Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Der Lokomotivführer
Go deeper: the whole of Der Lokomotivführer
About 4 h 40 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love tales of ambition, from a self-made tycoon's rise to Wall Street drama. It also rewards anyone curious about railroads, money, and the families beside great fortunes.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
It is Easter Sunday in 1894, and a whole Ohio village has come out to laugh. A man on a white horse and a man in a buggy, each claiming to be Christ come again, lead about a hundred ragged men toward Washington. Behind them trails a crowd of reporters, and one of them will take a confidential reporting job for a railroad president.
The Driver is a novel by Garet Garrett, a journalist who wrote about money, business and politics. It follows Henry M. Galt, a small, restless speculator who seizes a bankrupt railroad and builds it into a system that spans the continent. You get boardrooms, panics, and a family that cannot enjoy its fortune.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A crusade of tramps marches on WashingtonFree
- 2A sour stranger and a gentle railroad president
- 3Where nobody believes, one believer stands out
- 4Galt's workshop holds a map of an empire
- 5A nation goes mad and the railroad goes bust
- 6Galt sells the bankers a plan and seizes the board
- 7The old president is pushed out of his chair
- 8Wealth buys a mansion but not a welcome
- 9Power builds a castle and gathers enemies
- 10Belief, power and the cost of both
Punkt 1 von 10
A crusade of tramps marches on Washington
The book opens with a parade that is half circus and half prayer. Jacob Coxey and Carl Browne lead the Army of the Commonweal of Christ out of Massillon, Ohio. Coxey hopes delayed marchers will join him, yet barely a hundred follow. Coxey's plan is simple. Congress should create money and hire the unemployed to build roads.
The narrator is one of forty-three correspondents trailing the march. That night the reporters argue over what it means. A pale agitator says money no longer serves people and people now serve money. The others shout him down, yet none of them loves Wall Street. Next morning the narrator takes a side job, sending confidential daily reports to John J. Valentine, president of the Great Midwestern Railroad.
The marchers prove to be honest men who average twelve paid workdays a year. The Army ends in arrests on the Capitol lawn, and the laughter covers a real fear about work. A joke that spreads across a country is often a question the country cannot yet answer.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Der Lokomotivführer
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Questions about Der Lokomotivführer
What is The Driver by Garet Garrett about?
It tells how Henry M. Galt, a small Wall Street speculator, takes over a bankrupt railroad, rebuilds it and grows it into a continental system. His secretary Coxey narrates, watching boardroom fights, panics and the strain on Galt's family.
Who is Coxey in The Driver?
Coxey is the narrator's nickname, given by Galt. He is a young newspaper reporter who follows Coxey's Army of unemployed marchers in 1894, then becomes Valentine's private secretary and later Galt's closest aide and friend.
What does the title The Driver mean?
It comes from Galt's own words when a traffic manager asks who he is. He says he is the driver, meaning the one who steers the railroad, sets its pace and takes control of its direction.
Is The Driver a true story?
It is a novel, though it uses real events of the 1890s such as Coxey's Army, the gold and silver quarrel and the panic of 1893. Galt and his rivals are fictional figures built from the age's financiers.
Is The Driver worth reading today?
Yes, if you like lively business drama. Its scenes are vivid, from a muddy Easter march to a board meeting and a Washington hearing, and its questions about belief, markets and power still feel current.
Cite this edition
Garrett, Garet. The Driver. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-driver.
Garrett, G. (2026). The driver. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-driver (Original work published 1922)
Garrett, Garet. The Driver. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-driver.
@book{garrett2026driver,
author = {Garrett, Garet},
title = {The Driver},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-driver},
note = {First published 1922}
}
