Nothing Like It in the World
Encyclopedia
"Nothing Like It In the World" is a narrative history of the planning and construction of the Pacific Railroad
during the 1860s which connected the San Francisco Bay
and Council Bluffs, Iowa
by rail. Written by popular historian Stephen Ambrose
, it was first published in August, 2000, by Simon & Schuster
.
(Non-Fiction) on September 17, 2000. However as were many of Ambrose's other late career works (particularly the fifteen books released between 1990 and 2003, the year after his death), it was also produced under the auspices of (and copyrighted by) Ambrose-Tubbs Inc, the Ambrose family's Helena, MT, based owned and operated umbrella organization for his commercial activities.
Although Ambrose was a retired University history professor, the book was written as a non-academic "popular history" aimed at a large general interest audience. As such its manuscript was not formally vetted and/or
peer reviewed for accuracy and sourcing by any outside scholars and other experts on railroad history prior to its submission for publication as would have likely been the case if it had been published by a university press
or under the aegis of an academic journal
. Instead it was edited and fact checked by the publisher only by Simon & Schuster's
Editorial Director, Alice Mayhew, Ambrose's long time editor whom he also credited with originally suggesting the project to him.
While originally well received by the public at large, many reviews of the book by professional historians and other scholars, researchers, and experts in the field appearing in the weeks and months after its release were highly critical of the work as being poorly researched and edited as well as inadequately fact checked. Several longer form papers and commentaries were also produced by well known experts on the history of the Pacific Railroad which documented in detail that the book was rife with factual errors, misquotes, contradictions, demonstrably misleading and/or inaccurate statements, and unsupported conclusions.
The most extensive of those papers was first reported in a front page article published in The Sacramento (CA) Bee
on January 1, 2001, entitled Area Historians Rail Against Inaccuracies in Book that listed more than sixty instances identified as "significant errors, misstatements, and made-up quotes" in the book which were documented in the detailed December, 2000, fact checking study entitled "The Sins of Stephen E. Ambrose" compiled by three long time Western US railroad historians, researchers, consultants, and collectors who specialize in the Pacific Railroad and related topics.
On January 11, 2001, Washington Post
columnist Lloyd Grove
reported in his column, The Reliable Source, that a co-worker had found a "serious historical error" in the same book that "a chastened Ambrose" promised to correct in future editions. A number of journal reviews also sharply criticized the research and fact checking in the book. Among academic reviewers, Notre Dame University history professor Walter Nugent observed that it contained "annoying slips" such as mislabeled maps, inaccurate dates, geographical errors, and misidentified word origins
, while Don L. Hofsommer of St. Cloud University, the author of eleven books on the history of railroads in the American West, agreed that the book "confuses facts" and that "The research might best be characterized as 'once over lightly'."
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
during the 1860s which connected the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
and Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
by rail. Written by popular historian Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long time professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many best selling volumes of American popular history...
, it was first published in August, 2000, by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
.
Editing and fact checking issues
When published in the late summer of 2000, "Nothing Like It in the World" was, like many of Ambrose's previous books, an immediate commercial success and quickly reached the "Number 1" position on the New York Times "Best Seller List"New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
(Non-Fiction) on September 17, 2000. However as were many of Ambrose's other late career works (particularly the fifteen books released between 1990 and 2003, the year after his death), it was also produced under the auspices of (and copyrighted by) Ambrose-Tubbs Inc, the Ambrose family's Helena, MT, based owned and operated umbrella organization for his commercial activities.
Although Ambrose was a retired University history professor, the book was written as a non-academic "popular history" aimed at a large general interest audience. As such its manuscript was not formally vetted and/or
peer reviewed for accuracy and sourcing by any outside scholars and other experts on railroad history prior to its submission for publication as would have likely been the case if it had been published by a university press
University press
A university press is an academic, nonprofit publishing house that is typically affiliated with a large research university, and publishes work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. It produces mainly scholarly works...
or under the aegis of an academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
. Instead it was edited and fact checked by the publisher only by Simon & Schuster's
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
Editorial Director, Alice Mayhew, Ambrose's long time editor whom he also credited with originally suggesting the project to him.
While originally well received by the public at large, many reviews of the book by professional historians and other scholars, researchers, and experts in the field appearing in the weeks and months after its release were highly critical of the work as being poorly researched and edited as well as inadequately fact checked. Several longer form papers and commentaries were also produced by well known experts on the history of the Pacific Railroad which documented in detail that the book was rife with factual errors, misquotes, contradictions, demonstrably misleading and/or inaccurate statements, and unsupported conclusions.
The most extensive of those papers was first reported in a front page article published in The Sacramento (CA) Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...
on January 1, 2001, entitled Area Historians Rail Against Inaccuracies in Book that listed more than sixty instances identified as "significant errors, misstatements, and made-up quotes" in the book which were documented in the detailed December, 2000, fact checking study entitled "The Sins of Stephen E. Ambrose" compiled by three long time Western US railroad historians, researchers, consultants, and collectors who specialize in the Pacific Railroad and related topics.
On January 11, 2001, Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
columnist Lloyd Grove
Lloyd Grove
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast, the Web site run by Tina Brown and backed by Barry Diller. He is also a frequent contributor to New York Magazine...
reported in his column, The Reliable Source, that a co-worker had found a "serious historical error" in the same book that "a chastened Ambrose" promised to correct in future editions. A number of journal reviews also sharply criticized the research and fact checking in the book. Among academic reviewers, Notre Dame University history professor Walter Nugent observed that it contained "annoying slips" such as mislabeled maps, inaccurate dates, geographical errors, and misidentified word origins
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
, while Don L. Hofsommer of St. Cloud University, the author of eleven books on the history of railroads in the American West, agreed that the book "confuses facts" and that "The research might best be characterized as 'once over lightly'."
External links
- Graves, G. J. "Chris", Strobridge, Edson T., & Sweet, Charles N. "The Sins of Stephen E Ambrose: A commentary regarding factual errors in Stephen E. Ambrose's book "Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad 1863 - 1869." CPRR.org, December 19, 2000.