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Michael A. Hiltzik
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Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America Kindle Edition

by Michael A. Hiltzik (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 404 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Railroads
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From Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik, the epic tale of the clash for supremacy between America’s railroad titans

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 soon exploded into a titanic industry helmed by a pageant of speculators, crooks, and visionaries. The vicious competition between empire builders such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, J. P. Morgan, and E. H. Harriman sparked stock market frenzies, panics, and crashes; provoked strikes that upended the relationship between management and labor; transformed the nation’s geography; and culminated in a ferocious two-man battle that shook the nation’s financial markets to their foundations and produced dramatic, lasting changes in the interplay of business and government.
 
Spanning four decades and featuring some of the most iconic figures of the Gilded Age, Iron Empires reveals how the robber barons drove the country into the twentieth century—and almost sent it off the rails.
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  1. Print length
    453 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Mariner Books
  5. Publication date
    August 11, 2020
  6. File size
    23226 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  1. Vanderbilt’s goal was to stifle competition affecting his own railroads; Morgan’s goal was to stifle all competition, so that the investments owned by his clients would have no headwinds interfering with greater profitability. Harriman’s goal was to demonstrate that the best path to profitability was to invest in his railroads’ quality until they could meet the demands of their customers.
    Highlighted by 62 Kindle readers
  2. Morgan and Harriman’s ferocious two-man contest for supremacy over the railroad industry would shake the nation’s financial markets, cost thousands of small investors their hard-won nest eggs, and produce dramatic, lasting changes in the relationship of business and government.
    Highlighted by 55 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review


Editors' pick: A story of ambition, vision, and greed—like Game of Thrones with trains."—Chris Schluep, Amazon Editor

Review

"Unbridled ambition, greed, corruption, ' creative destruction, ' and a bit of conscience--Michael Hiltzik's vivid account of the railroad barons in the Gilded Age shows us the workings of unbridled capitalism at its zenith (or nadir, as the case may be). The names Morgan, Harriman, Pullman, Hill, Villard, Rockefeller will forever be associated with creating America's first great infrastructure and making America 'modern.'

-- "Gordon H. Chang, author of Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad"

"Were the railroad barons of the nineteenth century great entrepreneurs in the American spirit who built a remarkable network of railroads? Or were they robbers who fleeced local people and passengers alike? In this superb and comprehensive book, Hiltzik lets you decide, with the help of a few hints."

-- "Christian Wolmar, author of the The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America "

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07T1FT3D6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; Illustrated edition (August 11, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 11, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 23226 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 453 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 404 ratings

About the author

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Michael A. Hiltzik

Michael A. Hiltzik

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
404 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BG-expat
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent History of the railroads busilding Modern Corporations and USA!
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
Due to slow internalional mails/C-Virus, I have only started. The writing is excellent! I have just gotten to Fisk, Gould, Vanderbuilt fighting over the ERIE and triggering the Crash of 1873. I recommend this book!

I am now down to 1900's-the Alaska Expedition, bridging the Great Salt Lake, and consolidation of the Southern Pacific. Next up--TRUST BUSTERS and Teddy Roosevelt!

14 Nov 2020-Finished the book and Epilogue at the pub day before yesterday and am quite satisfied with the writing and the histories this work amplified for me!
9 people found this helpful
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Robert J Wright
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2023
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Enjoyed this book. It is well written and very informative. The author grabs your attention and keeps it for the entire book.
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William M. Cole
5.0 out of 5 stars Readable
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022
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A very readable history of an era that shaped America. It's strength is that the author avoided using financial and railroad jargon.
3 people found this helpful
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Raymond Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Overview
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2023
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Decent overview, not very deep. The author is very readable but does like to throw in some obscure words that make a couple of paragraphs far more clumsy than need be. One major omission, in my opinion, was no mention of steel rails. During the timeframe of this book the industry changed from iron to steel, certainly the men in this book has something to do with that. 372 pages, I read it in a weekend so not the deepest of histories but one that is entertaining....for a day or three.
3 people found this helpful
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William Blackburn
5.0 out of 5 stars Important history of America's railroads
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2021
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This is an exceptionally well written and engaging account of the the larger than life men who were pivotal in the construction, financing (and serial refinancing) of America's vital rail systems.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Railroad Heavyweights (1870-1920)
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2022
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A well researched and well written narrative of the men who led the development of America's West ,their excesses ambitions and failures . But importantly success in bringing about a modern American economy .
2 people found this helpful
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L
5.0 out of 5 stars The troubled past becomes the present
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020
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A fascinating history of the early railroads and humane greed turning into dedicated competitors building the RR’s that helped form the nation.
2 people found this helpful
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Daniel
5.0 out of 5 stars Capitalism works.
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2021
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These so called Robber Barons made America Great.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. R. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars History giving a perspective on the present
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is a good historical story of the development of the railways through the 19 century. There are many fascinating tales that fill out the rich tapestry of this period recounting the conquering of the west of America by the railroads. There are also the colourful characters that were key players in building and trading the railways between them as they speculated to create and lose empires. These economic forces created the first large corporations which also seeded the first unions in response to the poor treatment of the workers. The trading of the securities of the railways, both bonds and equities, was fundamental through the period as it exposed the poor governance but also sowed the seeds of various stock market panics which affected the wider economy. This book rarely draws the parallels to the tech giants of today, but a thoughtful reader will see them easily. A very enlightening and enjoyable read.
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