The Gilded Age: A History from Beginning to End

by Hourly History

The Gilded Age Read On Your Computer, MAC, Smartphone, Kindle Reader, iPad, or Tablet. The period from 1870 to 1900 in the United States has become known as the Gilded Age, during which America was transformed almost beyond recognition. In the 1870s, the country was still recovering from a horrendously destructive Civil War. The nation was still mainly agrarian; cities were relatively small and large-scale industry almost non-existent. Thirty years later, the U.S. had become an industrial powerhouse with massive cities featuring skyscrapers, electric lights, automobiles on the streets, and subways running below. An influx of immigrants from different parts of the world had changed the very nature of American society which featured almost unimaginable wealth living side-by-side with abject poverty. Inside you will read about... ✓ Taming the Wild West ✓ Robber Barons and Captains of Industry ✓ Emergence of Labor Unions and Women’s Movements ✓ The New Immigrants ✓ Invention and Innovation And much more! The Gilded Age was an era of entrepreneurs, inventions, industrial development, and new ideas. Most of all, it was a period of rapid and profound change which came at a high cost for the working class. In a Golden Age, life is good for everyone. But in a Gilded Age, there is only a thin surface of gold over underlying base metal, a metaphor for a small number of fabulously wealthy people who grew rich by exploiting vast numbers who lived in poverty. This is the story of the Gilded Age of America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Historical

117 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2019

About the author

At Hourly History, we focus on publishing history books that are concise, straightforward and take no longer than one hour to read.

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Reviews

[Apollo Hesiod · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gilded Age: A History From Beginning to End

It's funny how I'm reading this and thinking thus could be applied to day, are we in another gilded age. You forget how the basic amenities we take for granted, were extraordinary back when they were invented.

A MUST READ

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

So reminiscent of the process of industrialization in India. It is also a sad reminder of the fact that most of India is almost a century behind the US. There are, however, enormous lessons from what happened in the US during the last quarter of the 19th century as we grapple with social issues that co-exist with industrial development.

[Corin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very brief overview. For a 50 page book it covers a lot in a concise manner. If you aren't sure what the Gilded Age was, read this. Then you can do additional research. :-)

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2019 by Hourly History.

What is popularly known as The Gilded Age (roughly from 1870 to 1900) was more than just an era of ostentatious wealth contrasted with crushing poverty. It was mostly a time if immense cultural and technological change and could easily be considered the beginnings of the modern world.

This short e-book does a first-rate job of giving the broad strokes of the amazing breadth of changes - changes to communication with the telephone, to transportation with the increased number of trains, but also with the invention of the automobile. Steel became a common construction material and the first skyscraper was built.

None of this industrialization came smoothly, though. The United States went from being an overwhelmingly agrarian society where people worked on family farms or plantations (free, slave, or sharecropper) to being mostly working at paid positions in factories, stores, etc.

On top of that, a record amount of immigrants came to the United States, among them millions of people from areas of Europe that Americans weren't used to hearing or seeing with different religions. Meanwhile, out in the western states it was the time commonly known as the Old West. The Indians were being rounded up and forced on reservations so that farmers and ranchers could use the land.

The point of this book series is to provide a history that you can read in about an hour. This one packs a lot of information in one tiny volume.

I rate this e-book 4 stars out of 5.

See all of my reviews of books published by Hourly History here: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/sear...

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part it's what I expected, but I had a couple of thoughts:

(1) It was a period of rapid social and economic change which created lots of winners and lots of losers. It was the start of modern urbanized America as we now know it.

It occurs to me that this period feels a bit glossed over in the popular imagination of American history. It's
-American Revolution! "We hold these truth to be self-evident..."
-Civil War! "Four score and seven years ago..."
-Great Depression! "Nothing to fear but fear itself"
-World War II "Hitler Bad!"
-Civil Rights Movement "I have a Dream!"

And that's pretty much it. But it was pretty important and it significantly shaped the country. For example, Donald Trump's grandfather immigrated from Germany in this time period.

(2) Etymology.
I learned the origin of a few phrases
"Gilded Age" - apparently this was coined by Mark Twain and was meant to be disparaging. It never clicked with me.

"Railroaded" - This came from how railways were being built at the time.

"Robber Barons" - This terminology originated in medieval Germany when some feudal landlords would charge peasants fees they weren't supposed to.

"Queue" - Chinese people were required to wear this hairstyle during the Qing dynasty but it made them stand out and become the target of discrimination.

By my overall thought was how significant this period was and how we don't really talk about it a lot.

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of late, I’ve been watching a new TV series being produced by “Julian Fellowes” the same person who produced “Downton Abbey”. I must tell you it was really won quite enjoyable series.
However, I know what is being presented in the series is simply a capsulation of much more that really transpired during “The gilded age.“
When I saw that “hourly history “was offering a quick read on the Gilded Age, I most certainly decided to get it and read it. I’m so glad I did so. This approximately 30 year period from 1870 into the early 1900s what is the best of times, and the worst of times.
Yes, there were a few men of great wealth such as J. D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, made millions. However, they also gave much of their wealth back to the American society at the time.
I admit that I am enjoying the TV series “the Gilded Age”, but I also found the reality within the pages of this hourly history to be mostly formative.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This covers the time period from around 1870 to 1900. One of the major things about this time period is that the gap between the extremely wealthy and the poor grew a lot. The book covers a number of topics including:
Reconstruction
Technological advances
Industrial revolution in the North
Conspicuous Consumption
Influx of immigrants
Widespread poverty
Sharecropping
Taming of the Wild West
The war against the Native Americans
Transformation of American from an agrarian society to an industrial one
The importance of railroads
Technology on the farm
People moving from the farms to the cities.
Robber barons.
Tenement housing.
Child labor.
Increase in crime and gang culture.
Labor unions.
Ghettos.
Liberal theology vs. fundamentalism.
Thomas Edison.
The telephone.

