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Blood Iron & Gold
I have written it already 10 minutes ago BUT as is quite common Amazon has 'eaten' it and I can't retrieve it from your sustem.
Irving Scott.
A Very Good General History of the Railways of the World 
As one might expect from Christian Wolmar this is a very good book packed with fascinating detail. Wolmar charts the growth of railways in all parts of the world. The pioneering position of Britain and the dominant role that we played in terms of providing engineering expertise and, perhaps more surprisingly, private finance is well related. (Of course, this dominant position was subsequently lost to America and then France and Japan.) Chapters are dedicated to different aspects of railway growth; the building of European lines and the mighty projects of crossing America, Canada and the other continents. Further sections deal with the different motivations for railway investment; private and government sponsored, the effect of railway expansion upon society and trade, the use of railways in wartime, and finally, the decline of railways and subsequent recent resurgence with investment in high-speed lines. Wolmar is at his best when drawing together the general reasons for railway investment and the general effects upon people and their way of life. Some of the early chapters on the growth of the railway system can be rather overwhelming with a dazzling array of data, but perhaps this is the nature of the beast and a minor quibble. As with Wolmar's earlier, 'Fire and Steam' this is a good history book and is not an 'anorak' book or coffee-table picture book. This excellent read will undoubtedly be of interest to general readers and railway enthusiasts alike.
Wolmar goes global 
Christian Wolmar must be one of the most knowledgeable authors on railways writing today, and with this volume he has excelled himself. Anyone who enjoyed "Fire & Steam" - Wolmar's lively history of the railways in Britain - will be delighted that he has finally gone global, looking at how railways affected (and continue to impact) just about every country where they were built in the world.
The book is extremely readable and amazingly comprehensive - in spite of the author's apology that it isn't. Of course there are omissions (my own favourite line to Sóller in Mallorca isn't mentioned, for example). But it's a must for every railway buff and should also enthuse anyone interested in the industrial and social history of the last 150 years.
With signs of a potential renaissance for this mode of transport, Christian Wolmar should have plenty to write about in the future.
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Blood, iron & gold
1848871708 (hbk.) Year: 2009 Subjects: Railroads, History, Social aspects, Economic aspects Blood, Iron and Gold tells the dramatic story of the people and events that shaped the world's railways, stimulating economic growth and social ...
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