"A first-rate look at the little-known story behind the creationof America's first continental railroad... Entertaining and wellwritten." -- Publishers Weekly One hundred forty years ago, four shopkeepers in Sacramento,California, rose to become the force behind the Americantranscontinental railroad, achieving along the way wealth beyondmeasure. To build influence and maintain power, they lied, bribed,and, when necessary, arranged for obstacles, both human and legal,to disappear. Their names were Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford,Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins, and they were known as "The BigFour" or "The Associates." Their drive for money -- nothing more,nothing less -- was epic. Their legacy is a university, publicgardens, museums, mansions, banks, and libraries-and to a largedegree, California itself. A captivating chronicle of a crucialperiod in American urban expansion, The Associates is atrue-to-life tale of ruthless ambition, staggering greed, and themaking of a nation.