About the Author

David Nasawis the author ofAndrew CarnegieandThe Chief- The Life of William Randolph Hearst. He is the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews

“The definitive work on Carnegie for the foreseeable future, and it fully deserves to be.” —John Steele Gordon, The New York Times

“Never has this story been told so thoroughly or so well as David Nasaw tells it in this massive and monumental biography.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

“Beautifully crafted and fun to read.” —Louis Galambos, The Wall Street Journal

“The definitive Carnegie biography has arrived.” —USA Today

“Nasaw delivers a vivid history of nineteenth-century capitalism.” —Fortune

“Nasaw’s fine book . . . seems sure to be the final word on ‘the Star-spangled Scotchman.’”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Nasaw’s research is extraordinary.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“A meticulous account of a paradoxical American original.” —BusinessWeek
 
“Make no mistake: David Nasaw has produced the most thorough, accurate and authoritative biography of Carnegie to date.” —Salon.com
 
“Nasaw’s . . . very well-written biography is timely and instructive . . . Nasaw does brilliant work in bringing [Carnegie] to life.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“A comprehensive and often engrossing biography . . . compelling.” —Booklist  

“In this lucid, meticulous, and finely detailed biography, David Nasaw has delivered the authoritative volume on Andrew Carnegie that we have long awaited. He captures in persuasive fashion the many sides of this energetic and kaleidoscopic personality—the abrasive industrialist, the enlightened philanthropist, the aspiring, often infuriatingly self-deluded author and political polemicist—and thereby makes a valuable contribution to the rich literature of America in the Gilded Age.” —Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton

"The definitive work on Carnegie for the foreseeable future, and it fully deserves to be." -John Steele Gordon, The New York Times

"Never has this story been told so thoroughly or so well as David Nasaw tells it in this massive and monumental biography." -Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

"Beautifully crafted and fun to read." -Louis Galambos, The Wall Street Journal

"The definitive Carnegie biography has arrived." -USA Today

"Nasaw delivers a vivid history of nineteenth-century capitalism." -Fortune

"Nasaw's fine book . . . seems sure to be the final word on 'the Star-spangled Scotchman.'"-Los Angeles Times

"Nasaw's research is extraordinary." -San Francisco Chronicle

"A meticulous account of a paradoxical American original." -BusinessWeek

"Make no mistake: David Nasaw has produced the most thorough, accurate and authoritative biography of Carnegie to date." -Salon.com

"Nasaw's . . . very well-written biography is timely and instructive . . . Nasaw does brilliant work in bringing [Carnegie] to life." -Kirkus (starred review)

"A comprehensive and often engrossing biography . . . compelling." -Booklist

"In this lucid, meticulous, and finely detailed biography, David Nasaw has delivered the authoritative volume on Andrew Carnegie that we have long awaited. He captures in persuasive fashion the many sides of this energetic and kaleidoscopic personality-the abrasive industrialist, the enlightened philanthropist, the aspiring, often infuriatingly self-deluded author and political polemicist-and thereby makes a valuable contribution to the rich literature of America in the Gilded Age." -Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton

Without education or contacts, Andrew Carnegie rose from poverty to become the richest person in the world, mostly while working three hours a day in comfortable surroundings far from his factories. Having decided while relatively young and poor to give all his money away in his lifetime, he embraced philanthropy with the same energy and creativity as he did making money. He wrote influential books, became a significant political force and spent his last years working tirelessly for world peace. Yet he was a true robber baron, a ruthless and hypocritical strikebreaker who made much of his money through practices since outlawed. Nasaw, who won a Bancroft Prize for The Chief, a bio of William Randolph Hearst, has uncovered important new material among Carnegie's papers and letters written to others, but comes no closer than previous biographers to explaining how such an ordinary-seeming person could achieve so much and embody such contradictions. He concentrates on the private man, including Carnegie's relations with his mother and wife, and his extensive self-education through reading and correspondence. His business and political dealings are described mostly indirectly, through letters to managers, congressional testimony and articles. Nasaw makes some sense out of the contradictions, but describes a man who seems too small to play the public role. While Peter Krass's Carnegie and Carnegie's own autobiography are more exciting to read and do more to explain his place in history, they also leave the man an enigma. 32 pages of photos. (Oct. 24) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.