The Times reviews Christian Wolmar
2 Jan 2014
‘Christian Wolmar is Britain’s foremost railway historian, with almost a dozen books on railways in Britain and abroad. This is one of his best. Witty, fluent and opinionated, he shows a superb grasp of Russia — its people, history and mindset. Though the focus is the vast enterprise of building the railway, he ranges widely, giving us an excellent account not only of the political intrigues and dreadful social conditions of Tsarist Russia in the throes of change, but the appalling cost of the railway – in lives and subsequent conflict. The polemical chapter on the civil war is explained in an aside when he reveals that his own father was a former Tsarist army officer who deserted and fled to Paris in disgust at the cruelty and incompetence of the White army. Wolmar leaves us in awe of an achievement that has made the Trans-Siberian not only the longest but the greatest railway line ever built.’
