A Most Magnificent Machine: America Adopts the Railroad, 1825-1862
"An impressive study that expands the path-breaking works of Leo Marx'sMachine in the Gardenand Bruce Mazlish'sThe Railroad and the Space Programto reprise the early national debate over railroads."--James A. Ward, author ofRailroads and the Character of America, 1820-1887"An imaginatively researched, delightfully written, and sensibly argued study that offers comprehensive insights into the Railway Age's formative years."--H. Roger Grant, author ofThe Railroads: The Life Story of a Technology"No technology loomed larger in the lives of early Americans than the railroad, with its nearly irresistible capacity to enlarge the scope of commerce and expand the nation's reach. Combing a vast treasure trove of antebellum newspapers, Miner conveys the full drama of this prolonged encounter between a people and a machine. His book offers unprecedented insight into the exhilaration and the anxiety that accompanied this transforming innovation."--Steven W. Usselman, author ofRegulating Railroad Innovation: Business, Technology, and Politics in America, 1840-1920