American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900

from willszal

For almost a decade now, one of my father's hobbies has been restoring pocket watches used on the American railroad in the late eighteen hundreds. Understandably, he's learned more about the history of that era. A while back he mentioned to me that railroads had invented standardized time zones. ...

from tuckerresearch

Like all of the narrative histories written by Brands, this is workmanlike, solid, broad, engaging, interesting, and easy-to-read. Brands breaks no new research here, it is almost all secondary sources and printed primary sources, but Brands gives an insightful account of the era, which allows th...

from Philip100

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book every chapter read like an essay, easy to follow and understand, and it keeps your attention. If you are a student of American History you should read American Colossus.

from snash

This book was a history of capitalism in its early heyday. It covers the moguls and politicians who profited and the masses who didn't. I found it interesting in that it included the history of the gold rush, the demise of the Indians, cowboys, immigrant tenets, homesteaders, as well as factories...

from Hae-Yu

Brand is an excellent writer. He has excellent style and pacing. American Colossus is an enjoyable read. However, he is a lefty with all that entails. Like most, he has a checklist of subjects to cover whether or not they are germane to the topic at hand. The topic is the Gilded Age and the autho...