Passage to Union: How the Railroads Tranformed American Life 1829-1929

The principal argument of this highly readable social, economic and political history of the first 100 years of American railroads is that after the Civil War the nationwide web of train tracks unified the country, increased national communication, facilitated transcontinental expansion and then went on to destroy small-town America. By funneling money and labor power to cities, especially those in the North, the railroads undermined the rural economy and weakened the economic and political power of local as well as national government. Gordon, who teaches American history on both the high school and college levels in Connecticut, presents her case in solid academic fashion, but she also has an eye for telling social detail and makes apt references to the popular culture. She underlines the irony that once railroads had stretched across the country, a new emphasis on cost-cutting, efficiency and higher profits began reducing services to the small communities that were the original building blocks of the system. She even examines lawsuits involving property damages and personal injury to show that decline of services. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)