Lawyering for the Railroad: Business, Law, and Power in the New South [Paperback]

William G. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

Lawyering for the Railroad provides an account of railroad monopoly power, tracing its sources and effects in the southern political economy, corruption, and attorneys who represented these railroads in the South during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807125040
• ISBN-13: 978-0807125045
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write histories of the Civil War, the U.S. South, and focus on African American history and the history of slavery. I currently serve as the Chair of the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and as the John and Catherine Angle Professor in the Humanities. I graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and Trinity College in Connecticut, and then studied for my M.A. and Ph.D. in History at the University of Virginia.

I was born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1964. My father was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1939, and my mother was born in Norfolk, Virginia. The Thomas side were Welsh immigrants arriving in Virginia, sometime in the early nineteenth century. My middle name is "Griffith," about as Welsh as it gets. I grew up on Seminary Ridge in a house at 318 N. Quaker Lane called "Clarens," originally built in 1781. After Alexandria was occupied by federal troops in 1861, Clarens was a hospital during the war for Union soldiers-it stood adjacent to "Cranford" -- my grandfather's house -and across the Quaker Lane from "Montrose" -my uncle's house.

All three homes were part of what was called "Fort Williams"-the Union fort next down the Seminary ridge from Fort Worth, a larger installation. Cranford next door was the "officer's quarters," and there is still today at that site a full Civil War-era powder magazine with brick walls underground and Union soldiers' signatures on its walls, many of them barely visible now but clearly marked "1861″. I love historic houses, gardens, landscapes, and places. The events of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the colonial past did not seem so distant to me, growing up at Clarens. My interest in history came from growing up in Alexandria, exploring the rivers and bays of the Chesapeake and living in and around old houses. And I've studied slavery, race, the Civil War, railroads, segregation, and civil rights to try to understand that place and the people I grew up with.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and provocative, March 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lawyering for the Railroad: Business, Law, and Power in the New South (Paperback)

This book gives a close look behind the scenes of the railroads and their lawyers in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The analysis is refreshingly balanced -- cogent, careful, thoughtful. It will cause anyone interested in the New South, railroads, or the history of American law to rethink the extent of railroad power and the role the law played in the development of American capitalism. At once a business, social, and legal history, it is mainly about the political economy of the South in a period of tense conflict and protest. Thomas tells us about lawyers who pushed the limits of the law and legal process to aid their powerful clients. He also tells us how divided the bar was about these tactics. Even more compelling, he shows why those who lined up against the railroads around the turn of the century were so energized. The book, which is both well-written and engaging, is built largely on original railroad company records. Legal historians and railroad historians in particular will find it provocative, challenging, informative and rewarding.

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction for the layperson, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lawyering for the Railroad: Business, Law, and Power in the New South (Hardcover)

Thomas writes with clarity and precision about a topic not easily cast in terms of easy generalities. His use of primary resources is impressive and compelling. In all, a well-balanced overview of a complex subject, suitable for the non-specialist reader. Four stars!