Description
Book Synopsis Nothing better represented the early spirit of American expansion than the railroad. Dominant in daily life as well as in the popular imagination, the railroad appealed strongly to creative writers. For many years, fiction of railroad life and travel was plentiful and varied. As the nineteenth century receded, the railroad''s allure faded, as did railroad fiction.
Today, it is hard to sense what the railroad once meant to Americans. The fiction of the railroad--often by railroaders themselves--recaptures that sense, and provides valuable insights on American cultural history.
This extensively annotated bibliography lists and discusses in 956 entries novels and short stories from the 1840s to the present in which the railroad is important. Each entry includes plot and character description to help the reader make an informed decision on the source''s merit. A detailed introduction discusses the history of railroad fiction and highlights common themes such as stri
