Before the nineteenth century, armies had to rely on slow and unreliable methods of transportation to move soldiers and equipment during times of conflict. However, as Christian Wolmar demonstrates in his new book, the birth of the railway in the early 1830s would transform the nature and intensity of warfare. Engines of War spans more than a century and takes in all the engagements in which railways played a part, including the Crimean War, the American Civil War, the Boer War, both world wars, the Korean War, and the Cold War. It shows that the 'iron road' not only made armies far more mobile, but also greatly increased the scale and power of weaponry available. In doing so, it ensured that wars could be fought across wider fronts and over longer timescales, with far deadlier consequences. Christian Wolmar reveals how the railways - a major generator of wealth in peacetime - became a weapon of war exploited to the full by governments across the world, facilitating conflict on a scale that was previously unimaginable. From armoured engines with their swivelling guns to a Boer War ambush involving Winston Churchill and from the mysterious missile trains of the Cold War to track sabotage, Engines of War is Christian Wolmar's most ambitious and original book yet, confirming his reputation as our leading transport historian.
