Conversation: T.J. Stiles, National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction

The winner of this year's National Book Award for nonfiction tells the story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, who rose from humble means to amass a vast fortune, build the country's largest fleet of steamships, erect the original "Grand Central Depot":http://grandcentralterminal.com/info/commodore.cfm in New York and control a railroad empire. Simply put, Vanderbilt helped to shape our modern corporate economy, often ruthlessly. The author of "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" is "T.J. Stiles":http://www.thefirsttycoon.com/index.htm, who also wrote "Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War," a finalist for the 2003 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Stiles joined us by phone earlier this week: