Andrew Carnegie was born into a poor Scottish family who immigrated to America. Through hard work Andrew became a very wealthy man by his work in the American steel industry. Because he never forgot his roots he believed that the wealthy had an obligation to give back to society. He is credited with writing several books and many articles on the topic of the changes in society brought about by the industrialization in America. Unlike so many travel books this one by Carnegie is fun to read. His personal account reads like a discussion sitting around a fire on a cold winter evening. You get a true sense of the man and find that you like him very much. Here is an early entry. "What is this? A telegram! "Belgic sails from San Francisco 24th instead of 28th." Can we make it? Yes, travelling direct and via Omaha, and not seeing Denver as intended. All right! through we go, and here we are at St. Louis Friday morning, and off for Omaha to catch the Saturday morning train for San Francisco. If we miss but one connection we shall reach San Francisco too late. But we sha'n't. Having courted the fickle goddess assiduously, and secured her smiles, we are not going to lose faith in her now, come what may. See if our good fortune doesn't carry us through!"