The Robber Baron's was equired reading for my 11th grade A.P. U.S. History Class. I love history and books pertaining to it, so I began this book excitedly. However, that soon wore off as I discovered a book with a confusing story line. Josephson failed to bring alive the unique characters of this pivotal time in history. From Vanderbilt to Morgan to Gould, all of the Barons stayed as flat on the page as in a history textbook. I found the book confusing and reiterating the same idea over and over.I a last ditch attempt to finish this tome, I brought it to the beach to read aloud to my mother so that we could talk over the central ideas. However, my idea failed miserably when within two paragraphs she fell asleep.Unless, like me, you are required to read this book for school, do not pick up this wordy telling of "The Robber Barons".