A vivid account of the origins of the transcontinental railroad — available for the first time in trade paperback — by the author of the bestselling The Admirals: "Borneman is masterly at writing seamless narrative." — Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness WarriorAfter the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the rest of the United States was up for grabs, and the race was on. The prize: a better, shorter, less snowy route through the American Southwest, linking Los Angeles to Chicago. In IRON HORSES, Borneman recounts the rivalries, contested routes, political posturing, and business dealings that unfolded as an increasing number of lines pushed their way across the country.Borneman brings to life the legendary robber barons behind it all and also captures the herculean efforts required to construct these roads — the laborers who did the back-breaking work, the brakemen who ran atop moving...

A vibrant new look at the American Revolution's first months, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals When we reflect on our nation's history, the American Revolution can feel almost like a foregone conclusion. In reality, the first weeks and months of 1775 were very tenuous, and a fractured and ragtag group of colonial militias had to coalesce rapidly to have even the slimmest chance of toppling the mighty British Army.AMERICAN SPRING follows a fledgling nation from Paul Revere's little-known ride of December 1774 and the first shots fired on Lexington Green through the catastrophic Battle of Bunker Hill, culminating with a Virginian named George Washington taking command of colonial forces on July 3, 1775.Focusing on the colorful heroes John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Benjamin Franklin, and Patrick Henry, and the ordinary Americans caught up in the revolution, Walter R. Borneman uses newly available sources and research to tell...

From Publishers WeeklyRailroads might seem outmoded today, but they were originally dynamic, cutthroat enterprises, according to this byzantine business history of track laying in the American West. Independent historian Borneman (Polk) chronicles the post–Civil War scramble to build a web of transcontinental railroads, lavish land grants, and government subsidies. Dozens of railroads and their executives are featured, but the melee eventually gels into a showdown between the Southern Pacific, intent on monopolizing the routes into California, and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, determined to reach the Pacific by a prized snow-free southerly route. The regionÖs rugged topography forces railroads to compete for a handful of one-track-wide mountain passes and river crossings; rivals throw down miles of track per day to reach strategic junctions and occasionally send armed gangs to seize choke points. BornemanÖs evocations of railroad culture--the construction feats, boom-and-bust railhead towns, train robbers, and luxury cars--add color but are skimpy. He centers the story instead on boardroom maneuverings, and while railroad tycoons are a colorful lot, their deal-making begins to blur. As empire-building bequeaths corporate consolidation, BornemanÖs narrative runs out of steam before reaching the terminal. 16 pages of photos, 30 maps. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromBefore the Civil War, the most logical route for the planned transcontinental railroad was across the southern plains and the deserts of the southwest. Instead, for reasons more political than economic, the more northerly route was selected, and the two strands were joined at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1868. Almost immediately, the competition began for the rights to build a web of lines across the southern route. Borneman, a historian and attorney, has written an interesting, if uneven, chronicle of the political as well as physical struggles to complete these tasks. He profiles numerous competing companies and their sponsors, and he describes their often cutthroat tactics and greed. Eventually, two large companies, the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, squeezed out or absorbed other competitors. When he sticks to the actual process of construction, Borneman’s narrative is brisk, colorful, and exciting. It drags and confuses when it deals with the machinations in corporate board rooms. Still, this is a worthy look at a less-publicized aspect of railroad construction. --Jay Freeman

How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power. Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet. In THE ADMIRALS, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men-who were both friends and rivals-worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of...