Trains and railways: general interest Books

Book SynopsisA symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express, Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions. The multi-layered dreams surrounding this high-speed railway tell a history not only of nation-building but of resistance and disruption. Though it constituted neither a major technological leap nor a new infrastructural connection, the train enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers. This history of imaginations around the monumental rail system resists the commonplace story of progress to consider the tug-of-war over the significance of the new line. Is it a vision of the future or a reminder of the past, an object of international admiration or a formidable threat? Does it enable new relationships and identities or reify existing social hierarchies? Tracing the meanings assigned to high-speed rail shows how it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan. Trade Review"Jessamyn Abel takes us on a magnificent journey opening windows onto the cultural and global significance of Japan's technological achievements of the postwar era. We see planners for the 'bullet train' draw on blueprints from, and powerful nostalgia for, the era of empire and war. We glimpse project leaders presenting the train to American and global audiences to change the global image of Japan. And we observe a domestic transformation in ideas of time, space, social class, and regional identity."—Andrew Gordon, Harvard University"Want to know more about the world's first bullet train, the 1960s, and Japan? This is the book! Abel skillfully integrates popular culture, official reports, local citizens' protests, and scholarly discourses into a critical exploration into how Shinkansen changed not only the landscapes of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, but also memoryscape and the spatial imaginary of the nation. This is an important and highly accessible book for anyone interested in technology and politics, infrastructure-building, and social impacts, as well as mobility and informatics."—Hiromi Mizuno, University of Minnesota"Abel has written an impressive cultural history of the shinkansen. Grounded firmly in contemporary infrastructural and Japanese history, it is exceptionally well written, well researched, and easy to read and understand... Abel sets a high bar for cultural infrastructure studies."—Jeffrey Schramm, H-Sci-Med-Tech June 2022"Dream Super-Express quite impressively achieves its goal of showing the multiple visions of society and history that the bullet train stood for and the concrete conflicts that the train engendered. Well written and approachable, the book is suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and general readers. It will be of interest to anyone who seeks to know more about postwar Japanese history or the history of infrastructure and technology in Japan, or who just likes to read cool histories of cool trains."—Kate McDonald, Business History Review"This is an important story about the development of postwar Japan and the continuing hold that the bullet train has on people's imagination. Recommended."—M. D. Ericson, CHOICE"While readers may be familiar with Abel's recent articles on the topic, versions of which are included in the book, the total is greater than the sum. Each chapter provides insights combined with thoughtful analysis and offers a range of perspectives backed up by careful archival research that provides us with some sense of official narratives and disputes. We are also introduced to the scholarly literature in both Japanese and English, as well as to relevant magazine and newspaper articles, films, novels, and art. The latter sources allow us to gain some insight into the popular imagination surrounding the train and all its social and political baggage."—Morris Low, Technology and Culture"Dream Super-Express offers a rich cultural history while also being attentive to political, economic, and social impacts of the new national infrastructure.... Abel deftly uncovers layers of tension-filled history that have been buried underneath the smooth and glittering representations of the Shinkansen and renders her findings in accessible prose with rich details."—Yosikuni Igarashi, The Journal of Japanese Studies"This book is not a recount of events, but rather an interpretation of the impact of the first Shinkansen on and for Japan in the early 1960s. It takes us on a fascinating excursion through movies, novels, architecture, and local politics, as well as the roots of Japan's long-standing fascination with metabolism, information, and transportation."—Ulrike Schaede, Pacific Affairs"Bringing together the fields of cultural history, diplomatic history, and the history of science and technology, Dream Super-Express is just the ticket for understanding the cultural imaginary of early postwar Japan."—Miriam Kingsberg Kadia, Monumenta Nipponica"Abel's work is an impressive, multilayered achievement of great insight and sophistication. She deftly applies to Japan themes and concepts drawn from recent literature on the politics and aesthetics of infrastructure and makes a signal contribution to the interdisciplinary study of modern Japanese history, rendering her work of interest to students of technology and culture, transportation and other forms of infrastructure, and historical memory alike."—Steven J. Ericson, Japan Review"Abel's intricate and thoroughly researched book not only is a captivating portrait of a nation reconstructing itself, in part by establishing a national narrative amid a chorus of competing voices, but also will be of great interest to scholars in multiple disciplines exploring the sociopolitical ramifications, and cultural meanings, of technology."—Caitlin Meagher, Journal of Asian StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction: Dreams of Infrastructure 1. Invisible Infrastructures of Protest in Kyoto 2. Reconstructing the Tōkaidō 3. Railroad for the Information Society 4. Nostalgia for Imperial Japan 5. Technology of Cultural Diplomacy Conclusion: Bullet Train Dreams in the Twenty-First Century

