The Short Line War

Henry Kitchell WebsterProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 343K words
Chapters: 35

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Short Line War by Samuel Merwin and Henry Kitchell WebsterAuthor: Webster, Henry Kitchell, 1875-1932,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2005

Editor's review

Co-written by Samuel Merwin and Henry Kitchell Webster, The Short Line War is a novel set against the backdrop of business and railroad operation, centering on the pursuit of interests and the choices characters make. The work continues the two authors' strength in social realism, weaving the calculation, maneuvering, and tests of human nature in business competition into a tight plot; it is both readable as popular fiction and a window onto the economic life of its time. For today's readers, it is both a sample of early twentieth-century American business fiction and a story that lets one feel the tension between competition and morality. While reading, pay attention to the logic of characters' choices under pressure of interest and how the authors advance the story through plot rather than preaching; if business history interests you, read it alongside relevant background materials.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy fiction about business competition and character maneuvering
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature on social and economic themes
Researchers who want to understand the co-authored style of Merwin and Webster

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer pure romance or light comedy and have no interest in business plots
Beginner English readers unaccustomed to the narrative pace of early English fiction

Reading tips

First clarify the main characters and their interests, then move into the specific plot
Note the details of business maneuvering, and compare them with relevant business history materials afterward
When encountering period-specific industry terms, first infer from context and then look them up together

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Was this book co-written by two authors?

Yes. The information shows that The Short Line War was co-written by Samuel Merwin and Henry Kitchell Webster, with Webster as one of the credited authors. Their collaborative works mostly focus on business and social reality themes.

Do I need business knowledge to read it?

No professional background is required. The business plot serves the characters and the story, and general readers can follow the narrative. If you are familiar with backgrounds such as railroad operation, you can appreciate more of the details.

Comments

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About the author

Henry Kitchell Webster Author · American · 1875–1932

Henry Kitchell Webster (1875–1932) was an American novelist and short-story writer, born in Evanston, Illinois, and a graduate of Hamilton College. He is known for fiction dealing with business and industry. His representative work, Calumet K, co-written with Samuel Merwin, centers on commercial competition, while The Short Line War, Mary Wollaston, and The Real Adventure focus on social realities and individual fates. Writing largely in serial form, he crafted tightly plotted stories close to the spirit of his time and was among the more popular serial novelists in early twentieth-century America. Owing to limited public information, details of his life and a complete bibliography remain to be verified; this introduction draws mainly on the works recorded here and standard biographical sources.