Moguls and Iron Men by James McCague

Moguls and Iron Men by James McCague Hardback: 394 pages Publisher: Harper & Row Pub Released: January 1, 1964

Source: Bought at a local book sale.

Book Description, Modified from Book Cover:
The construction of the first transcontinental railroad was a tremendous financial gamble and engineering marvel. This book tells the full story of the project from the earliest efforts of the brilliant engineer, Theodore Judah, to win private and government support for his dream, to the investigation of the Credit Mobilier after the track was laid in 1869, more than 10 years later. It describes how, after a Pacific Railroad bill was finally approved in 1862, the two rival companies, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, drove toward each other battling terrain, weather, Indians, financial crises, and corruption.


My Review:
Moguls and Iron Men is a history about the building of the first transcontinental railroad. The author did a good job of showing the many factors that needed to come together to get the project started and how the building of the railroad changed the West. While an "engineering marvel," the author spent very little time and no real detail on the engineering feats. The focus was initially on the politics needed to get the project started and then on the race between the two railroads to lay their track faster.

Almost 50% of the book seemed to be about the politics and financial maneuvering needed to get the project started and completed. The rest was about what the press was saying about the railroad and using legends and reports to describe how the railroad was laid and what happened in and around these work camps. We are told how the work was done and the challenges (terrain, weather, Indians, financial) to getting the track laid. The story was a not a "heavy" read due to a lack of technical information and the focus on conflicts.

Overall, I'd been hoping for a more engineering and less financial history, but it was interesting and I learned a lot.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Make Comics Like The Pros by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente

Make Comics Like The Pros by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente ISBN-13: 9780385344630 Trade Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Watson-Guptill Released: January 1, 2014

Source: Review copy from the publisher through Blogging for Books.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
A step-by-step guide to all aspects of comic book creation--from conceptualization to early drafts to marketing and promotion--written by two of the industry's most seasoned and successful pros.

Do you want to break into the comics industry? There are many creative roles available--writer, penciller, inker, colorist, letterer, editor, and more. Each creator serves a vital function in the production of sequential art at companies such as DC, Marvel, Image, and Valiant.

Veteran comics creators Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente take readers step by step through the comics creation process from idea to finished work, and along the way offer examples and insights from their own careers as well as their collaborators'. Not only that, but Pak and Van Lente also join forces with Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Colleen Coover to produce an original comic inside the book!


My Review:
Make Comics Like The Pros is a book on how to write (and otherwise create and sell) comic books and graphic novels. It's similar to Words for Pictures in that it talked about the importance of working well with all the other people involved in making a comic. This book gave more information on how to sell your own comic independently or through a publisher.

The authors talked about how to co-write comics and actually created a short comic, step-by-step, to show how it is done. For the art and editing parts, people that they have worked with described their job and gave some tips on how to do their job well. It focused more on comic books than graphic novels or webcomics, but a lot of the creation information also applied to those formats. I think this an excellent book for people wanting to understand how the comic industry currently works and to learn how to create a comic with others and sell it.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.