Customer Reviews

Blood, Iron, and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World

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Like most people, I had no idea how important railroads were to the history of the world. This over-all story of the contributions made by the Iron Horse to civilization and the industrial revolution is fascinating even to somebody like myself who really doesn't know much about trains, but who has always loved traveling on them. I prefer them to travel by automobile or airliners. From this book, it appears that I'm not alone in that love of train travel and it's wonderful to know that railroads are making a big comeback all over the planet. Railroads are still the least expensive way to move freight and raw materials and it appears that they in the process of greatly expanding their role in the economy. This is a very good read and not just for train enthusiasts. The text is accompanied by lots of helpful maps and 16 pages of really interesting photographs both in color and black and white.

For my 100th review, I chose Wolmar's Blood, Iron and Gold. If you are looking for a good, non-fiction, history book that will engage you and give you all sorts of fascinating, interesting insights, Blood, Iron and Gold is just the ticket. I am not a railroad aficianado, yet I found this book hard to put down. It's extremely well written, an easy read, and thoroughly researched. The maps and the two sets of illustrations and photographs convey all the right visuals one needs.

The first part of the book (chapters 1-4) discuss the first railroads (with rails made of wood!), the first steam engines, and their impacts on society, culture, and the political landscape. The way in which railroads have been instrumental in unifying diverse regions is fascinating. I finally understood why we, in the US, have gone from thinking of the various united states as a group of independent, allied political entities to an entire single nation (e.g., it used to be when one said "the Unites States," one used a plural verb as in "the United States are going to..."). Likewise, the same holds true for the very disjointed region - with lots of principalities and countries - that is Germany today. Wolmar very clearly explains how each of these disparate political units had to work closely together to see an ROI on railroad investment.

Part two of the book (chapters 5-10) begins with a continent by continent review of how railways penetrated various nations and the problems involved, from "simple" cross-border coordination activities to massive topographical challenges (the Andes) that even today are staggering in their complexities and tragedies. The section on the attempt to drive a railway through the Amazon is particularly poignant. The last few chapters in part two highlight the many innovations - not only in trains and technology, but also architecture - that railroads led to.

The last third of the book (chapters 11-13) might seem to be a bit of a downer as they discuss the eclipsing of the railroad by planes and automobiles, but luckily, Wolmar ends with an intriguing set of trends pointing toward an already occurring resurgence in railroad travel and use. Certainly, since 9/11 in the US and the rise in gas prices, train travel has become far easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable than the whole airport to airport experience.

Wolmar's book also makes a very subtle, very strong case for the need for high speed trains in the US and Britain. Frankly, it was shameful reading about the progress made by Japan, Italy, Germany, France, and China. As perfect as high speed trains might be for up and down the US coasts, the current Acela is the bottom of the barrel compared to what other nations have been able to achieve even in the last ten years. The fact that I've never seen the Acela less than packed should be a clarion call for politicians and planners in the US.

All of this - and far, far more - Wolmar makes clear in his book. Blood, Iron and Gold is at the top of my non-fiction book list for 2010. It should be on yours as well.

This book is hard to summarize as its one of those good news/bad news books.

The Good News: It is full of information on the development of railroads throughout the world. Starting with George Stephenson and the early railroads to the split between the private industry vs. public development and how these differences had a major impact on how railroads developed to how railroads impacted society in general and daily life in particular. The author covers everything from the financial scandals to the issues of numerous gauge widths often in the same country and how these things evolved. It is hard to summarize what he has covered as it is so wide ranging.

The Bad News: As some others have noted there are a number of factual errors and odd even bazaar references. For example, he notes that the early plan for the development of the transcontinental railroad was Thomas Judah. However the man's name was Theodore Judah. He makes reference to James Hill and his Northern Pacific Railroad. However, Hill built the rival Great Northern. Strangely he has this correct elsewhere in the same chapter. He compares the RR building in South Africa to that in Panama, 2 countries that have totally different climates and vegetation. And most bazaar, in his explanation of the how private cars could be hired on the British system, he lists one of the users as Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps someone can tell the author that this is a fictional character.

