The Coming Of The Railway: A New Global History, 1750–1850
David Gwyn (Yale, £25)
IN April 1807, wealthy travellers enjoyed the scenic pleasures of Swansea Bay along a rail track originally opened for industrial purposes. It was the world’s first-known railway passenger service and similar opportunities were soon offered in the West Country and Scotland. Those lower down the social scale used these horse-drawn trains for working purposes, including taking goods to market. Such examples are little known because popular railway histories usually begin with the dawn of the so-called railway age, represented by the opening of the Stockton-Darlington railway in 1825 and the first regular steam locomotive passenger service, between Liverpool and Manchester, five years later. However, David Gwyn argues that the previous 80 years are as much part of the story. Here, he sheds light on the early wooden and iron railways and their role in shaping the rapid expansion that followed.
The iron railway
