Invisible Giants: The Empires of Cleveland's Van Sweringen Brothers

Invisible Giants is the Horatio Alger-esque tale of a pair of reclusive
Cleveland brothers, Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen, who rose from
poverty to become two of the most powerful men in America. They controlled the
country's largest railroad system -- a network of track reaching from the Atlantic
to Salt Lake City and from Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico. On the eve of the Great
Depression they were close to controlling the country's first coast-to-coast rail
system -- a goal that still eludes us. They created the model upper-class suburb of
Shaker Heights, Ohio, with its unique rapid transit access. They built Cleveland's
landmark Terminal Tower and its innovative "city within a city" complex.
Indisputably, they created modern Cleveland.

Yet beyond a small,
closely knit circle, the bachelor Van Sweringen brothers were enigmas. Their actions
were aggressive, creative, and bold, but their manner was modest, mild, and
retiring. Dismissed by many as mere shoestring financial manipulators, they created
enduring works, which remain strong today. The Van Sweringen story begins in
early-20th-century Cleveland suburban real estate and reaches its zenith in the
heady late 1920s, amid the turmoil of national transportation power politics and
unprecedented empire-building. As the Great Depression destroyed many of their
fellow financiers, the "Vans" survived through imaginative stubbornness --
until tragedy ended their careers almost simultaneously. Invisible Giants is the
first comprehensive biography of these two remarkable if mysterious men.