Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.31 (509 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00017JIPU |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 502 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-06-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Last Train to Paradise celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.From the Hardcover edition.. Once dismissed as “Flagler’s Folly,” it was heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World”—until a will even greater than Flagler’s rose up in opposition. In spinning his saga of the railroad’s construction, Standiford immerses us in the treacherous world of the thousands of workers who beat their way through infested swamps, lived in fragile tent cities on barges anchored in the midst of daunting stretches of ocean, and suffered from a remarkable succession of three ominous hurricanes that killed many and washed away vast stretches of track. The question was no longer “Could it be done?” but “Can we make it to Key West on time?”
Rockefeller's Standard Oil partner and, in many eyes, the true genius behind that company, embarked on the project in 1905 when he was 74 years old. Standiford's narrative skillfully blends tales of construction perils (not the least of which were escadrilles of mosquitoes) with brief, illuminating travelogues and natural histories, pocket descriptions of life in early 20th-century Florida, and a truly gripping description of an epic standoff between Mother Nature, in the form of a monstrous hurricane, and a stalled, 160-ton steam locomotive. The railroad, which crossed more than 150 miles of open sea, was an engineering feat nearly equal in scale and difficulty to the digging of the Panama Canal. O'Billovich. Henry Morrison Flagler, John D. In Last Train to Paradise novelist Les Standiford ha
"Good Read for history of Florida and especially the Keys." according to LadyBug. Just came back from 6 weeks in Florida and while in Key West saw the Henry Flagler exhibit at the museum there and wanted to learn more about him. This book is an interesting history of Florida and especially the Keys. We have been to the memorial for the Hurricane Victims of 19Good Read for history of Florida and especially the Keys. Just came back from 6 weeks in Florida and while in Key West saw the Henry Flagler exhibit at the museum there and wanted to learn more about him. This book is an interesting history of Florida and especially the Keys. We have been to the memorial for the Hurricane Victims of 1935 so this told me the complete story. Read this is you want to find out more about the beginnings of Florida and the snowbirds!. 5 so this told me the complete story. Read this is you want to find out more about the beginnings of Florida and the snowbirds!. Entertaining and Educational at the same time I read Last Train to Paradise because I was interested in learning more about the author and his writing. I not only discovered a very readable book by a talented writer, I learned a tremendous amount about Henry Flagler and his railroad to Key West. Most entertaining and educational. Les Standiford won me over in his first chapter where he does a remarkable job of conveying the intensity, the panic, and the devastation of a hurricane. He returns to this scene in his conclusion. In between there is the story of a man who persisted against great odds and I am left wondering what pro. Alan R. Hecko said Little known historical event. If you like historical non-fiction, this is a great read. It's amazing the kinds of projects that men took on in the early 1900's. For Henry Flagler this was an enormous project that ended in ultimate failure. I gave this book 5 stars because the story was fascinating and the book beautifully written.