Iron Horses

America's Race to Bring the Railroads West

Contributors

By Walter R. Borneman

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$24.99

Price

$31.99 CAD

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  1. Trade Paperback $24.99 $31.99 CAD
  2. ebook $12.99 $16.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 18, 2014. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

A “masterly” account of the origins of the transcontinental railroad (Douglas Brinkley) by the author of the bestselling The Admirals.

After the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the rest of the United States was up for grabs, and the race was on. The prize: a better, shorter, less snowy route through the American Southwest, linking Los Angeles to Chicago.

In Iron Horses, Borneman recounts the rivalries, contested routes, political posturing, and business dealings that unfolded as an increasing number of lines pushed their way across the country. Borneman brings to life the legendary robber barons behind it all and also captures the herculean efforts required to construct these roads — the laborers who did the back-breaking work, the brakemen who ran atop moving cars, the tracklayers crushed and killed by runaway trains.

From backroom deals in Washington, DC, to armed robberies of trains in the wild deserts, from cattle cars to streamliners and Super Chiefs, all the great incidents and innovations of a mighty American era are made vivid in Iron Horses.

Genre:

On Sale
Nov 18, 2014
Page Count
448 pages
Publisher
Back Bay Books
ISBN-13
9780316371773

Walter R. Borneman

About the Author

Walter R. Borneman is the author of nine works of nonfiction, including MacArthur At War, The Admirals, Polk, and The French and Indian War. He holds both a master's degree in history and a law degree. He lives in Colorado.

Learn more about this author