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Book SynopsisCompleted in 1938, the Trans-Iranian Railway connected Tehran to Iran's two major bodies of water: the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south. Iran's first national railway, it produced and disrupted various kinds of movement—voluntary and forced, intended and unintended, on different scales and in different directions—among Iranian diplomats, tribesmen, migrant laborers, technocrats, railway workers, tourists and pilgrims, as well as European imperial officials alike. Iran in Motion tells the hitherto unexplored stories of these individuals as they experienced new levels of mobility. Drawing on newspapers, industry publications, travelogues, and memoirs, as well as American, British, Danish, and Iranian archival materials, Mikiya Koyagi traces contested imaginations and practices of mobility from the conception of a trans-Iranian railway project during the nineteenth-century global transport revolution to its early years of operation on the eve of Iran's oil nationalization movement in the 1950s. Weaving together various individual experiences, this book considers how the infrastructural megaproject reoriented the flows of people and goods. In so doing, the railway project simultaneously brought the provinces closer to Tehran and pulled them away from it, thereby constantly reshaping local, national, and transnational experiences of space among mobile individuals.Trade Review"Amid the recent transnational turn in Middle East Studies, Iran in Motion is a subtle treatment of the unintended consequences of the Trans-Iranian Railway project. Mikiya Koyagi reveals the centrifugal forces unleashed by a project that was designed to bind a nation together."—Nile Green, University of California, Los Angeles"Iran in Motion exemplifies the gains of approaching modern Iran not through the lens of methodological statism but with a feel for state and non-state actors alike. The Trans-Iranian Railway, Mikiya Koyagi shows, made Iran both more fragmented and more homogeneous. A fascinating read."—Cyrus Schayegh, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva"With fresh insights drawn from a wealth of new archival materials, Mikiya Koyagi transports us through the various stations that dotted Iran's path to modernity. Much more than a narrative of the railway project, Iran in Motion reveals a deep understanding of the mobility networks that connected and divided Middle Eastern communities. A groundbreaking book."—Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, University of Pennsylvania"Iran in Motion is a welcome addition to our understanding of technological modernization in the Middle East. The book sits at the intersection of the modern history of Iran and mobility studies... Koyagi tactfully moves from macro to micro, and the other way around, to make sense of nuances within the big picture. Iran in Motion appeals to general readers who seek non-Eurocentric histories of technology, but also, to scholars who are interested in the local and transnational histories of infrastructure and mobility."—Samin Rashidbeigi, Technology and Culture"Iran in Motion is a model of social and labor history, well sourced in the ample Persian-language material...Highly recommended."—P. Clawson, CHOICE"[Koyagi's] work matter-of-factly integrates Iranian studies scholarship from Japanese academia, giving anglophone (and Persophone) students rare access to content of which we have been ignorant or neglectful. The result is a master narrative of social transformation in modern Iran composed of a mosaic of distinct episodes, each adding color and clarity to the bigger picture."—Camron Michael Amin, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Building a Transimperial Infrastructure 2. The Road to Salvation 3. Nationalizing the Railway 4. Redirecting Mobilities 5. Death on the Persian Corridor 6. Workers of the Victory Bridge 7. Traveling Citizens Conclusion

