The Big Four; The Story of Huntington, Stanford, Hopkins, and Crocker, and of the Building of the Central Pacific

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938. Fourth printing [stated]. Hardcover. Good. xi, [1], vi, 418, [8] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. Ex-library with the usual library markings. Some edge soiling. Oscar Lewis was one of the first historians to write seriously about the literary, cultural and social history of the American West. Mr. Lewis's best-known book, "The Big Four" about the robber barons who built the first transcontinental railroads, remains the standard work in its field, said Kevin Starr, a friend and fellow historian. It was first published in 1938, became a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and at the time of his death was still in print. Writing in The New York Times Book Review, R. L. Duffus described the work as "an absorbing history of California's moguls" and "a grand story, expertly told." Lengthy and insightful history of Stanford, Crocker, Hopkins and Huntington (the "Big Four" of the title) along with the unsung Judah and Colton, along with their wives and families. Here for the first time is told in a single volume one of the most remarkable stories in American history. An Easterner is never long in California without hearing something of ?the big four?: four Sacramento shopkeepers?Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker?who got control of the newly organized Central Pacific Railroad property. These men are portrayed in Mr. Lewis?s volume vividly and with pertinent anecdote. Their true characters are revealed and the grandiose era in which they lived and operated is re-created as well. Huntington, the shrewd manipulator, founded the great fortune which is responsible for the magnificent library; Leland Stanford, Governor and Senator, created Stanford University; Hopkins kept himself out of the limelight, out of politics and scandal and died enormously wealthy; while Crocker founded a dynasty of bankers still important in the affairs of California and the nation. Oscar Lewis spent six years gathering the material for The Big Four and writing it. The result is a definitive telling of a story that is ever fresh and ever fascinating.