Tracks Across America: The Story of the American Railroad, 1825-1900: With Photographs, Maps, and Drawings

Combining his fine eye for detail, an impressive collection of period photographs and energetic writing, the author of Ellis Island and The Oregon Trail has again brought to life a segment of America's past. The vital connection between the railroads and victory in the Civil War is dramatically played out, giving young readers an insight into the war's military strategy they might not find elsewhere. The role played by the ``iron horse'' in our western expansion, and the transcontinental railroad's part in the endangerment of the buffalo are also examined in scupulous detail. The absence of detailed maps of major rail routes, however, produces some confusion when following the text. Nonetheless, all the noise, soot and steam of the early locomotive era seem to jump off the pages of this first-rate volume. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)