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Book SynopsisA symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express, Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions. The multi-layered dreams surrounding this high-speed railway tell a history not only of nation-building but of resistance and disruption. Though it constituted neither a major technological leap nor a new infrastructural connection, the train enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers. This history of imaginations around the monumental rail system resists the commonplace story of progress to consider the tug-of-war over the significance of the new line. Is it a vision of the future or a reminder of the past, an object of international admiration or a formidable threat? Does it enable new relationships and identities or reify existing social hierarchies? Tracing the meanings assigned to high-speed rail shows how it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan. Trade Review"Jessamyn Abel takes us on a magnificent journey opening windows onto the cultural and global significance of Japan's technological achievements of the postwar era. We see planners for the 'bullet train' draw on blueprints from, and powerful nostalgia for, the era of empire and war. We glimpse project leaders presenting the train to American and global audiences to change the global image of Japan. And we observe a domestic transformation in ideas of time, space, social class, and regional identity."—Andrew Gordon, Harvard University"Want to know more about the world's first bullet train, the 1960s, and Japan? This is the book! Abel skillfully integrates popular culture, official reports, local citizens' protests, and scholarly discourses into a critical exploration into how Shinkansen changed not only the landscapes of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, but also memoryscape and the spatial imaginary of the nation. This is an important and highly accessible book for anyone interested in technology and politics, infrastructure-building, and social impacts, as well as mobility and informatics."—Hiromi Mizuno, University of Minnesota"Abel has written an impressive cultural history of the shinkansen. Grounded firmly in contemporary infrastructural and Japanese history, it is exceptionally well written, well researched, and easy to read and understand... Abel sets a high bar for cultural infrastructure studies."—Jeffrey Schramm, H-Sci-Med-Tech June 2022"Dream Super-Express quite impressively achieves its goal of showing the multiple visions of society and history that the bullet train stood for and the concrete conflicts that the train engendered. Well written and approachable, the book is suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and general readers. It will be of interest to anyone who seeks to know more about postwar Japanese history or the history of infrastructure and technology in Japan, or who just likes to read cool histories of cool trains."—Kate McDonald, Business History Review"This is an important story about the development of postwar Japan and the continuing hold that the bullet train has on people's imagination. Recommended."—M. D. Ericson, CHOICE"While readers may be familiar with Abel's recent articles on the topic, versions of which are included in the book, the total is greater than the sum. Each chapter provides insights combined with thoughtful analysis and offers a range of perspectives backed up by careful archival research that provides us with some sense of official narratives and disputes. We are also introduced to the scholarly literature in both Japanese and English, as well as to relevant magazine and newspaper articles, films, novels, and art. The latter sources allow us to gain some insight into the popular imagination surrounding the train and all its social and political baggage."—Morris Low, Technology and Culture"Dream Super-Express offers a rich cultural history while also being attentive to political, economic, and social impacts of the new national infrastructure.... Abel deftly uncovers layers of tension-filled history that have been buried underneath the smooth and glittering representations of the Shinkansen and renders her findings in accessible prose with rich details."—Yosikuni Igarashi, The Journal of Japanese Studies"This book is not a recount of events, but rather an interpretation of the impact of the first Shinkansen on and for Japan in the early 1960s. It takes us on a fascinating excursion through movies, novels, architecture, and local politics, as well as the roots of Japan's long-standing fascination with metabolism, information, and transportation."—Ulrike Schaede, Pacific Affairs"Bringing together the fields of cultural history, diplomatic history, and the history of science and technology, Dream Super-Express is just the ticket for understanding the cultural imaginary of early postwar Japan."—Miriam Kingsberg Kadia, Monumenta Nipponica"Abel's work is an impressive, multilayered achievement of great insight and sophistication. She deftly applies to Japan themes and concepts drawn from recent literature on the politics and aesthetics of infrastructure and makes a signal contribution to the interdisciplinary study of modern Japanese history, rendering her work of interest to students of technology and culture, transportation and other forms of infrastructure, and historical memory alike."—Steven J. Ericson, Japan Review"Abel's intricate and thoroughly researched book not only is a captivating portrait of a nation reconstructing itself, in part by establishing a national narrative amid a chorus of competing voices, but also will be of great interest to scholars in multiple disciplines exploring the sociopolitical ramifications, and cultural meanings, of technology."—Caitlin Meagher, Journal of Asian StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction: Dreams of Infrastructure 1. Invisible Infrastructures of Protest in Kyoto 2. Reconstructing the Tōkaidō 3. Railroad for the Information Society 4. Nostalgia for Imperial Japan 5. Technology of Cultural Diplomacy Conclusion: Bullet Train Dreams in the Twenty-First Century

