Author T.J. Stiles discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt on Tuesday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Stiles’ book follows Vanderbilt’s life from his humble birth on Staten Island during the presidency of George Washington through the building of his railroad empire – from sailboat ferryman to steamboat entrepreneur to master of transoceanic steamship lines to the formation of several railroads and the construction of New York’s Grand Central Depot.

Stiles contends that Vanderbilt not only shaped the transportation revolution, but he also helped to invent American capitalism.

The First Tycoon was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

Copies of The First Tycoon will be available for sale, and Stiles will sign copies purchased after the program.