had a text book feeling. Many of the facts were wrong such as the Govenor of Arizona riding with other dignitaries to the ceremonies of May 10, 1869. Arizona did not become a state until 1912. Maybe he meant the Territorial Govenor? The Panama Canal being finished the same time as the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869? Overall, I enjoyed the story of the massive financial undertaking and incredible human labor involved. Inaccurate and confusing yes, especially the maps, but he brought to focus the inconeivable story of achievement for that time. Sun Lakes, Arizona

Rating:
Summary: When History is better than Fiction
Review: The book concentrates on the human drama associated with the building of the railroad, rather than on the "bad" things that the "robber barons" of the CP and the "bad guys" running the UP are accused of. It is far better than most fiction, and I am very glad I read the book before reading the reviews. While this book may not be up to the past quality of Amborse's books, it is nonetheless exciting reading. The editing is a bit shoddy, but so is most fiction. It is both enjoyable, and provides an unforgettable picture of one of the great feats in American History. ENJOY the story.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre book
Review: I was excited about this book after, I believe, hearing the author on a radio show, but after reading the book I'm disappointed.

The story was interesting, but the organization of the book did not hold my attention. There was a lot of repitition between chapters. I read quotes and remembered them from previous chapters.

I didnt really find myself associating with the players of the era either.

There are some nice pictures in the book.

Rating:
Summary: What a Disappointment!
Review: Ambrose was clearly uninterested in his subject. This is a disjointed, poorly written book. One would guess it was a student's first term paper if one did not know that Stephen Ambrose is an acclaimed author. The maps are simple and poorly placed. Under Ambrose's pen, the story is dull. Some sections appear to come straight out of the other recent railroad book, The Empire Express.

Rating:
Summary: a bad book
Review: I dont want to repeat what so many others have already said. This book seems to be a collection of all the 3 by 5 cards used in doing the research for it. There are many mistakes, repetitions and fillings. The story is interesting, but it is too poorly done. It would have made a good article for a magazine.

Rating:
Summary: appropriate title
Review: Despite reading other reviews pointing out factual and historial errors, I truly believe this book satisfactorily imparts to the reader why recounting the events related to the building of the trans-continental railroad should prove beyond a doubt that at the time there was indeed nothing like it in the world. I am not enough a student of history to know for sure that there were a lot of errors of fact, but I do know that the research and planning that went into this book could not have been improved upon. This book is a testament to the spirit of American ingenuity. It clearly shows how this railroad, completed shortly after the Civil war, completed the reuniting of the country; not just North and South, but East and West.

The details about the actual building of the railroad will astound and amaze even the most jaded reader. Before reading the book, I had no clue as to how many obstacles had to be overcome and what an arduous task these men faced.

I recommend this book. You'll enjoy it, you'll learn from it and believe it or not, you will find a lot of correct historical facts.

Rating:
Summary: Bad work by a history professor
Review: Stephen Ambrose and his team did voluminous research and then managed to put together a book filled with mistakes. He has geographical errors like placing like placing the discovery of gold in California WEST of Sacramento when it was actually thirty or so miles the the east. He claims that Robert E. Lee got hold of George MacClellan's battles plans at Antietam (Just the opposite occured). He also states that Union Pacific built the causeway across the Great Salt Lake (It was the Southern Pacific). I could go on and on.

In addition to the all the mistakes, Ambrose also likes to repeat himself. Some of the anecdotes appear three or four times. In addition he takes some great liberties such as often calling Theodore Judah "Ted". Never have I read anything in which Judah was called Ted and the only sources that Ambrose uses that include Judah's first name call him Theodore.

As a railroad buff and a historian I was really looking forward to this book. It's too bad that the book does not reflect all the research that went into the project. This book is a mediorcre performance.