Υπερσιβηρικός: Έως την άκρη του κόσμου

by Christian Wolmar, Δημήτρης Σταυρόπουλος (Translator)

Πρόκειται για τη μακρύτερη σιδηροδρομική γραμμή του κόσμου. Αλλά είναι πολύ περισσότερα απ ’ αυτό. Ο Υπερσιβηρικός εκτείνεται σε περισσότερα από 9.000 χιλιόμετρα από τη Μόσχα μέχρι το Βλαδιβοστόκ και ήταν το πιο φιλόδοξο σιδηροδρομικό έργο του δέκα - του ένατου αιώνα. Ένα ταξίδι με το τρένο αυτό αποτελεί μια ρομαντική περιπλάνηση στις ρωσικές στέπες, αλλά και μια υπενθύμιση στους ταξιδιώτες για την απεραντοσύνη του κόσμου μας, όπως και για τις δυσκολίες που ενείχε η υλοποίηση ενός τέτοιου έργου.

Ο Κρίστιαν Γουόλμαρ αφηγείται την ιστορία του Υπερσιβηρικού από τη σύλληψη της ιδέας και την κατασκευή του στα χρόνια του τσάρου Αλέξανδρου Γ΄ μέχρι την επέκτασή του προς βορράν που διέταξε ο Μπρέζνιεφ και την τεράστια σημασία που έχει αυτή η αρτηρία σήμερα. Διερευνά επίσης τον ρόλο που έπαιξε στον Ρωσικό Εμφύλιο και στον Δεύτερο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο. Επικεντρώνεται στις προσωπικότητες, καθώς και στα πολιτικά και οικονομικά γεγονότα που κρύβονται πίσω από έναν από τους πιο αξιομνημόνευτους θριάμβους της μηχανικής στον δέκατο ένατο αιώνα.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Travel, Trains, Railways, Russian History

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Christian Wolmar is a journalist, focusing on the history and politics of railways.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I know more than the typical American about the Trans-Siberian Express. This generally doesn't help me when chatting up girls.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie Dr Zhivago came out when I was in high school, I saw it at the theater, and images from that film have stayed with me ever since. I especially remember the train scenes, both from Zhivago's long journey with his family -- in a cattle car and through the Russian winter -- and from the armored train the Trotsky-type-character used.

At the library, this book was on the new arrival shelf, and I immediately checked it out. Well written, thoroughly researched, and an amazing story. The Trans Siberian railway is truly one of mankind's most awesome achievements.

A very interesting part of this was the shortcut the Russians took: Through Manchuria! Who builds a railroad through a country belonging to someone else??? Anyway, they did because it dramatically reduced the construction difficulties. This intrusion happened because China was, at that time, a weak nation (even the US participated in excursions into its territory, not well appreciated and a factor in the Boxer Rebellion). Over time, this contributed to the causes for the Russo-Japanese war.

Eastern Russia, from the Urals to the Pacific, is an area I do not know well at all. This book left me with a great interest in learning much more about that part of the world.

[Ευθυμία Δεσποτάκη · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μείον ένα αστεράκι γιατί η γραφή του είναι δύσκολη: τεράστιες παράγραφοι, που χάνεις την μπάλα, αλλοπρόσαλλη επιλογή μεγέθους προτάσεων, που επίσης χάνεις την μπάλα.

Το περιεχόμενο από την άλλη... Γαμώτι, ποτέ δεν ξέρεις αν αυτό που θα διαβάσεις είναι η αλήθεια ή αν είναι η δυτική ματιά σε ένα ρώσικο επίτευγμα. Δεν το μειώνει, σε καμία περίπτωση, αλλά πολλές φορές ο τρόπος με τον οποίο παρουσιάζει τους Ρώσους με έβαλε τουλάχιστον σε σκέψεις.

Στην ουσία τώρα. Διαβάστε το. Ναι. Τόσο απλά. Είναι συγκλονιστικό, σκαμπρόζικο, γεμάτο αλήθειες και ιστορικά ανέκδοτα, γεμάτο από τους τρόπους με τους οποίους λειτουργούσε και λειτουργεί ο κόσμος.

