In this New York Times bestseller, Stephen Ambrose brings tolife the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad,from the men who financed it to the engineers and surveyors whorisked their lives to the workers who signed on for the dangerousjob.

The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869.
Nothing Like It in the World gives the account of an unprecedentedfeat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of themen who built the transcontinental railroad—the investors whorisked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians whounderstood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked,and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chineseimmigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the otherlaborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on thetracks.
The U.S. government pitted two companies—the Union Pacific and theCentral Pacific Railroads—against each other in a race for funding,encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes wereshipped from the East through Panama or around South America to theWest or lugged across the country to the Plains. In Ambrose'shands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower,muscle, and sweat, comes vibrantly to life. 2001 г. 7:1