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

In his new book, "Nothing Like It in The World: The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69", Stephen E. Ambrose is following the same process he has followed in his World War II books and his "Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West": he tries to bring the reader to see things from many angles: from the top ranks (Financiers, politicians, engineers) to the individual workers. He shows the life of the Chinese workers (West side) and Irish and multinational workers (East Side); describes the life of ordinary people during the construction; shows the danger of using black powder; shows the problems with the Native American populations; analyzes the presence of some 500 African Americans after the Civil War (former Slaves from the South), with at the same time the presence of former Union and Confederate veterans IN THEIR UNIFORMS on the workplace!One of the best passages relates to the last (golden) spike, at Promontory Summit, Utah. The story is breathtaking. The reader expects the final hammering of the spike -like the whole world on May 10, 1869- from San Francisco to New York, Philadelphia, Boston and even London (via the telegraph). I will not say what happened (I do not want to run the climax of the story for the reader!)In conclusion, I would strongly recommend the reading of "Nothing Like it In The World". Stephen E. Ambrose is at his best... and nobody can object with his conclusion that the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad is one of most important event of the American Nineteenth Century!

Ambrose is a historian who often glorifies the heroes of American history and to him, the hero is often the common person. An example of this would be his book Citizen Soldiers. Ambrose has generally written about 20th century US history but a departure was Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark exploration. Now, again Ambrose departs from the 20th century to produce an engaing work about the completion of the transcontinental railroad. An example of how he plays up the heroic efforts of common people is his discussion of the contribution of Chinese laborers. Dangerous, difficult work, that other laborers would not do were willingly performed by Chinese. They needed little or no supervision in inventing ways to get difficult tasks done in the daunting task of crossig the Sierra Nevadas. Their inventiveness defied the engineers who believed that certain tasks could not be done. Many laborers would take on difficult jobs in crossing the Sierra Nevadas, only to quit after earning a few bucks, moving on to Nevada to try their fortunes in silver mining. However, not only were the Chinese inventive, they stuck to their job despite ill treatment. Of course, they would have been attacked by white prospectors if they had ventured into Nevada to seek their own fortunes. Completing the railroad was a Hurculean task for all involved. The planners and overseers of the project were great heroes for believing it could be done and implementing their beliefs. The laborers, of all ethnic groups, were heroes for taking on a dangerous and rigorous task, and completing it magnificently. For the umpteenth time, Ambrose shows us what's good and insirational about American history.