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was To The Edge Of The World by Christian Wolmar which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. This book is about the Trans-Siberian Railway and its history. Although when we think of the Trans-Siberian Railway we the railway line from Moscow to Vladivostok which is the one that is wholly in Russia & Siberia there are actually several Trans-Siberian Railways including one that was built earlier and linked up with the Chinese Eastern Railway for part of its route. The railway had to be rebuilt wholly within the Soviet Union because there were concerns the Chinese might close the stretch of line they owned stranding Vladivostok. The distance from Moscow to Vladivostok is approximately 5,750 miles although a few miles has been shaved off the original route by installing some straighter curves along with bridges and tunnels in places. When the original line was built it was considered too expensive to build any tunnels and in some cases whole mountains were dynamited and removed to make way for the railway. It's interesting that the distance from Saint Petersburg to Kamchatka is 9,000 so the railway only stretches for 2/3 of the total stretch of the Soviet Union. Having said that in terms of railway building it's the biggest achievement ever undertaken and was built in an amazingly short period. The Russians were determined to open up Siberia and try to populate it. Anyway sent to prison in Siberia was allowed to become a resident there after serving their sentence which normally be from 4-20 years. Of course most of these people died in captivity. Before the railway was built there existed a railway from Saint Petersburg to Moscow and then on to Chelyansk. This meant 4,500 miles of track had to be layed to Vladivostok. Vladivostok was little more than a village at that time. 1/7 of the Soviet GDP was spent on building this railway which is a huge amount. In those days Russia had very few universities which meant people like engineers and architects had to be brought in from abroad. These people also had to teach Russian people their skills so they could eventually take over although this didn't happen until the 1850's. They used a gauge of 5 feet although not all the railways in Russia shared this gauge which meant when the Japanese invaded in Siberia they couldn't just travel to Moscow on the train and hampered there attempted invasion no end. A lot of the reason for building this railway was a military one to enable the rapid mobilization of troops and later on there were even train based missile launchers in the Cold War although not that many. The Russian Czar did build a railway to Warsaw before the Crimean War as he thought any war would come from that direction in Britain & France attacked and was caught out a bit when the attack came via Stevatopol in the Crimea. The British built the first military railway to get supplies to the front line. This is a great book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Christian is apparently of Russian descent although he lives in Britain and I have reviewed other books by him all of which were consistently good.

[Sleepless Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is delightfully nerdy.

I just finished doing the Trans Siberian, from Moscow to Vladivostok (cause ugh, how dare China ask for a visa). I've been wanting to do it since I heard about it a year ago and I'm so happy I was able to. I don't have enough words to describe how incredible and insane crossing all of Russia by train is.

So this book answered a lot of the questions I had along the way (How did they build in Mongolia? How come the railroads are in such good quality? Do Russians really prefer the train to flights?). It's remarkable how much this train shaped Russia.

There's so much Russian culture within the train, from the grandmother we met ("Ye Babuska") who knitted an entire sweater and showed us pictures of her grandchildren to the way everyone takes off their shoes on the train and puts on slippers.

Siberia was surprising to me. I had prepared for, well, somewhat of a wasteland. The internet had warned me that there are no atms (and thanks to that I'm stuck with 3,600 rubles). This book explains clearly how Siberia developed and who exactly pushed forward to make it so Western.

All in all, I loved this book! It has a lot of research and manages to be accessible and interesting. It really has everything you'd want to know about the greatest train journey ever.

What I'm taking with me
• The Trans Siberian was built as a military expansion.
• Russians don't find the Trans Siberian cool. So many Russians we met asked "why??" when we described spending 7 days on a train. Kinda tempted to give them this book and be like "YOUR COUNTRY HAS ACCOMPLISHED THIS INSANE THING BE EXCITED"
• Communism didn't really improve the train.

