Andrew Carnegie (Paperback)

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Review
aThe definitive work on Carnegie for the foreseeable future, and it fully deserves to be.a
a John Steele Gordon, "The New York Times"
aNever has this story been told so thoroughly or so well as David Nasaw tells it in this massive and monumental biography.a
aJonathan Yardley, "The Washington Post"
aBeautifully crafted and fun to read.a
a Louis Galambos, "The Wall Street Journal"
aThe definitive Carnegie biography has arrived.a
a"USA Today"
aNasaw delivers a vivid history of nineteenth-century capitalism.a
a"Fortune"

Product Description
Celebrated historian David Nasaw, whom The New York Times Book Review has called "a meticulous researcher and a cool analyst," brings new life to the story of one of America's most famous and successful businessmen and philanthropists—in what will prove to be the biography of the season. Born of modest origins in Scotland in 1835, Andrew Carnegie is best known as the founder of Carnegie Steel. His rags to riches story has never been told as dramatically and vividly as in Nasaw's new biography. Carnegie, the son of an impoverished linen weaver, moved to Pittsburgh at the age of thirteen. The embodiment of the American dream, he pulled himself up from bobbin boy in a cotton factory to become the richest man in the world. He spent the rest of his life giving away the fortune he had accumulated and crusading for international peace. For all that he accomplished and came to represent to the American public—a wildly successful businessman and capitalist, a self-educated writer, peace activist, philanthropist, man of letters, lover of culture, and unabashed enthusiast for American democracy and capitalism—Carnegie has remained, to this day, an enigma. Nasaw explains how Carnegie made his early fortune and what prompted him to give it all away, how he was drawn into the campaign first against American involvement in the Spanish-American War and then for international peace, and how he used his friendships with presidents and prime ministers to try to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. With a trove of new material—unpublished chapters of Carnegie's Autobiography; personal letters between Carnegie and his future wife, Louise, and other family members; his prenuptial agreement; diaries of family and close friends; his applications for citizenship; his extensive correspondence with Henry Clay Frick; and dozens of private letters to and from presidents Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, and British prime ministers Gladstone and Balfour, as well as friends Herbert Spencer, Matthew Arnold, and Mark Twain—Nasaw brilliantly plumbs the core of this facinating and complex man, deftly placing his life in cultural and political context as only a master storyteller can.

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4 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   5 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful biography of amazing industrialist , 4 May 2007 By  Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Andrew Carnegie (Hardcover) On Feb. 4, 1901, Andrew Carnegie sold his steel-making business for an unprecedented $400 million (worth about $120 billion now). With that sale, he became "The Richest Man in the World," according to J.P. Morgan, who bought Carnegie's company and used it as the basis of U.S. Steel. But if you want to learn how to become the richest person in your part of the world, that's not the purpose of this biography. Instead David Nasaw minutely depicts an authentic tragic comedy in more than 800 pages, the life of an impoverished, painfully short immigrant lad who succeeded during the Gilded Age of capitalism, becoming a robber baron, philanthropist and "peacenik." The author uncovers many of the secret operations Carnegie used to exploit his early employers and, later, his gullible investors. This account corrects biographies that omit Carnegie's shady railroad bonds and union busting. The author also explains how Carnegie used his wealth to become one of the world's greatest philanthropists, a significant legacy that endures through the institutions and libraries he endowed. We highly recommend this detailed history for its iconoclastic scholarship, profound soul-searching and fascinating portrait of a unique, contradictory person. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Gripping and Enthralling...., 28 May 2008 By  Iain McCallum - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Andrew Carnegie (Hardcover) ....all 800 pages! Contrary to other reviews, I found this book one of the best I have had the pleasure to pick up. Carnegie is known to all Scots as a rich philanthropist who spent his time between America and Scotland, however I was amazed at how little I actually knew of this great baron. From his humble beginnings in Dunfermline to his near monopolisation of the US Steel market, Carnegie turned his family name into that of a world-wide phenomenon, eventually to be associated with great wealth and generosity. From being a regular house-guest at the White House for no fewer than 5 Presidents, and having the King and Queen of Britain visit him in his Scottish castle Skibo, this book shows a side of Carnegie that even those who have well researched him, must be pleasantly surprised by its content. Nasaw has a knack of narrating the tale of this great mans life like an adventure, and introduces the characters of this adventure in such a way that the reader is not bogged down with endless names, but at the slightest mention anywhere in the 800 pages, can instantly refelct as to their role in the life of Andrew Carnegie. My only two issues are firstly that I am mearly given the opportunity to leave 5 stars, as there should be a facility to raise this book on a higher echelon, that will seperate it from the countless 5-star ratings for books not researched or written to a fraction of the degree that this one has been. My second grievence is that Carnegies life was so short, even aged 83. Had he lived for even a few months longer, then perhaps we would have had the pleasure of this great book being able to keep turning a few more pages. A first class autobiography that should and will be treasured by many. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A balanced view of a business legend, 6 Mar 2008 By  J. Bowen "Jamie Bowen" (Hampstead London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Andrew Carnegie (Hardcover) This book gives a balanced view of the philanthropist and business legend that is Andrew Carnegie. It starts by tracing his roots in Dunfermline, traces his move to America, entrance into business, and rapid rise up the business ladder (which is based on who he knew, his interpersonal skills and insider trading as much as it's based on his business skills). It finishes by focusing on his post-retirement philanthropy. It's a balanced book because it doesn't really cheerlead for him. The book acknowledges his skills as a businessman and his commitment as a pacifist, but it also recognises his tendency to overstate his influence, his union busting activities, and the fact that much of the time Carnegie didn't opperate in a true free market. So in short, the book is an accurate assessment of an interesting business leader. If you're interested in how businessmen built America in the late 1800s, this book is for you. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 4 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Meticulous scholarship but not a riveting read Everybody interested in the history of business and philanthropy should read about Andrew Carnegie. This book gives some fascinating and well-researched details of his remarkable... Read more Published 20 months ago by Andrew Maclaren Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 4 customer reviews...

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