Overview
This masterful, richly illustrated account of the planning and building of the most important and influential early American railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, is an essential contribution not only to railway history but also to the broader history of the development of the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. Its successful inauguration provided a spur to internal improvements throughout the United States. The railroad affected the development of Baltimore's port, industry, and urban geography, as well as its financial, educational and cultural institutions. Throughout, the author highlights the men who were involved in that history: promoters, financiers, politicians, lawyers, newspaper editors, fixers and bagmen, civil engineers, inventors and mechanics, foremen, contractors, and feuding Irish laborers, who together built the first long-distance, general-purpose railroad in the United States.
Full Product Details
Author: James D. Dilts ,
James D. Dilts
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 17.80cm
, Height: 4.00cm
, Length: 25.40cm
Weight: 1.306kg
ISBN: 9780804722353
ISBN 10: 0804722358
Pages: 496
Publication Date: 01 October 1993
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Dilts has immortalized himself by writing the definitive history of the construction of the B&O. . . . The Great Road is a masterful scholarly work and a delight to read. It has something for everyone, from high finance and dirty politics to thrilling accounts of labor riots and wrecks. -- Railroad History <br>
A comprehensive account of the legendary B & O... Dilts recounts all aspects of surveying, civil engineering, steam locomotion, and labor... Anchored in sober fact, adorned by 80 photos of people, bridges, and tunnels, this is a railroad history that can't be bested in its special arena. - Booklist Dilts has immortalized himself by writing the definitive history of the construction of the B & O. ... The Great Road is a masterful scholarly work and a delight to read. It has something for everyone, from high finance and dirty politics to thrilling accounts of labor riots and wrecks. - Railroad History One of the most important studies ever on an individual American railroad. ... The book is beautifully designed and edited, with a large number of attractive illustrations, including historic maps. - Choice The Great Road is clearly the definitive history of the building of the first regional railroad in America. It should be welcomed by all those interested in the development of internal improvements in the first half of the nineteenth century. - Business History Review The Great Road - the most clearly detailed account of a national enterprise I have ever read - will surely awaken a profound sense of recognition and nostalgia. - Yale Review
A comprehensive account of the legendary B&O... Dilts recounts all aspects of surveying, civil engineering, steam locomotion, and labor... Anchored in sober fact, adorned by 80 photos of people, bridges, and tunnels, this is a railroad history that can't be bested in its special arena. -Booklist Dilts has immortalized himself by writing the definitive history of the construction of the B&O. ... The Great Road is a masterful scholarly work and a delight to read. It has something for everyone, from high finance and dirty politics to thrilling accounts of labor riots and wrecks. -Railroad History One of the most important studies ever on an individual American railroad. ... The book is beautifully designed and edited, with a large number of attractive illustrations, including historic maps. -Choice The Great Road is clearly the definitive history of the building of the first regional railroad in America. It should be welcomed by all those interested in the development of internal improvements in the first half of the nineteenth century. -Business History Review The Great Road-the most clearly detailed account of a national enterprise I have ever read-will surely awaken a profound sense of recognition and nostalgia. -Yale Review A case study that deals with the larger background of a significant U.S. carrier, this book is a model for how railroad history should be written. -The Historian
Author Information
James D. Dilts is an independent scholar and writer. He is the co-author of A Guide to Baltimore Architecture and the co-editor of Baltimore's Cast Iron Buildings and Architectural Ironwork.
