Steamboats Come True: American Inventors in Action

By James Thomas Flexner

Book Overview

James Thomas Flexner has been a professional writer most of his adult life. After several year spent at the City desk at the New York Herald Tribune after graduating from Harvard University , Flexner went on to become one of America's foremost historians. He has written with great distinction in a unique style accessible to and enjoyed by the scholar and general reader, twenty-six books in the fields of American history and art. Although he is principally known for his historical books, notably his four -volume biography of George Washington, Flexner has written in many forms and for many outlets. He has written for print and television; he has been a lecturer, columnist, reviewer, and even a fiction writer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823213765
• ISBN13: 9780823213764
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A must read

Mr Flexner brings the story of the invention of the steamboat to life. But this book is much more than a story of steam boats though. The book covers a biography of John Fitch, the man who really invented the steam boat (Fulton put a steamboat together decades after Fitch.) Fitch is one of the most interesting charcters in U.S. history. You will not believe the accomplishements of Fitch. I am totally amazed at the story of Fitch every time I listen this book on tape. Flexner ties all of the events of the time together. The inventions of James Watt, Napolean's military efforts, the Revolutionary war, the invention of the submarine. The interaction of Fitch with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are discussed. This book is best listened to on tape. You will not regret listening to this book. Trust me.