Death, Dynamite & Disaster: A Grisly British Railway History

by Rosa Matheson

Life in Britain was revolutionized as the railways flourished in the nineteenth century. Cities were linked and the masses could travel; railway mania was born. Yet these early days were dramatically different o the present in terms of health and safety. In this fresh approach to railway history, Rosa Matheson explores the grim and grisly railway past. These horrible happenings include the lack of burial grounds for Londoner’s dead, leading to the "Necropolis Railway," disasters and accidents, digging up the dead, drowning in tunnels, fighting the last British "Civil War" on the railway lines, and how the discovery of dynamite gave rise to the "Dynamite Wars" on the London Underground in the 1880s and 1890s, long before the terrorists attacks of the twentieth century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the many books I bought while on vacation in the UK. I picked this up off of the TBR pile after watching the first couple of episodes of Full Steam Ahead. A new documentary on the British Railway on the BBC. Reading this while watching the show really enhanced the book for me. Especially since they touched on a few items that are in the book, during the documentary. It starts with the very first death, which happened during the first ever run of a railway line and goes through some of the worst things that have happened on British railways. If you enjoy reading about the history of the railways especially in the UK, I highly recommend this book.

[Jack Dowd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the book has a very exciting title it is a case by case study of accidents in the Victorian Railway system, the response, the cause of the accident and most importantly the names and details of the deceased. These people are so often a footnote (if that) in books so it is wonderful, if sad, to see their story told here.

[Kurt Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spends a not insignificant part of the book on the dynamite portion