I found Klein's fantastic first volume on the history of the Union Pacific in the library of a neighboring town. Klein's history covers both the difficulties encountered in building the railroad and the financial/political scheming that went on back east in New York and Washington. After reading Klein's book, particularly with respect to the fraud and politicing, that one fully understands why railroads were feared and government regulation instituted. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and/or early US railroad history. (PS: I also found Volume II to be an excellent continuation of Klein's work.)

Professor Klein deals with the turbulent early years with a grace and style not often seen in business history. I had the unique experiance of reading these books in the reverse order, ten years apart, but nothing was lacking in Volume One. Particularly sensitive treatment of the Gould years, and a very cohesive and in depth analysis of the Credit Mobilier fiasco. Klein writes very well; a strong point when dealing with high finance. Great book.

This is a superb account of the onset of the end of the American republic as people then knew it. The title and preface would lead the reader to believe that this text is firmly centered on events in South Carolina and the forts nearby. However the author spends much of the book discussing Buchanan, his cabinet, Lincoln and other players who shaped the events of the time. Klein's insights are instructive and render the total picture of how the country was pulled into the great war. I have not read a better account of how the United States government functioned in the days leading up to the war. Klein's portrayals of the individuals involved is remarkable. I have given this book four stars instead of five only because I was led to believe the book is centered on the forts and the conflict in Charleston. If you look at it as a book which explores how our nation drifted into civil war, it is clearly a five. I sincerely hope Mr. Klein continues to write other accounts of the war. He is truly talented.

Almost every literate American is acquainted with the basics of the coming of the War Between the States in the form of Lincoln's election and the firing on Ft. Sumter. Most Civil War students are also acquainted with the military sequence of events of the siege and surrender, followed by Lincoln's call for volunteers to invade the Confederacy and the resulting general hostilities. As far as I know, however, very few lay students of the War have much appreciation for the wide variety of political views on relations between the states at the time, on the possible approaches to the slavery situation (including proposals to guarantee protection for the institution made by some surprising individuals), on the subtle constitutional and other legal aspects of secession, and the actual process by which South Carolina's secession spread to ten other states, some of which were quite reluctant to do so initially. Prof. Klein sets all of this out in a very readable, fast moving text which is guaranteed to hold the reader's interest and attention. From my standpoint, the most interesting aspects involved the (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts by some of the most unlikely individuals to pull the situation back from the brink, and the cynicism of others who are often described in more altruistic and one dimensional terms. At many junctures in Klein's book the reader will get the irresistable urge to play "what if." I "read" this book by a rented audio tape edition during some day long vacation drives and I was extremely pleased with it, in a way that is often not true with well researched histories. The other reviewers who have described this as comparable to a mystery or other novel are not far off the mark and I recommend it very highly.

Maury Klien is a very good storyteller and thorough historian. Combining both of these skills often seems difficult in some popular histories, but when it works it produces a highly readable and insightful understanding of the past.

Klien tells the story of the Union's slide into the abyss of Civil War - with most of the focus on the period between Lincoln's election and the firing on Ft. Sumter. Using many first-person accounts, he gives an immediacy and presence to this tale that helps the reader feel he is there as the great decisions, positions and vaccilations are taken during this critical period.

Days of Defiance reminds the reader that the Civil War was perhaps an irrepressable conflict. Despite attempts to conciliate and compromise, the Republicans in the North would not brook the extension of slavery. The South saw the North's hostitity to the spread of the institution and the loss of it's hold on the national government as threatening to the slave based economy in the states where it was legal. Although many tried to find a middle path, the sectional interests were too diametricly opposed to ward off war.

The focus of the book are the events during the twilight of the Buchanan Administration, the struggle in Congress to do something that could produce a compromise and the efforts of South Carolina to dissolve the Union. The Buchanan Administration, reflecting the political base and culture of the President, was amazing in its inability to produce a policy that would at least address the growing crisis. The president elect, waiting for four months to assume office after his election, had to balance the act of satisfying factions of the Republican Party in putting together the first Republican Administration with the need to adopt a posture that did not accelerate a crisis brought to its head by his election. In trying not to accelerate the crisis before he could claim the reins of the government, he also had to maintain his positions regarding the spread of slavery and unlawfulness of secession -- positions that had garnered him his victory and the support of the North.

The portraits of the president and the president-elect and their minions are fascinating. Lincoln's genious for leadership shows through some early trials and mistakes as he assumes his first administrative office. Buchanan's lack of support, reliance on friends who did not have the Administration's best interests at heart and personal unwillingness to adopt any policy helped create a vacuum that South Carolinian seccessionists gladly filled. Buchanan's secretaries -- particularly Floyd of the War department-- exhibited loyalty to their factions that in some cases could best be described as treasonous. Lincoln needed to pull men into his cabinet who in three or four cases thought themselves superior to the president-elect and saw themselves as "managing" the new leader, while setting the tone and discipline necessary to ensure that the Lincoln Administration would be run by Lincoln and not Chase or Seward or Cameron.

