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Giants of Steam: The Great Men and Machines of Rail's Golden Age
Giants of Steam From Jonathan Glancey, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Spitfire: The Biography, comes his new bestseller telling the incredible story of the last days of the great steam locomotives. Full description
- GenresHistory
376 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 22, 2016
An excellent description of the high point of steam locomotives design across the world. While I knew a little of British steam design I knew little of the work in Europe and the states.
The author makes a good case that the age of steam closed prematurely and in fact, could still have a place in railways today.
An excellent read for anyone interested in Steam or the history of transport.
As a side note I unfortunately read the book 2 weeks after visiting Roanake in Virginia. If I had read it earlier I would of definitely made a point of visiting the Virginia transport and the O.Winston Link museum
The author makes a good case that the age of steam closed prematurely and in fact, could still have a place in railways today.
An excellent read for anyone interested in Steam or the history of transport.
As a side note I unfortunately read the book 2 weeks after visiting Roanake in Virginia. If I had read it earlier I would of definitely made a point of visiting the Virginia transport and the O.Winston Link museum
January 18, 2026
Is it better for a book to fail to engage me in any narrative or to present me a narrative I find frustrating and dissatisfying? Judging this book and comparing it to Ireland’s Railway Heritage, it is fair to say I am glad that this book was earnestly articulating a story for me. That story, the one of twentieth century advances in steam and its replacement notwithstanding this, has many issues for me, however it is more than a mere list of dates and names rendered into text.
There’s a very instructive anecdote in the penultimate chapter of this book. The author excitedly recounts a trip to China in the 1990’s, which for historical reasons still used coal in the Datong region. He gets into a conversation with the people working the train, doubtless excited to hear about the passion for steam they share with him. What he receives instead is universal excitement for the implementation of diesel traction and the end of this arduous work in running steam engines in cold Shanxi. This really captures the essence of this book; incredulity of various flavours from an author at the prospect that people do not share his special interest.
There are some things that do work. I think the prose is sharper and flows better than many of the books discussing railway history I’ve encountered, the focus on individuals and their personal narratives is welcome (despite falling short of its potential owing to the way complex figures are flattened), and it is clear that the author has a lot of personal experience and knowledge in this area with anecdotes and emotive connections with the past. However, this yearning for the aesthetic wonder of steam begins to shroud the whole book in a sort of nostalgic haze.
This book is ostensibly formatted in geographic segments, exploring the late history of the steam engine in various countries and the way all came to embrace diesel. What this is, in reality, is a series of complaints about how the authors beloved steam trains were “unfairly” subjected to the market forces that allowed them to rise in the first place. At every turn, the author protests how the apex designs of steam engines (at their zenith) were still competitive with diesels in certain categories, ignoring a great deal about why (thermal efficiency is occasionally referenced and never meaningfully reflected on, and when the narrative invites a reason beyond “they were obsessed with a desire to appear modern”, there is not an adequate explanation (as the author refuses to concede meaningful ground on the technological ground to the narrative villain of diesel. To this point, the Zephyr (the single train which is responsible for proving the superior capability of diesel locomotives) is mentioned just once offhandedly. This book feels written as a vendetta moreso than a story.
There’s quite a bit that’s a swing and a miss. This book, as a historical tale, focuses distractingly on matters like their speed and excitement with the sort of tone Top Gear might have regaled about a supercar, always with a tone of defensiveness as if it is trying to prove that steam can accomplish great things rather than fitting together a narrative. Indeed, Top Gear is a good comparison, with how things like speed limits and the sort are routinely bemoaned as if they are impositions installed merely for the purpose of foiling the grand project of Letting Steam Trains Go As Fast As Possible. When all of this together it feels like an exploration of, more than the story of steam trains themselves, the author’s childhood fixation on steam trains and demands that the world conform to his aesthetic vision
There’s a meanspiritedness to this book in places. At every turn the proponents of diesel are painted as pencil pushers and boardroom apparatchiks who are emphasised as having not the virtue of “hands on” experience with train. The contrast between the noble “steam men” (whose interest is only ever discussed in terms of romantic affection for the steam engine) and the “creatures of the market” who are to blame for all the evils of the post-war railway system makes this book read as almost conspiratorial (despite an attempt at page 238 to deny this).
Other details turn me off. British railways are explored in great depth, and the railways of the world are considered, however the only mention of colonialism is mentioning how unfortunate it was that the South African government after apartheid “wrongly” regarded the steam engine as a legacy of that same colonialism. This, alongside several other sections where businessmen and financiers do not make decisions to preserve steam in mass use out of sentiment, add to an overall feeling that the author is allowing nostalgia to get in the way of good historical work.
I do not care for this book.
