Carnegie was a man of many facets, interests and contradictions. It is a tough task for any biographer to accurately portray another person while withholding judgement on their subjects. It may even be that such a task is impossible. In any case, I think this book is more overt than most in this respect - you're not only learning about Carnegie, you're learning about David Nasaw's feelings about him. To me, that makes it a weaker book.

Read Samuel's review... I do not need to repeat what he said. I found this book to be a fascinating look into a time in our country that tended to be glossed over in my school time history classes. We studied all the wars and did not focus much on the amazing growth of the American industrial sector after the civil war. Andrew Carnegie was a man full of contradictions. There is much to admire in his story, but there is much to be disgusted by as well. However, after reading this biography, I do think that history has been all that kind to Carnegie. His complicated relationship with the "working man" is fascinating to me. He viewed individual workers as cogs in his economic engine, yet wanted to provide access to information and education to those who worked for him. He was a self educated man and wanted his workers to have the opportunity to be so as well, yet worked them so hard that the average person had no time or energy to take advantage of his libraries. I believe that he distanced himself from the day to day operations of his mills because he could not reconcile these two aspects of himself. I ended up being heartbroken by his failed attempt to influence the leaders of his day on the folly of American Imperialism. He had placed great faith in the idea that the human race would naturally evolve to a place of peaceful resolution of conflict. It appeared that elected leaders gave him access to promote his ideas, yet took advantage of his generosity and laughed at him behind his back. The Great War broke this man's spirit. He died not knowing that his ideas would still not be realized almost a century later- and perhaps never will be. Andrew Carnegie's story is quintessentially American. Organizations founded by his generosity continue to do good work to this day. We should honor him for that.

Carnegie a name I knew but beyond the libraries and the Hall knew nothing of. A couple of nights in Dunfermline (a good place for a couple of nights by the way) led me to Carnegie's home where he was born. A chat with the proprietor and a book mentioned even though they hadn't got a copy. The book his just his story and I suppose nothing outrageous but competently plots the story of the arch capitalist come philanthropist.

I have often though where are these people now. There are still a great many competent and able people making lots of money and you do not make lots of money being nice but what do you buy once you have the money. Another super yacht?

I can't imagine there being a need for a more comprehensive biography of Andrew Carnegie, so hats off to David Nasaw for years of amazing research, compilation and detailed writing. Every era of Carnegie's rags-to-riches life is illuminated, with little commentary, judgement or the sort of psychoanalyzing used by lesser biographers.

Carnegie was once, arguably, the richest man in the world and the means to which he acquired his wealth, his strategic business tactics, complex relationships with working partners and varied interests in nearly all the arts makes for a fascinating tale. He gradually began giving away as much, and then more, money than he was making, and the list of institutes, organizations and philanthropic councils he created or provided seed money for is longer than can be tabulated here. Foremost was the money he gave for the building of libraries. In fact, the library from which I borrowed this biography was a "Carnegie library". (It's sad to consider how many of them have been torn down in the last hundred years or, as in the case of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, purged themselves of a substantial percentage of their book holdings).

Carnegie was far from admirable in some of his business tactics and Nasaw's books tells the good with the bad, building a portrait of a man full of contradictions, but one who, unlike many so-called robber barons, created a lasting legacy which continues to today. I'm looking forward to reading Nasaw's biography of William Randolph Hearst.

As a young boy I remember my sister taking me to the Carnegie Library in my home town. I wasn’t really it was called the Carnegie library and she told me that a rich man built libraries in cities all over the country. That building is now long gone but I remember thinking what kind of a man was Mr. Carnegie.

Carnegie’s story is one of the great stories in American history. A penniless 12-year-old Scottish immigrant in 1848. Only 12 years later he was already very prosperous. Carnegie’s assistant said, “He loved to find his own joy of living reflected by those about him. He was the most consistently happy man I ever knew.” Carnegie made friends easily and had a keen eye for which friends to make on the way up and which young men to teach when he himself had reached the top.

Making a colossal fortune was not enough for him. Unlike many of his capitalist brethren of that era, Carnegie had an intense need to improve the world. With little formal schooling, he read and wrote dozens of articles and books, including his autobiography, published the year after his death. His book “The Gospel of Wealth,” published in 1889, was a primer on the workings of political economy and an advice manual for actual and hopeful millionaires.

Despite his strong social conscience, he didn’t hesitate to have Henry Clay Frick do what was necessary to break the union at the Homestead Steel Works in 1892, damaging his reputation for years. Carnegie made steel cheaper than iron and soon buildings began to soar. In 1860 the United States produced only about 1,600 tons of steel. By 1900 the Carnegie Steel Company alone was producing more than the entire British steel industry. Carnegie’s formula for success simple, quickly adopt the latest technology so as always to be the low-cost producer, retain profits in good times to acquire during hard times.

