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Railways and The Raj: How the Age of Steam Transformed India
The epic story of the British construction of the railways in India, as told by Britain's bestselling transport historian.'Christian Wolmar is Britain's foremost railway historian.' The Times'Our leading writer on the railways' Guardian'Christian Wolmar is in love with railways... He is their wisest, most detailed historian' ObserverIndia joined the railway age the first line was not completed until 1853 but, by 1929, 41,000 miles of track served the country. However, the creation of this vast network was not intended to modernize India for the sake of its people but rather was a means for the colonial power to govern the huge country under its control, serving its British economic and military interests. Despite the dubious intentions behind the construction of the network, the Indian people quickly took to the railways, as the trains allowed them to travel easily for the first time. The Indian Railways network remains one of the largest in the world, serving over 25 million passengers each day.In this expertly told history, Christian Wolmar reveals the full story of India's railways, from its very beginnings to the present day, and examines the chequered role they have played in Indian history and the creation of today's modern state.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 2, 2017
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340 people want to read
About the author
Christian Wolmar
47 books82 followersChristian Wolmar is a journalist, focusing on the history and politics of railways.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 18, 2024
5.0 ⭐
GENRE - HISTORY/ RAILROADS / TRANSPORT
Author Christian Wolmar has written a well researched and documented book on the INDIAN RAILWAYS.
One of the greatest gifts left by colonial power THE BRITISH RAJ, his books covers the evolution of railways in the Subcontinent way back in 1853, a colonial project designed to serve British interests, both economic and military.
He has covered extensively the reasons the British had to build the railway network, shortcomings the British faced while building the railway network, major projects the British Carried out whilst their expanding of the railway network which covered present day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
He also has explained how the railway network paid a part in the Indian Independence Movement.
A highly Recommended read for those who are interested in Rail Road Transport literature as well as History of the Railways in India.
Thank you 🙏😊❤️
GENRE - HISTORY/ RAILROADS / TRANSPORT
Author Christian Wolmar has written a well researched and documented book on the INDIAN RAILWAYS.
One of the greatest gifts left by colonial power THE BRITISH RAJ, his books covers the evolution of railways in the Subcontinent way back in 1853, a colonial project designed to serve British interests, both economic and military.
He has covered extensively the reasons the British had to build the railway network, shortcomings the British faced while building the railway network, major projects the British Carried out whilst their expanding of the railway network which covered present day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
He also has explained how the railway network paid a part in the Indian Independence Movement.
A highly Recommended read for those who are interested in Rail Road Transport literature as well as History of the Railways in India.
Thank you 🙏😊❤️
July 27, 2025
Steam locomotives are romantic vehicles, with their giant wheels, massive boilers, angled cowcatchers, their open cabins so we can see engineer and stoker hard at work, with the whole breathing mechanical behemoth wreathed in smoke and steam. In full motion they are as dramatic a demonstration of power as you could see.
Steve McCurry’s evocative, magical photograph ‘Taj and Train, India, 1983’, on the cover of Christian Wolmar’s excellent book, shows a mighty locomotive with a signalman and friend perched on the cowcatcher with a ghostly Taj Mahal in the background. An appropriate image for the book, subtitled as it is ‘How the Age of Steam Transformed India’, for while the Indian railway system has long employed diesel locomotives and is almost 100% electrified (significantly more than any other nation; Australia, for example, is only 10% electrified), the shape, establishment and expansion of the Indian network is firmly anchored in the steam age.
Railways and the Raj tells the story of the creation of this network, which was rarely straightforward. There are accounts of the sheer difficulty of the terrain in many areas especially in mountainous frontier regions. While ostensibly built by the British to facilitate economic development and communication within the enormous colonial territory, the reality was the links were primarily aligned to allow the rapid deployment of troops whenever that might be necessary.
While British money paid for the system, that investment meant the return went out of India to British shareholders. There was no development of industrial infrastructure in the country, and great damage to the Indian economy, especially agriculture. Lines were laid with little or no regard for existing agricultural land use, often cutting through fields, disrupting animal and crop movement and creating levies where there have been none before, leading to flooding. Even though Indian expertise was capable of supplying locomotives as early as 1865, only 700 locally manufactured engines were introduced to Indian railways up to the time of independence in 1947, compared with 12,000 imported from Great Britain during that time (p166).
