The Railway Haters: Opposition To Railways, From the 19th to 21st Centuries

This unique social history examines 200 years of controversy surrounding British Railways—from the dawn of industrialization to contemporary light rail.

During the Industrial Revolution, the power of landowning aristocrats was challenged by the emergent wealth and influence of the urban middle class. There was no greater symbol of this seismic shift in society than the British Railways Companies. Railways, with their powers of compulsory purchase, intruded brutally into the previously sac...