Andrew Carnegie: life of the week

Hello and welcome to Life of the Week, where leading historians delve into the lives of some of history's most intriguing and significant figures, from ancient Egyptian pharaohs and medieval warriors to daring 20th century spies. How did a man who crushed unions in Gilded Age America? come to see himself as humanity's benefactor. In this Life of the Week episode, we take a closer look at Andrew Carnegie, one of the so called robber barons who made a fortune as the US expanded westward in the late 19th century. and he was one of the key architects of a specific type of philanthropy that still has echoes today.

Guiding us through Carnegie's life is historian and biographer David Nassau, who was speaking to Eleanor Evans. As a biographer of the man and as a historian, what first attracted you to Carnegie as a figure? You know, I'm embarrassed to say so, but an editor approached me and said, we've done books. There are books about Rockefeller and Morgan. There's not really any good book about Carnegie.

Would you be interested in doing it? And I said, well, let me see. And I live in New York, so I took the train to Washington, D.C., and I looked through the Carnegie correspondence there. And within 10 minutes I knew I wanted to do this. One, because he's a great letter writer.

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