Every major accident on British railways between 1840 and 1957 is covered with the evolution of safety developments.

    An extensive and colorful salute to the nation's largest railroadduring its most dramatic years, by one of America's most prominentrailroad authors.

    when people claiming to be respectable are not ashamed of being associated with a man such as he." He was Jay Gould, the individual who for a century has been singled out as the most despicable and unscrupulous of the Robber Barons. In this splendid new biography--the first to appear in nearly twenty-five years--Maury Klein paints the most complete portrait of the notorious Gould that we have ever had. His Gould is a brilliant but ruthless businessman who merged dying railroads into expansive and profit-making lines, including the giant Union Pacific. He gained controlling interest in the Western Union Telegraph Company, tried to corner the gold market, and became the most feared and followed power on Wall Street. When friends shied away from business deals, he made alliances with enemies.Yet Klein also presents a more balanced view of Gould than has ever been available. He compellingly demonstrates that the image of Gould as the most hated man in America was largely a creation of the press--a creation that assumed the proportions of a legend long before Gould's death in 1892. Challenging this legend at almost every point, Klein reveals a man who is far more fascinating, sympathetic, and complex than his detractors would have him. New material on Gould's childhood, early manhood, and surprisingly orthodox family life reveals a quiet and protective man far different from the amoral, daring investor and railroad czar of popular image.The Life and Legend of Jay Gould is more than a biography of its infamous subject. It is a dizzying story of America's most powerful investment barons assembling railroads, manipulating the stock market, and amassing huge private fortunes in a newly industrialized nation. Gould emerges as one of the most creative and dynamic entrepreneurs of his age, a pivotal figure in the development of the country's West and Southwest and of its fledgling transportation and communications industries."His rise to success followed the classic pattern of the rags-to-riches myth except in the crucial area of method," writes Klein. "In business, he was ruthless and devious, clever and unpredictable, secretive and evasive. Above all he was imaginative, not only brilliant but thoroughly original. None of these traits were unique to him, but he exercised them with devastating effectiveness." In the end, Jay Gould both outsmarted and overshadowed his rivals.

    Since then, industrialization has often proved a mixed blessing; yet we continue to acknowledge the importance--as well as the romantic mystique--of the rails and all that comes withthem. This engaging book examines the role of the railway station around the world, revealing a microcosm more complex and fascinating than anything our nineteenth-century forebears could have dreamed of. The authors chart the changing styles in the construction and decoration of the station, fromthe somber grandeur of St. Pancras in London to the humbler delights of country stations in the American Midwest. As the book shows, the various facilities offered by the station have assumed as much importance as the building itself: the ticket office and the waiting room have become as familiaras the trains. The book also discusses how, in paintings and poetry, stations have been depicted as places of tearful departure or joyful reunion, and how, in films like Brief Encounter, they have assumed the status of a starring role. Stations also have had a part to play in politics and theeconomy, especially in wartime, and governments throughout the world have long recognized their strategic significance. This enthralling volume captures the allure of the station by encompassing the disciplines of history, literature, art, and architecture in a sweeping global survey, unique inboth scope and perspective.