At the middle of this story stands Maj. Anderson and the garrison at Ft. Sumter. It's presence in rebellious So. Carolina's Charleston Harbor was the focal point to this irrespresible conflict. Although frequently cut off from the decision makers in both the Buchanan and Lincoln Administrations, the decisions made by Maj. Anderson forced the chain of events that led to the bombardment of the fort and the start of our Civil War.

This is a fascinating story well told by Klein.

In the "Life and Legend of Jay Gould," historian Maury Klein seeks to resurrect the image of the archetypal -- but now largely forgotten -- early American industrialist.

The names Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan are familiar to nearly everyone, and in this 497-page biography Klein makes a convincing case that Jay Gould belongs in that pantheon of early American business giants. From his early maneuvers (which Klein claims permanently undermined his reputation) in fighting for control of the Erie Railroad and an attempt to corner the gold market, to his Herculean efforts to build and maintain a vast transportation and communications empire in the face of brutal competition and economic and political chaos, Gould emerges as a true pioneer in American corporate finance. Moreover, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, Jay Gould was the personification of the so-called "robber baron"; the man and the myth were consummate.

Yet, for all of its promise, this book is a huge disappointment. Klein is a classically trained historian and accomplished professional academic, yet this book reads as if it were composed by a fawning amateur. A project that began as an effort to "set the record straight," ultimately degenerates into a frustratingly air-brushed portrait of a very complex and capable man. Rather than a balanced and objective review of Gould's character and business acumen, the book takes on the form of a giddy valentine. Seemingly every move Gould makes is judged by Klein as "brilliant, masterful and unexpected," while his long list of formidable rivals are portrayed as bumbling morons. For example, after Gould ascended to a leadership position in the Union Pacific railroad, he moved to thwart the ruinous rate wars in transcontinental shipping that had erupted with the Pacific Mail steamship company, the Union Pacific's sole competitor in that market at that time. Shortly thereafter the Panama Railroad, the critical nexus upon which all of Pacific Mail's business depended, was acquired by another speculator and the transit contract with Pacific Mail abrogated. Klein describes Gould's actions in acquiring Pacific Mail and in getting out of the Panama railroad jam in glowing terms, but not a word is said about how someone with his supposed perspicacity could leave such a obviously vulnerable flank exposed in the first place.

Also, the author almost totally neglects Gould's private life. Early in the book Klein confidently pronounces that "Two concerns dominated the rest of Gould's life, business and devotion to family." Yet, from that point forward, nary a word is spoken about Gould's relationship with his wife and family -- or specifically about his relationship with the son whose incapable hands the family fortune would be left to and squandered. In comparison to Ron Chernow's and Jean Strause's treatment of the private lives of John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, respectively, in recent biographies, Klein's performance in this regard is particularly disappointing.

In closing, two things are clear after reading "The Life and Legend of Jay Gould": 1) Jay Gould was a giant of American business, easily on par with Rockefeller and Carnegie; and 2) the definitive one-volume biography of his amazing life has yet to be written.

This book gives a complete description of what it took to develop the American railroads to what it has become. What the author also tries to do is to fight some of the negative comments made by other authors and the press which were not warranted. This book goes into the necessary research to prove them wrong! Each chapter starts with about three quotes from other books or the press and then they are dealt with accordingly. One can also learn a great deal about how the politics of the day operated with its friends, bribery etc. However, I find that the book could have been about half the size and that 300-400 pages would have done just a good job without too much of excess material. This book might be more suited for railroad buffs rather than investors and speculators.

Jay Gould is remembered as the worst of the 19th century "Robber Barons" - a destroyer of companies - yet as Maury Klein so ably details, this reputation was almost wholly fabricated by the media and bears little resemblance to a man obsessed with building a transportation and communications empire. Klein's book is more than about Jay Gould, it's about the vast gulf separating all too common media generated myths and the truth.

Ounce for ounce and for its' price tag you can not go wrong. This book lists all the information about Lionel trains that you will ever need when repairing trains.

