The Rise of Rail-Power in War and Conquest, 1833-1914

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pratt, Edwin A., 1854-1922

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Rise of Rail-Power in War and Conquest, 1833-1914" by Edwin A. Pratt is a historical account written in the early 20th century. The book focuses on the significant impact and utilization of railways in military conflicts from the mid-19th century up to World War I. It examines how rail transportation reshaped warfare tactics, troop movements, and the logistics of supporting armies, especially in the context of notable wars such as the American Civil War and the Franco-German War. The opening of the book introduces the concept that railways, while initially designed for peaceful purposes, quickly became integral to modern warfare due to their capacity for rapid troop and supply movement. Pratt discusses early discussions and proposals regarding the military use of railways, particularly emphasizing the foresight of military leaders and transport officials in various countries who recognized the strategic advantages railways could offer. Furthermore, he highlights archival examples and early methodologies that illustrate how railways began influencing military campaigns, ultimately laying the groundwork for the comprehensive exploration of rail transport's role in war that follows in the subsequent chapters. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 48.7 (College-level). Difficult to read.

Release date is 2013-03-30