A review by ludicucek
The Railway Journey: The Industrialization and Perception of Time and Space by Wolfgang Schivelbusch

5.0

An interesting book on how the railway influenced our perception of the world. Starting from the idea of mechanized travel changing the then usual travel by coach, or on foot. The author proceeds on explaining the process of developing the railroad system in Europe and the US, indicating that the two had completely different processes of evolution. There is also a fair degree of focus on the subjective effects the railroad had on people, which varied from optimism and shock to complete indifference in the case of lower classes. The railway system also had a great impact on architecture and contributed to the development of department stores which previously didn't exist. The general theme of the book is that at the time there was a large degree of anxiety oriented around this new, fast world that industrialization created which is an idea that I found interesting in comparison to the world of today. It seems to me that certain patterns stretching as far as the industrial revolution have reappeared in the contemporary digital revolution and that we have a lot to learn from this period.