Across American prairies, through Siberian tundra, over Argentinian pampas and deep into the heart of Africa, the modern world began with the arrival of the railway. The shock was sudden and universal: railways carried empire, capitalism and industrialization to every corner of the planet. For some, the "Iron Road" symbolized the brute horrors of modernity; for others the way toward a brighter future. Nicholas Faith presents an engaging and entertaining journey through the first century of rail, introducing visionaries, engineers, surveyors, speculators, financiers and navvies--the heroes and the rogues of the mechanical revolution that turned the world upside down. The railway was the most important invention of the 19th century, and this book argues that in the 21st century, it remains just as relevant.