The World the Railways Made

by Nicholas Faith

The modern world began with the arrival of the railway. The change was both sudden and universal: between 1825 when the first passenger service came into operation in England and the outbreak of World War I, railways redefined, transformed, and expanded the limits of the industrialized world. With railways came the development of modern capitalism, new political and economic concepts of national unity and international connections. Railways opened up new regions from the American West to Siberia, from Lake Victoria to the pampas of Argentina, changing not only the way the world looked but the way it saw itself.

The World The Railways Made recounts how railways intensified almost every experience: robbery, romance, sex, speed, warfare. Railways spawned the desire and measurement of the new. For some the Iron Road represented the horrors of industrial development; for others it symbolized the way toward a brighter future; for nearly all it meant deep and lasting change. From the different breed of capitalists who provided unprecedented amounts of capital, to the floating communities of Irish and the Chinese who built them; from the paintings of Turner to the enriched and broadened diet that railways brought to all — Nicholas Faith’s fascinating social; history explores this mechanical revolution which ushered in a new world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Railways

368 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