Railways And Culture In Britain

This work shows how the 19th-century's steam railway epitomized modernity's relentlessly onrushing advance. Ian Carter delves into the cultural impact of train technology, and how this was represented in British society. Discussions of comic fiction, crime fiction and cartoons are included. Examines the cultural impact of train technology, and how this was represented in British society; Compares fiction and images of the Railways by some canonical British figures (Turner, Dickens, Arnold Bennett) against selected French and Russian competitors: Tolstoy, Zola, Monet, Manet; Includes detailed discussions of comic fiction, crime fiction and cartoons revealing a popular fascination with railways from vast (and hitherto unexplored) stores of critically overlooked genres; A final chapter contemplates cultural correlations of the steam railway's eclipse - If this was the epitome of modernity, then does the triumph of diesel and electric trains, of cars and planes, signal a decisive shift to postmodernity?

Review: 'This is an important, agenda-setting work. The quality of the scholarship is very high'. Dr Ralph Harrington, University of York