The World the Railways Made

by Nicholas Faith

The modern world began with the arrival of the railway. The shock was both sudden and universal: between 1825 - when the first passenger service came into operation, linking Stockton and Darlington - and the outbreak of World War I, railways redefined, transformed and expanded the limits of the civilized world. With railways came the development of modern capitalism, of modern nations, the opening up of new regions from the American Mid-West to Siberia, from Lake Victoria to the pampas of Argentina, changing not only the way the world looked but the way it felt. This book looks at the history of the railway. The author also wrote "The Infiltrators", "The Winemakers", "Chateau Margaux", "Safety in Numbers", "Victorian Vineyard", "Sold" "Cognac" and "The Story of Champagne".

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Railways

360 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Nicholas Faith is a former senior editor for the Sunday Times and The Economist, a journalist and author.

He has written widely on wines, spirits and transport.

In 1996 he founded the International Spirits Challenge.

In September 2010 Nicholas Faith was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Bureau National Interprofessional de Cognac.

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

Given the potential scope of a book with this title, capital mobilisation, investment, managerialism, transformation of traditional industries, changes in information flows, changes to economies due to rapid transportation etc, perhaps it was inevitable that this brief book would be underwhelming.

OK as a readable, non-technical picture of the spread of railways during the nineteenth century that unfortunately chugs along at a steady pace and never impresses with great viaducts of insight arching across the gorges of ignorance.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike most railway books, this is a fluidly written account that focuses on the societal aspects of the development of railways instead of the more technological ones. Focusing on the period before 1914, its chapters examine how railways impacted capitalism, economics, politics local and international, leisure, demography and city development, war and imperialism.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read. What strong men and hard lives