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There are currently 25 member reviews
for The Race Underground
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Lucy (Massachusetts)
Brought an era to life
I typically do not read non-fiction books, but living in the Boston area, this book caught my interest. Doug Most brought the late 19th century to life. His attention to detail and the way he wove the background of the characters and was incredible. His writing style was incredibly interesting and filled with detail about life in Boston and NYC in those times. He adeptly, but not laboriously detailed the challenges, obstacles - successes and failures of the brilliant men that brought the subway to America. Tremendous research - there are passages that make you just want to read it aloud and share the interesting facts. It was very entertaining as well as being tremendously informative. I would definitely recommend this book.
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Joan P. (Owego, NY)
The Race Underground
This book is the painstakingly researched but very readable story of the men and machines that brought rapid underground transit to New York City and Boston. In the half century after the Civil War, America saw the engineering marvel of the Brooklyn Bridge, the use of electricity to illuminate our buildings,electric motors to do many laborious jobs, the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and man's first attempts at flight.The entrepreneurial spirit was alive in America and men with vision and courage pushed through political snarls and almost impossible physical obstacles to build subways.This book gives us an insight into the lives of the men who accomplished this task. I'm only an occasional non-fiction reader but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have recommended it to two book clubs.
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Poornima A. (Walpole, MA)
Compelling Slice of Americana
The path from horse-drawn carriages in the late nineteenth century to electric subways was not always a linear solution, nor was it easy. Yet in Boston and New York, two of the country's early-growth cities, the need to relieve congestion was an absolutely imperative one. I find it interesting that today, any grander agenda for the expansion of subways -- or public transportation in general -- seems to have taken the back burner, superseded by Americans' love of the automobile. But Doug Most's chronicle of how the subways got their start in two of the most dynamic metropolises in the United States makes for riveting and compelling reading. The addition of pictures would have made for an even more complete look, but Most's writing definitely fills in the gaps smoothly. I was completely transported. Highly recommended, especially for history geeks.
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Marie D. (Waretown, NJ)
Incredible saga of American ingenuity!
In Doug Most's book, "The Race Underground," he has complied detailed biographical sketches of the creators of subway systems which provide the fodder for books on their own!
As a native New Yorker, I have used the subway system for years without truly thinking of how it all came to be. This account of the journey from concept to execution to reality is a fascinating read!
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Jorie (Florida)
An Age of Daring to Believe in the Impossible
I am quite amazed at the living histories of the industrial age! Especially in consideration of those I haven't yet heard of; nor known of the men in which I previously had become familiar! For instance, I've heard quite a heap about Edison recently this past year which made me half cringe, as oh! Not such a nice fellow in regards to patents & inventor rights of his colleagues and nemesis's alike! Yet, who knew he was a drifter from Ohio and embarked on a quest to define both his own worth and to sort out what his true calling might actually be? He 'accidentally' discovered he was an inventor because he liked to 'tinker' and put things back together! Fascinating how Scientific American not only had humble upstart roots, but how interconnected the magazine & inventors like Edison became infamous in the mid to late 1800s!! No wonder Steampunkers find this era of emerging America in history the impetus of inspiration for their stories! It all but demands for fiction to pick up where man left off!
Whilst emerged into "The Race Underground", I felt as though I was a time traveler who had stepped right into the footsteps of history as it was being lived! The idea of concession towards a goal not befit the age was not a plausible outcome for New York & Boston. Resolute in their determined grit and belief that a train system could thrive underneath the surface of both cities was paramount in their independent and conjoined success therein! Despite the hurdles and adversities which befell the project towards completion, its the tenacity and sheer will of believing in the impossible which endeared me to the triumph ending of which we all might have taken for granted prior to having learnt the history behind the rails!
The vibrancy of an era bent towards inventing what was not yet conceived nor readily accepted possible is what prompted me to pick up this book! Seeing the interconnected threads of rail systems which stretched far outside our own borders is what kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how the feat would eclipse any expectation I had whilst I first turned the page!
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Susan (Maple Grove, MN)
The Race Underground
I found this fact-filled book about how subways came to be very interesting and readable. A few times I had to push myself a little to read because of all the facts being presented, but others may not find this a problem. I would have liked to see some illustrations - photos, drawings, images of the key players and historic sites mentioned. Overall a good book that also made me wonder about how some other grand projects were accomplished.
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Elaine M. (Beaver Falls, PA)
The Race Underground
This was an interesting historical read about the building of the subway system in the late 19th Century. The focus was on the Whitney brothers and the race to build the first subway. One was building one under New York City and the other under Boston.
Honestly, I never thought about the development subways! In school we learned about the Transcontinental Railroad and the "Model T"; but never the Subway System. Finding out that planning and building began in the late 19th Century was astonishing.
Doug Most writes as if we were actually there experiencing the terrifying breakthrough, and horrific tragedies.
In my opinion, readers who would like this book would be who read historical works, adventure non-fiction and anything about transportation. Historic non-fiction.
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