Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: Railroads in the West
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.63 (840 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0030169364 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 311 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Before it was over more than 155 million acres (one tenth of the country) were given away to the railroad magnates, Indian tribes were decimated, the buffalo were driven from the Great Plains, millions of immigrants were lured from Europe, and a colossal continental nation was built.Woven into this dramatic narrative are the origins of present-day governmental corruption, the first ties between powerful corporations and politicians who "enjoyed the frequent showers of money that fell upon them from railroad stock manipulators, and gave away America." How the people of that time responded to a sense of disillusionment remarkably similar to our own adds a contemporary dimension to this story.. From the author of the best-selling Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown's classic account of the building of the transcontinental railroad.In February 1854 the first railroad from the East reached
B-O-R-I-N-G! C. Schultz Book is BORING. Only reason I bought it was it's required reading for a college course I was in. Dry and completely uninteresting. Unless you're VERY into trains, solid pass.. A good read for history R. Carnahan Had a few slow spots, but overall a good book on the Trains and the Western movement. I recommend the book.. I'll toot the whistle for this one Ian Brodie I'm contributing this review because I think the existing, single review on Amazon is unfair. I know nothing about the author, but I do know enough from history that he is not completely out of whack to take the view that the railroads were often in the grip of robber barons and that many in Congress had their hands out when it came to making sure the Iron Horses enjoyed lenient legislation that enabled them to cross the continent. Thus, I think the author was entitled to his strong views when it comes to assessing the political and business climate in which the railroads were built. But this book is far more than a
I can't think of a better way to tell our history than to follow the path of the lonesome whistle."--Tony Hiss, The New York Times Book Review. "Once again Dee Brown is telling us one of the great American stories