Nothing like it in the world: the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869
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Accelerated Reader:
IL: UG - BL: 8.5 - AR Pts: 28
Description
In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers a historical successor to his universally acclaimed Undaunted Courage, which recounted the explorations of the West by Lewis and Clark. 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. The Union had won the Civil War and slavery had been abolished, but Abraham Lincoln, who was an early and constant champion of railroads, would not live to see the great achievement. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies -- the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads -- against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. This was the last great building project to be done mostly by hand: excavating dirt, cutting through ridges, filling gorges, blasting tunnels through mountains. At its peak, the workforce -- primarily Chinese on the Central Pacific, Irish on the Union Pacific -- approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as fifteen thousand workers on each line. The Union Pacific was led by Thomas "Doc" Durant, Oakes Ames, and Oliver Ames, with Grenville Dodge -- America's greatest railroad builder -- as chief engineer. The Central Pacific was led by California's "Big Four": Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, were latter-day Lewis and Clark types who led the way through the wilderness, living off buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope. In building a railroad, there is only one decisive spot -- the end of the track. Nothing like this great work had been seen in the world when the last spike, a golden one, was driven in at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. Ambrose writes with power and eloquence about the brave men -- the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.
Subjects
Subjects
Central Pacific Railroad Company -- History
History
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th centurry
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Railroads
Railroads -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Talking books
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- History
United States
United States -- History
History
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th centurry
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Railroads
Railroads -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Talking books
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- History
United States
United States -- History
More Details
ISBN:
9780743203173
9780743518505
9780743551007
9780684846095
9780743204309
9780743506465
9780743518505
9780743551007
9780684846095
9780743204309
9780743506465
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 8.5, 28 Points
Level 8.5, 28 Points
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 9be488cc-3bc5-17af-38ff-5f06c15bff71 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | nothing like it in the world the men who built the transcontinental railroad 1863 1869 |
Grouping Author | stephen e ambrose |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-04-25 08:45:41AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-24 22:21:25PM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_interest_level
UG
accelerated_reader_point_value
28
accelerated_reader_reading_level
8.5
auth_author2
DeMunn, Jeffrey, 1947-
Demunn, Jeffrey
Demunn, Jeffrey
author
Ambrose, Stephen E.
author2-role
DeMunn, Jeffrey,1947-
Demunn, Jeffrey,reader
hoopla digital
Demunn, Jeffrey,reader
hoopla digital
author_display
Ambrose, Stephen E.
display_description
In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers a historical successor to his universally acclaimed Undaunted Courage, which recounted the explorations of the West by Lewis and Clark. 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. The Union had won the Civil War and slavery had been abolished, but Abraham Lincoln, who was an early and constant champion of railroads, would not live to see the great achievement. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies -- the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads -- against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. This was the last great building project to be done mostly by hand: excavating dirt, cutting through ridges, filling gorges, blasting tunnels through mountains. At its peak, the workforce -- primarily Chinese on the Central Pacific, Irish on the Union Pacific -- approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as fifteen thousand workers on each line. The Union Pacific was led by Thomas "Doc" Durant, Oakes Ames, and Oliver Ames, with Grenville Dodge -- America's greatest railroad builder -- as chief engineer. The Central Pacific was led by California's "Big Four": Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, were latter-day Lewis and Clark types who led the way through the wilderness, living off buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope. In building a railroad, there is only one decisive spot -- the end of the track. Nothing like this great work had been seen in the world when the last spike, a golden one, was driven in at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. Ambrose writes with power and eloquence about the brave men -- the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.
