Many readers will find the book too lengthy and inconsistently engaging. In general, it often appears that Nasaw was able to uncover every interesting tidbit of Carnegie’s long and spirited life.īut for all its merit, this biography is not perfect. Like many irresistible biographical subjects, Carnegie’s personality is full of contradictions and the sharp contrast between the ruthless businessman and the famously generous and compassionate philanthropist is well articulated. In addition, the description of Carnegie’s relationship with his future wife and as well as his relationships with Henry Clay Frick (a longtime business partner) and Herbert Spencer and Matthew Arnold (two English intellectuals) are excellent. There is no consensus, however, as to whether Nasaw’s biography surpassed Joseph Frazier Wall’s 1970 classic as the definitive biography of Carnegie at some point I will have to read the latter and decide for myself!Īmong the book’s best features are its compelling introduction (one of the best I’ve ever encountered), a fascinating opening chapter which reviews Carnegie’s ancestry and chapters which recount his early years in Pittsburgh while working a variety of odd jobs. In these 801 pages of text, Nasaw paints an extraordinarily balanced and remarkably robust portrait of Carnegie…displaying his determination, financial acumen, personal passions, charitable predilections and his numerous faults and contradictions. Using sources not available to earlier biographers, Nasaw skillfully stitches together a seamless and comprehensive narrative which explores his subject’s entire life. This scholarly and often gripping biography of Andrew Carnegie provides each of these items in abundance.
Among them are an intriguing biographical subject, a skilled writer, a robust supply of primary source material and an author capable of diligent and determined research.
The ideal biography requires several crucial ingredients. Among his most widely-read books are biographies of Joseph P.Kennedy (which I read and reviewed last year) and William Randolph Hearst. Professor of History at City University of New York. “ Andrew Carnegie” by Davis Nasaw was published in 2006 and was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
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