Railroads and the American People
Railroads Past and Present
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Narrated by:
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Todd Barsness
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By:
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H. Roger Grant
About this listen
In this social history of the impact of railroads on American life, H. Roger Grant concentrates on the railroad's "Golden Age," 1830-1930. To capture the essence of the nation's railroad experience, Grant explores four fundamental topics - trains and travel, train stations, railroads and community life, and the legacy of railroading in America. Grant recalls the lasting memories left by train travel, both of luxurious Pullman cars and the grit and grind of coal-powered locals.
He discusses the important role railroads played for towns and cities across America, not only for the access they provided to distant places and distant markets but also for the depots that were a focus of community life. Finally, Grant reviews the lasting heritage of the railroads as it has been preserved in word, stone, paint, and memory. Railroads and the American People is a sparkling paean to American railroading by one of its finest historians.
The book is published by Indiana University Press.
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- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to explore the historical role and residual impact of the Green Book, a travel guide for Black motorists.
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Narrator destroyed this for me! read it instead
- By purpleprose on 10-16-22
By: Candacy Taylor
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Train
- Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World - from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
- By: Tom Zoellner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new audiobook 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.
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The world history of trains up to the present
- By matthew on 03-06-14
By: Tom Zoellner
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Driving While Black
- African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights
- By: Gretchen Sorin
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Gretchen Sorin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Gretchen Sorin recovers a forgotten history of black motorists, and recounts their creation of a parallel, unseen world of travel guides, black only hotels, and informal communications networks that kept black drivers safe. At the heart of this story is Victor and Alma Green's famous Green Book, begun in 1936, which made possible that most basic American right, the family vacation, and encouraged a new method of resisting oppression.
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Eye-opening
- By Otis on 11-22-21
By: Gretchen Sorin
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The Big Roads
- The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
- By: Earl Swift
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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From author Earl Swift comes the surprising history of the U.S. interstate system, a fascinating route through the dreams, discoveries, and protests that shaped these mighty roads.
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Lessons from The Big Roads
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Earl Swift
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Disney's Land
- Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World
- By: Richard Snow
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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This is a spectacular story of error and innovation, a wild ride from a vision to the realization of an iconic cultural landscape. It reflects the park’s uniqueness, but just as strongly that of the man who built it with a watchmaker’s precision, an artist’s conviction, and the desperate, high-hearted recklessness of a riverboat gambler.
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Okay, but better books on the subject
- By J.D. on 12-07-19
By: Richard Snow
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Lincoln on the Verge
- Thirteen Days to Washington
- By: Ted Widmer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Ted Widmer
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration - an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent by any means necessary. Drawing on new research, this account reveals the president-elect as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, foiling an assassination attempt, and forging an unbreakable bond with the American people.
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A perfect listen for our divided times.
- By Jonathan W White on 12-06-20
By: Ted Widmer
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Broadway
- A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles
- By: Fran Leadon
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Broadway takes us on a mile-by-mile journey that traces the gradual evolution of the 17th century's Brede Wegh, a muddy cow path in a backwater Dutch settlement, to the 20th century's Great White Way. We learn why one side of the street was once considered more fashionable than the other; witness construction of the Ansonia Apartments, Trinity Church, and the Flatiron Building and the burning of P. T. Barnum's American Museum; and discover that Columbia University was built on the site of an insane asylum.
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Give My Regards To Broadway!
- By Steven on 08-20-18
By: Fran Leadon
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Ghosts of Gold Mountain
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
- By: Gordon H. Chang
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would be pushed to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory.
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Very inspiring, educational, and enlightening!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-25-19
By: Gordon H. Chang
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Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
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Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
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Divided Highways
- Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life
- By: Tom Lewis
- Narrated by: Jim D. Johnston
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In Divided Highways, Tom Lewis offers an encompassing account of highway development in the United States. In the early twentieth century Congress created the Bureau of Public Roads to improve roads and the lives of rural Americans. The Bureau was the forerunner of the Interstate Highway System of 1956, which promoted a technocratic approach to modern road building sometimes at the expense of individual lives, regional characteristics, and the landscape.