A more insidious characteristic was the predominance of British managers, a cause of resentment among Indian employees, only ameliorated with the gradual amalgamation of individual operations as the system came under more centralised control.
One consequence of the creation of such a massive railway system was that the transportation of imported goods was made much easier, to the detriment of local indigenous industries. An unintended consequence was that the movement of people became much easier throughout the country, particularly to the city. It also meant the spread of ideas, revolutionary or not, was also facilitated.
Today the Indian rail system is one of the biggest in the world. Comparative figures are rather problematic, but it is fairly safe to say that India carries the second highest number of passengers behind only China and is number four in freight (after the USA, China and Russia).
PS: this is one of my books mauled by one of our beagles, Coco if I recall correctly. Credit to the publishers, Atlantic Books, for while the spine was badly chewed, the interior was undamaged.
Steve McCurry’s evocative, magical photograph ‘Taj and Train, India, 1983’, on the cover of Christian Wolmar’s excellent book, shows a mighty locomotive with a signalman and friend perched on the cowcatcher with a ghostly Taj Mahal in the background. An appropriate image for the book, subtitled as it is ‘How the Age of Steam Transformed India’, for while the Indian railway system has long employed diesel locomotives and is almost 100% electrified (significantly more than any other nation; Australia, for example, is only 10% electrified), the shape, establishment and expansion of the Indian network is firmly anchored in the steam age.
Railways and the Raj tells the story of the creation of this network, which was rarely straightforward. There are accounts of the sheer difficulty of the terrain in many areas especially in mountainous frontier regions. While ostensibly built by the British to facilitate economic development and communication within the enormous colonial territory, the reality was the links were primarily aligned to allow the rapid deployment of troops whenever that might be necessary.
While British money paid for the system, that investment meant the return went out of India to British shareholders. There was no development of industrial infrastructure in the country, and great damage to the Indian economy, especially agriculture. Lines were laid with little or no regard for existing agricultural land use, often cutting through fields, disrupting animal and crop movement and creating levies where there have been none before, leading to flooding. Even though Indian expertise was capable of supplying locomotives as early as 1865, only 700 locally manufactured engines were introduced to Indian railways up to the time of independence in 1947, compared with 12,000 imported from Great Britain during that time (p166).
A more insidious characteristic was the predominance of British managers, a cause of resentment among Indian employees, only ameliorated with the gradual amalgamation of individual operations as the system came under more centralised control.
One consequence of the creation of such a massive railway system was that the transportation of imported goods was made much easier, to the detriment of local indigenous industries. An unintended consequence was that the movement of people became much easier throughout the country, particularly to the city. It also meant the spread of ideas, revolutionary or not, was also facilitated.
Today the Indian rail system is one of the biggest in the world. Comparative figures are rather problematic, but it is fairly safe to say that India carries the second highest number of passengers behind only China and is number four in freight (after the USA, China and Russia).
PS: this is one of my books mauled by one of our beagles, Coco if I recall correctly. Credit to the publishers, Atlantic Books, for while the spine was badly chewed, the interior was undamaged.
June 11, 2018
Detailed book looking at the development and running of the indian railways
June 16, 2018
I found the book to be an extremely comprehensive and fairly engaging account for a fresh reader on the colonial history of the Indian railways. It is a fairly balanced account, atleast in my opinion. showing the conflicting interests of the administration in London, the colonial government in India, the private investors and directors of Indian railway companies in the UK and the Indians who managed and paid for the system. The book also puts a lot of effort into showing the engineering effort that went into the construction of the railways but also shows the more routine aspects of it as well. The critique of the factors that necessitated and shaped the railways in a colonial administration was also pretty spot on. I best loved the bits of micro history of personal experiences that the author included in the book, it helped the book and the railways feel more like an organic institution than an economic force and it helped tell a lot of stories that would have otherwise been neglected and forgotten in the history of railways. This also made the book an easier and faster reading experience than most books I have read which have attempted a similar endeavor.
The main problems I had with the book stem from the concluding chapters. While the author squeezed centuries of colonial history into a few hundred pages it was still fairly comprehensive and clearly structured, the part post independence was however far more condensed and the time gaps felt jarring. Admittedly the title of the book is Railways and the Raj but the concluding chapters still came across as a five minute rush through a museum - touching upon a few issues in passive but not giving much time to them. The other issue is that the book, while more approachable than most of its counterparts, is fairly big and is big on economics and history so it can turn into a dry and heavy trudging through numbers, dates, bridges, freights, exports, imports, viceroys etc in places which might not be equally pleasing for everyone. As a consequence of the book covering the entirety of India over a span of three centuries it naturally is inadequate in giving a thorough account of the rail history in any one region or of any one track.