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Book SynopsisSince the mid-nineteenth century the East Coast Main Line has been one of the major routes from London to northern England and to Scotland. It has seen some of the greatest achievements in the railways, most notably the 'Flying Scotsman' becoming, in 1934, the first locomotive in the world to exceed 100mph and the 'Mallard' in 1938 claiming the as-yet-unbroken world speed record for steam locomotives of 126mph. The East Coast Main Line not only made history by facilitating an ever-faster link between two capital cities, it also provided an international stage for Britain's engineering marvels, inspiring many generations of schoolboys and adults alike. That was to continue after the end of the steam era on British Railways, with diesel and then electric traction setting a series of new records over the route. This new book looks at how the London-Edinburgh line became the world's fastest steam railway and how its proud and unique heritage is appreciated and celebrated today more than ever before.

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Book SynopsisThe West Riding of Yorkshire boasted the most complex railway network in Britain, comprised at various times of seven railway companies, with an eighth trying to secure a foothold, eleven significant joint lines and several minor systems. With no overall strategic pattern of territory or route, the companies seemed to vie incessantly for supremacy, often at the expense of efficiency with the significant duplication of facilities: over twenty-five towns and villages had two passenger stations, while some even had three or four! This book reviews the local history, including its economy and key industries. It describes the need for the railways and the political and geographical challenges they faced. It discusses the impact on the region of 'railway mania' experienced throughout Britain in the mid-nineteenth century. The many locomotives that worked these lines are celebrated, with a behind-the-scenes look at their yards, sheds and roundhouses. The lost branch lines and stations are remembered. Finally, there are individual chapters covering Leeds, Doncaster, Barnsley and the coalfields, Sheffield and Rotherham, Airedale and Wharfedale, the Aire and Calder watershed, the Calder Valley and Huddersfield.Trade ReviewI’m sure this work will be of use to modellers, and will complement larger and more thorough volumes describing the same areas. It represents excellent value for money and I recommend it. -- Tony Wright reviewer BRM * British Railway Modelling *

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive look at the LMS/BR Class 7 4-6-0 rebuilt locomotives, including the rebuilt Jubilees, the rebuilt Patriots and the rebuilt Royal Scots. The book includes hundreds of photographs and feedback from the original crews that operated the engines. Topics covered include: origins of the rebuilt Class 7s in the 1940s and the design of the 2A boiler; differences between the classes; liveries, names and finally, name plates; detailed allocation tables. There are chapters on the rebuilt Class 7s to the rescue - the severe winter of 1962/3; the decline of the Class 7s and withdrawal in the 1960s and finally, the preservation of the Class 7 rebuilds.

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Book SynopsisA commemorative history of the railways of the beautiful Oxfordshire district 'Vale of the White Horse', running twenty-seven miles from Steventon to Wootton Bassett. The book spans the history of the route from the opening in 1840 until 1965, when British Rail withdrew all the local passenger services between Didcot and Swindon and all the intermediate stations were closed. With personal insight and images from railway historian Adrian Vaughan, the book covers the Great Western Railway's development of the route, as part of Brunel's 'Bristol Railway' and shows the original correspondence between Brunel and his staff. Fully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and detailed track diagrams, Railways Through the Vale of the White Horse is an ideal resource for anyone with an interest in this scenic railway route and a nostalgia for the early days of railways in Britain.

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Book SynopsisFor almost a century, from its inception in the years immediately after World War I, the Aerofilms company recorded the changing face of England from the air. At the start of the era, the railway was still the predominant form of transport, with a network of main, secondary and branch lines that stretched to virtually every corner of the realm. As the 20th century progressed, however, this dominance declined as the private motorcar and the lorry increasingly became the preferred mode of transport. The early railway builders — such as the London & Birmingham — had invested much in creating impressive stations for this new and revolutionary form of transport and, during the 19th century, many of the country’s leading architects undertook commissions on behalf of the burgeoning railway industry. After World War II, however, many of these buildings were were swept away. The Aerofilms collection provides a unique vantage point to explore the country’s railway heritage. It is only from the air that it is possible to appreciate fully how much the railway came to dominate the landscape; even in relatively small country towns, the railway station with its platforms and goods yard was significant. Add to this the construction of tunnels and viaducts, and the railway can be said to have shaped much of the landscape of modern England. Drawing upon some 150 images from the collection, Peter Waller explores various aspects of England’s unique railway heritage: from the major stations in cities like Birmingham to the humble goods yard and signal box.Trade Review'Perhaps even more than the motoring and maritime books that preceded it, the railway volume has a full text by this highly experienced author at each right-hand page opposite the beautifully printed images. It adds up to an account of the country’s topography, providing ample evidence of how the Victorians reshaped England both in town and country.' Graham Tite, Context, the Journal of the Institute of Historic Building ConservationReviews'This is not the first railways volume Peter Waller has compiled from the Aerofilms collection of oblique aerial views but it won't disappoint. The quarry is not worked out.' Stephen Rowson, Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical SocietyTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Major Stations 2. Minor Stations 3. Locomotive and other Works 4. Viaducts, Bridges and Tunnels 5. Locomotive Sheds and Depots 6. Goods Yards and other Freight Traffic 7. Railway Offices and Hotels 8. Preservation

