{"product_id":"death-rode-the-rails-mark-aldrich-9780801882364","title":"Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828-1965","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor most of the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, railroads dominated American transportation. They transformed life and captured the imagination. Yet by 1907 railroads had also become the largest cause of violent death in the country, that year claiming the lives of nearly twelve thousand passengers, workers, and others. In \u003ci\u003eDeath Rode the Rails\u003c\/i\u003e Mark Aldrich explores the evolution of railroad safety in the United States by examining a variety of incidents: spectacular train wrecks, smaller accidents in shops and yards that devastated the lives of workers and their families, and the deaths of thousands of women and children killed while walking on or crossing the street-grade tracks. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe evolution of railroad safety, Aldrich argues, involved the interplay of market forces, science and technology, and legal and public pressures. He considers the railroad as a system in its entirety: operational realities, technical constraints, economic history, internal politics, and labor management. Aldrich shows that economics initially encouraged American carriers to build and operate cheap and dangerous lines. Only over time did the trade-off between safety and output--shaped by labor markets and public policy--motivate carriers to develop technological improvements that enhanced both productivity and safety.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fascinating account of one of America's most important industries and its dangers, \u003ci\u003eDeath Rode the Rails\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to scholars of economics and the history of transportation, technology, labor, regulation, safety, and business, as well as to railroad enthusiasts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mark Aldrich\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0801882362\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780801882364\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Johns Hopkins University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/10\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.22lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.30h x 7.38w x 1.27d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eScitech Book News\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2006 pg. 114\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2006 pg. 500","brand":"Mark Aldrich","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44201716875519,"sku":"9780801882364","price":72.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_91d40952-43d4-403c-a5b6-f59f1d87bab6.jpg?v=1691490991","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/death-rode-the-rails-mark-aldrich-9780801882364","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}