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Lots of interesting facts. Poor narration
- By Richard on 06-01-21
By: Tom Lewis
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Conquering Gotham
- The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels
- By: Jill Jonnes
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The demolition of Penn Station in 1963 destroyed not just a soaring neoclassical edifice, but also a building that commemorated one of the last century's great engineering feats: the construction of railroad tunnels into New York City. Now, in this gripping narrative, Jill Jonnes tells this fascinating story - a high-stakes drama that pitted the money and will of the nation's mightiest railroad against the corruption of Tammany Hall, the unruly forces of nature, and the machinations of labor agitators.
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A good tale of the times
- By Edouard on 02-08-08
By: Jill Jonnes
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Battle for the Big Top
- P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling, and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times best-selling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings - James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling - all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus.
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Fantastic!
- By IsleWait on 09-30-22
By: Les Standiford
What listeners say about Railroads and the American People
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gene Bowker
- 07-08-14
great history of railroad life in America
If you could sum up Railroads and the American People in three words, what would they be?
History, Railroads, Culture
What was one of the most memorable moments of Railroads and the American People?
I enjoyed the history of depots and the agents who lived there
Which character – as performed by Todd Barsness – was your favorite?
Not really in characters in this one
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
How railroads created America
Any additional comments?
Great history of railroads and life in America.
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1 person found this helpful
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- tdcdrums
- 08-26-24
American railroad history
Excellent study of our American railroad history, and the associated history of railroad photography.
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- Honest Reviewer
- 07-15-22
Grand Overview
A wonderful revie
w for anyone with an interest in the subject of America's railway history.
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- William C. Earle
- 03-02-24
Enjoyed the listen
Overall not too bad but I thought there would be more detail on some of the major companies, technologies and highlights of the railroad era. Some of the chapters dragged and weren’t interesting to me, but overall, I enjoyed the book.
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- alexyakkavoo
- 11-09-13
Fascinating Story, Poor Editing, Strange Narration
What would have made Railroads and the American People better?
Terrible Editing
While I am not a extreme railroad fan, I am very interested in its history especially in the United States, but the writing and editing was amateurish. The writer seemed to have a thesaurus at one side and a list of cliches on the other. He used a number of unnecessary words such as "opined." He uses "opined a modern day hobo" or "opined a writer" or "opined a youthful railroad fan." He uses "reported" 28 times. He uses "said one" five times which doesn't mean anything. "Said one engineer" or "said one resident" as if he took a survey and determined that only person had that thought or he was in a group and only one spoke up. Referring to WWI as "the Great War" five times added nothing to the book as well "lad" nine times or "residents" 66 times.
Narration
If this If it had been any other subject, I would not have gotten past the first few minutes of this book. The narrator seemed to think that he was reading for a commercial with way too much emphasis on the end of sentences or short passages. And, then when he pronounced "te-LEG-grapher" "te-LOG-grapher" repeatedly I was ready to scream.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Railroads and the American People?
The Subject
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Todd Barsness?
Just about anybody
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Railroads and the American People?
None, but I would have edited the book to get rid of the cliches and verboseness.
Any additional comments?
The space for the review of the book is hugely too long. I thought there was nothing below it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-09-17
interesting to a point
But really no need to give 25 examples when 3 are adequate. Tghten it up.
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- Chuck
- 08-21-24
Just a staccato presentation of information
No real flow to this book. Just presented, in a rather mundane manner, a collection of facts or tidbits.
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- GoGoSunny
- 01-09-22
Outline/Organization. Narrator. Editing
The sequencing of content was disorganized and unstructured. Was there a detailed outline?
I agree with another reviewer. Just about anyone else could have done a better job of narrating. I might have maintained interest even if for only 10minutes at a time if the narrator had varied the pacing and emphasized certain words. And then there’s the Pronunciation
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