The winning of Barbara Worth Harold Bell Wright 9781176343245 Books
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
The winning of Barbara Worth Harold Bell Wright 9781176343245 Books
The Winning of Barbara Worth is a book about the development of Imperial County California and its reclamation from desert to farmland. I came to it from the angle of knowing the area and its history very well - I live here - so it was an interesting perspective of (I assume mostly) fictional characters based on history - but not quite** as it was. Nevertheless I am glad I read it! Highly recommended. If you don't know the Imperial County/Salton Sea history, read this first, then pick up the history books.Product details
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The winning of Barbara Worth Harold Bell Wright 9781176343245 Books Reviews
I am an avid collector of works by Harold Bell Wright, and cherish all my first editions. However, this reproduction, which closely resembles the first edition, contains all the original unedited text plus many added features making it a real treasure. The story is a wonderful mix of romance, human nature, good & bad, and historically correct events. A great addition to any library and a must have for collectors of HBW.
"The Winning of Barbara Worth" came as a great surprise to me. I found the book in an antique store in Indiana and devoured it, speedily reading through its 511 pages. Published in 1911 when William Howard Taft was the president, the book starts on its second century.
From the title, I expected this to be a romance. And while it most certainly is, the heart of the novel is about business and business ethics. The main conflict comes between the King's Basin Land & Irrigation Company (KBLIC) and a number of businesses developed and sold by Jefferson Worth. The KBLIC is headed by New York financier James Greenfield who comes to make a quick buck by tapping the Colorado River to irrigate desert and create productive farms. The dream was born by Jefferson Worth who needed Greenfield's capital to build the irrigation systems. But KBLIC was only interested in doing just enough to turn a profit and produces irrigation infrastructure insufficient to withstand periodic flooding by the river. The economic warfare between Greenfield and Worth has so many twists and dirty tricks that it is incredibly fascinating. It speaks directly to modern day business concerns as we look at the oil drilling disaster a couple of years ago in the Gulf of Mexico.
The business moral of the novel is articulated in the change we see in Willard Holmes, an engineer, raised by Greenfield. From pg. 476 in Chapter 34 "Battling the River," Wright writes
The Seer and Abe Lee, remembering the man who had come out from the East to go with them on that preliminary survey, wondered at the transformation. Then Willard Holmes was the servant of Capital that used people for its own gain. He saw his work then only as a means to the end that his Company might make money. Now, though employed still by a corporation, he was a master who used the power at his command in behalf of the people. He had come to look upon his work as a service to the world and through that service only, he served his employers.*
This idea of the battle between the profit motive and the service motive is at the cutting edge of modern-day business ethics and makes this 100+ year old novel very pertinent to our world today.
Yes, I do also love a good romance; and Wright delivers as the lovers who were meant to be, come together. There is a twist at the end concerning Barbara's identity that seems contrived by today's standards. The accepted racist viewpoint of James Greenfield that Barbara may not be worth marrying because her heritage is contaminated by Indian or Mexican blood is revolting by modern standards. Even the good-old-boy ranch hands throw the word "greasers" around to label Hispanics without apology. Wright confronts this through the eyes of Willard Holmes who loves the woman for who she is, not who her ancestors were.
Overall, this is a lovely book. Wright is the first author said to have made a million dollars from his writing; so "The Winning of Barbara Worth" was quite popular in its day. Enjoy!
*Note I added a comma after "only"! )
Excellent read it was very close to my heart as my relative was involved in the Imperiel Valley Irrigations scheme. I have wanted to get the book for a long time
Judy Shevlin
Just as advertised, quick delivery. AAA+
This is a really good book, I've read it twice, but my library got rid of it so I needed my own copy that I can read whenever I want to. This is also one I will recommend to my homeschooled children to read. It is a wonderfully written historical fiction about desert reclamation.
The Winning of Barbara Worth is a book about the development of Imperial County California and its reclamation from desert to farmland. I came to it from the angle of knowing the area and its history very well - I live here - so it was an interesting perspective of (I assume mostly) fictional characters based on history - but not quite** as it was. Nevertheless I am glad I read it! Highly recommended. If you don't know the Imperial County/Salton Sea history, read this first, then pick up the history books.
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