There is more good news/bad news. On one hand, the book deals with most of the subjects in a very superficial way and is all over the map in more ways than one but covers a mind boggling amount of information. Covering 200 years of railroad history worldwide could easily have generated a book 3 times the size of this one. While this is hardly a definitive book on the subject, could use some better organization and suffers from numerous errors such as those noted above, this is a very readable and interesting book.

This engaging book is a valuable find for history buffs who have an interest in railroads but don't have time to explore the extensive literature on this topic. Wolmar takes the reader from the early 19th century to the present and explores the emergence and development of rail all across the world, and manages to do all this in just under 340 pages. (Notes, bibliography, and index add another 40 pages, and there are two sections of photo pages.)
The narrative focuses on the economic, political, and societal aspects of rail development in a wide variety of environments. Much less is said about the nuts and bolts of the trains, although there is substantial discussion of competing track gauges, efforts to overcome challenging geography, and the evolution of passenger accommodations as sophistication and competition increased. Along the way we meet innovative technical and business people, learn of the changes wrought by the railroads everywhere they went, and marvel at the amount of death and suffering experienced in the early construction and operation of rail systems.
Readers may find a couple of passages to be a bit slow as they describe numerous new lines coming into service from Point A to Point B, but a good knowledge of world geography makes these more interesting as they set the stage for the rest of the story. That story includes a sober look at decline in the 20th century as automobiles, trucks, and airlines came to dominate the transportation market. But the book ends on a positive note, projecting a railway renaissance of high-speed passenger trains and a strong freight business.
Highly recommended, especially for those who are new to railroad history or plan to read only a small amount on the subject.

The author (British) starts his anti-US railroad harangue almost from page one, decrying American construction sloppiness, inefficiency, and financing scandals. This I could have almost accepted, not having firsthand knowledge of British and Continental railWAYS (the author gratuitously points out that they are railways in Britain and railroads in the US) if he hadn't made so many gross factual errors in the chapters about American railroad history. Among the most egregious were examples such as these: "the merchants of Charleston, SC, hoping to secure the trade of the rich local cotton-growing area, realized they needed a river outlet and promoted a 136 mile-long line from Charleston to Hamburg, just across the Savannah River from the rapidly growing Atlanta in Georgia." Atlanta is actually approximately 100 miles from the Savannah River and 300 miles from Charleston. Birmingham,UK is about 100 miles from London. I doubt if the author would describe Birmingham as just across the Thames from Southwark (south London). He also implies that the Big Four (the four California businessmen who owned the Central Pacific Railroad) became fabulously rich from Credit Mobilier, a scheme that actually enriched the owners of their rival company, the Union Pacific. Stephen Ambrose, the author of NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD, the story of the Transcontinental Railroad, is turning over in his grave.

As a life long rail fan I was particularly interested in this book to begin with because of what it is not....it is not a technical history, or a book about railroad technology, or a straight forward narrative of railroads -- I have plenty of those. What sets this book apart is that it is ultimately about the impact railroads had on peoples and nations around the world.

Of course Wolmar begins with the creation of the first railroads in England, and then follows their construction around the world to include the rest of Europe, Latin American, the United States, Russia, and Africa. Besides discussing the challenges (economic, technical, and political) in their building, he looks at how they were financed, their relationship to their governments, and the impact both had one how and why the railroads were constructed. He also addresses the political, economic, and technical impact the railroads had on their respective countries, and, in Europe's case, how they ultimately linked Europe together. He finishes off the book by addressing the "renaissance" of railroads today, and how they continue to be important in the everyday life of regions and nations.

All-in-all this is an interesting, well written, and easy-to-read social history of railroads. If you like railroads, I recommend this as a change of pace from the usual techo-approach to the subject. If you're a social historian you'll be interested in the impact of railroads across a broad spectrum of economics, politics, and technology.

Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railroads Transformed the World tells how railroads altered time and the nature of communications and connections. Trains created a manufacturing industry, made perishables more widely available, fostered the idea of the vacation, and more. A fine survey of their lasting social impact makes this an intriguing, revealing guide.

This very well written work by Christian Wolmar fills a very important ninch in history, namely the development of railroads across the world. The book begins with the start of railroads in England in the first decades of the nineteenth century. The work continues with the development of railroads in the united States, Europe, and India. In later chapeters the book examines the spread of railroads across the globe. This book is extremely interesting because a recent account of the history or railroads throughout the world has not been generally available.

