American Colossus

The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900

By: H. W. Brands

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 23 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

In a grand-scale narrative history, the bestselling author of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize now captures the decades when capitalism was at its most unbridled and a few breathtakingly wealthy businessmen utterly transformed America from an agrarian economy to a world power. The years between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century saw the wholesale transformation of America from a land of small farmers and small businessmen into an industrial giant. Driven by unfathomably wealthy and powerful businessmen like J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, armies of workers, both male and female, were harnessed to a new vision of massive industry. A society rooted in the soil became one based in cities, and legions of immigrants were drawn to American shores. What’s more, in accomplishing its revolution, capitalism threatened to eclipse American democracy. “What do I care about the law?” bellowed Cornelius Vanderbilt. “Hain’t I got the power?” He did, and with it he and the other capitalists reshaped every aspect of American life. In American Colossus, H.W. Brands portrays the emergence, in a remarkably short time, of a recognizably modern America. The capitalist revolution left not a single area or aspect of American life untouched. It roared across the South, wrenching that region from its feudal past and integrating the southern economy into the national one. It burst over the West, dictating the destruction of Native American economies and peoples, driving the exploitation of natural resources, and making the frontier of settlement a business frontier as well. It crashed across the urban landscape of the East and North, turning cities into engines of wealth and poverty, opulence and squalor. It swamped the politics of an earlier era, capturing one major party and half of the other, inspiring the creation of a third party and determining the issues over which all three waged some of the bitterest battles in American history. Brands’s spellbinding narrative beautifully depicts the oil gushers of western Pennsylvania, the rise, in Chicago, of the first skyscraper, the exploration of the Colorado River, the cattle drives of the West, and the early passionate sparks of union life. By 1900 the America he portrays is wealthier than ever, yet prosperity is precarious, inequality rampant, and democracy stretched thin. American Colossus is an unforgettable portrait of the years when the contest between capitalism and democracy was at its sharpest, and capitalism triumphed.

©2010 H.W. Brands (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Effectively, excerpts from the first-person accounts of Booker T. Washington, Black Elk, Jacob Riis, and others convey the drama of the time.... [A] fast-paced, engrossing narrative." (Publishers Weekly)

"Mr. Brands, a terrific writer who commands his material, handles this sprawling, complicated story with authority and panache. A book that might have been a worthy but boring tome turns out to be as close as serious history gets to a page turner....American Colossus is a first-rate overview of one of the most important periods in American history, one without which the American Century could not have happened." (John Steele Gordon, The New York Times)

"A great story . . . Serves up everything you might expect in a ripping yarn: murderous duels, savage Indian raids, equally savage counterattacks.”—Washington Post Book World“Old Hickory rides again in Brands’ elegantly written and carefully researched biography . . . A must-read!” (Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award)

Great Narrative History

This is an excellent book. It covers a crucial period in American history, is well written and well-narrated.

Not Fair to the Word Capitalism

Brands obviously disdains the way business was done in this era, but I think he misses the mark in his use of the word capitalism. He makes no distinction between Gilded Age crony capitalism and free markets. He is rightfully hard on the former, while observing no difference between it and the latter. The recounting of events is solid history. I just wish Brands would not lump this era of government-created monopolies with capitalism writ large.

Brands 20,000 Feet View

As always Brands is face paced. He picks the themes that make a good story, not always good history. Hey he leans left like his pal Richard, but as long as you know this it’s ok. He rolls out some old tropes based on flawed sources. You’d think his undergrad slaves could search those out?

The narrator is top notch.

Differnt but Interesting

It is definitely a meandering book and fairly different than most history books, in a way I think more historians would dislike. But I felt that that approach served this topic fairly well. A survey covering the growth and change of the American economy during this time period isn't about a war or another easily charted even with a clear beginning and end. I enjoyed the different looks at the North, South and West. The looks at the high and low classes and how politics began to be wrapped up in economics in a way it had never quite had (in the US) before.

I think many are put off but the use of "capitalism" v. "democracy" and I agree that nothing could ever be so simplified (and our system of government, while flawed, is far more democratic now than it was in 1864). But I think in context it works because the point is explaining how this concept of capitalism sort of took over the country. Capitalism wasn't new, of course, but the US did drastically change between 1865 and 1895 and an event like the Civil War was probably more of a byproduct of the change than a cause of it.

It did have its laws. I felt more time could have been spent on certain titans like JP Morgan. And after thorough introduction of the likes of Rockefeller and Carnegie they are sort of dropped for awhile. Part of the meandering narrative is that things do seem to sort of get lost in the fray. But a great many wonderful books have been devoted to those people.

It was an interesting topic. Some parts were better than others. But I really think it is worth it overall.

Compelling narrative marred by ideological bias

Brands conducts meticulous research, chooses illustrative anecdotes well, exhibits sufficient understanding of economics, politics, law, government, and finance, writes well, and creates a fluid and compelling narrative.

The book is corrupted, however, by a pervasive bias against free enterprise. I listened attentively, but I don’t believe Brands ever defines “democracy,” which his narrative frames as the antithesis of capitalism—which he likewise never defines. As far as I can tell, his implicit definition of “democracy” is akin to “democratic socialism”-in other words, authoritarian governmental control of economic activity. That would be a true binary. But there is no true binary between capitalism—free economic activity—and American democracy, with its foundational restraints on governmental interference with freedom.

Tellingly, the only capitalists Brands seems to have heard of are a handful of industrial titans, for he never alludes to the millions upon millions of American capitalists who operated prosperous small businesses during the period treated and built a thriving middle-class.