So to conclude, the book has its flaws but is still one of the most engaging books I have read which succeeds in piquing your interest to read some of the other books which the author recommends albeit it is very likely that no author can write a book that encompasses the whole of Indian Railways in a complete manner for the Indian Railways is a social and economic institution which is as much a part of the Indian identity and maybe even more so than any other institution be it pre or post independence.
The main problems I had with the book stem from the concluding chapters. While the author squeezed centuries of colonial history into a few hundred pages it was still fairly comprehensive and clearly structured, the part post independence was however far more condensed and the time gaps felt jarring. Admittedly the title of the book is Railways and the Raj but the concluding chapters still came across as a five minute rush through a museum - touching upon a few issues in passive but not giving much time to them. The other issue is that the book, while more approachable than most of its counterparts, is fairly big and is big on economics and history so it can turn into a dry and heavy trudging through numbers, dates, bridges, freights, exports, imports, viceroys etc in places which might not be equally pleasing for everyone. As a consequence of the book covering the entirety of India over a span of three centuries it naturally is inadequate in giving a thorough account of the rail history in any one region or of any one track.
So to conclude, the book has its flaws but is still one of the most engaging books I have read which succeeds in piquing your interest to read some of the other books which the author recommends albeit it is very likely that no author can write a book that encompasses the whole of Indian Railways in a complete manner for the Indian Railways is a social and economic institution which is as much a part of the Indian identity and maybe even more so than any other institution be it pre or post independence.
June 21, 2022
One of those incredibly well-researched documentary books that make you wonder how on earth did they do it. What's even more wondrous, it's not just pure dry facts that still require rummaging through official (and not so official) documents, but also lot of small anecdotes that give the spice and juice to the meal as a whole and make it a treat. Long story short, it's all about extreme transport in the country of extremes. Because, what else would you call it when the single train in India usually transports several thousand people squeezed in all the nooks and crannies of metal centipede, as well as on its roof. And just when you come to conclusion that, damn, they're riding the cattle transport and still happily paying for it, you find out that accommodation in Indian trains varies from worse to the best in the world, depending on the class you buy. Just fascinating.
May 5, 2018
Comprehensive, swiftly written but certainly not a short overview of the development of rail in India that hits on most of the key parts of India's late colonial history, particularly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Wolmar tries not to be too euro-centric, but doesn't quite succeed--though he does deliver a consistent critique of colonialism, mostly as a simple consequence of the facts he discusses. He gets stuck in too many micro-stories at times, while skipping over decades of events at other times, and the book could have done with a more systematically analytical approach. But all in all, Wolmar's delivered a nice, introductory, popular history of the railways in India that serves nicely as an introduction to the history of colonial India, too.
December 4, 2022
Having had family working with the railways in British India, I picked up Railways and The Raj hoping for a full history of the railways in India and its successors (Pakistan and the like) including a deep insight into the lives of the peoples who worked and travelled upon it. Wolmar's book is certainly a social history, but more of a social history of India and how the railways impacted it. So broad is this approach that what feel like major areas - the railways and the protection of India from the Japanese in the Second World War - really could be their own books.
Still, such an approach needn't make the book one of any less merit. Wolmar does a good job of setting out the development of Indian railways, but he often does it from his personal point of view that, at least for the railways, the 'British are bad' and that racism underpinned a lot of the decisions taken as to the development of those railways. Sometimes he provides primary sources proving racism, other times he breezily states a decision was arrived at because of racism yet fails to provide evidence that was truly the case. Owing to Wolmar's own bias (and the argument he sets out to prove) he leaves little room for the exploration of ideas contrary to racism: were some developments and actions the result of bigotry, mere capitalism, outright greed or, mayhap, ignorance? Or were they just poor decisions? To err is to human.
