Nothing Like It In The World
by Stephen E. Ambrose · first published 2000
67% recommend33% neutral
"Nothing Like It in the World 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 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."--BOOK JACKET.
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…wrote that throughout the trial, Standard Oil's market share steadily declined and Rockefeller was unable to stem the retreat. There was no explanation of the discrepancy. A different take on this is "Nothing Like It In The World" by Ambrose. It's about the building of the first continental railroad. Ambrose writes in it that he fully embraced the conventional view of it, but his research for the book turned everything on its…
on “Full Text of the Federalist Papers” ↗I really should do a list, but here's a few more: "Nothing Like It In The World" Stephen Ambrose The men who built the transcontinental railroad 1863-1869 "The Pity of War" Niall Ferguson Explaining World War 1 "Steve Jobs" Walter Isaacson "The Wright Brothers as Engineers" Quentin…
on “Ask HN: Are books worth it?” ↗…Unfortunately, his narrative facts contradict his conclusions. After you've read it, come back and enlighten me on how "highly regulated" the oil business was in Rockefeller's days. Another gem is "Nothing Like It In The World" by Ambrose. Ambrose also approached the topic with the usual left-wing bias, but his research completely upended his narrative. Unlike Chernow, he wrote a nice mea culpa about his transformation engendered…
on “We need a new economics of water as a common good” ↗…railroad was bringing people to a land that was already successfully settled by neolithic peoples tens of thousands of years earlier. That's what people thought before the railroad was completed. See "Nothing Like It In the World" by Stephen Ambrose: https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Like-World-Transcontinental-1...
on “Starship's Sixth Flight Test” ↗WHAT? Are you kidding me? Go read a book on the railroads - that is a prime example of exactly what I'm talking about. Nothing Like it In The World by Stephan Ambrose is a quick read and covers my point. The railroads were granted the land tracts by the government - they didn't buy it. That was in the 19th century, what about the 20th century resurection…
…of nowhere (being unjustified by the facts presented). I suspected that he'd come into the project with the popular evil caricature of Rockefeller, and couldn't shake it. Contrast that with Ambose's "Nothing Like It In The World" about the first intercontinental railroad. In it he says he started with the usual extremely negative view of the railroad and the people involved with it, but after doing the research was forced to…
on “Notes on John D. Rockefeller” ↗…perfected dynamite in 1866, it was never tested or used by the CP. In 1867, the CP ignored the dangers and did make and use its own nitroglycerin, but except at Summit Tunnel did not make a practice of it." "Nothing Like It In The World", Ambrose, pg. 200-201 I'm not just quoting the book, I read the whole thing. It's really a great story.
on “The Electrification of Everything” ↗…ask me at different times I'll give different answers, but some are just on top: War of the Worlds, Lord of the Rings, The Mote in God's Eye, Replay, Earth Abides, 20000 Leagues Under The Sea, 2001, Nothing Like It In The World, Reach For The Sky, Winnie The Pooh, The Last of the Mohicans, The Hunt for Red October, With the Old Breed, Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, Moby Dick, Shogun, Romeo and Juliet I envy anyone reading…
on “Intellectual Loneliness” ↗1. It finished the railroad in 1869. 1873 was four years later. 1893 was 24 years later - a generation. 2. Check out "Nothing Like It in the World" by Ambrose.
on “The Boeing 747 Begins Its Final Descent” ↗I just finished reading the book "Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869" (http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Like-World-Transcontinental-18...). It talks about the building of the transcontinental railroad. The railroad…
on “How fast could you travel across the U.S. in the 1800s?” ↗One thing about myths - Stephen Ambrose wrote a book "Nothing Like It In The World" about the building of the first transcontinental world. He wrote in the Acknowledgements that: "I had been taught to regard the railroad builders as the models for Daddy Warbucks. The investors and…
on “The Future of American History” ↗> But the question is what can they do that's more useful than communication satellites to people on Earth? Sure. And nobody predicted how incredibly useful the transcontinental railroad would be. "Nothing Like It In The World" by Stephen Ambrose https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Like-World-Transcontinental-1...
on “SpaceX Tender Offer Said to Value Company at Record $210B” ↗