Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for May 29–June 4

This week, we feature a retro-sci-fi tale and an arrangement of Southern-inspired recipes for weeknight dinners, celebrations, and more.

History

‘Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863–1869’

By Stephen E. Ambrose

In the midst of the Civil War, workers struggled to expand across the continent, laying tracks and hammering spikes. The Transcontinental Railroad is one of the greatest feats in American history, indeed, in human history. Ambrose follows these efforts from both sides of the continent where two major railroads—the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific—finally met. This book is a detailed narrative of the financiers, the engineers, and the workers who transformed the American continent.