PICK OF THE DAY: The Men Who Built America – HISTORY at 8pm (WAT)

John D Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and JP Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. These men were not friends, but rivals in business and in life. They battled each other on their way to the top of the rich list and American society. Some called them gutsy, others called them greedy.

Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of American history. They created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries.

But these industrialists built their fortunes at the expense of the working man. Four of them joined the ranks of the Robber Barons as their empires and their wealth grew. They elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years the United States has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the way.

Using state of the art computer generated imagery that incorporates 12 million historical negatives, many made available for the first time by the Library of Congress, this series will bring back to life the world they knew and the one they created.

Tune in for this new documentary, starting Monday 1 April at 8pm WAT on HISTORY.