Train, Tom Zoellner
Train, Tom Zoellner
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Train
Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief

Author: Tom Zoellner

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 12 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/30/2014


Synopsis

Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new book he chronicles the innovation and sociological impact of the railway technology that changed the world, and could very well change it again.

From the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the futuristic maglev trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of man's relationship with trains. Zoellner examines both the mechanics of the rails and their engines and how they helped societies evolve. Not only do trains transport people and goods in an efficient manner, but they also reduce pollution and dependency upon oil. Zoellner also considers America's culture of ambivalence to mass transit, using the perpetually stalled line between Los Angeles and San Francisco as a case study in bureaucracy and public indifference.

Train presents both an entertaining history of railway travel around the world while offering a serious and impassioned case for the future of train travel.

About Tom Zoellner

Tom Zoellner is the author or coauthor of nine nonfiction books, the politics editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, an associate professor of English at Chapman University, and a visiting professor of English at Dartmouth College. His writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Harper's, Men's Health, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other places. He is the recipient of fellowships and residencies from The Lannan Foundation, the Corporation of Yaddo, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Grumpus

I was a bit surprised to find that I liked this book as much as I did. It's a great mix of railroad travel stories and history. As usual, Grover Gardner's narration also helps earn bonus points. I learned a lot of railroad history and of one particular country's railroad to avoid. I would also recomm......more