Blood, Iron, & Gold: How the Railroads Transformed the World

This very weel written work by Christian Wolmar fills a very important ninch in history, namely the development of railroads across the world. The book begins with the start of railroads in England in the first decades of the nineteenth century. The work continues with the development of railroads in the united States, Europe, and India. In later chapeters the book examines the spread of railroads across the globe. This book is extremely interesting because a recent account of the history or railroads throughout the world has not been generally available. Surprises include the fact the the builder of the first railraods in England George Stephenson helped plan the building of many railroads all over the world. Moreover some countries like Belgium built railroads early. In the case of Belgium the railroad was seen as a means to help unify the country. Other early developers of the railroad technology included France and Germany. Other countries like Albania were laggards who built railroad lines later. Once the technology was proven in England, railroad builders attacked the problem of building railroads through mountains, jungle swamps, and other difficult terrain. Immense difficulties were overcome, often at great cost of the lives of railraod construction workers. But these projects were generally completed. Apparently once humanity really decides to do some project, the project is done sooner or later. Mr. Wolmar writes a lot about the effects of the railraod on society and on travel. He does not discuss the actual technology much, but such is not his intention as a historian. A reader can learn much more about this technology from Karen Parker How a Steam Locomotive Works. The author has a last chapter on the development of high speed passenger service. Unlike the case with the early railroads, the United States is somewhat a laggard in this technology. The other countries in the world do not always need the United States to initiate and guide the establishment of modern technologies. Actually this state of affairs is desirable. It would not be good to have Edward Markey, Henry Waxman, and other ecofreak elitists limit the technological possibilities of humanity. The book is a very interesting read and very good history.

This engaging book is a valuable find for history buffs who have an interest in railroads but don't have time to explore the extensive literature on this topic. Wolmar takes the reader from the early 19th century to the present and explores the emergence and development of rail all across the world, and manages to do all this in just under 340 pages. (Notes, bibliography, and index add another 40 pages, and there are two sections of photo pages.) The narrative focuses on the economic, political, and societal aspects of rail development in a wide variety of environments. Much less is said about the nuts and bolts of the trains, although there is substantial discussion of competing track gauges, efforts to overcome challenging geography, and the evolution of passenger accommodations as sophistication and competition increased. Along the way we meet innovative technical and business people, learn of the changes wrought by the railroads everywhere they went, and marvel at the amount of death and suffering experienced in the early construction and operation of rail systems. Readers may find a couple of passages to be a bit slow as they describe numerous new lines coming into service from Point A to Point B, but a good knowledge of world geography makes these more interesting as they set the stage for the rest of the story. That story includes a sober look at decline in the 20th century as automobiles, trucks, and airlines came to dominate the transportation market. But the book ends on a positive note, projecting a railway renaissance of high-speed passenger trains and a strong freight business. Highly recommended, especially for those who are new to railroad history or plan to read only a small amount on the subject.

Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railroads Transformed the World tells how railroads altered time and the nature of communications and connections. Trains created a manufacturing industry, made perishables more widely available, fostered the idea of the vacation, and more. A fine survey of their lasting social impact makes this an intriguing, revealing guide.

Like most people, I had no idea how important railroads were to the history of the world. This over-all story of the contributions made by the Iron Horse to civilization and the industrial revolution is fascinating even to somebody like myself who really doesn't know much about trains, but who has always loved traveling on them. I prefer them to travel by automobile or airliners. From this book, it appears that I'm not alone in that love of train travel and it's wonderful to know that railroads are making a big comeback all over the planet. Railroads are still the least expensive way to move freight and raw materials and it appears that they in the process of greatly expanding their role in the economy. This is a very good read and not just for train enthusiasts. The text is accompanied by lots of helpful maps and 16 pages of really interesting photographs both in color and black and white.