Andrew Carnegie

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7672092 EAN: 9780143112440 ISBN: 0143112449 Label: Penguin (Non-Classics) Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 896 Publication Date: 2007-10-30 Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editorial Reviews: In this magnificent biography, celebrated historian David Nasaw brings to life the fascinating rags- to-riches story of one of our most iconic business legends—Andrew Carnegie, America’s first modern titan. From his first job as a bobbin boy at age thirteen to his status as the richest man in the world upon retirement, Carnegie was the embodiment of the American dream and the prototype of today’s billionaire. Drawing on a trove of new material, Nasaw brilliantly plumbs the core of this fascinating and complex man, at last fixing him in his rightful place as one of the most compelling, elusive, and multifaceted personalities of the twentieth century.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A Disappointing Look at an Iconic Figure Comment: I would love to give this work a higher rating than 3 "stars." Carnegie is a very important figure from the late 19th and early 20th century, someone whose life story reveals much about his times. Like Rockefeller, he could practice, or at least countenance, some very tough, self-focused business practices, yet at the same time engage in incredible works of charity towards others. And like Rockefeller, he seemed to be able to balance these two seemingly conflicting goals without ever seeing tension between these two realms of his life. Many of the institutions that he began are strewn across our social and physical landscape. Some are easily recognizable because they bear his name (Carnegie Hall, Carnegie-Mellon, Carnegie Institute for Peace) while others are not so easily identified (TIAA-CREF, Carnegie libraries all over the western world). Interestingly, Carnegie was a confirmed capitalist who held many very progressive political views. Yet with all the important reasons for us to learn about Carnegie, this hefty, 801 page biography disappoints. The design is slavishly chronological, with no concessions to themes. Surely there were some themes to Carnegie's life, weren't there? His belief in the capitalist system? His promotion of the Gospel of Wealth? His love of the "good life?" Yet David Nasaw never lets us escape from the prison of the calendar, as this book marches on, chapter after chapter, 42 in all, never departing very long to explore a theme for too long, lest we miss the turning of a page of the calendar. This could have been a much better read if the book had been broken into parts, with each part representing different seasons of Carnegie's life, for surely it did seem to have seasons, each one seemingly representing his focus on different themes or interests. Each part could have had a chapter focusing on the theme for that season, perhaps giving us more insight into his motivations. But I'm dreaming here about another book, one that has not been written, and certainly not Nasaw's biography. This plodding work lulls you to sleep, regaling the reader with the annual repetitions of Carnegie's life, needlessly repeating the cadence of his years. This project was in need of a demanding and thoughtful editor, and unfortunately for Nasaw and Carnegie such a person never showed up. Customer Rating: Summary: Aftermath Comment: The first two hundred pages of this book were enthralling, the next two hundred tiring, and the last four hundred excruciating. As others here have stated this book is really a reference work, and I leave respecting it as such. My main complaint is the way it morphed. I presume it's because, as Carnegie aged and his fame grew, the volume of text and documents associated with him grew even faster. And so the bulk of Nasaw's story is about his old age, which is less interesting and, I think, less important. Of course, with less source material about his earlier life it's tough. Still, having read several biographies like this, here's my wish list... Tell us more about the time period, and about the society and technology. Tell us about the shared cultural assumptions of the time. Tell us about the cities and the companies involved, give us more numbers and diagrams and photos. Not the biographer's job perhaps, but it seems like these biographies consistently get lost in the trees. Customer Rating: Summary: Long and Boring Comment: Andrew Carnegie was both the Bill Gates and Thomas Friedman of the Gilded Age. An industrial visionary and brilliant business practitioner with a ruthless drive to be the best and most efficient Andrew Carnegie would semi-retire in middle age, and in his later years focus on giving away his vast fortune to remedy what he believed were the most perplexing problems of his age. But Mr. Carnegie was also the Gilded Age's prophet and messiah, borrowing Herbert Spencer's philosophy to hail America's Gilded Age as progressive and splendid, and to justify the worst abuses of the age as necessary and right. In his preface the historian David Nasaw notes that much of what has been written about Carnegie has been overly sympathetic, or -- in the case of Mr. Carnegie's autobiography -- just plain self-interested. So we could happily expect a more balanced and nuanced view of the great man, or at least some juicy gossip. Unfortunately, Mr. Nasaw's book is yet another overly sympathetic portrait, and a sedated and boring one at that. Here is a man who did not marry until he was fifty, and who did not give his young bride (almost thirty years his junior) a child until she desperately begged for one -- and so how could Mr. Nasaw not speculate once that Carnegie was possibly a closet homosexual? His fanatical devotion to his mother and his narcissm -- he wanted to be respected as a writer and a thinker, and often paid for his writings to be published -- are hints as well. What's most annoying about the book is Mr. Nasaw's presumptive tone. He tells us that Mr. Carnegie's greatest mission before he died was to give back to his community all the wealth he had accumulated. How could anyone know what really went on Carnegie's mind, and who would dare to presume Carnegie's priorities? Throughout the book Mr. Nasaw would claim that Carnegie had a very good rationale in banishing the unions from his steel mills, and in forcing his workers to work for long hours and little pay -- because he wanted to make as much money to give back to his community as possible. Considering that Carnegie was a prime subscriber to Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism, that he was competitive (he worked hard to create the most efficient and profitable steel mill in the world), that he was a control freak (he would wrest back control of his corporation from his lieutenant Henry Clay Frick, who had proven himself nothing but loyal and competent), and that he was a megalomaniac (in his final years he would single-handedly attempt to solve all of the world's problems) it's fair to say that Carnegie in his heart felt he did not have to justify himself to anyone: he was just right. Breaking unions and exploiting workers meant efficient and profitable enterprises, and efficient entrepreneurs meant progress, modernity, and civilization. Even if David Nasaw considered reasons for Carnegie's asexuality and considered the extent of Carnegie's narcissm and megalomania it would still have a pretty boring book, and it's because Carnegie -- despite all his greatness -- is not deserving of an 801-page biography. A naturally optimistic and positive individual his life did nothing but justify his worldview. An early beneficiary of the cronyism in the railroads he became a beneficiary of the U.S. government's tariffs to protect the steel industry against British competition. The only bumps in Carnegie's otherwise charmed life (the 1892 Homestead affair where Carnegie viciously and violently broke the unions and his nasty break with Henry Clay Frick, who then publicly declared how the tariff regime was grossly enriching Carnegie at the expense of American consumers) are interesting but did nothing to change the course of Carnegie's life. There is no conflict and climax in Carnegie's life, just one assured ascent borne of his work ethic and his optimism and his incredible luck. The real star of the book should not have been Carnegie but the Gilded Age itself. Unfortunately and surprisingly Mr. Nasaw talks little of the Gilded Age, and instead chooses to write a a year-by-year account of Mr. Carnegie's life, including the tedious trivia of Carnegie's vacations. And do we really need to know every huge estate Carnegie bought and renovated? I haven't read enough of Mr. Nasaw to know his ability as a historian but the problem with biographers is that they often internalize the values and thinking of their subjects. And this is a book that Carnegie could have easily written himself: be charming and be glib, stray and amuse with the trivial and personal, and talk for a long, long time until your readers have no choice but to agree with you. Customer Rating: Summary: An Icon of a Biography for the Man of Steel Comment: As a born and bred Pittsburgher, I really looked forward to this history of the Robber Baron years in my home town. I was not disappointed. This is a fascinating tale of Andrew Carnegie's life and his entanglements with the other powers of the era. Nasaw does a terrific job of getting into the detail of Carnegie's dealings and uncovering the myths of this powerful high roller. Living and making his millions before the Security and Exchange Commission came into the limelight, Carnegie and his friends were able to buy and sell stocks with impunity. Trading rights and warrants and patents for stock, these original Capitalists were able to exchange future value for present earnings/dividends. Additionally, their intertwined friendships and business dealings, perfectly legal in their day and totally illegal today, allowed them to acquire wealth by leveraging their current positions of power for insider information and contract preference in order to move money from stakeholders from one company and into their pockets. This was a fascinating time when "buyer beware" was not backed by the Government guaranties of today. They laid themselves on the line and used their own intuition to make their fortunes. Nasaw grabs the facts and headlines and details to the reader how it influenced Carnegie and his peers. The main avenue of initial funding came from the funneling of money from the Pennsylvania Railroad run by J. Edgar Thomson and Thomas Scott (soon to be Assistant to Secretary of War, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania) leveraged their holdings and executive powers into contracts produced by Scott during the Civil War which allowed them and their protégé, Andrew Carnegie, to extend their influence and money making via the Pennsylvania RR. This was the relationship (Thompson, Scott, and Carnegie) that funneled money into Carnegie's next set of investments. This biography seems to be the definitive story of Carnegie's life as it is full of primary references to the original papers written by Andrew Carnegie and his friends and some enemies. This newly manifested documentation puts Nasaw's biography at the forefront. Nasaw often compares and contrasts this work to the widely read and referenced Andrew Carnegie Autobiography and points out the many discrepancies between that work and the actual documentation that Carnegie, himself authored. Additionally, the official biographer of Carnegie, Burton J. Hendrick, chosen by Louise Carnegie, is corrected many times by the exhausting research of Nasaw. Nasaw gets into the nitty gritty of the financial arrangements of the railroad barons and gives very good examples of the dealings and failings of the system at that time. As I continued to read into this tome, I couldn't believe how it kept my interest through nearly 800 pages. I can honestly say that the more I read, the more I wanted to read. This is truly one of the best written biographies that I have ever read. The only two small negatives that I found in this book (one is mentioned by at least a couple of other reviewers): there is not a lot to his private life that shows through once he is married. There are glimpses into his vacationing, but not really into the privacies of his marriage or his daughter, Margaret. This might be due to the length of the book. You do not get a good look at Louise or any depth of Carnegie's character away from business. The second flaw comes after the first 600 pages and we begin into Carnegie's retirement years. The book is very detailed and I'm not sure that I'd want it any differently, but these years are not the most exciting. There are very good nuggets of information along the way, but it seems a little long winded on the time frame being documented. Customer Rating: Summary: Andrew Carnegie Comment: Insight into a fascinating and complex person living in a fascinating complex time. A man who was unique and had incredible influence on his surroundings, yet in many ways was typical of his era More Reviews