Throughout the long narrative, one almost hears foreboding music when the word “capitalism” appears, as it only appears in conjunction with negative occurrences and conditions. It is only when you reach the epilogue that Brands, in a grudging CYA passage, acknowledges the extraordinary improvement in the standard of living enjoyed by virtually all Americans in the last third of the 19th century thanks to capitalism. But alas, Brands reverts to form in the last few lines with a cliched allusion to Calvin Coolidge and the breezy unsupported charge that the Great Depression was the product of capitalism.

This could have been a fine book had the author’s ideological blinders not marred it so badly.

not even about captialosm

it's not even about capitalism good book but some what of a miss leading title.

Excellent (Captialist) History of the Gilded Age

I sought this book out because it was almost part of a much larger series on the history of the United States. Per Wikipedia, this book started as an entry in the Oxford History of the United States, titled "Leviathan: America Comes of Age, 1865-1900." It was pulled from the series for unstated reasons and published independently under its current title, "American Colossus." It was replaced in the Oxford History by Richard White's "The Republic for Which It Stands." If White's "Republic" was the story of the Gilded Age told from the point of view of the working class, Brands' "Colossus" is the story of the Gilded Age told from the point of view of the capitalist class.

The two books end up balancing each other out nicely. While "The Republic for Which It Stands" is a much more thorough general history of the post-Civil War era, "American Colossus" gives much more detail on the capitalist and corporate forces that were the largest social driving force in American life between the Civil War and the Great Depression. It also gives a good account of the final Indian Wars and the closing of the American frontier, Reconstruction, and many other major events of the Gilded Age. However, "Colossus" emphasizes the capitalist influence just a bit too much, making it seem a little bit like industrialists and bankers were the only major movers in society, and making social forces like racism and the great migration of farmers westward seem like relatively minor players, rather than major social forces in their own right.

"Colossus" also picks up one or two minor threads that was left hanging by "The Republic For Which It Stands." For instance, towards the end of "Battle Cry of Freedom," the Civil War volume of the Oxford History, James McPherson mentions that one odd echo of the South losing the war is an Union general and Confederate general running on the same ticket for president. I was disappointed not to pick up when and who this was from "The Republic For Which It Stands." It turns out this was the People's Party ticket in the 1892 election, whose story was nicely told in "Colossus."

Overall, I am glad that I sought "Colossus" out. It is interestingly written, covers a lot of insightful ground, and the narrator is excellent. I think I see why it didn't make it into the Oxford History of the United States, but it stands nicely on its own terms. I highly recommend it.

Thorough story, but rambles through many unrelated topics

This is the third of H. W. Brands’ books that I’ve read. I also read his books on FDR and Reagan. It’s pretty clear to me now that Brands is quite leery of capitalism. His book on FDR was the best of the three I’ve read so far.

American Colossus is well-researched and well-written, with many interesting events covered. However, the book covers so many seemingly unrelated topics with little transition. The book begins with a discussion of the robber barons and their manipulations, especially in the railroads. At first, the reader believes the book is about these gilded age speculators and capitalists. Then Brands segues sharply to the end of the Civil War, to the Reconstruction era, to the battles with native Americans, through the end of the 19th century. Throughout each of these topics, the reader can see that Brands attempts to fault capitalism for the evils of each of these historical periods, however such links to capitalism are more often told than shown (or proven), and are often difficult for the reader to discern from Brands’ superficial connection. What’s more, is that Brands seems largely to ignore the role government and politicians’ culpability in the evils of American history.

In all, I did enjoy the book, and would recommend it more for general business and economic history.

Very good, not quite great.

This was my third H.W. Brands book, and I'm becoming a fan of his work. He does a great job of telling history via interesting storylines. I had just finished Battle Cry Of Freedom, and the Oxford US History Series doesn't yet have a volume about this period. I read somewhere that this book was originally going to be that book. I don't know if that's true, but American Colossus is certainly of equal quality to the other Oxford books. The Age Of Gold was a more engaging H.W. Brands book to me, but American Colossus is on a similar level.

The reviewer who argued that Professor Brands doesn't understand economics might make a correct point technically, but is denying the fundamental truth in the narrative. Democracy is the rule of the people, one vote for each person. In a prominently capitalist economy, the owners of industry hold far more power than one vote could get them. Brands Illustrates how this period, more than any before it in America, saw that balance of power swing strongly in favor of the prominant capitalists of the day. Brands does not take sides in this struggle, however. He merely shows how this shaped the America we live in today.

I think he tends to treat American presidents kindly, and this seems to be the case in his treatment of Grover Cleveland. His biography of Andrew Jackson also played things fairly safe.

Overall, a very enjoyable read and an excellent addition to an American history buff's collection.

interesting but unfocused

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Although Brands makes the questionable claim that capitalism thrives on inequality, and although he pits democracy against capitalism, this book is certainly not biased against capitalism. I initially thought that Brands would portray all capitalists as criminals, and overlook industries' positive contributions to society, but instead he gives a very balanced account of the impact that large corporations had on society.

Also Brands has a knack for giving interesting and funny accounts of scandals or strange incidents. Stories of conspiracies by speculators like Gould on Black Friday (Gould manipulated Gold prices) are the best part of this book.

What was most disappointing about H. W. Brands’s story?

Parts of this book are just hard to follow and there is too much detail . For instance, Brands account of the cattle industry left me with only a vague appreciation of its impact on the American economy or society, because there was so much detail. That being said, I listen to audiobooks while I exercise and sometimes I'm distracted.

Also, Its not clear why Brand covers certain presidential elections and certain presidents in much greater detail than others. He basically ignores Grants - which I find puzzling.