OUR LATEST BOOKS

MARCH 2012

Asia-Pacific Relations:
Japan: The Story of the Nation

Australian Timelines:
Gold

FEBRUARY 2012

Australia Year by Year:
1788 to 1809

Australian Timelines:
The Commonwealth of Australia



RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Australian Timelines:
The Governors 1788-1855
Immigration Since 1788
Prime Ministers and Their Governments
The Constitution
Exploration and Settlement

Linking the Nation:
Australia's Airlines
Australia's Railways

Asia-Pacific Relations:
China The Story of the Nation

Asia-Pacific Timelines:
European Colonialism in the Asia-Pacific

The National Identity:
Faiths, Religions, Beliefs

Australian Decades:
The 1950s

Defending Australia:
World War II



Format
275 x 210 mm, 48 pages
ISBN 9780864271082
Recommended retail price
$24.95 (incl.GST)


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Linking the Nation

Australia's Railways
How The Land Was Conquered

by Stephen Brooke

From their very earliest days in the 1850s railways provided a much safer, more comfortable,efficient form of transport. They swiftly captured the imagination of the public, the planners and the politicans who would expand them across the six colonies bringing a speed of communication unheard of in Australia previously.

This is the story of how railway tracks rapidly expanded to all but the most remote parts of the continent. It shows how railway lines linked many places where they made no economic sense, but also forged connections that improved life for everyone in city or town.

The story ranges from the very first lines through the massive expansion until the 1890s, then the golden days of rail travel until?World War II, through to the rationalisation, standardisation and redevelopments of the modern era.

Railways were a key aspect of the development of Australia. This is their story.