- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Location
- Long Island, NY
The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War, and the Making of Modern America by William G. Thomas published by Yale University Press (2011) $22.00 Paperback $15.99 Kindle.
First off, this is not a choo-choo book. Not that there is anything wrong with choo-choos. I rode on my first steam train up in Oneonta back when the DEW Line was still operating in Upstate New York and I have traveled coast to coast by rail. But you will find little mention of engines or rolling stock or even engineers in this interesting look at the ways the railroads helped shape the politics and economics of pre-war America, the strategies of the armies during the Civil War, and the societies of the Reconstruction Era.
I have not read many books devoted solely to the railroads in this era, so I can't offer you a comparison to other works on this subject. I can tell you that I enjoyed reading the book and found some of the author's interpretations challenging.
One aspect of the book that I had not thought much about was the way the railroads transformed the geography of the theaters of conflict. Rivers and mountains were important aspects of geography, but so were railroads. Another was the way that the railroads helped create a national consciousness among white Southerners. Finally, the modernity of Southern railroads had escaped me before I read this book.
This review will be posted in several installments.
First off, this is not a choo-choo book. Not that there is anything wrong with choo-choos. I rode on my first steam train up in Oneonta back when the DEW Line was still operating in Upstate New York and I have traveled coast to coast by rail. But you will find little mention of engines or rolling stock or even engineers in this interesting look at the ways the railroads helped shape the politics and economics of pre-war America, the strategies of the armies during the Civil War, and the societies of the Reconstruction Era.
I have not read many books devoted solely to the railroads in this era, so I can't offer you a comparison to other works on this subject. I can tell you that I enjoyed reading the book and found some of the author's interpretations challenging.
One aspect of the book that I had not thought much about was the way the railroads transformed the geography of the theaters of conflict. Rivers and mountains were important aspects of geography, but so were railroads. Another was the way that the railroads helped create a national consciousness among white Southerners. Finally, the modernity of Southern railroads had escaped me before I read this book.
This review will be posted in several installments.
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