Train

"Tom Zoellner's writing is never less than engaging; in Train he has made himself a veritable Walt Whitman of rail travel. It's a great read."--Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb "Train is such a pleasure to read, elegant, deeply informed and smart, full of knowledge-bearing sentences, and prose so companionable and rich in insight that it is as if its author were at your shoulder, taking you along with him. What an enjoyable journey. I will never hear the far off moan of a train in the night without thinking of it, and I know of no higher praise one can give a book. Tom Zoellner is quickly making himself a reputation as a man of wide and eclectic interests, and oh, my! Can he write!"--Richard Bausch, author of Peace

"Spirited and bighearted...Zoellner enlightens us about an industry that's hiding in plain sight."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Highly entertaining, lucid and perceptive....It's a train lover's celebration of the great epic story of rail travel itself."--Los Angeles Times

"This is one of those all-too-rare books that have so much to them"--The Washington Times

"[Train] is a gracefully written, densely detailed meditation of trains--past, present and future....[P]art travelogue, as he rides seven train that shaped the modern world; part personal memoir, as he describes the people he met along the way; and part history of trains, from their origin to their impact on societies around the world and their vital role in the fast-forward 21st century."--LA Weekly

"An absorbing and lively reflection on an enduring marvel of modern industrial technology."--Booklist

"Train makes for fascinating reading....The author's easy, breezy style will keep readers chugging along."--The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Zoellner illustrates how the modern era was ushered in and strapped in place by railroads, and how trains--the reality and the idea--continue to shape the world as we understand it....Train is by turns lyrical, powerful, romantic, transporting, and rich."--Phoenix New Times

"[Train], rich with history and local color, is a mesmerizing read for anyone interested in the impact of trains on the environment, politics, economics, and daily life around the world today."--Library Journal

"Enchanting and informative."--New York Post

"[Train] is an absorbing round-the-world journey."--BookPage