As you can see it's a pretty complete book and it's quite readable.

[James R · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my purposes, getting a quick historical overview of this era, this short book served the purpose perfectly. It was a great introduction and covered the essential topics, issues and people that formed the historical setting for a play I am preparing to direct. I may have time for more in-depth research, but even without that more detailed information this gem provided a background that gives the context and issues of the time period. It was more engaging than an encyclopedia article, but served the same purpose only for my needs better. It was interesting, engaging and informative. Well done.

[Neera Kapahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last quarter of the nineteenth century was a time of great change in America. It was a period of economic boom - there was the Industrial Revolution and the extension of the railroad. The term Gilded age was coined by Mark Twain. A small number of wealthy people grew rich by exploiting others who lived in poverty. There was conspicuous consumption and material excess on the one hand and poverty on the other.

The book explores the hardships most people had to undergo and the rise of immigration. The book is concise and I found it very informative and interesting.

[Lara Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful overview

This was a useful primer on a period of incredible change in America. It touches on many aspects - Robber Barons, religion, immigration, Native American policies, the Wild West, industrialism and innovation, labor and women’s rights movements, the advent of the Jim Crow era… A lot is condensed in these pages and presented in an easily digested, if loosely connected, book. There are several editing errors throughout (subject-verb agreement). Overall, I appreciated the refresher!

[F · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting time in history, this "Gilded Age". Some bias shines through the narrative unfortunately. I am referring to the anti-Bible Christianity viewpoint that seeps through various [but not all] volumes of this series. The authors don't just knock Christianity they don't understand it. The think many of the Anti-Bible cults and isms are Christianity but they are not. So, with a wrong basic viewpoint the writers proceed to misunderstand anything to do with spiritual truth. Just be aware and you can still get the basic historical facts on the other subjects.

[Brenda Gunier · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gilded Age -- Amazing

The Gilded Age in America was when tremendous change happened between The Civil War and the turn of the century. Modern technology was introduced and refined. Immigration followed the need for more unskilled workers, and the county get across from ocean to ocean. This Hourly History explores all aspects of life during this period, from moguls, to immigrants, rural to city. Very interesting.

[Mike Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Easy Read, but a Little Too Brief.

An extremely brief, high level overview of American history between 1870 to 1900. Well written and easy to read for those with little knowledge of the period, but comes off over-simplified for anyone with any knowledge of the period at all. One benefit is that, dates are given and it reads more like a timeline. So it would be a good resource for further reading. And, it’s a free read on Prime, so there is that.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very informative about events in the United States from 1870 to 1900. I found it very interesting that the name came from Mark Twain, a metaphor, in that it appeared as gold but that was only the surface and underlying was base metal. In this short period of thirty years, the United States changed very rapidly, from the wild west to the Wright brothers. Worth the read.

[William O. Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple overview of the Gilded Age from 1870 to the turn of century in 1900. Recommended for those that have no idea what this period was about or why it was referred to as gilded. Not sure how factual the data on immigration statistics as they were referenced, but it's something that should be researched.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best of these short histories to my view - it really puts the "gilded Age" the time of robber barons and industrial progress in a real perspective - really stages the post Civil War progress and change. Before I wouldn't have thought of Thomas Edison as a "gilded age" guy but of course he was.

I would read it for an American perspective.

[Melissa Teague · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and informative read.

What I find most interesting about this time in history is that we seem to be repeating it at this very moment in time. I especially like the comparison of the workers' jobs being taken over by machines, much like today's AI taking over the human counterparts job market.

[Kenneth J. Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short summary of history!

We tend to forget the past while keeping up with the changes taking place in one lifetime. Going back in time to reawakening what was taught when growing up may help all to better understand how we have become what we are today. It may bring up the question: "Is society better or worse today?".

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like A School Textbook

I enjoyed this as a decent, high-level, easy-to-read book that gave a good "taste" of the era, and gives someone with only a general interest a chance to see if they want to dig more deeply into it.

[Randolph Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

America Becomes an Industrial Giant During The Gilded Age

America undergoes many changes during the Gilded Age (1870 to 1900), the foremost one being the transformation from a largely Agrarian Economy to an Industrial Giant.

[Philip Zeppetello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction

A 30 year period in American history change how people saw and experienced the world. The repercussions are still with us in 2021 as relates to immigration and race.

[carolyn curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

The documentation of advancements so soon after the end of the Civil War was well described. I liked reading about this age of which I knew little about. Nice short read.

[Herman Goetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A view of American History

I enjoyed reading these historical facts which reaffirmed my fragmented
knowledge of my country that welcomed my parents in the beginning
of the vast migration which started in 1900 .

[Kevin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great holistic look at the Gilded Age

This little book provided a great overview of the major developments of the Gilded Age. In addition to lots of facts, it provides a holistic view in a largely balanced way.

[Kecia Loy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but informative

Very broad overview of the Gilded Age. Provides good information. I did learn something new from the read. Because of this book I plan on reading more about this time period.

[j cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Intro

A nice concise over view of the age that laid the foundation for the America
we know today.
Easy reading.

[derick prentice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read

[David Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expansion, immigration, and invention

I had read numerous biographies from this time period and it help unify the period with a framework. I recommend it.

[woodswit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely done! I liked a lot of the contrasts they made, and the nuanced portrayal of the big names featured in the gilded age.

[Ruben Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book isn't very long, but it hit all the areas of the Gilded Age thoroughly.