Maps on endpapers

Includes bibliographical references (pages [441]-449) and index

The pure physics of union -- pt. I. When America's story was dominated by wood, 1785-1805 : A view across the ridge ; Drawing a line in the sand ; Peering through the trees ; The frontier and the thesis ; The wood was become grass ; Encounters with the Sioux ; First lady of the plains ; High plains rafters ; Passing the gateway ; Shoreline passage -- pt. II. When America's story went beneath the Earth, 1809-1901 : The lasting benefit of harmony ; The science that changed America ; Drawing the colors of rocks ; The wellspring of knowledge ; The tapestry of underneath ; Setting the lures ; Off to see the elephant ; The west, revealed ; The singular first adventure of Kapurats ; The men who gave us Yellowstone ; Diamonds, sex, and race -- pt. III. When the American story traveled by water, 1803-1900 : Journeys to the fall line ; The streams beyond the hills ; The pivot and the feather ; The first big dig ; The wedded waters of New York ; The linkman cometh ; That ol' man river -- pt. IV. When the American story was fanned by fire, 1811-1956 : May the roads rise up ; Rain, steam, and speed ; The annihilation of the in-between ; The immortal legacy of Crazy Judah ; Colonel Eisenhower's epiphanic expedition ; The colossus of roads ; And then we looked up ; The twelve-week crossing -- pt. V. When the American story was told through metal, 1835-tomorrow : To go, but not to move ; The man who tamed the lightning ; The signal power of human speech ; With power for one and all ; Lighting the corn, powering the prairie ; The talk of the nation ; Making money from air ; Television: the irresistible force ; The all of some knowledge

Acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Winchester illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect, and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings and ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree