Transport and communications reading list

Railways

• Kerr, Ian J.

Building the railways of the Raj: 1850-1900. New ed. Oxford: OUP, 1998 (Themes in Indian history)

Focusing on the construction of the railways, this book is intended for students of modern Indian history, technology transfer, labour history and railway enthusiasts. Written by the academic authority on the subject of Indian railways the book is rather analytical. Nevertheless it will be very helpful to the family historian who is seeking to understand what an ancestor did to help build the railways, whether he was employed by the Public Works Department, a private contractor or fitted somewhere else in the complex hierarchy. The challenges of this major undertaking are well explained.

• Kerr, Ian J.

Engines of change: the railroads that made India. London: Praeger, 2006 (Moving Through history: transportation and society)

Any book by Ian Kerr on railways in India comes highly recommended and Engines of change, his latest, looks set to become the standard primer on the subject, supplanting J N Westwood’s long out of print Railways of India.

Like Westwood, Kerr is succinct but always ready with detail, fact and insight. In only 8 chapters and 169 pages, he takes the reader from earliest beginnings shortly before 1850 through growth and development firmly tied to the needs of the Raj, then the trauma of Independence and Partition, before bringing the story right up to date with the completion of the Konkan line in 1998 and construction in the 21st century.

This is no Ian Allan guide and neither is it an apologia for the Raj – the author is at pains to point out the short-comings of the British and the inadequacy of the legacy left in 1947 as he considers the impact of the iron horse not just on the countryside but also on Indian politics, society, mores and culture. He also looks at the part it played in the awakening of an Indian national consciousness and it continues to play in shaping the modern nation.

Given the fact and detail that ooze from every page, it is reassuring that there endnotes for each chapter, an exhaustive (11 page) bibliography and an index, although there is no listing by name of the 45 or so railway administrations (or groupings) that existed in the imperial period nor one of the 16 zones that currently make up Indian Railways. There is also scant coverage of the railways of the Princely States.

With the caveat that there is no personal or genealogical data covered, this is a compelling and enjoyable read, wholeheartedly recommended, but maybe a bit pricey in the UK. (Hugh Wilding, FIBIS Trustee)