Engines of War : How Wars Were Won and Lost on the Railways

by Wolmar, Christian

• ISBN13: 9781586489717
• ISBN10: 1586489712
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-02
• Publisher: Public Affairs

Summary

Before the nineteenth century, armies had to rely on slow and unreliable methods of transportation to move soldiers and equipment during times of conflict. But with the birth of the railroad in the early 1830s, the way wars were fought would change forever. InEngines of War, renowned expert Christian Wolmar tells the story of that transformation, examining all the engagements in which railways played a part from the Crimean War and American Civil War through both world wars, the Korean War, and the Cold War with its mysterious missile trains. He shows that the 'iron road' not only made armies far more mobile, but also greatly increased the scale and power of available weaponry. Wars began to be fought across wider fronts and over longer timescales, with far deadlier consequences. From armored engines with their swiveling guns to track sabotage by way of dynamite, railway lines constructed across frozen Siberian lakes and a Boer war ambush involving Winston Churchill,Engines of Warshows how the railways - a fantastic generator of wealth in peacetime - became a weapon of war exploited to the full by governments across the world.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations	p. viii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Maps	p. xix
War Before Railways	p. 1
The Railways Called into Action	p. 13
Slavery Loses Out to the Iron Road	p. 34
Lessons Not Learnt	p. 64
The New Weapon of War	p. 89
The War the World Anticipated	p. 124
The Great Railway War on the Western Front	p. 151
Eastern Contrasts	p. 189
Here We Go Again	p. 227
Blood on the Tracks	p. 266
Select Bibliography	p. 283
Notes	p. 286
Index	p. 299
About the Author	p. 315
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