Andrew Carnegie

By: David Nasaw

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 32 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Andrew Carnegie, whose lifetime spanned the era from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the First World War was America's first modern titan. In this magnificent biography, celebrated historian David Nasaw brings to life this period of unprecedented transition - a time of self-made millionaires, scabs, strikes, and a new kind of philanthropy - through the fascinating rags-to-riches story of one of our most iconic business legends.

The Scottish-born son of a failed weaver and a mother who supported the family by binding shoes, Andrew Carnegie was the embodiment of the American dream. In his rise from a job as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory to being the richest man in the world, he was single-minded, relentless, and a major player in some of the most violent and notorious labor strikes of the time. The prototype of today's billionaire, he was a visionary in the way he earned his money and in the way he gave it away.

Nasaw explains how Carnegie made his fortune and how he tried to pull the world back from a war he predicted. Brimming with new material, personal letters, diaries, prenuptial agreements, letters to and from presidents and prime ministers, Nasaw plumbs the core of this fascinating man, fixing him in his place as one of the most compelling, elusive, and multifaceted personalities of the 20th century.

©2006 David Nasaw (P)2007 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"This is biography on the grand scale." ( Washington Post Book World)

What a life!

I loved this book. Sad when it ended. It even caused me to visit a few of locations and even a grave site here in Pittsburgh. Well read and produced.

Peace is Noble but quixotic 

Mr. Carnegie has entered the pantheon of men I I’ve come to greatly respect. He made his millions . He proceeded toward brokering peace. However, I’ve come to the firm conclusion that peace is quixotic, and the Y chromosome is bent on violence.

Perhaps one day we can ascertain the polygenic component of violence, and ascertain which men have posed toward violence in which predisposed to peace

An above average telling of an outstanding story

The author is a tad repetitive and at times annoyingly biased (in addition to being occasionally wrong and not great at math) but overall it was a well written biography about a man with a gigantic impact of society.

Although author hates Carnegie, I grew to love him

Carnegie wrote letters profusely and you get to know the man and his amazing story. It was a little annoying that the author clearly hated Carnegie for being a capitalist, but Andrew's character shines through regardless.

Good value but tedious, narrator disappointing

Carnegie’s story is interesting, especially his early years and his life-long relationship with his birthplace. But the author's account often becomes one tedious detail after another, especially in part 4 in which he quotes virtually all of Carnegie’s weekly letters to an English friend in full. Grover Gardner is usually one of my favorite narrators, but he really flubbed this one. I noticed frequent and in some cases repeated mispronunciations of proper names including A.T. Mahan; no doubt there were others I didn’t catch. And he got a surprising number of plain words wrong; one I remember was prescient. Not a bad listen and good value for the money. But you have to be awfully interested in Andrew Carnegie to stick with it until the end.

Everything you ever wanted to know about...

If you could sum up Andrew Carnegie in three words, what would they be?

Interesting and detailed

Would you recommend Andrew Carnegie to your friends? Why or why not?

Very interesting insight into 19th Century capitalism through the life of its greatest success story.

Really good tells an interesting & inspiring story

Great book on a very interesting and inspiring fellow that took destiny into his own hands.

3/5

The narrator did a good job for this relatively dry and very long biography. I felt like certain details could have been omitting without losing the essence of who Carnegie was.

The best business biography I aver.

Grover Gardner has a very natural story-telling voice which draws you in and keeps you wanting more.

This book has made Carnegie seem more human in many ways for I have always had an almost a God-like perception of him after reading the Gospel of Wealth essay.

This book also made me want to visit Scotland!

top of the line historical research!

Where does Andrew Carnegie rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

the very best

Any additional comments?

The volume of the book is quite staggering but I never thought of quitting at any part as i have done with some books in the past. As someone who has read both his biography of himself and David Nasaw's, this story of Andrew Carnegie gives another perspective on the life of a real titan of industry and world affairs in an enjoyable narrative starting from pre-birth to the very end. Great read!