Rating: 
Summary: Dramatic tone makes this most acceptable to leisure readers
Review: One man held an incredible vision: to build a railroad which crossed over a hundred miles of water. That man was Henry Flagler, and the railroad connected Key West to the Florida mainland. Last Train To Paradise provides an engrossing account of an impossible vision and how it was brought to life by one man's determination. A dramatic tone makes this most acceptable to leisure readers as well as fans of rail history.
Rating:
Summary: The man who "invented" modern Florida
Review: Ten years ago, when I visited Palm Beach, Florida, I noticed a lot of places named after someone called Flagler. At the time I had no idea who this person was, or why everything in the area seemed focused upon him, but after reading this book, I understand. It's pretty clear that, without Henry Flagler's vision, and money, Florida today might be an entirely different place. This man, almost singlehandedly, changed Florida from a hot, sleepy area into a mecca for tourists. His building of luxury hotels, the Florida East Coast Railway, and later the Key West Expansion, gave us our modern state. This story is extremely interesting, and I found it well-written. It tells something I did not know before, and that's always important to me when I read any non-fiction work. It's a tale of insight, struggle, ultimate success, and subsequent destruction by the forces of an all-powerful natural storm. Men such as Henry Flagler do not walk among us any longer, and perhaps we are all the poorer for that.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most facinating & exciting history narratives
Review: The author of this book had an idea that, in its way, is as good as the subject that the book covers. But it's a shame that the author didn't execute his idea nearly as well. It's an easy, if awkward, read. As another reviewer noted, the book feels like an overgrown magazine article -- and not a great article at that (you'd never see "Outside" magazine print this). In addition to what seems like superficial research -- reading a bunch of books and magazine articles rather than finding anything original -- the author makes all sorts of hyperbolic statements. For example, he says that the the mythic "frontier" ended when the railroad was completed and that it was the last audacious engineering project ever attempted. Huh? Ever heard of moon launches? In fact, the author does mention NASA later on, but to no apparent purpose. In short, this is a book that needs either a writer with a better dramatic ability to tell the human tale, or a far better technical ability to tell the engineering tale (where are the maps and diagrams?).
Rating: 
Summary: Good Concept, Mediocre Execution
Review: The author of this book had an idea that, in its way, is as good as the subject that the book covers. But it's a shame that the author didn't execute his idea nearly as well. It's an easy, if awkward, read. As another reviewer noted, the book feels like an overgrown magazine article -- and not a great article at that (you'd never see "Outside" magazine print this). In addition to what seems like superficial research -- reading a bunch of books and magazine articles rather than finding anything original -- the author makes all sorts of hyperbolic statements. For example, he says that the the mythic "frontier" ended when the railroad was completed and that it was the last audacious engineering project ever attempted. Huh? Ever heard of moon launches? In fact, the author does mention NASA later on, but to no apparent purpose. In short, this is a book that needs either a writer with a better dramatic ability to tell the human tale, or a far better technical ability to tell the engineering tale (where are the maps and diagrams?).
Rating:
Summary: Truly Awesome - Could not put it down
Review: This book shows how fiction can never compare to real life. I only wish there were other non-fiction books by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Bio of Flagler with a dash of railroad
Review: This really reads more like a short bio of Flagler, rather than delving into the nitty gritty of how the railroad got built. Particularly when you compare it to a book like David McCullough's on the contemporary building of the Panama Canal, it seems quite thin. Two of the chapters in fact focus on the famous Labor Day hurricane, which essentially led to the railroad's demise. But for a quick overview of the man and his greatest project, it is a good read.
| 
