Power and Glory

The pseudonymous Canfield's workmanlike historical adventure offers an appropriately large backdrop--the Civil War, a Reconstructionist Congress and the completion of the transcontinental railroad--for this first of a planned four-volume exploration of the Robber Barons. Philip Trent is an idealistic Civil War hero and son of an honest Baltimore politician, who as a member of Congress uncovers massive corruption in the building of the transcontinental railroad. Trent's foil, his college pal Lloyd Miles, is interested only in getting ahead in the Gilded Age, which sets up an inevitable conflict between the two, with Miles's sister and Trent's fiancee, Leah, caught in the middle. Meanwhile, the railroad powers try to silence Trent, attempting everything from scandal to a murder frame-up. Historical figures like Ulysses S. Grant and Jay Gould and events such as the Credit Mobilier scandal are integrated into Canfield's tale. The story ends weakly, however, with the corrupt politicians revealed not through Trent's dedication but through the anonymous letters of a murderous scorned woman. (Aug.)