A historian typically shouldn't judge actions of the past through a modern lens - we would loathe the Ancient Greeks if we were to judge them by 21st century standards - and yet Wolmar often can't help himself but do just that when it comes to Imperial Britain. And it's a pity, because he leaves a lot on the table even within his narrow marriage of railways and racism. For instance, how many decisions were arrived at because of the problems inherent in the biases and bigotry within British India's own social constructs of not just white vs. the rest, but the caste system? We all have an understanding of how the class system has impacted Britain, in Railways and The Raj Wolmar lays out how the class system impacted the railways (typically, and even when wrong, labelling that class system as racism instead of classism) but when it comes to the bigotry of a caste system his social history is left wanting and the reader little the wiser. Which is a pity because an exploration of such an area would likely have added something not just to the readers' understanding of railways but also their understanding of Empire.
Still, such an approach needn't make the book one of any less merit. Wolmar does a good job of setting out the development of Indian railways, but he often does it from his personal point of view that, at least for the railways, the 'British are bad' and that racism underpinned a lot of the decisions taken as to the development of those railways. Sometimes he provides primary sources proving racism, other times he breezily states a decision was arrived at because of racism yet fails to provide evidence that was truly the case. Owing to Wolmar's own bias (and the argument he sets out to prove) he leaves little room for the exploration of ideas contrary to racism: were some developments and actions the result of bigotry, mere capitalism, outright greed or, mayhap, ignorance? Or were they just poor decisions? To err is to human.
A historian typically shouldn't judge actions of the past through a modern lens - we would loathe the Ancient Greeks if we were to judge them by 21st century standards - and yet Wolmar often can't help himself but do just that when it comes to Imperial Britain. And it's a pity, because he leaves a lot on the table even within his narrow marriage of railways and racism. For instance, how many decisions were arrived at because of the problems inherent in the biases and bigotry within British India's own social constructs of not just white vs. the rest, but the caste system? We all have an understanding of how the class system has impacted Britain, in Railways and The Raj Wolmar lays out how the class system impacted the railways (typically, and even when wrong, labelling that class system as racism instead of classism) but when it comes to the bigotry of a caste system his social history is left wanting and the reader little the wiser. Which is a pity because an exploration of such an area would likely have added something not just to the readers' understanding of railways but also their understanding of Empire.
July 18, 2018
For an Indian this is a fantastic book. Those micro stories some reviews have criticized are really close to our hearts. I loved reading it and salute the British for the contribution to the railways even though their reason was selfish. We Indians have benefitted from the Indian railways to an extent the critics refuse to acknowledge
January 3, 2019
Interesting. Informative. But not very compelling.
July 16, 2022
In a way, Wolmar's books on the railway history of various countries - England, the US, Europe, Russia, and now India - can all get quite samey. The reasons for building railways and the ways of building and financing them were roughly the same for example. But the India story is sufficiently different in that India was a colony whose railways were built by the colonials, not the locals.
So Wolmar can retell the same story of government financing and rickety carriages and lack of any semblance of bigger-picture cohesion in laying out a network, but also add the new layer of the deleterious long-term impact on local industry of having all the rolling stock and rails brought in from abroad (the railways being set up to benefit England of course - not just in terms of access to raw materials, but also to generate sales for local railway construction firms), as well as the view of a people who had the industrial age suddenly thrust upon them, and who believe the engines are animate monsters powered by sacrificed babies.
If the overall tale is at this stage familiar, the extra details help keep it up at the level of previous histories.
So Wolmar can retell the same story of government financing and rickety carriages and lack of any semblance of bigger-picture cohesion in laying out a network, but also add the new layer of the deleterious long-term impact on local industry of having all the rolling stock and rails brought in from abroad (the railways being set up to benefit England of course - not just in terms of access to raw materials, but also to generate sales for local railway construction firms), as well as the view of a people who had the industrial age suddenly thrust upon them, and who believe the engines are animate monsters powered by sacrificed babies.
If the overall tale is at this stage familiar, the extra details help keep it up at the level of previous histories.
March 22, 2018
I really enjoyed reading this book.
October 20, 2022
Its often said that the British left behind two valuable products- Railways and Civil services. Its needless to argue that we might have had both without them too, but, the current framework is still a colonial legacy and the modernization efforts revolve only around fine tuning it and not overhauling it.
The early economic models are well explained followed by gradual changes like multiple classes, provisions of canteens, bathrooms etc, logic behind creation of grid-laned railway colonies with European bushes as a measure to preserve European values, the continuous gender and class struggles in its evolution made railways a mirror to Indian society.
