Just Finished Reading: A Brief History of The Age of Steam - The Power that Drove the Industrial Revolution by Thomas Crump

Two of my favourite historical periods are the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Steam that followed it. They were periods when humanity seemed to have unbounded confidence in their own abilities and a time when obstacles used to be called challenges or, to some enterprising fellows, opportunities. That all came to an end with the First World War as it became clear just what war on a truly industrial scale could accomplish. So in many ways the Age of Steam was both a confident age and a naïve one.

In one way the author was part of the steam age when he helped his farther compile a book of the history of a great railway empire. Such an experience, travelling the country and hearing the stories of the men still working in the industries which had been, until recently, dependent on steam produced a life long love of all things steam related. It really shows in this book that he is still in love with steam and that passion is infectious. Anyone who can make a discussion of improved safety features on Victorian railways actually interesting (and sometimes fascinating) is someone who should be applauded. About the only criticism I had of the book is that, from time to time, the author is a little too in love with his subject and had obvious trouble from holding back and ended up delivering a few facts too many and one interesting story too far. But then again he had a lot of interesting facts to mention and far too many interesting stories to tell – stories of the first railways in Britain and the opposition to them, stories of iron ships and revolutionary battles that changed naval warfare forever, stories of Mississippi paddle steamers and immense railway building programmes in China, Russia, and both North and South America. There are tales of genius and tales of disaster, tales of engineers and tales of the money men who financed a global revolution in transportation. It was the great age of steam when, it seemed, anything was possible and everything could change. The author brings this all to life in an excellent introduction to a fascinating time. I learnt a great deal and was prompted to investigate further into some of the great vehicles produced – of which more later. Needless to say that I powered through this book in a matter of days and enjoyed virtually every page of it – even the bits about railway safety. Highly recommended for all history buffs.