Overview

In the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in history, when titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan walked the earth. But as Charles R. Morris shows us, the platform for that spectacular growth spurt was built in the first half of the century. By the 1820s, America was already the world's most productive manufacturer and the most intensely commercialized society in history. The War of 1812 jump-started the great New England cotton mills, the iron centers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and the forges around the Great Lakes. In the decade after the War, the Midwest was opened by entrepreneurs. In this book, Morris paints a vivid panorama of a new nation buzzing with the work of creation. He also points out the parallels and differences in the nineteenth century American/British standoff and that between China and America today.

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Reviews

"The author is at his best when he focuses on the people behind the technology. . . . Morris' research is thorough. . . . Ambitious.-- ""Kirkus"" ""An illuminating narrative that shows, among much else, what happened when Yankee ingenuity met the Industrial Revolution...Post-Civil War industrialization had an important and largely overlooked predecessor in the first decades of the nineteenth century. It is a story well worth telling, and Mr. Morris tells it well."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"" ""Morris' analysis shines brightest in the final chapter as he compares the United States' past economic growth with the current hyper-expansion of China. Only then, by examining the hurdles China faces in its ascendance to economic superpower, does Morris show how truly innovative the transformation of America was and why it will be impossible to repeat in the future."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""The author is at his best when he focuses on the people behind the technology...Morris' research is thorough... Ambitious."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" ""To the often-told story of America's initial industrial development, Morris adds fresh data and insightful revisions. He begins The Dawn of Innovation with a fascinating account of how the rivalry of the early United States and Britain to dominate the Great Lakes produced a 'shipbuilders' war' that helped trigger industrial development here...[Morris] is persuasive in arguing that America grew so rich so rapidly in part because it was largely born free."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"""

Author Information

Charles R. Morris is a lawyer, former banker, and New York Times bestselling author. He has written several books, including American Catholic, The Sages, and The Tycoons. He is also a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic Monthly. David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has won numerous Earphones Awards, earned Audie Award nominations, and been included in Best Audio of the Year lists by such publications as Publishers Weekly, AudioFile magazine, and Library Journal. He was a resident actor and director with the Cleveland Play House for eight years and has been artistic director of the Hope Summer Rep Theater since 1992.

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