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the books of Christian Wolmar I have read so far I enjoy thoroughly. He makes the history of trains, an interesting subject in itself, even more interesting and compelling. This was not exception, however, it would have been more complete in my opinion by a few additions. Namely how much more trains impacted the lives of people living in the Tundra, the Nenets. Train travel obviously meant that Russians from the interior had greater access to the tundra and to the peoples that lived there and changed their way of life forever. Otherwise another wonderful job of the exploration of Rail in Russia, how it came about, who the people were behind it and the pitfalls endured. Well worth a read and highly recommended.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I travelled on the Trans-Siberian many moons ago and so I always enjoy reading about it. For those who do not already know Wolmar is somewhat of an expert on many aspects of trains around the world, and has covered many angles with his work over the years. In this book, he dispels many of the colourful myths around its origins and uses his research and knowledge to give an informative and deep insight into the longest train journey in the world.

Alexander III initiated the Trans-Siberian project, but it was Finance minister, Sergei Witte, the so called father of the Trans-Siberian, described as “the right man was in the right place at the right time.” who has to take much of the credit for making it a reality. The boom of railway construction was Russia’s main catalyst of industrialisation, after all up until then the country was largely an agrarian society. It was seen as a way to open up the region, to help increase trade and a great way to transport the military across vast distances in a relatively quick time. But more than this the project was regarded as “demographic engineering on a mass scale.” A Russification of the vast territory to strengthen political control.

Wolmar shows how the construction of railways served as a highly effective means of asserting territorial rights and is a way of dominating and controlling regions, the Brits in India being a good example. There were fears that Siberia would secede from the rest of Russia in the way that the South did in the US. There was also the outside threat posed by belligerent Brits and other European nations who were busy carving up Africa and other vulnerable parts of the world. And of course there was the Japanese, who defeated the Russians in a brief conflict in 1905. The railway would solve many potential problems.

We learn of its role during two World Wars, but it was during the Russian Civil War, where it was left in a terrible state, on top of the chronic neglect and poor maintenance of the track, the conflict had destroyed more than 800 bridges across the line.

Workers on the line were giving surprisingly excellent pay for the time, some were earning up to eight times more than would have on the farms. It was inevitably very dangerous and unpredictable work with the death rate of around 2% (though some feel this was exaggerated others under-estimated) either way this was still comparatively low when compared to the likes of the Panama Canal which at one point endured a death rate of around 30%.
Prisoners were put to work and as well as getting enough pay to cover the likes of their tobacco, sugar and vodka they were given time of their sentence for every eight months they worked.

Corruption was also a problem, skimping on quality and other cost cutting measures so the huge project inevitably ran well over budget. The occasional outbreak of cholera, the plague in the Chinese section and anthrax in the Far East also hindered progress, but still this was nothing compared to many of the horrors that struck labourers who had to endure similar projects in the tropical regions.

We hear about drought and flooding was a recurring problem, one particular flood in 1897 affected around 230 miles of newly laid track. Building the bridges proved to be the most hazardous endeavour, especially in winter, with no safety equipment and wide open to the elements, men knee or waist deep in mosquito ridden swamps.

Like the journey itself this book can be a little dull and uneventful in places but ultimately this was an enjoyable, informative and helpful look at one of the most fascinating rail journeys in the world.

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I expected more. The book needed a good edit to remove repetitions.
Probably because the records are hard to access, there is a lot of use of other people's books, with a little bit of the events of the early 20th century thrown in. It seems to be part of a series of railways histories because I just felt there was a lack of depth in the research.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express
Author: Christian Wolmar
Publisher: Public Affairs
Publishing Date: 2013
Pgs: 283
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Genre:
History
Nonfiction
Railroads
Russia


Why this book:
I love a good travelog, build-it-and-they-will-come story. Found this while looking for something else.
_________________
Hmm Moments:
Wonder if all these foreign loans and partnerships coming due is a contributing factor to the specter of the Russian Revolution?

Surprising, based on Russian isolationist policies, that they would consider running part of the Trans-Siberian Railway through Chinese Manchuria. Just seems like giving away too much control of a Russian enterprise. Even in a situation where they are taking loans and giving subsidies to foreign interests, the actual concrete construct not being wholly on Russian soil seems to go against the idea of Russianness.

Using the building of the southern, easier, route of the Trans-Siberian through Manchuria as a de facto annexation of the land from China is very with the imperialism of the era. The agreed to in treaty, Railway Guard, made up of Russians, growing to over 25,000 members is a army on site under another name.

Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, the eventual leader of the White Russians in the Russian Civil War, via coup, being described as, despite calling himself Supreme Ruler of All the Russias, “an unsuitable candidate for high political office, neurotic, quick to lose his temper, and with no idea of the hard realities of life, no plans of his own, no system, no will; like soft wax from which his advisers and intimates can fashion whatever they like.”

Uhm Moments:
It’s surprising that from a freight standpoint that the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway didn’t bring with it an influx/outflux of trade with the Americas via Vladivostok. Which was one of the promises floated by the many, many who tried and failed to get a construction contract and lease, or subsidy, on the line on completion.

Calling the Ball:
Guarantee that the “real” body count for the construction crews is far, far higher than reported, between prisoner and immigrant labor “not counting” and supervisors and managers committing fraud by saying that someone was still working when they were actually dead so that they could continue to receive their pay and rations, that reported number is far lower. Yes, the Russian authorities wanted to micromanage the project, especially the Finance Ministry, but the sheer distance and inadequate communications made this difficult.

Turd in the Punchbowl:
Vysnegradsky, the Russian Finance Minister who held sway before Witte, may have been right in his reticence to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, considering what happened to the Tsar and his people when the bills came due on the rail line. …and the heavy price paid at the time in taxes and lives.

Wisdom:
Short shrift is given to the idea of the Trans-Siberian’s unifying mission. Yes, it’s military implications being able to move military more efficiently was important. But unifying the Siberian territories more fully into Russia proper. Once it was open and in operation, fitful though it was, it succeeded magnificently in that role.

Juxtaposition:
The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway makes an interesting trichotomy between proto-Soviet planning and control and capitalism in an absolute monarchy.

The settlers vs nomads paradigm was there in the Trans-Siberian Railway migration. It was clamped down tight by the attempts of the absolute monarchy trying to control the populace in the same way that it always had. These people had only escaped serfdom 40 years earlier, but the society and culture hadn’t evolved much from that point due to the government, the commune, and the commune elders using that system to maintain control. In the case of the migrants, any travel beyond their local area required an internal passport. Many went without one and due to the maelstrom of people coming in got lost in the shuffle on the other end in Siberia, effectively an illegal emigre problem in the Russian Far East. The book doesn’t mention how the internal passport system worked with the nomadic people living in Siberia before and after the railway.

Missed Opportunity:
Surprised that the Allied victory in the Crimean War didn’t lead to British adventurism/colonialism in Siberia since they coveted Siberian resources.

If the Japanese had kept their attention to the north and away from Pearl Harbor, especially when Stalin pulled Zhukov and the majority of his army back west to face Hitler’s Germany, we would probably be living in a much different world today.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
Trying to give the Trans-Siberian Railway an uplifting picture in the denouement doesn’t ring true with the story told here. Awesome as the achievement was, this is a tragedy writ in blood. And we’ll likely be deep, deep into the next century before it pays for itself. With the seeming determination of the Russian government to shoot itself in the foot, one has to wonder if the container traffic making use of the railway is safe. If the sea ice clears to a point in climate change to allow an Arctic Ocean trade route, the railway may find itself bypassed. The Trans-Siberian and the BAM are already littered with ghost towns. That could become worse.

[Bruno perez borrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billete al fin del mundo (Christian Wolmar, 1949). En ingles, "To the Edge of the World: A History of the Trans-Siberian Railway". El escritor es gran conocedor de la historia del transiberiano más por la exploración bibliográfica que por experiencia propia. Solo había tuvo contacto con el tren ruso en 2012. El libro incluye dos secciones de fotos que ayudan a ponerse en situación aunque no son propias, son imágenes de archivo.

No se encuentra en la actualidad libros de rusos que puedan escribir de la realidad del transiberiano sin caer en sesgos ideológicos y que lo definan desde un punto de vista objetivo. Así que hay que recurrir a autores extranjeros para aprender sobre la historia de este ferrocarril.

Tampoco puedo decir que sea una novela o un relato histórico. Un gran porcentaje del libro son citas textuales de biografías o relatos de otros autores contemporáneos a los hechos narrados. Esto dota de más verosimilitud y cercanía a la realidad narrada.

