Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business.
The general scope throughout the biography of Andrew Carnegie was not only the story of his life, but about the things he did along the way and a detailed explanation of the choices he made that led to his great wealth and success. While, obviously, the main topic and reason behind the writing of the book is Carnegie, there was intricate detail given about the advent of machines in the business world, the uprising of the railroad and telegraph, and on up to the business and steel-producing methods he followed later in life. It provided a general lesson in history that pertained to Carnegie's life during the particular time periods mixed in between along with the growth and wealth of early America.
Harold C. Livesay had quite a challenge researching and gathering information for this biography of Andrew Carnegie. There was so much history involved as well as a number of aspects of industry and business to be researched. He not only had to access information on Andrew Carnegie and his life but the history of early America as well. To cover all of the success of Carnegie he had to use such sources as The Railroads: The Nation's First Big Business by Alfred D. Chandler and George Rogers Taylor's The Transportation Revolution for accounts of Carnegie's railroad career as well as a book written by James Howard Bridge titled The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company. He also had to gain knowledge into finances and other wealthy businessmen. His sources in this area included Triumphant Capitalism by Kenneth Warren and The Morgan: Private International Bankers by Vincent Carosso. Most of the information he gathered on Carnegie came from newspapers and magazines. Being vain and outspoken, he was often sought out by reporters. The book Carnegie wrote of his own life, Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, was a source Livesay used selectively since some facts may have been distorted by Carnegie's vanity.