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Railroads in the Old South: Pursuing Progress in a Slave Society

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Aaron Marrs is a gifted historian and talented writer, who has presented a new view of the antebellum South in relation to transportation, industrialization, and slavery. Dr. Marrs has done outstanding research into the creation of railroads, the management of railroads, and their impact upon the southern economy and life. He has corrected the assumption that the South was uninterested in industrialization or slow to commit its resources to the same. Further, he does an excellent job of examining the relationship between the railroads and slave labor. And finally, he interprets the impact of the raliroad on the life of southerners -- rich and poor, slave and free, male and female. Dr. Marrs accomplishes all of this with a literary style that is both easy to read and entertaining. His facts are well documented and his anecdotes move his historical work forward in an engrossing manner.

RAILROADS IN THE OLD SOUTH: PURSUING PROGRESS IN A SLAVE SOCIETY challenges the usual understanding of economic and industrial growth in the South with its study of the railroad. Overlooked sources - such as personal diaries of Southern travelers, corporate records and newspaper accounts - expand upon the usual conventional business approach, adding a dimension of social history to the exploration of how slavery, technology and social convention influenced railroad development. Any collection strong in rail or Southern history needs this.