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Railroaded

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I see there is a new book on the making of the transcontinental railroad, simply entitled Railroaded.  I don't know what Richard White adds to David Howard Bain's Empire Express, which I thought was an excellent book.  I think we read it in one of the previous Am History incarnations.

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  1. avrdsJuly 5, 2011 at 5:10 PM

    I liked Empire Express, but my guess is that Richard White will bring more "historical" analysis and a little more depth to the telling (e.g., race, class, gender -- the story is full of potential) and probably some insights into capitalism given the title. Worth looking at.

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  2. James FergusonJuly 5, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    As I recall Empire Express was a very dense book, and I mean that in a good way. Bain covered a tremendous amount of territory. Of course, it is a huge subject and there is plenty of room for other books. It does seem as though White is going to explore the transcontinental railroad more from the labor point of view.

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