Surprises include the fact the the builder of the first railroads in England George Stephenson helped plan the building of many railroads all over the world. Moreover some countries like Belgium built railroads early. In the case of Belgium the railroad was seen as a means to help unify the country. Other early developers of the railroad technology included France and Germany. Other countries like Albania were laggards who built railroad lines later.

Once the technology was proven in England, railroad builders attacked the problem of building railroads through mountains, jungle swamps, and other difficult terrain. Immense difficulties were overcome, often at great cost of the lives of railroad construction workers. But these projects were generally completed. Apparently once humanity really decides to do some project, the project is done sooner or later.

Mr. Wolmar writes a lot about the effects of the railraod on society and on travel. He does not discuss the actual technology much, but such is not his intention as a historian. A reader can learn much more about this technology from Karen Parker How a Steam Locomotive Works.

The author has a last chapter on the development of high speed passenger service. Unlike the case with the early railroads, the United States is somewhat a laggard in this technology. The other countries in the world do not always need the United States to initiate and guide the establishment of modern technologies. Actually this state of affairs is desirable. It would not be good to have Edward Markey, Henry Waxman, and other ecofreak elitists limit the technological possibilities of humanity.

The book is a very interesting read and very good history.

Great topic and many section of the book are very readable. As a person who used to work in the steel industry and has a great love for trains, I'm sorry the author didn't underline one of the most important reasons that railroading literally exploded onto the world scene. And that is the development of the Bessemer/Kelly converter to produce extremely cheap steel of reasonable quality. It was the converter that "won the West" so to speak. It produced the rails, wheel, axles and "tons" of other needed items and it also produced cheap barbed wire that allow controlled acreage.

I liked the author's coverage of so many parts of the world where I am relatively unfamilar with some of the challenges of construction--particularly in Western India where I thought the terrain was fairly level.

An accessible introduction and review, without much new material. And a few factual errors which have been discussed elsewhere. The most significant contribution is understated and frequently expressed parenthetically: Lost in the current drive to play catch-up with competing high-speed systems is the crying need for the humble and unglamorous local.

The conservative critique of high-speed rail has been premised largely on the position that it's chiefly for the well-to-do. Statements to this effect are just fig leaves for an overall hostility to virtually any public works project. Seldom mentioned is the USA's embarrassing shortage of commuter and local rail service. These trains aren't sleek, they're not photogenic, and they're certainly not fast. But as far as the national transportation deficit is concerned, rebuilding disused trackage to connect suburbs, city neighborhoods, and small towns is likely a wiser employment of public money than a visionary program to match Asian and European express services. These nations began their commitments a generation ago; they have too great a lead, and it's possible America will be unable to catch up.

Mr. Wolmar's brief for investment in local services needs to be teased out of his narrative. His position is certainly informed and articulate, but framed in a subtle, indirect fashion that could escape notice. A more regrettable omission in his account concerns open hostility to rail that transcends the paleolithic rants broadcast by media demagogues.

Discouraging, but true: Right-wing assaults on rail transit derive in part from a genuine vox populi. This is the ugly little secret that forces progressives into the Denial Mode. In Connecticut, property owners have fought a ten year battle against replacement of a century-old trestle on the Acela right-of-way. In New Jersey, homeowners adjacent to a light rail line have gone to court to reduce service. In Washington, DC's Maryland suburbs, residents successfully blocked rebuild of an obsolete freight line which would have provided passenger service to Georgetown. These cases transcend class and party lines. They all occurred in Blue States. Affluent Connecticut residents opened their checkbooks to underwrite challenges to rail improvements in their town. The New Jersey project was launched by a Republican governor; the offending rails serve blue collar communities. In DC's famously liberal suburbs, opponents drew on a pro bono Brain Trust from the nearby University of Maryland. Even more worrisome, these dedicated opponents weren't combating invasive, troublesome, new construction. In all these instances, the tracks had been in place since the 1800s, and were either in still use (NJ, CT) or service had just recently been halted (MD).

One could argue that in time the electorate will come around. Maybe it'll just take a while. But how long is "a while?" Rail transit on par with other developed nations faces determined grass roots resistance: I fear it will be a long, hard sell. Mr. Wolmar is eminently qualified to explore this issue, and I personally look forward to his next contribution.