El libro trata el tren desde todos los puntos de vista posibles: histórico, geográfico, político, económico, social, demográfico, cultural, etc. Sobretodo se centra en narrar las dificultades y peripecias que se tuvieron que llevar a cabo en la construcción. Explica todas las diferentes etapas de la construcción y los objetivos que derivaban de cada tramo del ferrocarril y el gobierno pertinente que lo programaba.

Puede haber un conflicto de intereses en la explicación de la bondad del imperios ruso en las diferentes guerras como las libradas con China, Rusia, otros estados soviéticos, las dos grandes guerras y la guerra fría. Los países involucrados son actores repetitivos como China (aliado y rival a partes iguales de donde salieron muchos de los trabajadores explotados), Japón (el gran rival en el este), Reino Unido (de donde provenían las primeras maquinas y toda la tecnología), EEUU (de donde provenían las ayudas de todo tipo), Francia (de cuyos bancos provenía la financiación).

Por otro lado, el libro va evolucionando desde el siglo XIX y XX. Empieza por la época zarista para continuar con la época bolchevique de la revolución y acabar con la época estalinista. Hecho en falta una sección que trate el Transiberiano en la actualidad ya que es una parte que pasa muy por encima en el fin del libro. Falta debatir cual puede ser el devenir del tren en las próximas décadas y si seguirá siendo la columna vertebral de la Rusia no-europea o cada vez quedara más olvidado llevando a este área geográfica al olvido y aislamiento.

Actualmente, Rusia vuelve a ser un misterio para los occidentales debido a la guerra con Ucrania. Viajar a Rusia vuelve a ser una epopeya eso es lo que al menos a personas como yo nos llame volver a descubrir el Transiberiano por reconectar con el espíritu aventurero de antaño. Volver a un viaje de verdad, sin todas las ayudas del mundo moderno. Sin Internet, sin tarjetas de créditos, con sobornos, sin comodidades extremas, sin un idioma conocido al que recurrir y con necesidad de permisos en muchos casos. En estado de alerta, en búsqueda de lo desconocido, perdido en la estepa siberiano, nutrido por el aislamiento y la calma.

Los capítulos son los siguientes:

1. Una lenta aceptación
2. El largo camino de Siberia
3. La hazaña de Witte
4. Estepa adentro
5. Viajes y aventuras
6. Casus belli
7. La nueva Siberia
8. Hasta las últimas consecuencias
9. La batalla por el Transiberiano
10. El gran ferrocarril rojo
11. El otro Transiberiano
12. El más grande de los ferrocarriles

[Ruslana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me want to cross Russia in this unique Transiberian train, from Moscow to Vladivostok :)

[MargCal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To the Edge of the World" by Christian Wolmar (read January 2014)
I'd hoped to do the Moscow > Vladivostok route in 2014 but alas, it's not to be. Can't do it all!!
An amazing and fascinating story. I was astonished to learn how recently the Trans-Siberian was completed, due largely to incompetence and super-dangerous terrain. So that dampens enthusiasm for the trip somewhat from a safety perspective ... although the repairs means it's mostly OK.
A real pause for concern is the numbers who died building it - think Burma railway or Nazi concentration camp style labour force.
Also the last section/route finished (the BAM which I wouldn't have taken anyway but would like to see now out of curiosity) is apparently one of the most ecologically damaging projects ever undertaken just about anywhere. Although I assume that doesn't include such on-going things as the wholesale demolition of the Amazonian forests and ditto for Indonesia.
The book could have done with a neat table or two of facts and figures. It also shared an infuriating flaw with many books - where maps are included, they don't include all the place names that are referred to. It was useful that I had the "Trans-Siberian Handbook" to hand. http://www.amazon.com/Trans-Siberian-...

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

a basic history of the conception, building, and results of trans siberian express, and bam and some of the other lines, like east chinga, amur line, biakal train ferry, etc. plus of the bloody, starving, mayhem along the lines over the years. has a neat bit about the czech slovak army trapped in russia after wwi and them wanting to just go home, but not through enemy territory, so idea was to ship out east siberia and get home that way. they ruled the trans siberian for months, defeating the reds and whites. that was when the allies also had armies in siberia, during the revolution/civil war 1917-1919, usa and brits had big armies there and japanese. the reds won, eventually.

