Stagecoach (Book 1: Wells Fargo and the American West; Book 2: Wells Fargo and the Rise of the American Financial Services Industry) - Hardcover

Fradkin, Philip L., And Andy Anderson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743227972 ISBN 13: 9780743227971

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2002

Synopsis

Two books in one volume: Book One: Wells Fargo and the American West by Philip L. Fradkin, and Book Two, Wells Fargo and the Rise of the American Financial Services Industry by Andy Anderson.

About this title

Review:

Today, most of us know the iconic red and yellow image of the Wells Fargo stagecoach only as the omnipresent logo of a huge national financial institution. Philip L. Fradkin's Stagecoach reminds us of the far more complex and colorful history of the 150-year-old enterprise it symbolizes, beginning with its heyday as an unpolished but honorable "express company" that dependably linked, by means of the stagecoach, an upstart West Coast and roughshod Rockies with everything else back East. Fradkin, author of eight books on the American West, ties the company's and region's fates together as mining, agriculture, and then more contemporary commercial interests (with help from the federal government) indelibly shaped them both. From the time of the dusty stage driver to the era of the wing-tipped banker, the book recounts it all but wisely focuses on the period from 1852 to 1918, a time when the firm "served as the principal communications conduit between East and West ... contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War ... and shipped fresh vegetables and fruits via fast refrigerated express." After reading it, you'll be hard-pressed to look at the enduring stagecoach imagery in quite the same way ever again. --Howard Rothman

About the Author:

Philip L. Fradkin is the author of nine critically acclaimed books about
the American West and Alaska. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for his work at the
Los Angeles Times, and he has taught writing courses at the University
of California at Berkeley and at Stanford University. He lives in San
Francisco.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0743227972
• ISBN 13: 9780743227971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 461