| Author | Message | ||
     Captpete |
I am almost finished reading a wonderful book, Stephen Ambrose’s “Nothing Like it in the World,” his story of the creation of the transcontinental railroad. I started it with great anticipation, having enjoyed his “Undaunted Courage,” the tale of Lewis & Clark’s epic adventure, and “Band of Brothers,” which I’m sure y’all are familiar with from the HBO Special. I have some serious attention span problems, and find it difficult to read anything that doesn’t move right along. I had some trouble getting through the first 50 pages of this one while he was talking about Lincoln, the buildup to the Civil War, and all the finagling to get Congress to pass some bills to make the financing of the construction possible. He seemed to introduce ten new characters on every page. (It wasn’t as bad, though, as when as a young man I made myself read the Bible from front to back, and got to the begats.) But when they started the actual construction of the railroad, the book became fascinating. What a marvel of engineering and logistics that project was. I would encourage anyone who has the time and inclination to read, to put this one on his or her list. You won’t be disappointed. Capt. Pete | ||
| Whodom |
Pete, Yea, it's a great read. Someone gave it to me last year. Hard to believe they ever got the thing built. | ||
| Dbird29 |
The stock scandals were interesting, things haven't changed that much. Amazing guys to survey and lay that track so fast. | ||
| Slaughter |
I have NEVER been disappointed in any of Ambrose's works - thanks for the recommendation! | ||
| Biker_bob |
I went the HOG Lewis and Clark ride in 02 that started in St. Charles Mo and ended in Seaside oregon. They had arranged for Ambrose to address the group at the start but he had just been diagnosed with cancer, died pretty quickly. We were all really looking forward to that. i read the book to get ready for the ride. 6300 mile trip from KC. It was awesome. | ||
| Bomber |
Cap == I, too, enjoyed the book greatly -- anything the man writes is on my short list -- his passing is a huge loss, in a number of ways! |
