[PDF] Steinbeck Country Narrow Gauge eBook

Author : Sandra E. Bonura
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Page : 405 pages
File Size : 14,89 MB
Release : 2024-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1496239091

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Claus Spreckels (1828–1908) emigrated from his homeland of Germany to the United States with only seventy-five cents in his pocket, built a sugar empire, and became one of the richest Americans in history alongside John D. Rockefeller, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates. Migrating to San Francisco after the gold rush, Spreckels built the largest sugar beet factory of its kind in the United States. His sugar beet production in the Salinas Valley changed the focus of valley agriculture from dry to irrigated crops, resulting in the vast modern agricultural-industrial economy in today’s “Salad Bowl of the World.” When Spreckels gave America its first sugar cube, he became the “Sugar King.” The indomitable Spreckels was a colorful and complicated character on both sides of the Pacific. A kingpin in the development of the Hawai‘i-California sugarcane industry, he wielded a clenched fist over Hawai‘i’s economy for nearly two decades after occupying a position of unrivaled power and political influence with the Hawaiian monarchy, while also advancing major technology developments on the islands. The Sugar King’s legacy continued as the Spreckels family developed large portions of California, building and breaking monopolies in agriculture, shipping, railroading, finance, real estate, horse breeding, utilities, streetcars, and water infrastructure, and building entire towns and cities from infrastructure to superstructure. In The Sugar King of California Sandra E. Bonura tells the rags-to-riches story of Spreckels’s role in the developments of the sugarcane industry in the American West and across the Pacific, triumphing in a milieu rife with cronyism and corruption and ultimately transforming California’s industry and labor. Harshly criticized by his enemies for ruthless business tactics but loved by his employees, he was unapologetic in his quest for wealth, asserting “Spreckels’s success is California’s success.” But there’s always a cost for single-minded determination; the legendary family quarrels even included a murder charge. Spreckels’s biography is one of business triumph and tragedy, a portrait of a family torn apart by money, jealousy, and ego.

Author : Robert Bartlett Harmon
Publisher :
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 47,74 MB
Release : 1996
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN :

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An annotated bibliography concentrating on what Steinbeck attempted to keep most hid--the details of his life. Harmon (curator, Steinbeck Research Center) ferrets out the most interesting reference sources for scholars and nosy literati including magazine articles, newspaper accounts, books, films, audio recording, and dictionaries. A detailed chronology is also included with snippets of information about each each major and minor passage in the author's life, such as public fights with his wife and the Nobel Prize acceptance. Includes a small selection of photographs. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Michael Brown
Publisher : Lulu.com
Page : 114 pages
File Size : 34,89 MB
Release : 2013-08-04
Category : History
ISBN : 1304295443

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Western history buffs and rail fans will find a rich and interesting history of the mining town of Austin, Nevada and the narrow gauge railroad that served the town for almost 60 years, the Nevada Central Railroad. Several photographs and maps show the town and the railroad as it was.

Author : Michael J. Meyer
Publisher :
Page : 610 pages
File Size : 33,48 MB
Release : 1998
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN :

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This volume includes over 4000 citations, as well as 15 major new critical studies and 2 new biographies. It includes citations for works published in languages other than English and provides English translations of their titles for quick assessment of their scholarly value.