Iron empires : robber barons, railroads, and the making of modern America /

In 1869, when the final spike was driven into the Transcontinental Railroad, few were prepared for its seismic aftershocks. Once a hodgepodge of short, squabbling lines, America's railways exploded into a titanic industry helmed by a pageant of speculators, crooks and visionaries. Hiltzik shows...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hiltzik, Michael A. (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2020]
Subjects:
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Agents of transformation
  • The age of scoundrels. Uncle Daniel and the Commodore ; Chapters of Erie ; Pierpont Morgan's grand tour ; The king of frauds ; The Northern Pacific panic ; Jay Gould returns ; Year of upheaval
  • Morgan and Harriman. The rise of Ned Harriman ; The first skirmish ; A community of interests ; Savior of the Union Pacific ; The Reconstruction ; "A pig-headed affair" ; The empire builder ; The quest for the Burlington
  • The ghost dance. Peacock Alley ; Lions guarding the way ; "A good-sized panic" ; Exhaustion ; The trustbuster ; "Malefactors of great wealth"
  • Epilogue: The end of an epoch.