Ever since the invention of the steam engine generations of people have been fascinated by railways and its myriad images and sounds, the rhythmic puffing of the steam engine, the sound of trains negotiating curves or entering and emerging from tunnels, the sight of smoke billowing out of the chimney of the locomotive forming a cloud over the train and so on. The fascination has continued with steam traction yielding place to diesel and electric traction, entry of streamlined train sets, magnetic levitation, and bullet trains. Equally fascinating is the history of development of railways. Railway historians in general tend to focus on the technical aspects of construction and opening of lines and touch but briefly on events of interest from the point of view of the lay reader. Trailing Window a Journey into Rail History turns the spotlight on the socio-economic considerations that led the British to construct railways in India, the effect of the Indian Mutiny, the diversion of railway resources in the War effort in 1914-18, the tragic death of the Agent of EIR, etc., all in an engaging narrative.
