Picking up where the award-winning story of Lewis and Clark (Undaunted Courage) left off, Ambrose tells how America, in the midst of the Civil War, built the Transcontinental Railroad. It took presidents, corporate giants, a work force roughly the size of the Civil War armies, and even Brigham Young to mount the most ambitious project of its age. Ambrose uses his considerable skill as a writer and his experience as a biographer to capture the energy, spirit and verve required to build the railroad.  (USW224, $17.00)