Last Train to Paradise (Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean) by Les Standiford

"And on the pedestal, these words appear:

 'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,

 Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

 Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

 Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

 The lone and level sands stretch far away."

          -Percy Bysshe Shelley

This book was recommended to me but even if it had not been, it was inevitable that I would read it. I have taught and will teach again in October, an adult class called Florida's Four Henrys. Of course, one of the Henrys is Flagler, the focus of this book. I don't generally go for nonfiction but this one was well-written, historical in nature with a goodly amount of Flagler biography. 

There is much to admire about Henry Flagler---his vision, determination and unrelenting spirit. He made a fortune as cofounder of Standard Oil and, at a time when many men retire, began a second career as developer of Florida. When asked why, his answer was "For the last fourteen or fifteen years I have devoted my time exclusively to business, and now I am pleasing myself."

The primary focus of this book is the building of the Overseas Railroad, an extension of Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway to Key West. When he began talking of the project, people called it "Flagler's Folly" and a "lunatic notion." It was amazing how dedicated he was and the perseverance he showed in continuing the work in spite of numerous difficulties, not the least of which were two major hurricanes. One has only to drive across the current Overseas Highway to Key West to realize how daunting the challenge was!

I was glad I read the book---I will rate it a 5 because many parts were quite exciting and I learned a number of new facts about this railroad baron and his work. It was interesting that Standiford began the book with a chapter called "End of the Line" about the demise of the Overseas Railroad. The next to last chapter is "Storm of Storms" which explains in much more detail how the "fall" (see subtitle) came about. Ernest Hemingway was apparently a witness to the monster hurricane of 1935. His descriptions and others were horrifying! 

I enjoyed the photographs included in the book, many of which I had not found online. I hope to one day visit the Henry Morrison Flagler museum in Palm Beach from whence the pictures came. What is now the museum was his mansion called Whitehall.

I was not aware that Flagler thought President Theodore Roosevelt had a vendetta against him from the time he was with Standard Oil. I also didn't know that Flagler felt he could have been a rich man except for getting involved in Florida! Perhaps he did more for Florida than the state did for him!