Rating: 
Summary: Detail, Over-kill
Review: I came away from this book having a lot more insight into the makings of the Transcontinental Railroad. Specifically, who the players were from top to bottom and the trials and tribulations that were encountered by both railroads.However, I do think that Ambrose got bogged down into too much trivia and redundancy in describing the individuals and the sequence of events. Because of this, I was quite glad when the book came to an end. This is my fourth Stephen Ambrose book, the previous three I would give high marks, with this one, I cannot.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story...bungled by a hurried author or editor
Review: Ambrose is excellent, and this story is fertile ground. But my take was that the book was just a published assembly of his 3X5 research cards with a handsome dust jacket. He has good moments, but it needed editing badly especially near the end. Such a shame to miss the compelling story of this feat, by publishing a rough draft.
Rating:
Summary: what missed here?
Review: i have to say that i was really disappointed with this book. its a natural fantastic story, with all the ingredients anyone would want, but ambrose, seems to have blown through this manuscript in about 3 weeks. it jumps all over the place, is incredibly difficult to follow sometimes and loses considerable punch with his casual use of prose. i have to be honest - this is the first ambrose book i have read, so i can't tell whether he simply had a bad month. i hope so. but this book is just not a very good read, which, given the subject matter, is too damn bad.
Rating:
Summary: Great subject matter presented in a confusing manner
Review: I am a big fan of Mr. Ambrose's books, particularly Undaunted Courage. And the depth with which he dives into subject matter is unparalleled. But I was left feeling like I had read the same subject matter over and over (and over) again during this read - so much so that I began to lose interest in the story as it reached its climax (never a good sign). The feat described here is not one I would have ranked at the top of American accomplishments in its history - BEFORE reading the book. Having digested the magnitude of this project from a financial and engineering scale, I can now appreciate the incredible sacrifices and effort required to create such an important commercial link. I also come away with a tremendous appreciation of the individuals who worked on the railroad, in particular the Chinese immigrants, who were absolutely pivotal to the railroad's success. But the discussions around the financial aspects and political posturing were not as interesting and were given far too much weight in my opinion - the railroad was more about an incredible engineering and physical accomplishment and less about egos. And the "ping-pong" like back and forth between the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific left me more confused than engrossed - often the timelines do not intersect and the reader is forced to constantly reorient him/herself to the timing, the progress and the individuals involved. Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Ambrose and to those who do not fully appreciate the commercial implications and the sheer manpower and effort involved - there was truly nothing like in the world. But I found the reading much less engrossing to a similar under-appreciated feat that Mr. Ambrose has tackled - the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting Race
Review: Nothing Like It In The World is an exciting read about an amazing race in the 19th century. While most of us have seen the famous photo of the Transcontinental Railroad being joined with a gold spike, I did not understand the true grit, risk, ingenuity and challenges of the task. Stephen Ambrose brings this out in an entertaining and personal way. The entertainment comes from his 'dueling banjos' style of one chapter on the Eastern railway and one chapter on the Western competitor. Ambrose gets into personalities from the giants to those who dug the tunnels and pounded the spikes. He paraphrases some of the quotes, saving us from that era's stilted and preachy dialog. Finally, he puts the task into today's perspective. There is nothing like this in the world. It remains to be seen whether space travel will match the Transcontinental Railway's achievement.
Rating:
Summary: Below Average Ambrose
Review: "Nothing Like It in the World" is historian Stephen E. Ambrose's account of the building of America's transcontinental railroad. It's a fair account of the fulfillment of a decades-old dream to link America from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean, but it doesn't measure up to the best works of history written by this superb historian. This is less a story about the politics behind the building of the transcontinental railroad as it is a tale about how the railroad was actually built. The vast majority of this book tells of the ordinary men - the Chinese and Irish immigrants, Mormons, ex-Confederate soldiers, and other laborers - who frequently sacrificed life and limb to build the railroad. These were the men who surveyed the routes, laid road beds, built bridges, excavated tunnels, set down ties and track, and drove spikes across the heartland of America. This is far from Ambrose's best book. He seems not to have incorporated the high level of detail that marked his earlier masterful books, most notably "Undaunted Courage," "D-Day: June 6, 1944," and "Citizen Soldiers." Still, I got a lot of pleasure out of "Nothing Like It In the World," despite its lightweight coverage of a fascinating subject. Ambrose's easy narrative style is always readily evident, and there are enough facts on hand to make the book a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Like It Again... Please
Review: This is the first "detailed" account I ever read of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, so everything Mr. Ambrose presented was eye-opening and wetted my appetite for more. The other reviewers are right. BETTER MAPS! MORE EXPLAINATION ON WHAT "FISHPLATES" ARE! While I have a superficial knowledge of railroading, I found it puzzling that examples of construction and more graphics in general were not provided. I guess the author warned us up front that he had to be prodded into writing this and it showed. It wasn't written with the same passion as "Undaunted Courage". Mr. Bain will owe Mr. Ambrose a few cokes because I will (and so will a few others) now read his book, even though it looks to rival War and Peace! Steven, don't let the editor get you out of your comfort zone!
Rating:
Summary: Booorring!
Review: Being a big fan of Steven Ambrose, I was very disappointed with this work. He successfully turned a fascinating subject into a real sleeper. It helped me to bed on many occasions! Perhaps if he trimmed a hundred pages or so of the filler...
Rating:
Summary: Dying for more maps
Review: He does a good job with the story, but seldom have I seen a book with such a critical need for additional maps. It is hard to picture the route of the CP throught the mountains, and time and time again cities are mentioned along the UP route that cannot be found on the larger maps. There are several issues regarding route changes which would lend themselves to maps.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Like It Before from Ambrose
Review: I'll keep this short. This is not the typical Stephen Ambrose work. I had trouble even finishing it.
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