Rating: 
Summary: Capital!
Review: I have always been interested in the story of the TCR but so many of the books were daunting and very bulky until now! Mr. Ambrose is a splendid story teller and gives us the guts of the story. (He was wrong however when he said in the end that almost no one has heard of Crocker. Well, come to Southern California because we have heard of him. We had Crocker Bank in Los Angeles which is a tall orangeish building erected around 1982, and Crocker Tower in Santa Monica. Crocker Bank is no longer but the name remains in our memories). The building of this railroad is so incredible and one tries -to imangine this swarm of people building as they walked along for hundreds and hundreds of miles. The Chinese were superb although I thought the term Chinamen was politically incorrect nowdays, especially when Ambrose is using it for himself and not as a quote from back in them olden days. The UPs Hell on Wheels was something else, and the Jalsberg story is mind blowing (ha!) to say the least. I was particularly impressed with CP's Missouri Bill and his team in getting the locamotive to the Sierra summit. I found myself rooting for the CP and thought Crocker was an ok kind'a guy. He was out there all the time and even though some of the other leaders were too, he impressed me the most. Doc Durant was the scum of all scum and the worst of any of them; just a slimy slug all the way. I found myself reading this late at night until my eyes stung and then dreaming about those men just spiking those rails -- the ringing of their hammers woke me up -- oops, that was the alarm clock. This was truly an adventure and I'm glad Ambrose didn't waste a lot of paper with boring statistics.
Rating: 
Summary: Inferior to Bain's recent book on the same subject
Review: I've read, enjoyed, and valued other histories by Ambrose, but this is not one of his best efforts. If you are seriously interested in the building of the first transcontinental railroad, get and read David Haward Bain's monumental Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad (Viking, 1999, 797 pages), the result of fourteen years of research and the definitive modern treatment of this subject. Ambrose's book has the misfortune to follow on the heels of Bain's, and it cannot seriously compete with it. Bain's book is truly comprehensive and thorough, a labor of love; in comparison Ambrose's seems somewhat perfunctory and superficial, just another installment in the assembly line of books Ambrose has been cranking out in recent years. If you will compare the two books you will see what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: This is an amazing book created by an amazing author. I recall Ambrose's reflections about the railroad in Ken Burns' magnificent film effort, "The West." A fascinating read. Buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. While it is most likely historically accurate I found this subject extremely dry. Parts were very intersting but I was expecting more about how the Irish and Chinese actually built the railroad. If you're into trains this book is for you; However, it took me longer to read this book than it took to build the railroad. Sorry Mr. Ambrose I'm a total fan but this just didn't work for me.
Rating:
Summary: Hokey! I rushed to return the book. I thought I would gag.
Review: And then Abraham Lincoln stretched out his long leg. . . And then President Lincoln stretched out his long arm. . . The Irish were this way. . . The Chinese were that way. . . Dreadfully boring. . . . Absolutely popular history. . . The first of Ambrose's books I've attempted and probably the last. . . Hokey, hokey, hokey!!
Rating:
Summary: Top Form!
Review: This book was wonderful! Stephen Ambrose brings to light an event that has often been taken for granted and was the greatest American engineering feat of the 19th. century---the building of the transcontinental railroad. From the first plans of the surveyers to the driving of the golden spike, Ambrose brings to life the strengths and greed of the developers, pettiness of politicians, and incredible courage of the men who built the railroad. The amazing endurance of the Chinese who worked with stoic courage under intolerable discrimination and the good-natured attitudes of the Irish laborers. This book is well organized and moves quickly--especially once we get into the "Great Race." Ambrose also shows tolerance and sensitivity in portraying the directors of the UP and the CP, without whom the railroad would have failed.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful story told well
Review: Stephen Ambrose has made a tremendous career for himself by writing oral histories about heroic American men. This book is no exception: Ambrose does a terrific job of digging up truly inspirational stories of common laborers who underwent grueling hardship in order to build the railroads.The result is a very compelling read. However, given how much effort went into this book and given the obvious depth of Ambrose's research, it would have been nice to see a bit more perspective, a bit more actual history surrounding the railroad. If you are still curious about the subject after reading Ambrose's book, I highly recommend _Empire Express_ by David Howard Bain.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose Does It Again
Review: Stephen Ambrose has done it again - made history exciting. I'm not a railroad buff, but after reading Nothing Like It In The World, I want to ride the rails and follow the iron ribbon from Omaha to Sacramento and see first hand the results of the heroic efforts of the thousands of men who were driven to unbelievable accomplishments. A railroad buff may find this story old news, but for the rest of us, it's a fascinating "how to" insight into one of our country's greatest achievements.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good on the Most Part
Review: I really like Ambrose's style and especially enjoyed Undaunted Courage. I was looking forward to this work and his quality prose and research but was initially taken by surprise with a couple of things. For example, on the paste-down endpaper map, Oregon is "bracketed" as a territory in 1869. Not so, Oregon became a state in 1859. I also have no idea why he fails to even mention that the first transcontinental railroad was built across Panama 1854-55. It was built by the United States, and no easy feat at that even though it was short-50 miles or so through hills, swamp and jungle. I'm a bit leary now of the overall quality of research that appears to be compromised or incorrect-What else might be lacking? In the preface Ambrose makes it clear that many people pulled together research for him so maybe that's where the difficulty arose. To be fair the aforementioned are relatively minor details but I expect superior quality from a superior historian. His strongpoint, however, is bringing the "average guy" into the sphere of historical importance and few other authors can do this with such empathy; this book clearly shines in the "how" the transcontinental railroad across the U. S. was achieved.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Like it in the World
Review: Stephen Ambrose is such a remarkable historian. His wonderful ability to look at reams and reams of information and distill it down into a vastly entertaining look at our history. He has such admiration for his subjects (D-Day, Citizen Soldier, Undaunted Courage) and for America that it comes through in every line and written word. He makes you realize how really remarkable the United States of America is, and how remarkable our accomplishments in the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries.
|