It also gives us a broad-gauge view of how India got colonised. It wasnt a one war lost thing. It was a gradual administrative and trade overhaul, which only got noticed because there was racial inequality. I wonder, Neoclonialism was a self corrected racially-correct colonialism post WWII.
One mustn't forget the sacrifice of thousands of local workers in the construction of a dream, often envisioned for promoting colonial interests, but led to physical, cultural and philosophical unification of the subcontinent. The Indian Railways was one of the primary causes for the successful freedom movement.
This book is so worth it, feels like a customary non-fiction fresh air that one needs once in a while!
The early economic models are well explained followed by gradual changes like multiple classes, provisions of canteens, bathrooms etc, logic behind creation of grid-laned railway colonies with European bushes as a measure to preserve European values, the continuous gender and class struggles in its evolution made railways a mirror to Indian society.
It also gives us a broad-gauge view of how India got colonised. It wasnt a one war lost thing. It was a gradual administrative and trade overhaul, which only got noticed because there was racial inequality. I wonder, Neoclonialism was a self corrected racially-correct colonialism post WWII.
One mustn't forget the sacrifice of thousands of local workers in the construction of a dream, often envisioned for promoting colonial interests, but led to physical, cultural and philosophical unification of the subcontinent. The Indian Railways was one of the primary causes for the successful freedom movement.
This book is so worth it, feels like a customary non-fiction fresh air that one needs once in a while!
July 11, 2020
It was generally a good book, which I picked up quite randomly hoping to learn something more about the history of India. Which I did. The book covers the extensive history of how the railways started in India, then a colony of Britain, over a century ago. The initial (stated) reasons to abolish famine (as opposed to actual reasons for profit) by reaching rural and far-out places to transport food, turning into freight trains combined with passengers, all the way to their independence, separation with Pakistan and all the social consequences of that. Inclusive of the negative sides of the trains, with regular attacks on people, deaths, robbing and other criminal activity, and division between class and religion in relation to what jobs were being performed. A major company to provide employment (3rd in the world) in many different aspects, the author carries forth the beauty of this very different way of functioning mode of travelling in a country that seems to be highly subject to prejudice.
Saying all that, I do not think I would have got thought much of it if it was not in an audiobook format. But despite not being my usual cup of tea, I still did enjoy it.
Saying all that, I do not think I would have got thought much of it if it was not in an audiobook format. But despite not being my usual cup of tea, I still did enjoy it.
September 19, 2019
"..in short, the system works.." and the author carries on describing the current Indian Railway and the chaos that surrounds it, and this line could very well feature in anyone who has had a journey on the Indian Railways. Being a fan of the Indian railways, I enjoyed listening to the book. The author lays out the reasoning behind the birth of the railways in India (to necessitate the propagation of the Raj), the people who built and ran the railways, the Indians who feared it, then loved it and went on to use it as a propaganda machine for the freedom movement. Want to know how weddings, litigations and deaths kept the Indian railways going or that a Noble prize nominee and Indian Astrophysicist and his 'river physics' influenced the railway construction or want to know the story behind the 'Lonely Line' then pick up this book.
The narrator Jonathan Keeble has done an excellent work.
The narrator Jonathan Keeble has done an excellent work.
March 12, 2023
I have always liked Christian Wolmar's books but not this one. He seemed in my opinion to be a sort of passive agressive imperilaist/racist. And his casual tossing the word terrorist around made finishing the book difficult. You can't interchange the word terrorist for separatist or Freedom fighter.
September 3, 2018
A readable, concise social histor of the railway in India. Wolmar pulls no punches as he describes why the Indian railways were built and how India was robbed blind and refused the chance to develop industrially by the colonial government. He also looks at the phenomenal success of the railways post-independence.
April 21, 2020
Being a railway child myself , I could relate to the workshops and culture that the book talks about.
It starts in the mid 19th century and carefully talks about the various developments in railways governed by the British and how it catered more to the British than the Indians.
Must read for history lovers and railway fans.
It starts in the mid 19th century and carefully talks about the various developments in railways governed by the British and how it catered more to the British than the Indians.
Must read for history lovers and railway fans.
July 6, 2020
I enjoyed this book as I didn't know that much about how the British established the Indian railways. The striking "big takeaway" from this book was the inherent racism in the structure of the ownership, maintenance, operations, ticket pricing and development of human capital that existed. It shouldn't be surprising at all but it was striking nevertheless.
