Blood, Iron, and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World

by Christian Wolmar (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2010

  $3.25

  The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 marked the beginning of a transport revolution that would forever transform the way we live. Blood, Iron, and Gold takes us on a journey encompassing jungle, mountain, and desert, revealing the huge impact of the railroads as they spread rapidly across entire countries, and linked cities that hitherto had little reach beyond their immediate environs. The rise of the train triggered daring engineering feats, great architectural innovation, and the rapid movement of people and goods across the globe. Cultures were both enriched and destroyed by the unrelenting construction of the railroads, and the new technology quickly took on a vital role in civil conflicts and two world wars. In this beautifully illustrated book, renowned transportation journalist Christian Wolmar celebrates the vision and determination of the ambitious pioneers who developed the railways that would dominate the globe.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2009

  $3.25

  This is a Christmas hardback with tremendous sales potential. Blood, Iron and Gold tells the dramatic story of the people and events that shaped the world's railways, stimulating economic growth and social change on an unprecedented scale. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 marked the beginning of a revolution in transportation. Blood, Iron and Gold reveals the huge impact of the railways as they spread rapidly across the world, linking cities that had hitherto been isolated, stimulating both economic growth and social change on an unprecedented scale. From Panama to the Punjab, Tasmania to Turin, Christian Wolmar describes the vision and determination of the pioneers who developed railways that would one day span continents, as well as the labour of the navvies who endured horrific conditions to build this global network. Wolmar shows how the rise of the train stimulated daring feats of engineering, architectural innovation and the rapid movement of people and goods around the world. He shows how cultures were enriched - and destroyed - by the unrelenting construction and how they had a vital role in civil conflict, as well as in two world wars. Indeed, Blood, Iron and Gold reveals that the global expansion of the railways was key to the spread of modernity and the making of the modern world.