PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksDoes Hiltzik overstate the importance of these titans? The railroads were vital, but do the powermonger capitalists really deserve the lion’s share of the credit or blame compared to the role played by hundreds of thousands of workmen, engineers, investors, taxpayers, and customers? It’s easy and enjoyable to be drawn to these classic financial celebrities — and, yes, it makes for a good read — but do they merit the attention? Hiltzik himself wrestles with this question and takes a decided point of view ... a grand story well told. The basic lesson? The railroads weren’t an impersonal force of nature, but rather something built, funded, directed, and abused by human beings, with all their virtues and faults, for purposes good, evil, and pedestrian. It’s a lesson we can apply today to our own modern titans of the internet and other groundbreaking contemporary inventions.