There’s a very instructive anecdote in the penultimate chapter of this book. The author excitedly recounts a trip to China in the 1990’s, which for historical reasons still used coal in the Datong region. He gets into a conversation with the people working the train, doubtless excited to hear about the passion for steam they share with him. What he receives instead is universal excitement for the implementation of diesel traction and the end of this arduous work in running steam engines in cold Shanxi. This really captures the essence of this book; incredulity of various flavours from an author at the prospect that people do not share his special interest.
There are some things that do work. I think the prose is sharper and flows better than many of the books discussing railway history I’ve encountered, the focus on individuals and their personal narratives is welcome (despite falling short of its potential owing to the way complex figures are flattened), and it is clear that the author has a lot of personal experience and knowledge in this area with anecdotes and emotive connections with the past. However, this yearning for the aesthetic wonder of steam begins to shroud the whole book in a sort of nostalgic haze.
This book is ostensibly formatted in geographic segments, exploring the late history of the steam engine in various countries and the way all came to embrace diesel. What this is, in reality, is a series of complaints about how the authors beloved steam trains were “unfairly” subjected to the market forces that allowed them to rise in the first place. At every turn, the author protests how the apex designs of steam engines (at their zenith) were still competitive with diesels in certain categories, ignoring a great deal about why (thermal efficiency is occasionally referenced and never meaningfully reflected on, and when the narrative invites a reason beyond “they were obsessed with a desire to appear modern”, there is not an adequate explanation (as the author refuses to concede meaningful ground on the technological ground to the narrative villain of diesel. To this point, the Zephyr (the single train which is responsible for proving the superior capability of diesel locomotives) is mentioned just once offhandedly. This book feels written as a vendetta moreso than a story.
There’s quite a bit that’s a swing and a miss. This book, as a historical tale, focuses distractingly on matters like their speed and excitement with the sort of tone Top Gear might have regaled about a supercar, always with a tone of defensiveness as if it is trying to prove that steam can accomplish great things rather than fitting together a narrative. Indeed, Top Gear is a good comparison, with how things like speed limits and the sort are routinely bemoaned as if they are impositions installed merely for the purpose of foiling the grand project of Letting Steam Trains Go As Fast As Possible. When all of this together it feels like an exploration of, more than the story of steam trains themselves, the author’s childhood fixation on steam trains and demands that the world conform to his aesthetic vision
There’s a meanspiritedness to this book in places. At every turn the proponents of diesel are painted as pencil pushers and boardroom apparatchiks who are emphasised as having not the virtue of “hands on” experience with train. The contrast between the noble “steam men” (whose interest is only ever discussed in terms of romantic affection for the steam engine) and the “creatures of the market” who are to blame for all the evils of the post-war railway system makes this book read as almost conspiratorial (despite an attempt at page 238 to deny this).
Other details turn me off. British railways are explored in great depth, and the railways of the world are considered, however the only mention of colonialism is mentioning how unfortunate it was that the South African government after apartheid “wrongly” regarded the steam engine as a legacy of that same colonialism. This, alongside several other sections where businessmen and financiers do not make decisions to preserve steam in mass use out of sentiment, add to an overall feeling that the author is allowing nostalgia to get in the way of good historical work.
I do not care for this book.
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May 25, 2017"Steam has had a very good run for its money, and has lasted far longer than it was reasonable to expect. It has so lasted because retention of the pure Stevensonian form in its successive developments produced a machine which for simplicity and adaptability to railway conditions was very hard to replace." E.S. Cox, Locomotive Panorama - vol 2 - (1966)
"The author is a lifelong rail enthusiast who has oiled, fired and driven steam locomotives around the world. In Giants of Steam, he turns his enthusiasm to the thrilling story of the last, and greatest, generation of steam railway locomotives. Designed and built by the railways and workshops of Britain, France, Germany and the United States, these powerful and beautiful machines took steam locomotive technology to new heights during the political upheavals and military conflicts of the mid-twentieth century. Glancey shares the stories of the brave and intuitive steam men who designed and put these great machines to use, confronting the realities of modernisation in the misconception that steam was inherently passé and dirty.
A story of invention, skill and passion, Giants of Steam reveals how the true advocates of steam's glory days pushed its design and performance to remarkable limits, and how enthusiasm for the steam locomotive itself is far from burning out."
"The author is a lifelong rail enthusiast who has oiled, fired and driven steam locomotives around the world. In Giants of Steam, he turns his enthusiasm to the thrilling story of the last, and greatest, generation of steam railway locomotives. Designed and built by the railways and workshops of Britain, France, Germany and the United States, these powerful and beautiful machines took steam locomotive technology to new heights during the political upheavals and military conflicts of the mid-twentieth century. Glancey shares the stories of the brave and intuitive steam men who designed and put these great machines to use, confronting the realities of modernisation in the misconception that steam was inherently passé and dirty.
A story of invention, skill and passion, Giants of Steam reveals how the true advocates of steam's glory days pushed its design and performance to remarkable limits, and how enthusiasm for the steam locomotive itself is far from burning out."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews