Carnegie

by Peter Krass

Book Overview

One of the major figures in American history, Andrew Carnegie was a ruthless businessman who made his fortune in the steel industry and ultimately gave most of it away. He used his wealth to ascend the world's political stage, influencing the presidencies of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. In retirement, Carnegie became an avid promoter of world peace, only to be crushed emotionally by World War I.
In this compelling...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471468835
• ISBN13: 9780471468837
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 612 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Well written

Well written book on the life and times of one the great industrialists.

Carnegie: the capitalist, philanthropist, peace-seeker

Peter Krass's biography, "Carnegie", is a terrific look at a man whose name most of us have known all of our lives, but whose life has remained something of a mystery. The name "Carnegie" evokes thoughts of money and power and in this mature biography, Krass has managed to give us a thorough look at Andrew Carnegie, from his hardscrabble boyhood days in Scotland, to his eventual rise to the top of the business world and to the monetary charity that marked his final years. Not only does the author spend time writing about Carnegie's achievements but he is careful to include the emotional state of his subject. Carnegie could be petty and vicious one minute then caring and loving the next. How that affected his business as well as his personal life is what makes this book so engrossing.While most of us know that Andrew Carnegie made his millions in the steel business, his knowledge of other businesses and how they intertwined with his own (especially the railroads) is fascinating. Through his gift-giving for the erection of hundreds of libraries around the world he made sure that Andrew Carnegie's name would be remembered for generations. No small ego here! It would seem that the author has given Carnegie a balanced look with the good side outweighing the bad in the final analysis. What I gleaned from Peter Krass is a part of Andrew Carnegie about which I hadn't known...his efforts in the "peace movement" of his day. How firmly committed to the abolishment of war was Carnegie and his means to that end are cleary laid out in this biography. Carnegie's close working relationships and correspondence with every president from Cleveland to Wilson is offered by Krass, giving an added bonus to those of us who enjoy biographies of U.S. presidents, and it marks some of the lighter moments of the book as Krass relates how Carnegie liked to meddle in the affairs of state, often without invitation.Through all of Andrew Carnegie's duplicity and vindictiveness toward his own workers and colleagues as he rose to the top, he more than made up for it in his philanthropic works later in life. Carnegie was that "rare breed" and Peter Krass has captured all of it.

A Giant Scot

This biography of Carnegie is not only a great read about a great Scot, it tells of a time of great accomplishment amid the upheaval of the industrial revolution in Pennsylvania in the middle of the 18th century. Carnegie's father was put out of work by the automation of the knitting machines and defeated utterly, while the young immigrant who started in the most menial of jobs, progressed rapidly by his genius for hard work and risk-taking into upper management of the Pennsylvania railroad. Parlaying what is today called insider trading into a modest fortune, he grew it into a vast fortune in the steel industry. Often reviled as a "robber baron," he then gave it all away in a philanthropic orgy of building public libraries for worthy communities.Krass's task is to humanize the giant, and he doesn't settle for a simple-minded caricature of the ruthless, money grubbing capitalist. He very successfully portrays the man as a whole, with all the attendant contradictions of any man, and follows the evidence where it leads, in the spirit of an honest biographer. While he doesn't gloss over the cruel and difficult struggles to get the most out of his workers for the least pay, Krass shows the other side of a loyal friend and faithful family man, with high ideals and aspirations for the betterment of mankind. Krass has given us a well researched book, an exemplar of the best in biography, and is a captivating tale of a time when giants populated the world.

A Biography that reads like a novel!

I enjoy reading a good biography every once in a while, which prompted me to buy this book. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be! Peter Krass does a super job of writing the "play by play" as we follow the life of Andrew Carnegie--a man who goes from being the biggest shark in the wealth creation sea to becoming a man proficient at giving all that money away! This book reads like a well written novel--its like sitting back and watching a well played game of Monopoly! It is on a par with the Lindbergh story and many other recent best selling biographies that I've had a chance to read.

A must read!

I received this book as a gift from my wife and found it to be totally engaging. Since I grew up in Pittsburgh, this book brought to life a lot of the events that made the city. Peter Krass does an excellent job capturing the essence of this unique business leader and I found it hard to put this book down each night.I put this one on the "must read list" for this year.Boot Seem

Great reading..great lessons..great motivation! Buy it!

Peter Krass has done a masterful job of delivering Andrew Carnegie's world to our intellectual doorstep. As he traces Carnegie's rise to power and success, the author weaves in fascinating stories and interesting details of Carnegie's "wheeling and dealing" lifestyle that makes this a real page-turner!As you are reading the book, you become part of Andrew Carnegie's world and get to enjoy a firsthand view of the sometimes shocking (and always fascinating)realities of the late 19th Century business world.This book is a rich history of a man's trials and tribulations as we follow his meteoric rise up the "totem pole." He is the epitome of the American Dream. Carnegie's drive, business acumen and motivation..and eventual philanthropy are truely inspirational and serve as valuable lessons for anyone trying to survive and prosper in the business world of 21st Century!You WILL enjoy this book!