The world the railways made

Plot

Fascinating history arguing that it was the railroads that created the modern world. The shock of its arrival was both sudden and universal, breaking down the barriers of distance and allowing people who had been confined to their villages to travel to the ends of the earth. Between 1825 - when the first passenger service came into operation, linking Stockton and Darlington - and the outbreak of World War I, railways redefined, transformed and expanded the limits of the civilized world. With railways came the development of modern capitalism, of modern nations, the opening up of new regions from the American Mid-West to Siberia, from Lake Victoria to the pampas of Argentina, changing not only the way the world looked but the way it felt. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos. 360 pages.