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

An epic and revelatory narrative of the most important transportation technology of the modern world

In his wide-ranging and entertaining new book, Tom Zoellner—coauthor of the New York Times–bestselling An Ordinary Man—travels the globe to tell the story of the sociological and economic impact of the railway technology that transformed the world—and could very well change it again. From the frigid trans-Siberian railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the Japanese-style bullet trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of this most indispensable form of travel. A masterful narrative history, Train also explores the sleek elegance of railroads and their hypnotizing rhythms, and explains how locomotives became living symbols of sex, death, power, and romance.

Tom Zoellner is the author of five nonfiction books, including Uranium, winner of the 2011 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award, and coauthor of An Ordinary Man. He teaches at Chapman University in southern California and lives in Los Angeles.