Martin Melosi creates a dynamic historical narrative by relating Edison’s personal history to larger cultural, political and economic trends. Melosi adeptly reveals the workings of Edison’s mind as well as his inventions’ lasting affect on the nation. Historians have often designated robber barons and large trusts as the face of the rapid economic and technological advances of the Gilded Age. However, this book exposes students to a more refreshing look at America’s economic history, placing the inventor above the banker.

The titles in the Library of American Biography Series make ideal supplements for American History Survey courses or other courses in American history where figures in history are explored.  Paperback, brief, and inexpensive, each interpretive biography in this series focuses on a figure whose actions and ideas significantly influenced the course of American history and national life. In addition, each biography relates the life of its subject to the broader themes and developments of the times.