Civil War Barons: The Tycoons, Entrepreneurs, Inventors, and Visionaries Who Forged Victory and Shaped a Nation

Description

Before the Civil War, America had undergone a technological revolution that made large-scale industry possible, yet, except for the expanding reach of railroads and telegraph lines, the country remained largely rural, with only pockets of small manufacturing. Then the war came and woke the sleeping giant. The Civil War created a wave of unprecedented industrial growth and development, producing a revolution in new structures, ideas, and inventions that sustained the struggle and reshaped America. Energized by the country's dormant potential and wealth of natural resources, individuals of vision, organizational talent, and capital took advantage of the opportunity war provided. Their innovations sustained Union troops, affected military strategy and tactics, and made the killing fields even deadlier. Individually, these men came to dominate industry and amass great wealth and power; collectively, they helped save the Union and refashion the economic fabric of a nation. Utilizing extensive research in manuscript collections, company records, and contemporary newspapers, historian Jeffry D. Wert casts a revealing light on the individuals most responsible for bringing the United States into the modern age.

Jeffry D. Wert is the author of eight previous books on Civil War topics, including most recently Cavalryman of the Lost Cause and A Glorious Army. His articles and essays on the Civil War have appeared in many publications, including Civil War Times Illustrated, American History Illustrated, and Blue and Gray. A former history teacher at Penns Valley High School, he lives in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania.

Civil War Barons will be long regarded as a must-read for historians and enthusiasts alike. Each chapter chronicles the genius and determination of a handful of individuals who changed forever the way wars were fought; saved the Union; and sparked the industrial might of twentieth-century America. To read Wert's book is to understand the war and its outcome like never before.--Keven Walker, CEO at Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation Diverse character studies that give a broad view of the sweeping economic revolutions of the era.--Kirkus Jeffry Wert has brought his inimitable style and verve to the story of the key individuals who helped mobilize the resources through entrepreneurship, invention, and innovation necessary to win the Civil War for the Union.--Brian S. Wills, author of Inglorious Passages Jeffry Wert has done all of us a great service. Civil War Barons conveys the story about those who helped forge our American Civil War. All of those profiled here had a profound impact not only on the war itself but our lives today. Civil War Barons illustrates why the war is relevant even after more than 150 years.--Wayne E. Motts, CEO of The National Civil War Museum Wert's skill in weaving together historical argument and satisfying narrative are on full display in Civil War Barons.--The Civil War Monitor