[Koit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading another book by Mr Wolmar in the past, on the global development of railroads. Nevertheless, I wasn’t sure as to what I should expect. It was, therefore, a pleasure to find out that I was pleasantly surprised by this book—if only to notice at the end that the author wrote a book on Russian history without investigating any Russian sources (Witte doesn’t count)!

I suspect that is because he doesn’t know it well enough. Mr Wolmar’s secondary method for including any primary information is citing numerous English-language works on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, both from the 19th century as well as from more recent times. This goes some way, but it does feel as if primary research has been lacking—and perhaps also for this reason, Mr Wolmar’s primary quality as a first-rate source for anecdotes doesn’t carry to this work.

Meanwhile, we do get a relatively decent overview of the Trans-Siberians original rationale. The expansion in the east is described in fair detail, though Muraviev could have used a few more pages to really come to life. The construction of the railroad is put forward in good terms, but—in one of my few gripes—there is very little specific detail (see above regarding a dearth of anecdotes). Yes, sure, the mountains were difficult to build a track through, but how did they do it, etc…

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 is there in relatively good terms, and I was taken aback by the stellar description of the Revolutions and the Civil War, far exceeding a book focussing on 1917 I recently read. The 1920’s are a bit weaker in overall description as the author’s focus jumps into politics and away from the railroad, though the Second World War also has its strong points. The story of how the factories were moved into the east was interesting, though it again wasn’t very comprehensive. Mr Wolmar closes the story with a long description on the Baikal–Amur Magistral which was very interesting indeed.

Overall, I liked this, but the author’s reliance on non-Russian sources is very obvious. Detail is missing about most points, and something I felt should have been described more is how the technological changes from the 1880’s through into the 2000’s have affected the construction of the mainline and the spurs. Yet, it’s worth a read as it is a good synthesis of the subject!

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian has a wonderful style - he captures the technical details of the railways build, develops a strong sense of landscape enveloping the reader in the location, and characterises the hardships the individuals went through in building the trans-siberian railway.

The book is a wonderful mix of the technological, social, political, and military. Wolmar follows the construction of the railways, and improvements made to it, from its beginning through to the 2000s. But this is not only a book about the railway, but also of Russian history. the book spand from the Tsars of Russi, through to the Soviet Union, then into post-Soviet Russia. Wolmar highlights the challenges the railway has faced in each of these era's, and its impact on Russian history in both economic and military terms.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in railways, Russian/Soviet history, and anyone just fascinated by the Trans-Siberian railway and the journey it takes you on across Russia.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book thst I really wanted to enjoy more than I did. While the story and arc are absolutely fascinating and not a regurgitation of many other Russian/Soviet "pop" history books out there, I found the writing style unfortunately quite dry for keeping my interest. Wolmar spends a lengthy bit of time on establishing to an extremely detailed degree the order of events or the hierarchy of relationships, which while helpful at the end to understand the complexity of a project of this magnitude meant I spent lots of time turning pages back to refresh my memory or reference a prior section. This work read more like a scholarly article, packaged in a popular printing, which ultimate led to it being a book I could.only read in short sittings. I absolutely felt like I learned a ton from the, just that it was more of a slog than a well balanced narrative

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really a 3.5, but books are hard and I feel generous.

Anyway, a solid overview of the Trans-Siberian Railway, with great Russian history backing it. It was a bit dry at times (I guess I was hoping more for what the experience riding it is like? Well, this is not a memoir. That's okay. But I guess I wanted a memoir too.), but there were funny details.

The author did mistake Chinese culture at one point--saying that the meeting with Witte and the Chinese officials was laughable, but didn't realize (as I am sure Witte didn't) that Chinese business negotiations are built on relationships, and a full meeting of chatting about each other's families is completely normal and appropriate business to them.

But whateves. If you want to know about the TSR, start here. Fascinating stuff.

