Synopses & Reviews
Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new book he chronicles the innovation and sociological impact of the railway technology that changed the world, and could very well change it again.
From the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the futuristic maglev trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of man's relationship with trains. Zoellner examines both the mechanics of the rails and their engines and how they helped societies evolve. Not only do trains transport people and goods in an efficient manner, but they also reduce pollution and dependency upon oil. Zoellner also considers America's culture of ambivalence to mass transit, using the perpetually stalled line between Los Angeles and San Francisco as a case study in bureaucracy and public indifference.
Train presents both an entertaining history of railway travel around the world while offering a serious and impassioned case for the future of train travel.
Review
"Tom Zoellner's writing is never less than engaging; in Train he has made himself a veritable Walt Whitman of rail travel." ---Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Synopsis
From Tom Zoellner, a revelatory, entertaining account of the world's most indispensable mode of transportation.
About the Author
Tom Zoellner is the author of several nonfiction books, including The Heartless Stone and Uranium, winner of the 2011 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award. He is also coauthor of the New York Times bestseller An Ordinary Man. Tom has worked as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Arizona Republic, and as a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine. He is now an associate professor of English at Chapman University. Tom lives in downtown Los Angeles. Grover Gardner, a professional actor, director, and teacher, has narrated over 650 audiobooks. He was named one of the Best Voices of the Century by AudioFile magazine as well as a Golden Voice, and he has received over twenty AudioFile Earphones Awards. He has also won two coveted Audie Awards, as well as being a three-time finalist. In 2005, Publishers Weekly named him Audiobook Narrator of the Year.