Almost every literate American is acquainted with the basics of the coming of the War Between the States in the form of Lincoln's election and the firing on Ft. Sumter. Most Civil War students are also acquainted with the military sequence of events of the siege and surrender, followed by Lincoln's call for volunteers to invade the Confederacy and the resulting general hostilities. As far as I know, however, very few lay students of the War have much appreciation for the wide variety of political views on relations between the states at the time, on the possible approaches to the slavery situation (including proposals to guarantee protection for the institution made by some surprising individuals), on the subtle constitutional and other legal aspects of secession, and the actual process by which South Carolina's secession spread to ten other states, some of which were quite reluctant to do so initially. Prof. Klein sets all of this out in a very readable, fast moving text which is guaranteed to hold the reader's interest and attention. From my standpoint, the most interesting aspects involved the (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts by some of the most unlikely individuals to pull the situation back from the brink, and the cynicism of others who are often described in more altruistic and one dimensional terms. At many junctures in Klein's book the reader will get the irresistable urge to play "what if." The other reviewers who have described this as comparable to a mystery or other novel are not far off the mark and I recommend it very highly.

Mr Klien has done it again. I read Mr. Klein's The Life And Legend of Jay Gould with much anticipation and found it to be very engaging. That is exactly how i felt about his latest endeavor, The Life and Legend of E.H. Harriman. Mr. Klien handles a complex person with much skill and depth. He brings to life a monumental person who was both very complex and yet very human. His use of the social and cultural aspects of the era help to put his subject in context without detracting from the person. Many biographies fail either because the subject is dimmed by the amount of background information on the social and cultural aspects of the era or just the opposite, the subject is not brought to life by too little backgroung of the forces that helped shapped his/her life. Mr. Klein succeeds in reaching a great balance. The book is a great read.

A wonderfull source of information for the "o" and 027 gauge operator.Explains how to set up accessories from Lionel.I found an excellent track plan,for an 027 layout,with a trestle,in a limited space. Highly recomended!

Klein's retelling of the story of the stock market crash of 1929 is just too little and much too late. Other books, notably Only Yesterday by F.L. Allen for anecdotal material and The Great Crash of 1929 by J. K. Galbraith for analysis, go over the same material and do a better job. Klein's book does have some strong points: wonderful vignettes of some of the people, big and small, who were caught up in the crash; a good analysis of why Herbert Hoover, "the great engineer," couldn't engineer his way out of this one; some interesting anecdotal material I haven't seen anywher else. But all of that could have been done in less than half the space. Nice try, but no cigar.

Maury Klein, in his book Rainbow's End: The crash of 1929, has given us a blend of a newer style of historiography with the traditional sense of examining historical events. He has given us a look at the Stock Market Crash of 1929 through the eyes of the people that participated, rather than looking at it strictly from an economic or political historical viewpoint.

Klein starts his book with a description of American society in the 1920's and explains to us why the society of excess and speculation led to the crash moreso than a failing of the general American economy. By dotting the landscape with characters, some familiar and some unfamiliar, Klein gives us a good portrayal of the times.

There is, unfortunately, only a short section of the book that actually deals with the events of the crash itself. This section focuses the days between Black Thursday and Bloody Tuesday, which culminated in a horrific period of losses in the market.

Klein does a good job of staying on task during the sections of the book in explaining the economic factors and the behind-the-scenes actions that took place during these few hectic days. He does not, however, explain the immediate social ramifications (such as the fact that people who lost everything gave up on life) as well as might be expected; he gives this facet of the crash only peripheral coverage.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a socio-economic history of America during this 1920's. It does a very good job of covering this topic. However, if one is looking for details just on the crash itself and those few terrible days on Wall Street, that reader would be well served to find another book to read.

"No era ever vanished so suddenly, so completely, as the
twenties." -- -- David Dempsey, _New York Times_, Feb 15, 1970

This is a quick run-through of the Crash, with a little pop-sociology about America in the Twenties. It's eerie, reading quotes from bankers, politicians, and brokers from the months before the Crash, about how the market had become so modernized and shockproof that panics were now impossible. Sounds familiar...

New York Times financial columnist Alexander Noyes is a primary source in this book. It is fascinating, watching these titanic events being filtered daily through this not-stupid man's pen. We've heard more than 70 years of second-guessing about the Crash by now, so it is interesting seeing how it was taken point-blank by analysts at the time.

In Maury Klein's account, the Crash is nobody's fault. Like Stanislaw Lec once said, every snowflake in an avanlanche pleads not guilty. Big brokers ostentatiously placed big orders, hoping to spur rallies. Consortia of financiers struggled to maintain public confidence in the market. President Herbert Hoover-who as a humanitarian first and failed President second was Jimmy Carter in reverse-tried to get Big Business together in a game plan to retrieve the situation. But in a free market, there is no one pulling levers and hauling cables controlling things. There was no one to stop the free market from going into freefall.

Throughout the book are amusing little vignettes, like the man who sat smiling in his broker's office throughout Black Monday. His termagant wife wouldn't be able to nag him about the neighbors doing better in the market than him anymore...