Current Projects
What's Next?
For writers the focus is always on the next piece of work. I have rarely worked on only one project at a time, and have always liked the way one project can infuse another even though they have no apparent connection. Here is a glimpse of my current work.
UNION PACIFIC: THE RECONFIGURATION, 1969-2004
The Union Pacific Railroad is today one of the four remaining megasystems in American railroading. It is also the only one of them to retain its original name, which is embedded in American history. My two earlier volumes carried the story of this fabled company from its origins as the nation’s first transcontinental railroad through its rebirth after bankruptcy under the leadership of America’s foremost railroad man at the turn of the century, E. H. Harriman. The new volume will continue the story from 1969 to 2004, the most turbulent period in American railroad history during which the railroad map was completely redrawn and the industry as a whole seemed at first to be sliding toward extinction. Yet the Union Pacific and the larger industry underwent a phoenix-like transformation that rejuvenated them in a changed role. Few periods of railroad history are more volatile and fascinating than these years of decline and resurgence. This volume will utilize a large number of interviews with corporate and railroad men within and without the Union Pacific Railroad. "Union Pacific: The Reconfiguration" will be published by Oxford University Press.
A CALL TO ARMS: AMERICA MOBILIZES FOR WORLD WAR II
The colossal scale of World War II required a mobilization effort greater than anything attempted in all of the world’s history. This was truly the first world war, fought across three continents and requiring resources and logistics that dwarfed previous efforts. For the United States it meant fighting a unique two-front war that spanned two oceans as well as three continents. Never in the nation’s history did it have to create, outfit, transport, and supply huge armies, navies, and air forces on so many distant and disparate fronts.
The saga of how this mighty war engine was created and sustained has often been portrayed as a miracle of production. That it may have been, but it is a mistake to think of it as a smooth, unified effort. Rather it was a constant struggle among conflicting groups complicated by a shifting bureaucratic landscape in Washington at a time when the economy was just climbing back from a decade of depression. The real miracle of American mobilization is not to be found in the production figures, impressive as they might be, but in the valiant efforts of so many people from all walks of life. The story of this epic struggle is the subject of this book, which will be published by Bloomsbury USA.