Search results for ""author augustus veenendaal""

Beginning in 1862 as a small carrier connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis with outlying towns, the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad became the foundation of the vast rail system that would open the entire Northwest. As a pioneering line in virgin territory, it played a vital role in the early development of Minnesota's economy. When railroad tycoon James J. Hill took over the troubled company in 1879, its tracks were extended into westward lines that eventually, as the Great Northern Railway, reached the Pacific Ocean. Written by leading railroad historian Augustus J. Veenendaal Jr. this finely researched book examines the growth of the fledgling Saint Paul & Pacific as it struggled to lay track, meet the schedule, and make the payroll. The railway's leaders and workers took risks of injury and ruin during these years on the frontier, when everything except hardship was in short supply. Veenendaal devotes an entire chapter to the accidents and disasters that befell the new enterprise, including deadly collisions and derailments. He also chronicles triumphs, such as the use of the Miller coupler and the refurbishment of the famed Wm. Crooks, a 4-4-0 woodburning engine that was the first locomotive in Minnesota. Veenendaal reveals the strategic importance of foreign investment in American railroads—in particular, Dutch investment. The Saint Paul & Pacific was one of the first railroads to attract the attention of Dutch bankers, who would eventually become the second largest group of foreign investors in American railroads. After James J. Hill bought out the Dutch interest in the railroad, he reorganized it as the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad. Today, after the megamergers of recent years, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe system owns the ghost of the old Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad Company.

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“The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car [...] You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth — right at your doors.”~ William Tecumseh Sherman, 1860The military use of railways derives from their ability to move troops or materiel rapidly and, less commonly, on their use as a platform for military systems (like armoured trains and heavy artillery). Until recently, the mobility of large armies generally depended on control of railways to move reinforcements, ammunition and food, as the locomotive and railway cars proved far superior to animal-drawn equipment.In Rails to the Front, historians Augustus J. Veenendaal and H. Roger Grant capture the critical impact of railways in an abundance of conflicts worldwide, from the German revolutions in the 1840s to the Gulf War in the 1990s. This lavishly illustrated, careful study is the first of its kind in English.

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For centuries, Charles XII has mainly been seen in the context of Sweden’s national experience, yet his activities stretched across the European continent from Russia and Denmark to Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, and the Ottoman Empire. Even the Dutch Republic, Britain, and France became involved diplomatically and economically. In this volume, 20 scholars from 12 different countries contribute to creating a broader perspective on Charles XII and the Great Northern War in European history. The contributors to this volume expand the scope of international research on Charles XII and his time by examining not only his victories and defeats but the king’s impact in other areas as well. Includes the following chapters: The Great Northern War (1700-21) and the Integration of the European States System (Hamish Scott, The United Kingdom); Charles XII: A biographical sketch (Åsa Karlsson, Sweden); Charles XII as a Protagonist in International Perspective: An Overview (John B. Hattendorf, United States of America); Swedish Grand Strategy and Foreign Policy, 1697-1721 (Gunnar Åselius, Sweden); Charles XII’s Armies in the Field (Christer Kuvaja, Finland); Swedish Naval Power and Naval Operations, 1697-1721 (Lars Ericson Wolke, Sweden); The Absent King and Swedes at Home (Marie Lennersand, Sweden); The Impact of the Great Northern War on Trade Relations with the Baltic (Werner Scheltjens, Germany); British Policy towards Sweden, Charles XII, and the Great Northern War, 1697-1723 (John B. Hattendorf, United States of America); How to Handle a Warrior King: The States General and Its Policies in Regard to Charles XII of Sweden(Augustus J. Veenendaal, Jr., the Netherlands); The French View of Charles XII: The King, the Soldier, the Man (Eric Schnakenbourg, France); ‘The Mad Swede’: The Habsburg Monarchy and Charles XII (Michael Hochedlinger, Austria); Charles XII at the Centre of Swedish-Ottoman Diplomacy (Bülent Ari and Alptuğ Güney, Turkey); Warmonger or Benefactor? Charles XII and the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway (Knud J.V. Jespersen, Denmark); A Polish View of Charles XII and the Great Northern War (Gabriela Majewska, Poland); Russian Views of Charles XII (Pavel A. Krotov, Russian Federation); Brandenburg-Prussia and the Northern German States (Linda S. Frey and Marsha L. Frey, United States of America); Charles XII: A King of Many Faces (Inga Lena Ångström Grandien, Sweden); A Literary Charles XII (Nils Ekedahl, Sweden)

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John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, has long been regarded as one of Britain's greatest generals as well as a key English political figure in the first decade of the eighteenth century. The subject of numerous books in English, Marlborough has typically been seen only in terms of British political and military history. In this book, twelve leading specialists of the period broaden the perspective by assessing Marlborough in the wider and more diverse contexts of the European situation, the common soldier in the British army, the complementary activities of navies, the differing perspectives of the Austrians, Dutch, French, and Germans as well as in the context of the British popular press and the visual arts.

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