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Book SynopsisIn the long and absorbing history of Britain's railways and the men and women who have worked on them, the most challenging years were those of the two world wars. Neither of these wars could have been won without the railways. Transportation of everything that was grown, made or mined, as well as soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians was largely the task of the railways. Yet the contribution of railways, and railway men and women in wartime has often been overlooked. This book pays tribute to the way the railways and their staff responded to the demand that they do more with fewer resources. They were called upon to cope with the extraordinary change in the character and volume of passenger and goods traffic, to endure dangerously long hours, and to overcome fear. Small wayside stations could be transformed into a frenzy of activity by the location of a camp or supply depot on its doorstep. Disruption through bomb damage could turn the shift of locomotive crew or guard into an indefinite wait for relief. The railway companies built many and various memorials to honour their fallen workers - these monuments, created and designed by high-calibre sculptors and architects, are included within the book's gazetteer. The book inevitably includes many statistics as well as dates, but it is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of the railway's contribution to the wars without them. The focus is on the railways of Britain, but sketches of the overseas theatres give some idea of the work of railway construction and operating companies, which were largely made up of railwaymen.Trade ReviewReviews'Books about the railways' work in the World Wars usually deal with just one of them: this covers both, yet it encompasses remarkable detail [...] Despite this volume's relatively small size, it conveys brilliantly the sacrifices made by our railways in text and well-chosen illustrations: warmly recommended.' Philip Scowcroft, Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical SocietyTable of ContentsTo follow

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Book SynopsisFollowing the pioneering work of Trevithick, Stephenson, and many others, steam locomotives continued to evolve and be refined until overtaken by diesel and electric traction technology. Although the last main-line steam service was operated by British Rail in 1968, there is still immense interest in steam traction, as demonstrated by the increasing numbers of privately renovated and preserved locomotives and heritage railways around the world.In How Steam Locomotives Really Work, the authors, both railway experts, cover the design of locomotives, the many processes in the conversion of fuel to tractive effort, the dynamic characteristics of the locomotive as a vehicle, the braking equipment, and a host of other systems, major and minor, that make up a working locomotive. They also explain the reasons for running and maintenance practices. Their explanations will fascinate enthusiasts, whether practical or armchair.Steam locomotive design may have started in the United Kingdom, but it Trade ReviewReview from previous edition ...if you are only buying one book for a steam railway enthusiast this Christmas, it has to be this one. * National Railway Museum Review *This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the realities of steam traction. * Transport Digest *. . . an excellent treatment of theory, practice and history . . . It will fascinate engineers and railway enthusiasts, as well as prove a source of interesting historical and technical teaching material. * New Scientist *Enthusiasts will be riveted. * Yorkshire Evening Press *. . . a most worthy book at an attractive price for anyone interested in steam locomotive technology. * The Newcomen Society *Excellent value for money. * Railnews *To enable train enthusiasts to understand the workings of the various types of engines in use, this book describes the anatomy and physiology of the steam train. It covers the design of the engine, the process of converting fuel into mechanical tractive effort to haul passenger and freight trains, the function and design of the various components of the engine, and the safe and efficient operation and maintenance of steam locomotives. Although the steam locomotive originated in the United Kingdom, there were parallel lines of development in North America and Europe, and the individual features of these are also covered. * Mechanical Engineering *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Why use steam? ; 2. Burning the fuel ; 3. Raising steam ; 4. Using the steam ; 5. Transmitting the power ; 6. The locomotive as a vehicle ; 7. The steam locomotive at work ; 8. Brakes ; 9. Designing a steam locomotive ; Index

