Overview

Some 25,000 miles of railways were constructed in India from 1850 to 1900. This involved a substantial investment of British capital, the transplantation of Victorian railway technology to the British Indian Empire, the presence of a small, supervisary cadre of British engineers, skilled workmen and overseers, and the mobilization of millions of Indian workers. This is the first, wide-scale examination of this subject in modern times. It explains how great physical obstacles and human complexities -- for example massive rivers, epidemics of disease and the co-ordinated use of large labour gangs - tested alike the skills and fortitude of British supervisors and the Indian workers, whose labour built the railways and whose construction-related deaths numbered in tens of thousands. This book is intended for students of modern Indian history, technology transfer, labour history and railway enthusiasts.

Full Product Details

9780195642384

Table of Contents

Reviews

Ian J. Kerr's carefully documented reconstruction of early Indian railway history reveals a fascinating tale of collaboration and compromise between British engineers and Indian workers - a triumph of management as much as of engineering. TLS

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available