The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt [PDF, ePub, Mobi]

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.

"A mighty--and mighty confident--work.... This is state-of-the-art biography.... The First Tycoon has been widely praised, and rightly so.... This is state-of-the-art biography."
--The New York Times

"Superbly written and researched.... Worthy of its subject."
--The Economist

"Truly remarkable.... A landmark study that significantly enhances one’s understanding of U.S. economic history.... [Stiles is] one of the most exciting writers in the field."
--Foreign Affairs

"Stiles has painted a full-bodied, nuanced picture of the man.... Elegance of style and fair-minded intent illuminate Stiles’s latest, expectedly profound exploration of American culture in the raw."
--The Boston Globe

"Stiles, a superb researcher, has unearthed quantities of new material and crafted them into the illuminating, authoritative portrait of Vanderbilt that has been missing for so long."
--The Washington Post

T. J. Stiles has held the Gilder Lehrman Fellowship in American History at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, taught at Columbia University, and served as adviser for the PBS series The American Experience. His first book, Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, won the Ambassador Book Award and the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship, and was a New York Times Notable Book. The First Tycoon won the National Book Award in 2009. He has written for The New York Times Book Review, Salon.com, Smithsonian, and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in San Francisco.

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