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American Colossus: The Triumph Of Capitalism, 1865-1900 (2010)

by H.W. Brands(Favorite Author)

3.81 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0385523335 (ISBN13: 9780385523332)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: All in all, not a bad book. A little preachy at times, but overall pretty balanced. I wish it went into greater detail, but I suppose depth must sometimes be sacrificed in the name of breadth. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the Molly Maguires and the Pinkerton detectives. Also, I wish he would have spent more time talking about the "First Triumvirate" of Morgan, Carnegie and Rockefeller. Their characters deserved more "fleshing out" than they received especially given their titanic importance in shaping modern American industry and finance.
review 2: A fantastic text about the good ol' days when Wall Street tycoons and monopolists weren't harassed by an oppressive, overly-litigious federal government. In all seriousness, I would highly recommend this te... morext, with its date span of 1865-1900, not as one for someone looking for Reconstruction information but rather a deep and insightful / meticulously-researched exposè of the clash between capitalism and democracy. You want a Cross of Gold speech? Check. You want Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee? Check. I really enjoyed, if I might say, H.W. Brands' consistent relation of historical events, such as the aforementioned items, to the power struggle between democracy and capitalism. A double-added plus is that one of the world's, nay, history's, greatest historians Eric Foner gives this text two thumbs up. So, quit reading my rambling here and get yourself a copy of "American Colossus"!! Buckle up you'll feel like a Coxeyite on a fugitive train! :) less

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