American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900

From  best-selling historian H. W. Brands, a sweeping chronicle of how a few  wealthy businessmen reshaped America from a land of small farmers and  small businessmen into an industrial giant.

The  three decades after the Civil War saw a wholesale shift in American  life, and the cause was capitalism. Driven by J. P. Morgan, Andrew  Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and oth­ers like them, armies of men and  women were harnessed to a new vision of massive industry. A society  rooted in the soil became one based in cities, and legions of immigrants  were drawn to American shores.

H. W. Brands’ American Colossus portrays the stunning trans­formation of the landscape and institutions  of American life in these years. Brands charts the rise of Wall Street,  the growth of a national economy, the building of the railroads, and  the first sparks of union life. By 1900, America was wealthier than  ever, yet prosperity was precarious, inequality rampant, and democ­racy  stretched thin. A populist backlash stirred.

American Colossus is an unforgettable portrait of the years when a recognizably modern America first took shape.