[Toby Tsoutseos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το διάβασα σχετικά γρήγορα γιατί το βιβλίο είναι καλογραμμένο και με καλή μετάφραση. Περίμενα ότι θα ήταν περισσότερο ταξιδιωτικό περιγράφοντας τα μέρη από τα οποία περνάει ο σιδηρόδρομος. Ωστόσο, το βιβλίο ασχολείται περισσότερο με την ιστορία των σιδηροδρόμων στη Ρωσία και με τη δημιουργία της μεγαλύτερης σιδηροδρομικής γραμμής του κόσμου. Τα ιστορικά στοιχεία δίνονται ωστόσο με συνέχεια και συνοχή παραθέτοντας το πνεύμα της εποχής, τις ιστορικές εξελίξεις και το πολιτικό κλίμα. Με άξονα τη δημιουργία της γραμμής ο συγγραφέας μας ταξιδεύει σε τουλάχιστον 50 κρίσιμα χρόνια της Ρωσικής και Σοβιετικής ιστορίας, χωρίς να κουράζει και κρατώντας απόσταση από τις εύκολες κρίσεις στα δραματικά γεγονότα της περιόδου.

[Warren Ingham-Barrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating insight

This fascinating book traces not only the eventful history of the development of this world famous railway line running for over 5,600 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok, but it’s impact on the Russian, and especially the Siberian people, and consequently the way Russia views itself and the World. The Trans Siberian Railway has had a massive influence, not only on Russia, China and the far east, but has influenced the geo politics of the 20th Century.

Christian Wolmar is a very knowledgeable writer, and writes in a way that engages the reader right the way through the book. HIGHLY recommend !

[Roger B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable history of the Trans-Siberian railway from inception during tsarist Russia through the Civil War, through the Communist era, the Soviet era and to near present day. The railway is a witness to some extremes of humanity: from deportations to the gulags to saving Russian industrial capacity during WWII to being taken over by the Czechs in a bizarre account from WWI. Curious if the latest BAM branch and its environmental cost are a bridge too far - time will tell.

[Chronosus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly great travel companion to anyone traveling the Trans-Siberian, but also a great read for anyone remotely interested in history of Russia and wars it fought in 19th and 20th century. There are some amazing true stories in there and a lot of unbelievable facts. The book about a railway has no right being so gripping.

[Jane E · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent accompaniment to a winter trans Siberian train trip. The stations and countryside seen from platforms, train window and the occasional stopover and a narrative so pertinent to the journey is an irresistible combination. The perfect companion book for the journey. (Purchased at Dom Knigi in Moscow.)

[Anne S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting facts about the trans-Siberian railway. But the amount of detail was more than I wanted. It was interesting to see how some things didn't change from the time the tsar finally approved the railway and the lack of safety measures the Soviets implemented. I knew nothing about the BAM. Sad that no lessons were learned.

[Jacques Poitras · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect much from this book (I got it for 83 cents on my Kindle, mainly because my wife and I did the Trans-Siberian in 2002) but it's an excellent, concise history of this railway. Not great literary writing, but not bad either. Great research, interesting details, and a quick and pleasant read.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that takes a massive topic (built over the course of multiple iterations of Russian government) and cuts it to an interesting and accessible telling of this (series of) railroad(s). The book makes me want to read more by this author and about the relevance of railroads in our collective history.

[David Alonso vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un interesante viaje a través de la historia del transiberiano.
Desde los primeros proyectos hasta la actualidad. Resulta muy curioso leer como las transformaciones que va sufriendo Rusia afectan al ferrocarril y viceversa.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 1 out of 5]

It begins very well, and for the first chapters it is as good as any other Wolmar book (informative, lucid, well-written). After 1917, though, it lapses into the most vulgar sort of anti-communism. Coming from an avowedly left-wing author, this was disappointing, to say the least

[John Buttell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolmar knows railroad history but I wish he could have made up his mind whether he was writing history or a picturesque novel, just a few too many anecdotes from random travelling aristocrats. And as fits the son of an Tsarist officer, some of the Cold War sources and quotes are downright rabid.

[Sue Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent railway history from Wolmar, looking not just at the technology, but the social effects of the construction of one of the worlds great railway lines.

[Kurt Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but wish more had been dedicated to the Soviet era.