The First Tycoon

Summary

A definitive biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, charting his rise from a Staten Island ferry operator to the architect of the modern American corporation through his dominance of steamships and railroads. Stiles draws on long overlooked business records to recast Vanderbilt not as a crude robber baron but as a sophisticated financial innovator who helped invent industrial capitalism. The book offers a sweeping portrait of how nineteenth century commerce remade the United States.