Carnegie’s mother, who was a major influence in his life, lived with him until her death in 1886. The following year, at age 51,he married Louise Whitfield, who was two decades his junior and the daughter of a New York City merchant. The couple had one child, Margaret who died in 1990. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away $350 million (roughly $5.2 billion) to many charities, foundations, and universities – almost 90 percent of his fortune.
Despite its length, this book is very engaging.

Quotes

“The growing disposition to tax more and more heavily large estates left at death is a cheering indication of the growth of a salutary change in public opinion. The State of Pennsylvania now takes–subject to some exceptions–one tenth of the property left by its citizens. The budget presented in the British Parliament the other day proposes to increase the death duties; and, most significant of all, the new tax is to be a graduated one. Of all forms of taxation this seems the wisest. Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives, the proper use of which for public ends would work good to the community from which it chiefly came, should be made to feel that the community, in the form of the State, cannot thus be deprived of its proper share. By taxing estates heavily at death the State marks its condemnation of the selfish millionaire's unworthy life.”

As I drove through my hometown of Palmetto, FL, I noticed the Carnegie Library was closed for remodeling. It is now a museum located across from the current town library. I crossed the river into Bradenton and passed another Carnegie Library that is now a storage facility for county records. All I knew about Carnegie is that he was one of the 19th century "Robber Barons" who made his $millions in the steel industry. What prompted him to provide funds to build libraries all across the country? I decided to find out and purchased this book on my kindle.

You know that little number at the bottom of the page in a kindle that tells you what percentage of the book you have finished? After a brisk first hundred pages, it seemed to barely move at all. Read page after page and as the book became bogged down in repetitive trivial detail describing virtually every trip he ever took, every home he ever owned, every piece of correspondence or article but the completion percentage keeper barely changed. A tribute to the exhaustive research that obviously went in to this book but the resulting 800 page tome could certainly use some judicious editing. Another annoyance was the constant reference to photographs showing this or that, but the kindle version has no pictures to match the descriptions. Will have to check the print version to see, but if they are missing there as well it would be another disappointment.

Yes, I found out the why and how behind his library crusade. Suggest if you wish to do so, you try a more condensed version of his life - say Wikiepeia!

801 pages of biography. This is what David Nasaw has produced--a massive biography of Andrew Carnegie. Well known as a philanthropist, he gave away much of his fortune. For instance, one accounting notes the following (page 801): ". . .at the time of his death, Carnegie had given away more than $350 million (in the tens of billions today). There remained but $20 million of stocks and bonds. . . . In the seventh paragraph of his last will and testament, Carnegie directed that it be bequeathed, in its entirety, to the Carnegie Corporation. And with this he accomplished the final, and to his mind, the most important goal he had set himself." In essence, he had given his entire fortune away.

This book provides cradle to grave coverage of Carnegie, beginning with his origins in Scotland. Early on, the family moved to the United States, settling in the Pittsburgh area. Carnegie's first job was in a cotton mill when he was thirteen. He was close to his mother then and throughout his life. He quickly moved to a position as a messenger with a telegraph company and then, in a stroke of fortune, become a telegraph operator in a company. Here, he began an association at a young age with Thomas Scott and J. Edgar Thomson of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 17, he was working for the Pennsylvania Railroad and on his way.

The volume notes his small stature (barely five feet tall), but by 24, he was superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division of the rail company. Early on, he began to develop "rules for business" (e.g., see page 76). He was in a position to get involved over time with an oil company, with bridge building, with rail, coal, a bank, a grain elevator. And, of course, with iron and then steel. As he became successful, he and his mother enjoyed visiting the old family home in Scotland, Dunfermline.

He married quite late in life (after 50), but appears to have had a happy marriage; he also became a father later in life and appears to have done well in that role. By that time, he had withdrawn some from day to day running of his endeavors and spent much more time in New York and abroad than in Pittsburgh.

The book illustrates the ambitions of Carnegie to be more than an industrial baron. He wrote books, he hobnobbed with political leaders, authors, and scientists. He strove to be recognized as more than a wealthy individual. Nonetheless, he was a hard businessman. At one point, he took pride in developing "win-win" tactics with his employees; by the time of the Homestead strike, he had obviously moved in a different direction, as he supported a touch, hard-nosed attack on unions and employees.

Among his goals developed in the latter part of the 19th Century--to give away his rapidly developing fortune. He donated for development of libraries, he created an organization devoted to peace, he funded an organization aimed at advancing the sciences, he provided support for faculty and students at colleges, he endowed the Carnegie Corporation, he supported music, and so on.

In the end, this book, although very long, is well written, so that the pages fly by. Nasaw does a fair job portraying Carnegie, warts and all. He notes his tough stance against his own workers (after earlier having been praised as a friend of labor), his sometimes ostentatious efforts to become known as a man of letters, his desire to give world leaders a piece of his mind (irritating people like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in the process). In the end, despite his diminutive stature, he was a giant in American history.

INTERESTING. ENLIGHTENING.

