Iron Empires

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist “plunges into the battles and escapades of the entrepreneurs . . . who created the national rail system . . . engrossing” ( The New York Times ). In 1869, when the final spike was driven into the transcontinental railroad, few were prepared for its seismic aftershocks. Once a hodgepodge of short, squabbling lines, America’s railways soon exploded into a titanic industry helmed by a pageant of speculators, crooks, and visionaries. The vicious competition betwee