Publisher Description
The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935’s deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.
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“Yes, you are seeing correctly-I am giving 5 stars to a non-fiction. I picked this book up on a recent trip to St. Augustine because I wanted to learn more about Henry Flagler, the man who co-founded Standard Oil with John Rockefeller, built fabulous hotels along the Florida coast and, oh yeah, built a railroad from Jacksonville to Key West. This book mostly tells the story of the latter, and I found myself fascinated by the idea, the hard work and heartbreak that went into the project, the hurricanes and the whole Key area. The author did a GREAT job of story telling; this was the first time I found myself not being able to put down a book that wasn’t fiction. I was fascinated and a bit horrified at how Flagler was able to twist politics and power to push his railroad through, using men, material, money and power to get what he wanted. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has even the slightest interest in history-you won’t be disappointed.”
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Julie (5 out of 5 stars)
