Industry comes of age : business, labor and public policy, 1860-1897 / by Edward C. Kirkland.

Includes index.

Bibliographical references, pages 410-436.

I. Business vicissitudes -- II. Government, finance, banking and currency -- III. Railroads: building and fiance -- IV. Railroad pricing policy -- V. Railroad reform -- VI. Railroad commissions: breakthrough or stalemate? -- VII. Natural resources: finding and development -- VIII. The transformation of industry -- IX. Tariffs, patents, and other intangibles -- X. The organization of production -- XI. Financing expansion -- XII. Building American cities -- XIII. Serving and controlling the domestic market -- XIV. The American menace abroad -- XV. The attack on wealth -- XVI. Recruiting and training workers -- XVII. The employer and the conditions of labor -- XVIII. Workers' organizations and their weapons -- XIX. Programs and philosophy of organized labor -- XX. Multiplication, division, materialism.

"Appreciative rather than apologetic, this history of the so-called Age of the Robber Barons takes exception to commonly held opinions about that controversial era. The author emphasizes the accomplishments rather than the failings of America's economic development from 1860 to 1897. Bases on the writings and statements of contemporaries of the period rather than on works of later historians, Professor Kirkland's narrative makes vivid the beliefs, goals, and achievements of businessmen, politicians, and labor leaders." -- From the book cover