“The desire to hoard is the lowest form of moral degradation.”—Chapter 13

The biography, ANDREW CARNEGIE, by David Nasaw is an ambitious, extensive, long (close to thirty-five hours audio), interesting and enlightening study of ‘the star-spangled Scotsman’.

Carnegie’s life and times, his industry and success, along with his extensive philanthropy, all made for an interesting listen. His political enthusiasms—his ‘Triumphant Democracy,’ pro-capitalism and pro-peace promotion and activism—were the most interesting and engaging for me. Especially laudable (although unsuccessful) were his battle against the annexation of the Philippines by the United States and his high-level, international, efforts at forestalling WWI.

Recommendation: A must read for late-19th early-20th century history buffs.

“Devine discontent is the root of progress…”

MP3 Audiobook (35 =/- hours) on loan from L.A. County Public Library

When I started this time, I had a vague who Andrew Carnegie was, and knew little about his legacy. Seven hundred and eighty-some pages later, I am now intimately familiar with the man, and legend, behind Carnegie Steel and one of the largest philanthropic undertakings of modern mankind.

I certainly won't call him a nice person until we meet on the other side, but until then Nasaw gives an excellent view into the lifestyle of Andrew Carnegie. While some elementary grammar mistakes find their way into the material, and sometimes Nasaw seems a bit too fawning of Carnegie himself, Andrew Carnegie is quite an interesting biography. The sheer amount of written letters, diaries, transcripts (especially those of congressional hearings in which Carnegie was subpoenaed), and travel ledgers is stunning, efficiently documenting the life and times of someone worth remembering.

Going forward, I try to undertake a small philanthropic act as frequently as possible. I'm also remember that, no matter one's background, a being finds success by simply being... Exactly who they want to be.

I found this to be an enlightening biography of a fascinating man. I want to meet this guy and share a Dewars at Skibo. His happiness, humor, intellect and pursuit of peace defied my prejudice of the robber-baron type. The book triggered more reading to understand his guiding spirits (e.g., Swedenborg, Spencer and Social Statics).
I was born in the steel town of Gary, grew up in Pittsburgh and even worked for US Steel at a former HC Frick mine. But I had no idea about this man who gave birth to all of that.
I read other reviews that said the book did not meet its goal of explaining his actions (particularly Homestead); however, I found just the opposite. His belief in Spencer's social darwinism, was balanced by a belief in institutions (that failed him in the short run). Did he work his mills 12 hours at low wages; yes, but he believed societal and institutional evolution would lead to governments (or stronger unions) setting the standard at 8 hours and minimum wages. Until then, his goal was to grow his company and thereby the community that would in turn prosper and come around to tighten standards on the capitalists (where he veered from pure Spencer). Which they did. I was born and raised in the very communities that had evolved in just two generations into 8 hour days, a clean Pittsburgh, and mines I felt (reasonably) safe working in.
The book is timely. His enlightened view of philanthropy continues with Gates/Buffet. His focus on heros continues in CNN awards. The UN is following in his spirit.
But I will be left mostly with the image of this energetic, happy little human living life to its utmost (until WWI defeated his hopes). I found it very inspirational.

Eight hundred pages can be a bit intimidating. Reading such a volume can feel like walking through thigh-high snow. Reading David Nasaw’s ANDREW CARNEGIE is more akin to a springtime stroll in the park.

I’ll admit I knew very little about Carnegie when I bought this book, probably at a flea market or library book sale. Any interest I had in the onetime richest man in the world was kindled by the fact that a church I once served as pastor had an organ given by Carnegie.

Carnegie’s rise to prominence (and riches) was due to hard work but also in choosing men to run his enterprises who knew what they were doing, allowing Carnegie the time to spend much of each year on vacation. Even so, Carnegie, via mail and telegrams, was an active executive, often to his benefit but not always. The failures did not seem to cost him much, as his final net worth was the equivalent of tens of billions of dollars in current value.

Nasaw does not give us an overall judgment on the character of this tycoon. Some might say that Carnegie was as much a typhoon, full of hot air. He certainly spoke his mind and was not intimidated by the status of his targets. He unashamedly proclaimed himself a friend and advisor of Presidents although he viewed those relationships more positively than did the Chief Executives. Nasaw allows the reader to draw his/her own conclusions as to Carnegie’s character.

Do not be fooled by the length of time it took me to read this book. I am in the habit of reading four or five books at a time. Had this been the only book in my Currently Reading shelf, I would have likely finished it in about two weeks.

I am a novice concerning business and economic matters so some of Carnegie’s dealings were over my head. Thus, I give ANDREW CARNEGIE...

Five stars slightly waning

I ended up getting bored halfway through the book and put it down, which saddens me because I'd been really looking forward to reading it but couldn't do so anymore as the book felt like a continuous drone and it had ceased to capture my attention.

The author had clearly done his research on Carnegie, and from the half I read, presented a very fair description of Carnegie, explicitly calling out the falsities in Carnegie's autobiography or the other commissioned biographies.