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Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World |  | Author: Christian Wolmar
Publisher: Atlantic Books
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £5.24
as of 9/9/2010 04:54 BST details
You Save: £4.75 (48%)
New (18) Used (4) from £5.23
Rating:  10 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.3
ISBN: 1848871716
EAN: 9781848871717
Publication Date: August 1, 2010
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| • | New | | • | Mint Condition | | • | Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon | | • | Guaranteed packaging | | • | No quibbles returns |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Christian Wolmar's biggest paperback yet. Blood, Iron and Gold tells the dramatic story of the people and events that shaped the world's railways and how the railways changed the world.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
A good digest but... June 26, 2010
M. Pennington (Leeds)
Personally I found the Cairo-Cape chapter much the most exciting because it's one of the few with an associated map. More often it's difficult to get there with the author because he knows where he's going but I don't.
Suggestion for second edition: add 50 small maps pertinent to the text.
 Rail History May 16, 2010
Patrick (Switzerland)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is indeed a very good general history of the railways around the world. The book is well written, and has been a true pleasure to read.
A great read February 10, 2010
DaveBradley (England)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Blood, Iron and Gold is quite simply a great read. It gives a really incisive insight into railways, their development and their social imput.
It is, fortunately from my point of view, not a technical book but shows in a most fascinating way just how huge an impact the railways have had not just on people's lives but on whole nations.
Naturally, with such a vast subject, one only gets a taster of some of the world's great railways and railway journeys and it has certainly whetted my appetite for finding out more about some of those railways.
Christian Wolmar has a very readable style of writing and I like the way he offers personal opinions on the merits of certain things and even throws in the odd joke.
For anyone interested in the non-technical side of railways and social history, the is just the book to read.
An Enthralling Read January 18, 2010
Mr. John S. Fowler (Taplow)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Blood Iron and Gold really sums up this book. Christian gives a vivid account of the how many lives were lost building the railways we know today and how the ironway spread across continents and enhanced the fortunes of many rather dubious operators.
However, despite their rather dubious origins and the numerous obstacles to their construction and spread, including political, economic and physical, all of which he gives a good account, Christian then goes on to show shows how the railways really did transform the world and spread the industrial urban lifestyle across the world.
In particular I like his final vision of the renascence of the railways, particularly high-speed lines, urban trams and public transport in general to enable us to travel around without being dependant on the motorcar. Unfortunately, whilst other countries like Germany are embracing this concept we seem remarkably reluctant to follow suit in the UK.
 Not good December 29, 2009
Book lover (London)
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I liked Fire and Steam and loved The Subterranean Railway but this is a poor book. It's full of sweeping generalisations and statements with no real evidence to back them up. I could live with that but what's disappointing is that the book is not fun to read: large parts of it are just dry, abbreviated histories of how x line or y line were built and it's repetitive (I lost count of the times he said that the effect of the railway could not be overestimated). But my greatest disappointment lies in the fact that it lacks any of the insight that made his other books such a joy to read - it seems that what he has done is cobbled together bits of other railway books (including their anecdotes) into a boring blancmange. When you hear him on the radio or read his articles you get the impression that this is a man with knowledge and passion about the railways - you won't think that if you read this book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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