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated travelogue that brilliantly captures artist and illustrator Emma Fick’s epic train journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway—from Beijing through Mongolia to Moscow—including more than 200 watercolor illustrations and handwritten text that includes cultural and historical information as well as invaluable travel tips.In May 2015, on a trip through the Baltics and Scandinavia, artist and illustrator Emma Fick and her boyfriend (now husband) Helvio discovered a worn copy of the Trans-Siberian Handbook at a secondhand shop in Helsinki. Many travelers from around the globe had used the guide to journey on the longest train ride in the world. Emma and Helvio took their find as a sign to embark on their own adventure on the legendary railway that has captured the imaginations and curiosities of many travelers and explorers since its construction a century ago.A year and a half later, with Trans-Siberian Handbook in hand, they boarded the train in Beijing. Their odyssey was just beginning.Border Crossings is the chronicle of their unforgettable 26-day, 8-city journey across Asia to Moscow. Emma offers a concise history of the railway and in vivid, visual language, takes you across a vast landscape of rural villages and bustling urban centers, through open food markets brimming with delicacies and a snowy mountain wilderness dotted with clusters of gers—nomadic homes. Emma’s detailed observations and lush descriptions, accompanied by detailed colorful illustrations, bring this remarkable journey of discovery and adventure—the landscapes, food, people and cultures—to life. Experience drinking salty milk tea, eating shoe sole cake (fried cakes shaped like shoe soles piled high and topped with milk curds and hard candies), and riding camels in Mongolia. In Russia, wander through a snow-draped countryside filled with stands of birch trees, explore the wonders of freshwater Lake Baikal—the source of omul, a ubiquitous and beloved fish delicacy—go ice fishing, and take a self-guided tour of Moscow. With its hand-drawn maps, its wealth of illustrations of every aspect of the experience—from sleeping quarters on a train to the highlights of a monastery or the details of a memorable meal, Border Crossings is an invitation to experience new destinations and cultures first-hand—to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway as never before, whether you’re a nomad looking for a new vacation destination, an armchair traveler, or just culturally curious. Trade Review"[Fick’s] enchanting illustrated travel memoir shares the experience intimately. . . . She chronicles the trip diary-style, with watercolor paintings to show both stunning scenery and portraits, as well as myriad odd details, the “snippets” that make remote travel so alluring. (Imagine your own illustrated travel journal in which you capture each day’s essence in a note with a drawing; then imagine you actually have talent.)" — New York Times "Watercolor sketches [depict] artist Emma Fick’s 2017 journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway . . . with paintings of bathroom fixtures, local officials and Russian cafeteria food that dodge the genre’s cliched tropes altogether. Handwritten notes accompany the images, which are sometimes framed with a traveler’s-eye view of train windows and passenger compartments. Others serve as whimsical compendiums . . . [the] effect is charming, yes, but it also invigorates." — Washington Post “Artist Fick's illustrated travelogue combines intricate art and intimate observations—vibrantly colored and distinctly hand-lettered—of a Beijing-to-Moscow expedition on the Trans-Siberian Railway. . . . Lucky readers get to adventure along in cozy comfort.” — Booklist

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Book SynopsisIn 1871, a tiny nation, just four years old—it's population well below the 4 million mark—determined that it would build the world's longest railroad across empty country, much of it unexplored. This decision—bold to the point of recklessness—was to change the lives of every man, woman and child in Canada and alter the shape of the nation. Using primary sources—diaries, letters, unpublished manuscripts, public documents and newspapers—Pierre Berton has reconstructed the incredible decade of the 1870s, when Canadians of every stripe—contractors, politicians, financiers, surveyors, workingmen, journalists and entrepreneurs—fought for the railway, or against it. The National Dream is above all else the story of people. It is the story of George McMullen, the brash young promoter who tried to blackmail the Prime Minister; of Marcus Smith, the crusty surveyor, so suspicious of authority he thought the Governor

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Book SynopsisIn the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881-1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible — a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the

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Book SynopsisA newly discovered cache of magnificent historical photographs.

