Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad
DAVID HAWARD BAIN
Viking Press, 1999
Penguin paperback, 2000

* * * A New York Times Notable Book, 1999 * * *
Main selection, Book of the Month Club; Selection, History Book Club, Quality Paperback Club. Featured on CSPAN "Booknotes" with Brian Lamb
* * * New England Historical Association Book Award, 2000 * * *
* * * National Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Award, 2001 * * *
Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Award, Francis Parkman Prize
PBS "The American Experience" two-hour documentary directed by Mark Zwonitzer, in production for 2002

---- Publishers' Description and Author Biography ----
"Empire Express'' is well researched, well written, refreshingly revisionist where the sources indicate, illustrated by well-chosen photographs and studded with beautiful topographical maps indispensable to the construction story. The book promises to endure as the standard history of the Pacific railroad. -- Robert M. Utley, New York Times Book Review Read the whole text

"A breathtaking tale enthusiastically told -- of vision, greed, adventure, courage, betrayal, accomplishment -- a spirited telling of a complicated tale." -- H.W. Brands, Washington Post Book World (front page) Read the whole text

"An extremely thorough history of the competition between the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad companies, rich with scandal, tragedy and visionary characters. In it, David Haward Bain brings alive a freer -- that is, more ruthless -- era of homegrown capitalism, when hardly anybody worried about little things like ecocide or conflict of interest.....Descriptions of the shady business deals, the quick-rotting railroad ties, the lies and tricky lobbying all delightfully appall the reader. . . . Bain is a graceful stylist, gifted with empathy for the many mores and cultures involved in this story. This long and detailed book deserves both to be taught in American history classes and to be read for fun. I wish it were even longer. --William T. Vollmann, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review (front page) Read the whole text

"The definitive story of the heroism and heartbreak that produced a railroad that crossed the mountains, desert and prairies and that stands as a monument to American technology and vision. In mass, detail and sweep, "Empire Express" is an accomplishment befitting its subject. Like the railroad itself, it is a chronicle of the American character. "--David Shribman, Wall Street Journal Read the whole text

"This rich work establishes the transcontinental-railroad project as a transcendent event in the development not just of the American economy but of the nation itself." --Jack Dierdorff, Business Week Read the whole text

"This is a big book (at 797 pages), but it is a big story, authoritatively told, and there is scarcely a detail that a reader would happily forgo. . . .thoroughly masterful." --Michael Kenney, Boston Globe Read the whole text

"Highlights the bold spirit that built the mammoth transcontinental railroad. His book is an epic voyage westward, creating a story that interweaves American history with the railroad's progress." -- Diane Struzzi, Chicago Tribune Read the whole text

"David Haward Bain's monumental history of the achievement, and how it changed America forever, is exhaustively researched, even-handed in judgment and lucidly written. It is the quintessential American story. [It] will be the definitive account of the transcontinental railroad for many years." -- Dave Drury, Hartford Courant Read the whole text

"A compelling, comprehensive account of one of history's greatest construction projects. Empire Express is a brilliant work, a stunning fusion of splendid scholarship and graceful writing." -- Kirkus Reviews* Read the whole text

A richly detailed composition. . . .Displaying energetic research and enthusiasm for the subject matter, Bain brings the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and the era that produced it, back to life." -- Publishers Weekly* Read the whole text

"Empire Express is more than a study of the building of a railroad. It encompasses the range of 19th-century American life as it swept up Native Americans, women, settlers, con men and speculators in one of man's greatest accomplishments." -- Dick Kreck, Denver Post Read the whole text

"Dreamers and dirty dealers abound in Bain's engrossing account. . . .portrays key characters and events in a way that makes each chapter a fascinating story on its own.
--Allene Symons, www.msnbc.com Read the whole text

"Many histories have been written about this, one of the crucial episodes in a remarkable century of nation-building, but David Haward Bain's Empire Express is the most ambitious and comprehensive. , , , Readers of this fine history will look back in both directions and appreciate quite a story of a remarkable enterprise. --Elliott West, History Book Club Read the whole text

"Like David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas and Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage, Empire Express is a book as grand as its subject. Railroad buffs will love it, of course, but so will all of our members who enjoy a good history that entertains while it illuminates." -- Book of the Month Club (1999) Main Selection Read the whole text

"Stunningly researched, prismatically written mix of Robert Caro, David McCullough, Shelby Foote and Connie Bruck." &endash; Salon  Read the whole text

"A breathtaking tale enthusiastically told-of vision, greed, adventure, courage, betrayal, accompishment. . . Empire Express is a spirited telling of a complicated tale." &endash; Chicago Sun Times Read the whole text

"This is truly a monumental work, equal to the monumental era it portrays." &endash; Florida Times-Union Read the whole text

"One of the greatest of all American stories has finally found a chronicler up to the task of telling it. David Haward Bain has managed to encompass it all -- genuine heroism and brutal dispossession, utopian vision and rampant corruption, technological wonders and war with the elements -- in a vivid narrative that no one interested in the American character will want to miss."--Geoffrey C. Ward, author of The West, An Illustrated History and co-author (with Ken and Ric Burns) of The Civil War.

"Empire Express is one of those books that anyone with any interest in railroad history or the American West must acquire and keep close at hand. It is gargantuan, truly towering, and thanks to David Haward Bain's lengthy and painstaking research it is as complete as this subject can ever be. Bain uses the voices of the transcontinental railroad's builders to tell much of this epical tale. Furthermore, to enliven his narrative he brings in contemporary events relative to this great American endeavor." -- Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow

"A vast panorama, meticulously researched. Bain never forgets that two strenuously competitive companies were doing the building, one headed east, the other west. Every internal trouble the builders faced -- grimly inhospitable terrain, snow avalanches, Indian battles, keeping track of supplies, and money, always money -- was played out against this imperative need to hurry, hurry, hurry. You couldn't even take out time in which to hate your neighbor, and what a contentious bunch they were, in Bain's definitive telling of the tale." -- David Lavender, author of The Way to the Western Sea and The Great Persuader

Feature Interview -- Salt Lake City Tribune -- November 1999 Read the whole text

Feature article -- New York Times -- Railroads: 19th Century Internet Read the whole text

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