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In the kingdom of coal: an American family...

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Coal," writes former Wall Street Journal reporter Rottenberg (Revolution on Wall Street), has been "the critical force driving the modern world for the past two centuries." Rottenberg tries, with varying success, to animate that history with a well-written account of two families tied together by the busts and booms of the coal industry as it evolved from an almost agricultural endeavor in the late 18th century into a highly mechanized but physically and financially dangerous modern corporate enterprise. One family, the Leisenrings, owned and operated major American mining companies for five generations. The second family, the Givenses, worked the mines of eastern Virginia for most of the 20th century. Rottenberg's background as a financial writer stands him in good stead as he skillfully traces the relationship between technical advances that made coal a more economically feasible source of energy and the infrastructure changes (canals and later railroads) that facilitated the movement of coal. His treatment of larger events the unionization of manufacturing industries, the Great Depression, WWII and the Vietnam War expands the book's reach to reflect factors that influenced all of American industry.

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Availability

181203277

338.762 ROT i

Z. HANDIMAN

Available

Detail Information

Series Title

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Call Number

338.762 ROT i

Publisher

New York : Routledge., 2003

Collation

xvii,327p.; 24 cm.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-415-93522-9

Classification

338.762

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

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Subject(s)

BUSINESSMAN - COAL MINES AND MINING

Specific Detail Info

v

Statement of Responsibility

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