Renowned railway historian Christian Wolmar presents an illustrated assessment of the transport system’s global impact. From the ‘wagonways’ used to carry coal in the 17th century to today’s high-speed infrastructure, his overview explores the role of the railways in Britain’s industrialization and how the technology spread to influence the development of nations, capitalism, architecture and leisure.
From Britain's most popular railway historian, a concise, authoritative and fast-paced telling of how the railways changed the world.
The arrival of the railways in the first half of the nineteenth century and their subsequent spread across every one of the world's continents acted as a spur for economic growth and social change on an extraordinary scale. The 'iron road' stimulated innovation in engineering and architecture, enabled people and goods to move around the world more quickly than ever before, and played a critical role in warfare as well as in the social and economic spheres.
Christian Wolmar describes the emergence of modern railways in both Britain and the USA in the 1830s, and elsewhere in the following decade. He charts the surge in railway investment plans in Britain in the early 1840s and the ensuing 'railway mania' (which created the backbone of today's railway network), and the unstoppable spread of the railways across Europe, America and Asia. Above all, he assesses the global impact of a technology that, arguably, had the most transformative impact on human society of any before the coming of the Internet, and which, as it approaches two centuries of existence, continues to play a key role in human society in the twenty-first century.
'A lucid and engaging account of the far-reaching effects that trains have had upon society' The Railway & Canal Historical Society
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https://www.psbooks.co.uk/railways530645Railwayshttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_media-0_4.jpg8.998.99GBPInStock/History/Non-Fiction/Categories/Transport/Non-Fiction/Highlights/Gift Ideas/Categories/Transport Gift Books/Gift Ideas/Categories/Gifts Under £10/Email Landing Pages/Customer Favourites/Gift Ideas/Categories/Gifts Under £15/History/Categories/Industrial History/Gift Ideas/Categories/View All Gift Books/Non-Fiction/Categories/Transport/RailRenowned railway historian Christian Wolmar presents an illustrated assessment of the transport system’s global impact. From the ‘wagonways’ used to carry coal in the 17th century to today’s high-speed infrastructure, his overview explores the role of the railways in Britain’s industrialization and how the technology spread to influence the development of nations, capitalism, architecture and leisure.Hardback00https://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_media-1_4.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_0112.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_0113.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_0114.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_0115.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_0116.jpghttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/3/530645_media-2.jpgadd-to-cartrrp_info:£18.99productId:137623bic_code:HBTB, HBTK, WGF, WZGHBTB, HBTK, WGF, WZG£18.99Christian WolmarGeneral206x142mmApolloYesHardbackSocial & CulturalTrains & Railways