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Book SynopsisA remarkable collection of images taken by passionate amateurs that have both a historical value and an innocent charm.Trade Review"Beautiful and dramatic… a stunning collection." -- Frederick N. Rasmussen - Baltimore Sun

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Book SynopsisA Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "A powerful book, crowded with telling details and shrewd observations." —Michael Kazin, New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"Required reading for anyone interested in the history of American railroading…This is an exciting story and well told." -- John Steele Gordon - Wall Street Journal"A model of narrative skill and [an] insightful reinterpretation of the Gilded Age. It is easily the best business history I have read." -- Donald Worster - Slate"A scathing and wonderful new book. [Railroaded] will entertain and outrage readers." -- Buzzy Jackson - Boston Globe"An acute analysis that in failure came success and in many ways the map of the nation." -- Scott Martelle - Washington Post"Imaginative, iconoclastic, immensely informative and mordantly funny." -- Glenn C. Altschuler - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"A different and provocative view of the role of the transcontinentals in developing the American West. Railroaded will no doubt spark lively debate and become required reading for those seeking an insightful and recast history of the transcontinental railroad saga." -- Walter R. Borneman - San Francisco Chronicle"Richard White is one of those rare historians with an unfailing ability to transform any topic he writes about, no matter how familiar that topic might seem. In Railroaded, he tells the story of the western transcontinentals as it has never been told before, with insights that speak as much to our own time as to the nineteenth-century era he explores with such wit and intelligence." -- William Cronon, author of Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West"When it comes to the American West, there is no other writer like Richard White, a serious scholar with a highly original take on familiar subjects and elegant prose besides. His subject, the making of the transcontinental railroads, is perhaps the pivotal story of the West, but it’s not the one we know from movies and myth. It’s about the birth of all those things that most trouble us nowadays, a genesis story in which the serpent in Eden is the railroad itself writhing across the continent." -- Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell's Roses"This brilliant book will forever change our understanding of the great railroad projects of nineteenth-century America." -- William Deverell, director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West"Excellent big-picture, popularly written history of the Howard Zinn mold, backed by a mountain of research and statistics." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Book Synopsis“So inviting you might find yourself tempted to give the experience a whirl and ride the Italian trains yourself, book in hand.”—Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"[A] treat equivalent to a ride on the Orient Express… Italian Ways is no Ferrari on rails but instead something much better: a slow train so thoughtfully appointed that one never thinks to look out the window or care about the destination." -- Ben Downing - Wall Street Journal"This mix of piercing social observation and undying affection for Italy is classic Parks." -- Rachel Donadio - New York Times"Fascinating [and] droll…. Parks [is] perhaps the most faithful foreign inamorato Italy has ever had." -- Andrea Lee - newyorker.com"Parks really shines. He gives us a country that is as frustrating as it is endlessly fascinating." -- Marjorie Kehe - Christian Science Monitor"[Parks is] a perfect guide—an outsider, but one with a deep familiarity and respect (plus a dash of exasperated skepticism)—to the country’s celebrated eccentricities. Parks has a charming voice and a novelist’s eye." -- Chloë Schama - Smithsonian"Incisive [and] hilarious." -- Alexander Aciman - The Daily Beast"Relaxed, humorous, meandering [and] charming." -- Brigitte Frase - Minneapolis Star Tribune"A movable feast to say the least." -- Richard Eder - Boston Globe"Presents a picture of Italy you won’t get from any tourist board… sympathetic and lively." -- Micahel Upchurch - Seattle Times"Tim Parks has reinvented the narrative of the train journey with an epic voyage into the essence of Italy itself. With a novelist’s keen eye he mines absurdity and deep meaning from small, overlooked moments and gestures." -- Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic"This is the best book I’ve ever read about Italy. Never have I encountered a more insightful and hilarious insider/outsider portrait of the country at the center of Western civilization. Tim Parks should be given a villa in Rome and the title of English ambassador." -- Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All"Engrossing, entertaining, and wonderfully revealing about the country and its people. It makes perfect armchair travelling – a delight from beginning to end." -- David Lodge, author of Changing Places"Delightful [and] hilarious…. Combining wonderfully evocative prose with a wry analysis, Parks provides local color while continually seeking hidden social meaning…. The result is a fascinating portrait of a society that seems rooted in place no matter how fast it goes." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

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