format_category_ma
Audio Books
Books
Books
format_ma
Book
CD Audiobook
Large Print
CD Audiobook
Large Print
id
9be488cc-3bc5-17af-38ff-5f06c15bff71
isbn
9780684846095
9780743203173
9780743204309
9780743506465
9780743518505
9780743551007
9780743203173
9780743204309
9780743506465
9780743518505
9780743551007
itype_ma
ADULT BOOK
ADULT BOOK ON CD
ADULT LARGE PRINT
LEAP 28 Day Book
ADULT BOOK ON CD
ADULT LARGE PRINT
LEAP 28 Day Book
last_indexed
2024-04-25T04:21:25.314Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
primary_isbn
9780743203173
publishDate
2000
2005
2005
publisher
Beeler
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster Audio
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster Audio
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Central Pacific Railroad Company -- History
History
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th centurry
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Railroads -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Talking books
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- History
United States
United States -- History
History
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th centurry
Railroad construction workers -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Railroads -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Talking books
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- History
United States
United States -- History
title_display
Nothing like it in the world : the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869
title_full
Nothing Like It in the World : the men who built the transcontinental railroad 1863-1869 [electronic resource] / Stephen E. Ambrose
Nothing like it in the world : the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869 / Stephen E. Ambrose
Nothing like it in the world : the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869 Stephen E. Ambrose
Nothing like it in the world : the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869 / Stephen E. Ambrose
Nothing like it in the world : the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869 Stephen E. Ambrose
title_short
Nothing like it in the world
title_sub
the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869
topic_facet
History
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers
Railroads
Talking books
Large type books
Nineteenth century
Railroad construction workers
Railroads
Talking books
Solr Details Tables
item_details
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ils:.b16305267 | .i27746859 | Essex Adult Nonfiction | 385 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | exan | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i49595404 | Bethany/Clark Adult Collection | 385 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | bea | |||||
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ils:.b16305267 | .i32253758 | Orange/Case Adult Nonfiction Book | 385.097 Ambrose | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | oran | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i69139891 | Lyme Adult Nonfiction | 385.0973 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | lyan | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i27746847 | East Lyme Public Adult Non-Fiction | 385.09 Ambrose | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | elan | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i51316869 | Hamden/Miller Adult Nonfiction 3rd Floor | 385.097/AMBROSE | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | hmanb | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i55759154 | Middlefield/Coe Adult Collection | 385.0973 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | mla | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i27746896 | Ledyard/Gales Ferry Nonfiction | 385.09 Amb | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | lgan | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i27746793 | Ledyard/Bill Nonfiction | 385.09 Amb | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | lban | |||||
ils:.b16305267 | .i27746823 | East Haddam/Rathbun A Adult Nonfiction | 385.09 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | raan | |||||
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ils:.b16305267 | .i27746975 | Old Lyme A Non-Fiction 300 | 385.0973 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | olan3 | |||||
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hoopla:MWT11902349 | Online Hoopla Collection | Online Hoopla | eAudiobook | Audio Books | 1 | false | true | Hoopla | https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11902349?utm_source=MARC&Lid=hh4435 | Available Online | |||
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ils:.b21190586 | .i50525190 | Branford/Blackstone Adult Nonfiction | 385.0973 AMB | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | bran |
record_details
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b16305267 | Book | Books | English | Simon & Schuster | 2000 | 431 p., [32] p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm. | ||
hoopla:MWT11518074 | eAudiobook | Audio Books | Abridged | English | Simon & Schuster Audio | 2000 | 1 online resource (1 audio file (6hr., 30 min.)) : digital. | 1 |
ils:.b11369668 | Large Print | Books | Other | Beeler | c2000 | 704 p. (large print) : ill. ; 25 cm. | ||
hoopla:MWT11902349 | eAudiobook | Audio Books | Unabridged | English | Simon & Schuster Audio | 2000 | 1 online resource (1 audio file (15hr., 38 min.)) : digital. | |
ils:.b20790909 | CD Audiobook | Audio Books | English | Simon & Schuster Audio | p2000 | 6 sound discs (ca. 6.5 hrs.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in. | ||
ils:.b21190586 | Book | Books | Simon & Schuster pbk. ed | English | Simon & Schuster | 2005, c2000 | 431 p., [32] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 24 cm. |
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