Last Train to Paradise

Henry Flagler made a fortune in Standard Oil and spent it developing the state of Florida as a tourist destination. In the early years of the twentieth century, he built a railroad from Miami to Key West, a 153-mile span then regarded as "The Eighth Wonder of the World." Les Standiford expands the story of the railroad into a portrait of Flagler--a tough businessman and devoted husband who brings his frail wife to Florida for her health and then develops an affection for the state--and a portrait of the rise of a major tourist destination. Richmond Hoxie's reading is understated, never getting in the way of the material. This account offers a fascinating slice of American history. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine