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 enlarge | Author: David Nasaw
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
Buy New: $7.30
You Save: $12.70 (64%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 368717
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 896
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 2
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7672092
ASIN: B0015VT2IY
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New, great condition
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| Customer Reviews:
 A great book May 28, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
A mentor of mine once told me that 'to learn history, the only books you really need to read are great biographies'.
His point was, of course, that within the confines of a well written story of one life the reader unearths a much larger landscape of the times, events, and issues that surround the subject. Having just finished David Nasaw's excellent 'Andrew Carnegie' I think my teacher would be pleased and fully approve as the book meets any objective criteria of quality and excels on every level.
Here, we follow the figure of Andrew Carnegie from birth and each subsequent chapter of his full life. Carnegie's actions and thoughts are fascinating and Nasaw paints a masterful portrait of his subject. He uses a clear and concise tone to convey all of what is important and none of which that is not. You really feel like there is not a wasted word in the entire narrative.
Along the way we get in depth -but never tedious- lessons on issues as wide ranging as the immigrant experience to a particular brand of evolutionary philosophy to the history of labor to turn-of-the-century American foreign policy....Frankly, I was hooked from the beginning and thanks to the writing style and its intriguing subject the book's 800 pages fly by.
If I have a small criticism it is that in the final couple of hundred pages Nasaw seems to grow slightly, but still discernibly, annoyed by Carnegie's eccentricities and his tendency towards self admiration that developed in retirement and in his relationships with US presidents. In one case he editorializes an admittedly weird Carnegie quote by summing up 'whatever that meant' at the end of a paragraph. This tone is scarce in the book, and who knows, it may be more my problem than anything else but to be fair I bring it up here.
Another positive is the way Nasaw gives the reader credit for being intelligent enough to decipher the facts he provides and then let the reader form his or her own conclusions. I appreciated the linear narrative approach as well, as too many current biographies tend in their laudation of their subject to 'do too much' and jump all over the place. That's not the case here as Nasaw never loses his compass- in fact he never even sets it down.
'Andrew Carnegie' by David Nasaw is a book so full, so complete, so well done - and ultimately so wide ranging- that the reader is constantly entertained while absorbing vital information about one of the most important eras of American history and one of that period's most important public figures.
Five Stars. Read it.
Insightful biography of amazing industrialist May 4, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Thorough Job April 27, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Carnegie, gone for almost a century, continues to touch the lives of millions of people. He did not just build libraries, he solidified the public library movement by the requiring that cities tax themselves to maintain the gift. The landscape of Carnegie libraries across the world is stunning. While the buildings today are all but obsolete for library service, one wonders how this institution might have developed without his initial impetus. Carnegie made wise investments in the future. He left us not only the libraries but a whole host of educational and arts establishments, hero funds and institutes for the public good.
The paradox, of course, is how this man with so much generosity and foresight, made the money he gave to the future. In his youth, he is what we would call today a "chicken hawk" supporting the Civil War and hiring a replacement so he could sell railroad services to the Union. He began his fortune with what today would be the illegal "insider trading" that landed Martha Stewart and others in jail. His disowning (and denying memory of) his labor practices in interviews and hearings certainly suggests he knew the moral issues involved. While his employees worked 12 hour days (probably his manager Frick too) in industrial heat, he enjoyed a 4 hour day when he worked. We have heard of absentee landlords, here is the ultimate absentee. Nasaw points out his tarriff protected profits grew exponentially, while his workers' incomes declined 67%.
Nasaw gives us, essentially, a reference book on this remarkable man. He came from poverty in Scotland where he was influenced by his Chartist uncles. Equal to his optimism, prescience on business, world events and the role of women, race, peace and disarmament, is his blind spot to the feelings of not just the underpaid and overworked mill workers but also those whom he trusts such as Frick, Taft and T. Roosevelt.
We get a small portrait of wife, Louise and gilmpse of their daughter, Margaret. Louise, in a pre-nup agrees to give away his/her fortune. We don't learn about successive generations. Mother and daughter are of interest, since, the philanthropy set their lives on a different course than their financial peers.
Biographers have to make decisions as to whether their book will be an interesting story for the general reader or a documentation of all that is unearthed. Nasaw achievement is that he has opted for documentation, and has put it together in a readable way. Many will pass it up for its length, but for another group, it will be a must read and keep. For the next biographer, whom I predict will delve into Carnegie's inner life this volume will undoubtedly serve as a road map.
I love the cover! The b & w photo, the robber barron attire and posture, and the kindly Santa Claus face! It's like he is staring out at you through the ages.
This book offers a wonderfully detailed in-depth view into this amazing man. March 14, 2007
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book offers a fascinating glimpse of Andrew Carnegie. Written in a neutral objective manner, Nasaw lets the reader see Carnegie as he truly was. If one is interested in the least bit to learn more about Andrew Carnegie I cannot recommend a better book.
An Extraordinarily Thorough Biography February 15, 2007
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
David Nasaw, who previously authored a well-received biography of William Randolph Hearst, has produced in this fine biography undoubtedly the most complete account of Andrew Carnegie that we will ever have. The book runs some 842 pages, including notes, and is based upon prodigious research into published and unpublished sources. The book reminds me very much of the stupendous biography of J. Pierpont Morgan by Jean Strouse, in that it is comprehensive and definitive. The author takes quite a balanced approach to Carnegie, which many other accounts of Gilded Age zillionaires fail to employ. He recognizes Carnegie's talents and philanthropic efforts, but also demonstrates that Carnegie often misled the public about his activities, and sometimes even engaged in self-delusion, especially about the Homestead Strike. Many dimensions of Carnegie with which I was not familiar are skillfully developed by the author, including his involvement in world peace and arbitration efforts, his career as a published author, and his efforts to become a key political advisor to TR, Taft and Wilson. Much like the Morgan volume, this book is also an outstanding business history of the late 19th-early 20th century period in the U.S., especially as regards the development of the steel industry and its eventual consolidation by Morgan into the U.S. Steel Corportation.
The fly in the ointment is that while the author's throughness is the book's greatest strength, it also becomes a major weakness. That is, it is simply too long by far. Sometimes one comes to believe that every letter exchanged between Carnegie and his leadership group, including Henry Clay Frick and Charles M. Schwab for example, has been reviewed by the author and recounted in the text. As a reference work on Carnegie, such inclusiveness is to be commended; but it makes for an overly long and detailed biography that becomes quite an undertaking to read. There can be too much of a good thing and more vigorous editing probably was in order. Nonetheless, it is only fair to say everything about or relating to Carnegie is somewhere within this extensive volume. An interesting cast of characters (in addition to those already mentioned) makes an appearance, including Kaiser Bill, Herbert Spencer, John Morley, various prime ministers, and John D. Rockefeller to name a few.
Carnegie thanks to Nasaw proves to be a much more interesting figure than being simply the "richest man in the world" who was determined to give it all away before his death. If you are interested in Carnegie or the business history of this period, this book is an invaluable resource. The text is supported by 42 pages of helpful notes and a valuable bibliography. The author's command of his subject is evident on every page. An invaluable resource on the man and his period.
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