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Rival Rails
- The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 15 hrs
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Publisher's summary
The driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, which marked the completion of the country's first transcontinental railroad, was only the beginning of the race for railroad dominance. In the aftermath of this building feat, dozens of railroads, each with aggressive empire builders at their helms, raced one another for the ultimate prize of a southern transcontinental route that was generally free of snow, shorter in distance, and gentler in gradients.
More than just a means of transportation, the railroads were a powerful mold, and the presence of a rail line had the power to make - or break - the fledgling towns and cities across the newborn American West. While much has been written about the building of the first transcontinental railroad, the bulk of the history of the railroads in the United States has been largely ignored. With a meticulous, loving eye, Walter Borneman picks up where most other histories leave off.
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Story
The transcontinental railroads of the late 19th century were the first corporate behemoths. Their attempts to generate profits from proliferating debt sparked devastating panics in the US economy. Their dependence on public largess drew them into the corridors of power, initiating new forms of corruption. Their operations rearranged space and time, and remade the landscape of the West. As wheel and rail, car and coal, they opened new worlds of work and ways of life.
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Correcting the Myth of the Transcontinentals
- By Keith on 06-23-18
By: Richard White
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The French and Indian War
- Deciding the Fate of North America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled. The war that followed would be fought across virgin territories, from Nova Scotia to the forks of the Ohio River, and it would ultimately decide the fate of the entire North American continent—not just for Great Britain and France but also for the Spanish and Native American populations.
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Outstanding Survey of French & Indian War
- By Dennis Jameson on 02-13-24
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Polk
- The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Alan Nebelthau
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is a major political biography of a great American president - who won a war, transformed the government, and doubled the size of the United States...in four years. When Polk was sworn in as the 11th president, what followed was one of the most consequential presidencies in history.
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Polk: One of our most important Preidents
- By Rik GNV on 10-12-08
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Ghosts of Gold Mountain
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
- By: Gordon H. Chang
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would be pushed to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory.
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Very inspiring, educational, and enlightening!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-25-19
By: Gordon H. Chang
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Fire and Steel
- The End of World War Two in the West
- By: Peter Caddick-Adams
- Narrated by: Mike Cooper
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Here is Peter Caddick-Adams's third volume in his trilogy about the final year of the Western front in World War Two. Fire & Steel covers the war's final 100 days—beginning in late January 1945 and continuing until May 8, 1945, when the German high command surrendered unconditionally to all Allied forces. Caddick-Adams's previous two volumes in the acclaimed series—Sand & Steel, which covers the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, and Snow & Steel, the definitive study of the Battle of the Bulge—have set the stage for this concluding volume.
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Comprehensive account of Allied Army operations at the end of World War III
- By Stephen Veal on 06-29-24
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Iron Empires
- Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Nicholas Tecoksy
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1869, when the final spike was driven into the Transcontinental Railroad, few were prepared for its seismic aftershocks. Once a hodgepodge of short, squabbling lines, America's railways soon exploded into a titanic industry helmed by a pageant of speculators, crooks, and visionaries. The vicious competition between empire builders such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, J. P. Morgan, and E. H. Harriman sparked stock market frenzies, panics, and crashes; provoked strikes; transformed the nation's geography; and culminated in a ferocious two-man battle....
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History doesn't get any better
- By Philo on 02-06-21
By: Michael Hiltzik
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Railroaded
- The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America
- By: Richard White
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The transcontinental railroads of the late 19th century were the first corporate behemoths. Their attempts to generate profits from proliferating debt sparked devastating panics in the US economy. Their dependence on public largess drew them into the corridors of power, initiating new forms of corruption. Their operations rearranged space and time, and remade the landscape of the West. As wheel and rail, car and coal, they opened new worlds of work and ways of life.
-
-
Correcting the Myth of the Transcontinentals
- By Keith on 06-23-18
By: Richard White
-
The French and Indian War
- Deciding the Fate of North America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled. The war that followed would be fought across virgin territories, from Nova Scotia to the forks of the Ohio River, and it would ultimately decide the fate of the entire North American continent—not just for Great Britain and France but also for the Spanish and Native American populations.
-
-
Outstanding Survey of French & Indian War
- By Dennis Jameson on 02-13-24
-
Polk
- The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Alan Nebelthau
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a major political biography of a great American president - who won a war, transformed the government, and doubled the size of the United States...in four years. When Polk was sworn in as the 11th president, what followed was one of the most consequential presidencies in history.
-
-
Polk: One of our most important Preidents
- By Rik GNV on 10-12-08
-
Ghosts of Gold Mountain
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
- By: Gordon H. Chang
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would be pushed to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory.
-
-
Very inspiring, educational, and enlightening!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-25-19
By: Gordon H. Chang
-
Fire and Steel
- The End of World War Two in the West
- By: Peter Caddick-Adams
- Narrated by: Mike Cooper
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is Peter Caddick-Adams's third volume in his trilogy about the final year of the Western front in World War Two. Fire & Steel covers the war's final 100 days—beginning in late January 1945 and continuing until May 8, 1945, when the German high command surrendered unconditionally to all Allied forces. Caddick-Adams's previous two volumes in the acclaimed series—Sand & Steel, which covers the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, and Snow & Steel, the definitive study of the Battle of the Bulge—have set the stage for this concluding volume.
-
-
Comprehensive account of Allied Army operations at the end of World War III
- By Stephen Veal on 06-29-24
What listeners say about Rival Rails
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Chris
- 06-19-15
Reads like a train schedule
I'm certainly one who is interested in the evolution of trains throughout the west, The reader as well as the content reads like a train schedule with a litany of schedules, cities, and railroad companies. I'm a fan of Boreman's other works, but this one does not live up to the others.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Book Wranglers
- 06-19-18
Detail Heavy
Good information, but uses far too many names and facts to keep the tale flowing... well researched, just not a good story unless you already know the names.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Amazon Reader
- 12-29-14
Ok
Would you try another book from Walter R. Borneman and/or Norman Dietz?
No
What was most disappointing about Walter R. Borneman’s story?
There was too much detail that was not directly related. The book is more the story of the Santa Fe than anything else
Would you listen to another book narrated by Norman Dietz?
No
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Boredom
Any additional comments?
No
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