June 11, 2021
Excellent read. Covers the entire history of why, how and when the railways was founded in India. Gives a rich detail of various experiments conducted to make railways successful in India. A post-colonial read that debunks the idea that railways in India was started as a British vision to empower a backward nation. Wilmar questions and decenters many such historically-situated myths.
February 28, 2018
About as impartial a book on the history of Indian Railways can be, although the pre-independence records ought to be viewed from the angle of the oppressed a smidgen more. This was an enjoyable read.
July 30, 2020
A nice easy read, that gives a quick overview of the growth of railways in India. Nice book to start learning about railway history. I wish the book had anecdotes that would keep the narrative engaging.
May 23, 2019
This was a good & informative read, especially for someone like me who likes train travel
May 29, 2019
Very interesting book about the history of Railway. Author narrated it in very details and yet the book does not loose the reader's interest.
January 1, 2020
A good account of the Indian railway history. The author as renowned covers the events and the details quite decently. Definitely worth a read.
March 14, 2020
There is no better writer on railway history than Christian Wolmar. This is no exception and he really brings the Indian Railways to life
April 29, 2022
I just picked this up from an ad in a Lindybeige video and fully expected to be bored with it halfway through. Pleasantly surprised.
July 25, 2024
Again a book selected for me by the helpful staff of the mobile library which serves my rural location. The selection based on knowledge of my interest in the history of India, and the British Empire.
I really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of relevance to me as my maternal grandfather moved from the UK to India in the years after the First World War to work on the railways. He met and married my maternal grandmother there, and so the railways of India have always fascinated me, playing a part in my very existence!
The author writes well,has researched this subject extensively and is a railway expert. The book traces the history of railway evolution in the subcontinent from its earliest days to now.
The railway network and the trains that run on it are often quoted as one of the positive features to be left as a legacy from the British to India.
Christian Wolmar reveals that the establishment of railways was achieved to benefit the British, commercially and as a means of moving the military quickly around the country to meet any contingency caused locally by nationalist uprisings or to counter a perceived Russian Empire threat to India.
It never was intended to serve the mass of ordinary Indians who as on the whole were chattels transported in third class and not as deserving travellers.
The Indian railway network was never used to develop the Indian economy in the way that rail was used in other countries like the USA.
This book has sown a desire to travel around the sub continent by train and explore.
I really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of relevance to me as my maternal grandfather moved from the UK to India in the years after the First World War to work on the railways. He met and married my maternal grandmother there, and so the railways of India have always fascinated me, playing a part in my very existence!
The author writes well,has researched this subject extensively and is a railway expert. The book traces the history of railway evolution in the subcontinent from its earliest days to now.
The railway network and the trains that run on it are often quoted as one of the positive features to be left as a legacy from the British to India.
Christian Wolmar reveals that the establishment of railways was achieved to benefit the British, commercially and as a means of moving the military quickly around the country to meet any contingency caused locally by nationalist uprisings or to counter a perceived Russian Empire threat to India.
It never was intended to serve the mass of ordinary Indians who as on the whole were chattels transported in third class and not as deserving travellers.
The Indian railway network was never used to develop the Indian economy in the way that rail was used in other countries like the USA.
This book has sown a desire to travel around the sub continent by train and explore.
July 7, 2025
Hard book to rate for me because I don’t know lot about railways (this was not a beginner book haha), very dense with a lot of Information about the working of railway companies. I jumped around to different chapters to read the parts that interested me. I enjoyed the parts that I did read, though it was not engaging writing.
I would be willing to revisit this book in the future, maybe before or while visiting India?
I would be willing to revisit this book in the future, maybe before or while visiting India?
September 15, 2025
“The Indians took to the railways, not just physically, but emotionally. Railways and India are a good fit, an enduring one, as illustrated by the fact that not only are the Indians still building new lines, but virtually none have ever been closed. There will never, it seems, be an Indian beeching.”
This was a fantastic read. Christian Wolmar makes what could be very dry topic into an epic, absorbing, and definitive journey through the ages.
October 3, 2023
A really interesting read about the history of India's railways, and also a little insight to how badly Britain treated people on the subcontinent. I really enjoyed the short story of part of Wolmar's travels at the end too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews