Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Nothing Like It In the World"

Between 1860 and 1869, a most improbable venture would change the landscape of America and the world. The building of a transcontinental railway had long been discussed, but many felt the task impossible.

Abraham Lincoln believed such a line was necessary to the growth of the United States and the ability of the country to control the vast Midwest and West.

Stephen Ambrose's "Nothing Like It In the World" is the story of the construction of that line and how it altered history.

As with all such ventures, the characters involved run the gamut from good to evil. The deals struck are on the grandest - and sometimes wildest - scale. Native Americans, immigrant workers, the Mormon church, the president and business tycoons galore run through the pages of this book.

Death on the job was a daily occurrence. Towns sprang up on barren land and when the construction depot moved on, the towns were gone. The towns were tough.

The line was completed. The cost was enormous. The effects were forever.

From the Enoch Pratt Free Library comes children's librarian Carolyn Harnick with a book for the season.

"I have a great book for you! 'Baseball Is ...' written by Louise Borden and illustrated by Raul Colon celebrates the game of baseball in America," she says. "This book is summer and memories and the smell of popcorn. Just open it up and hear the roar."

Love that description. Thanks, Louise.

"It is strange how smells can bring back vivid memories." - Mary Balogh, "Web of Love"

I crossed paths with Doris Kearns Goodwin, the magnificent historian/writer in New York recently. She is an avid baseball fan and as fine a history writer as there is. That reminds me, we have to visit "Wait Till Next Year," her book about growing up with the Dodgers in Brooklyn, on this blog.

So many books, so little time.

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2015 season is his ninth with the club and 30th covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Orioles and Sarasota County have partnered on the Big League Reader Program, which rewarded kids who read three books in February with tickets to a Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium in March.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2015 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.