Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Railway That United America (Paperback)

The late Stephen Ambrose approached his subject with his usual patriotic fervour. Regrettably, instead of the useful historical narrative on this feat of 19th-century engineering, he produced a cliche-ridden compendium of flag-waving triumphalism. Typical of the trend: 'Americans were a people such as the world had never before known. No one before them, no matter where or how they lived, had had such optimism or determination. It was thanks to those two qualities that the Americans set out to build what had never before been done' (p. 253, par. 2). And, having just acknowledged that 'hyperbole was common in the nineteenth century', Ambrose, in the twenty-first, jumps on the same bandwagon: 'Only in America was there enough labor or enough energy and imagination' (pp. 356, par. 3; 357, par. 3).

In keeping with the book's tendentious title, Ambrose gives short shrift to the achievements of America's main rival, Britain - birthplace of the steam locomotive and the world's first railway. And, damning with faint praise, he disparages the later Canadian Pacific Railway, begun in 1881 (a line longer than its American counterpart and pushed through in record time under equally difficult conditions), mainly because Americans were deeply involved in its construction (p. 17, par. 3).

The book is not without redeeming features. It is replete with interesting facts, and is illuminating on the contribution of Brigham Young and his Mormons in the building of the line for both the Union Pacific (UP) and the Central Pacific (CP). The photographic spreads are arresting in their simplicity and antiquity and are of good quality. And the workers who powered this enterprise - their skill and raw powers of endurance in unimaginably bad conditions - cannot fail to elicit admiration.

Unfortunately, the book is threaded with repetition - and not merely in the endless recounting of spikes, rails, fishplates and sleepers. Similar phrases and descriptions appear in unsettling deja vu from one page to another: 'Lincoln, meanwhile, was about to accept seventeen lots in Council Bluffs as collateral for a loan he was considering making to fellow attorney Norman Judd. So he was in Iowa, among other reasons, to see for himself if the lots were worthwhile as collateral' (p. 31, par. 4); 'the two companies [UP and CP] worked within sight of each other, often within a stone's throw', followed in the next paragraph by, '[T]hey were frequently within a few feet of each other' (pp. 326, par. 5; 327, par. 1).

The writing is often disjointed and awkward, and generally lacks polish. Some examples: 'Lincoln had been making some political speeches . . . .' (p. 38, para. 1); 'The track structure of a railroad is a thing on which everything else depends' (p. 57, para. 2); 'Never before, one would guess, and never again, one would be certain, has anyone turned in such a low expense account' (p. 68, para. 1); '[Durant] invited scads of people for his grand excursion . . .' (p. 185, par. 4). An unintentionally ironic assessment of the Howe bridge informs us that, 'Had the Howe truss bridges not tended to decay or burn up, they would still be in use today' (p. 26, para. 1).

For an example of what this book might have been, read Pierre Berton's dramatic account of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway ("The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1881"). Ambrose may not have read it; it doesn't appear in his bibliography.

One of the problems seems to be that he treats almost every event of equal interest rather than spending more time on the more crucial and interesting aspects of such a monumental achievement.

The main problem however is that he doesn't know how to bring alive epic events. He's torn between writing an historical account and and an adventure story and ends up with neither. This book adds nothing to the story. Avoid.