{"product_id":"sunset-limited-the-southern-pacific-railroad-and-the-development-of-the-american-west-1850-1930-paperback","title":"Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930 - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRichard J. Orsi\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe only major U.S. railroad to be operated by westerners and the only railroad built from west to east, the Southern Pacific acquired a unique history and character. It also acquired a reputation, especially in California, as a railroad that people loved to hate. This magisterial history tells the full story of the Southern Pacific for the first time, shattering myths about the company that have prevailed to this day. A landmark account, \u003ci\u003eSunset Limited \u003c\/i\u003eexplores the railroad's development and influence--especially as it affected land settlement, agriculture, water policy, and the environment--and offers a new perspective on the tremendous, often surprising, role the company played in shaping the American West. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on his unprecedented and extensive research into the company's historical archives, Richard Orsi finds that, contrary to conventional understanding, the Southern Pacific Company identified its corporate well-being with population growth and social and economic development in the railroad's hinterland. As he traces the complex and shifting intersections between corporate and public interest, Orsi documents the railroad's little-known promotion of land distribution, small-scale farming, scientific agriculture, and less wasteful environmental practices and policies--including water conservation and wilderness and recreational parklands preservation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeticulously researched, lucidly written, and judiciously balanced, \u003ci\u003eSunset Limited \u003c\/i\u003eopens a new window onto the American West in a crucial phase of its development and will forever change our perceptions of one of the largest and most important western corporations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn extraordinary book by a master historian! Orsi demonstrates that the Southern Pacific was not simply a predatory corporation obsessed with maximizing its profits and political power; it had a strong sense of the public good and a devotion to building stable, prosperous communities. This superb book should be required reading for all historians of the West, business, and the environment.--Donald J. Pisani, author of \u003ci\u003eWater and American Government\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This deep and extensive examination of the Southern Pacific's development activities in California will encourage readers to look beyond the overblown rhetoric of the railroad's many political enemies and see afresh its many positive economic accomplishments as it worked to build the Twentieth-Century West. Orsi's presentation is as luminous as it is impressive\"--Carlos Schwantes, author of \u003ci\u003eGoing Places: Transportation Redefines the Twentieth Century West\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This brilliantly researched and beautifully written study of one of America's greatest railroads offers wonderful insights into both transportation and Western history. Orsi places the early history of the Southern Pacific Railroad in proper focus by skillfully untangling the long-standing Octopus myth. This work deserves to be called a landmark in the field.\"--H. Roger Grant, author of \u003ci\u003eFollow the Flag: A History of the Wabash Railroad Company \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eSunset Limited\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates not only the workings and ambitions of the Southern Pacific railroad but teaches us a great deal about the late nineteenth and early twentieth century American West as well. This is a wonderful scholarly study: remarkably thorough, ambitious, and gracefully rendered.\"--William Deverell, author of \u003ci\u003eRailroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Orsi\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, Hayward, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Elusive Eden: A New History of California \u003c\/i\u003e(third edition, 2002), and editor of the California History Sesquicentennial Series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 637\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.68 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 06, 2007\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45424840310886,"sku":"9780520251649","price":63.07,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/cHduME9mNlBmRXUwSENvMnlBaFlSUT09.webp?v=1775613026","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/sunset-limited-the-southern-pacific-railroad-and-the-development-of-the-american-west-1850-1930-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}