Excellent. Fascinating. Reads easy like a novel. ( )

I found this book fascinating and hard to put down. It tells the story of Henry Flagler and his development of Florida. As the 1900s started, Florida's Atlantic coastal cities did not exist. It was Flagler who created them, the resorts we know today. His greatest goal was to extend the Florida East Coast Railway all the way down the Atlantic coast to Key West connecting all the keys to the mainland. An unimaginable undertaking which he would accomplish. However, there is always mother nature and this book is also about the hurricanes that plague this area and the ultimate destruction of the railroad. An excellent book. ( )

Last Train to Paradise is the story of Henry Flagler, an American industrialist best known as a founder of Standard Oil. He also played a part in popularizing Florida as a tourist attraction since he had a pivotal role in extending railroad lines to Florida cities. By building luxury hotels in Jacksonville, Palm Beach, and Miami, he made vacationing in Florida attractive to his wealthy contemporaries such as Rockefeller. Although Standiford discusses Flagler’s wives and children, the main story is about his drive to build a Florida railroad. At first, the rail connected northern stations to Jacksonville and eventually to Palm Beach and Miami. But his vision was to connect the railroad lines “over the sea” so that the Florida Keys would be accessible by rail. He accomplished his goal by partnering with engineers and bridge builders, who shared his enthusiasm for risk-taking and accomplishment.

The press called the Key West project “Flagler’s Folly.” Standiford includes many gruesome descriptions of the working conditions and the lives lost during the bridge’s building to and through the keys. The labor pool for the actual work included unemployed northerners and people from the islands. Many workers were unaccustomed to the humidity, heat, storms, and insects common in Florida. The workcamps that he set up for his workers were less than adequate, and Flagler dealt with workers who wanted to escape rather than work for low wages and risk getting sick and dying. Flagler contended with unfair labor practice claims, including a governmental investigation for slave-labor. His hiring practices would not pass muster today. Flagler would have been unable to forge ahead with his plan under the EPA with the dredging of lands and redesigning nature’s paths to accommodate bridges and roadbeds. In 1912, the overseas railroad to Key West was finished after about seven years of labor, including at least three hurricanes. Much of the railway was damaged or demolished in the hurricane of 1935. Parts of the old path can be viewed from today’s modern roadway leading through the keys.
The value of Flagler’s dreams and accomplishments is for the reader to decide.
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I continue to enjoy Standiford's thriller novels but this is the first of his factual books I have read. If you like turn of the 20th century history and the age of the robber barons then this is for you. Interesting history. ( )

The historic, astounding venture to build a railroad from South Florida to Key West reads like an action thriller. Thank you, Les Standiford, for making history come alive! ( )