Last Train To Paradise

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 1400051185
Total Pages : 261 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Last Train to Paradise written by Les Standiford and published by Crown. This book was released on 2003-08-05 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935's deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.

Author : Chanel Cleeton
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0451490886
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Last Train to Key West written by Chanel Cleeton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Instant New York Times bestseller One of Bustle’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020 “The perfect riveting summer read!”—BookBub In 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler’s legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person’s paradise can be another’s prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape. After the Cuban Revolution of 1933 leaves Mirta Perez’s family in a precarious position, she agrees to an arranged marriage with a notorious American. Following her wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can’t deny the growing attraction to her new husband, his illicit business interests may threaten not only her relationship, but her life. Elizabeth Preston's trip to Key West is a chance to save her once-wealthy family from their troubles after the Wall Street crash. Her quest takes her to the camps occupied by veterans of the Great War and pairs her with an unlikely ally on a treacherous hunt of his own. Over the course of the holiday weekend, the women’s paths cross unexpectedly, and the danger swirling around them is matched only by the terrifying force of the deadly storm threatening the Keys.

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher : Atlantic Monthly Press
ISBN 13 : 0802146457
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu written by Les Standiford and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the first Gilded Age to the second, a “charming, zippy history . . . a rollicking, informative lesson in real estate, American history, and current events.” —Town & Country Looking at the island of Palm Beach today, with its unmatched mansions, tony shops, and pristine beaches, one is hard pressed to visualize the dense tangle of Palmetto brush and mangroves that it was when visionary entrepreneur and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler first arrived there in April 1893. Trusting his remarkable instincts, he built the Royal Poinciana Hotel within a year, and two years later, what was to become the legendary Breakers—instantly establishing the island as the preferred destination for those who could afford it. Over the next 125 years, Palm Beach has become synonymous with exclusivity—especially its most famous residence, Mar-a-Lago. As Les Standiford relates, the high walls of Mar-a-Lago and other manses like it were seemingly designed to contain scandal within as much as keep intruders out. This book tells the history of this fabled landscape intertwined with the colorful lives of its famous and infamous protagonists, from Flagler’s two wives to architect Addison Mizner, who created Palm Beach’s “Mediterranean look” to heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband E. F. Hutton, the original residents of Mar-a-Lago. With authoritative detail, Standiford recounts how Marjorie ruled Palm Beach society until her death in 1973, and how the fate of her mansion threatened to tear apart the very fabric of the town until Donald Trump acquired it in 1985. “Edifying, energetic, and captivating.” —Florida Weekly

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher : PublicAffairs
ISBN 13 : 1541762266
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Battle for the Big Top written by Les Standiford and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound. Filled with details of their ever-evolving showmanship, business acumen, and personal magnetism, this Ragtime-like narrative will delight and enchant circus-lovers and anyone fascinated by the American experience.

Author : Seth H. Bramson
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1625844530
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told written by Seth H. Bramson and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All aboard for the history of one of the most audacious and innovative railroad engineering feats in history from the celebrated Floridian author. Although several people had considered constructing a railroad to Key West beginning in the early 1800s, it took a bold industrialist with unparalleled vision to make it happen. In 1902, Henry Flagler made the decision to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to “the nearest deepwater American port.” In this book, renowned Florida historian Seth H. Bramson reveals how the Key West Extension of the Flagler-owned FEC became the greatest railroad engineering and construction feat in United States, and possibly world, history, an accomplishment that would cement Flagler’s fame and legend for all time. Join Bramson as he recounts the years of operation of this great railroad, what it did for the Florida Keys and what it meant to the resident conchs. Includes photos

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 1400049474
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Last Train to Paradise written by Les Standiford and published by Crown. This book was released on 2003-08-05 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935's deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.

Author : Mark W. Hemphill
Publisher : Erin, Ont. : Boston Mills Press
ISBN 13 : 9781550461381
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Union Pacific Salt Lake Route written by Mark W. Hemphill and published by Erin, Ont. : Boston Mills Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This story of UP's Salt Lake Route contains information never before published in a railroad history. Illustrated with color photographs taken between 1948 and 1994.

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Last Train to Paradise written by Les Standiford and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Graham Hutchins
Publisher : Exisle Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1927147298
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Last Train to Paradise written by Graham Hutchins and published by Exisle Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No book exists specifically on the famous, popular ‘name’ trains that used to run on the New Zealand rail network. The Auckland-Opua Express once carried passengers to the Bay of Islands, the Onehunga Boat Train used to be part of the main route between Auckland and Wellington, and the Rotorua Limited enabled tourists and the well-to-do to take the waters in Rotorua. Later trains like the Silver Star and Northerner - even the Kaimai, Geyserland and Bay Expresses, withdrawn in 2001 - had a distinctive character too.Last Train to Paradise describes the halcyon days of New Zealand rail, some of which the author was fortunate enough to experience personally. The ‘name’ trains and journeys cover a considerable period of New Zealand’s history, from the late 1800s, through the ‘golden’ era of train travel (the first four decades of the 20th century), and conclude with the introduction of new services in the last half of the century. The railway lines described in the book cover every part of the country – and some that have almost been erased from popular memory. Almost everyone in the first half of the 20th century travelled by train – including royalty. In 1869 the first royal train journey from Lyttelton to Christchurch carried the Duke of Edinburgh; the first fully-fledged royal train carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (the future King George V and Queen Mary) plied the route of the Rotorua Limited and the South Island Express; in 1920 the Prince of Wales traversed the country by train with Lord Louis Mountbatten. In 1927 the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) travelled more than 1700 miles by royal train. Other distinguished visitors whose stories will be told in the book include the English comedian J.L.Toole and his company (1890), Australian poet Will Lawson, singers Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Clara Butt, Irish tenor John McCormack and Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski, ‘March King’ John Philip Sousa and his band, ballerina Anna Pavlova, the 17-year-old violinist Yehudi Menuhin, writers Rudyard Kipling, Zane Grey and George Bernard Shaw, and actors Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. The book will include a wide variety of fascinating and unfamiliar photographs, not just of the trains themselves but also of the people who travelled in them.

Author : Everest Media,
Publisher : Everest Media LLC
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Summary of Les Standiford's Last Train to Paradise written by Everest Media, and published by Everest Media LLC. This book was released on 2022-05-26T22:59:00Z with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Hemingway was a resident of Key West in 1935. He had completed a manuscript of The Green Hills of Africa, which he considered his best writing since Death in the Afternoon. He was excited to see if the public’s approval matched his own. #2 In the 1920s, Hurricane Hernan was approaching Florida. It was a minimal hurricane with winds hovering in the 75 mph range. The newspapers reported the location of the storm as just east of Long Island, in the Bahamas, some 400 miles east of Key West. #3 Hemingway spent the rest of Sunday evening and the following morning moving lawn furniture and shooing the ever-present horde of cats inside his house. The barometer was falling precipitously, and the streets all over the town resounded with the crack of hammers driving nails into shutters. #4 The full force of the storm had already begun to sweep ashore when it hit Matecumbe Key, eighty miles to the north and east of Key West. The residents there were unprepared for such a storm, and panic ensued when the winds began to blow.