Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869

Stephen E. Ambrose

Simon and Schuster, Nov 6, 2001 - Business & Economics - 432 pages

The account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad-the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads, against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. At its peak, the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the golden spike was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. This is the story of the brave men, the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.

What people are saying

Review: Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869

User Review  - Dan Mejak - Goodreads

I really enjoyed reading this book. History classes don't often teach how much different events are really tied together. The building of the Transcontinental Railroad was tied directly to the Civil ...

Review: Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869

User Review  - Dave Hoff - Goodreads

This was a re-read, 1st read 1/2002. Steve did his usual research and wrote a history of the CP RR from the West and the UP RR from the East. It's financial and physical ordeal, workers and the pushers. to connect the Nation.

Contents

• Introduction: 17
• ONE PICKING THE ROUTE 18301860: 23
• Two GETTING TO CALIFORNIA 18481859: 42
• THREE THE BIRTH OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC: 63
• FOUR THE BIRTH OF THE UNION PACIFIC: 83
• FIVE JUDAH AND THE ELEPHANT 18621864 ii: 101
• Six LAYING OUT THE UNION PACIFIC LINE: 125
• SEVEN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC ATTACKS THE SIERRA: 145
• EIGHT THE UNION PACIFIC ACROSS NEBRASKA 1866: 167
• NINE THE CENTRAL PACIFIC ASSAULTS: 193
• TEN THE UNION PACIFIC TO THE ROCKY: 207
• ELEVEN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC PENETRATES: 230
• TWELVE THE UNION PACIFIC ACROSS: 249
• THIRTEEN BRIGHAM YOUNG AND THE MORMONS: 278
• FOURTEEN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC GOES THROUGH: 297
• FIFTEEN THE RAILROADS RACE INTO UTAH: 318
• SIXTEEN To THE SUMMIT APRIL IIMAY 7 1869: 356
• Epilogue: 369
• Notes: 383
• Bibliography: 407
• From Chicago to Omaha 126: 425

About the author

Stephen E.Ambrose is the author of The Wild Blue, Citizen Soldiers, Undaunted Courage, D-Day, and Band of Brothers, as well as biographies of Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. He is the director emeritus of the Eisenhower Center and founder of The National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. He lives in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Helena, Montana.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869; A Touchstone Book
• Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2001
• ISBN: 0743203178, 9780743203173
• Length: 432 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / General; History / United States / 19th Century; History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877); History / United States / General; Transportation / Railroads / History