In his wide-ranging and entertaining new book, Tom Zoellner—coauthor of the New York Times—travels the globe to tell the story of the sociological and economic impact of the railway technology that transformed the world—and could very well change it again.

From the frigid trans-Siberian railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the Japanese-style bullet trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of this most indispensable form of travel. A masterful narrative history, Train also explores the sleek elegance of railroads and their hypnotizing rhythms, and explains how locomotives became living symbols of sex, death, power, and romance.