Great Train Race

Allan Mitchell (1933-2016) was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. He served on the editorial boards of The American Historical Review and Central European History. Trained in both France and Germany, he became a distinguished proponent of comparative European History.

"The breadth of [this] comparative study of French and German railroad development - the largest and most important railway systems on the continent - is a signal achievement... A brief sketch of the book's trajectory does justice neither to the wealth of detail nor to the arresting insights that future historians will draw on for years to come."   · Central European History "... a fine book. Indeed, it is a labour of love, informed by intensive research and a lifetime's interest. All historians of European railways will be greatly in its debt."   · The International History Review"The Great Train Race is a well-researched book, full of useful comparative insights into French and German railway development, and doubtless an important contribution to the history of Franco-German rivalry before World War One ... [R]ecommended to economic historians as a study which shows, in well-balanced comparative perspective, the great importance of their field for understanding political history."  · Journal of Modern History“For Mitchell, this was clearly a labor of love, and it is a pleasure to see a job well done. The book has a full scholarly apparatus along with vital charts and maps to keep things clear.”   ·  H-German“Allan Mitchell is presenting, with The Great Train Race, a highly informed and ambitious study, in which the fundamental importance of trains for the societies of both countries has been convincingly argued.”   ·  Historische Zeitschrift“...Presents a rich and understandable overview…The book provides an excellent model for researching and writing comparative railway histories. Such analyses of the relationship between state and railway are rare events.”   · The Journal of Transport History

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceIntroduction: The Conundrum of Comparative HistoryPART I: LAUNCHING THE RAILWAY AGEChapter 1. France, 1815–1870Liberalism and the Legrand StarThe Emergence of the Great Railway CompaniesThe Surge of the Second EmpireTrains and Free TradeThe Military ImplicationsChapter 2. Germany, 1815–1870The Dilemmas of Political DiversityParticularism UnboundPrussia and the Push for UnificationBefore the Take-OffStrategic Thought and Military ActionChapter 3. Comparisons, 1815–1870Administrative OrganizationEconomic CompetitionMilitary StrategyPART II: THE SIGNALS ARE SETChapter 4. France, 1870–1890After the FallThe Counterattack of the CompaniesThe Failure of CentralismA Condition of Troubling InferiorityRailways and the Republican ArmyChapter 5. Germany, 1870–1890Bismarck’s Railroad PolicyThe Reassertion of States’ RightsGermany TransformedThe Age of St. GotthardThe Consolidation of Military PredominanceChapter 6. Comparisons, 1870–1890Administrative OrganizationEconomic CompetitionMilitary StrategyPART III: INTERNAL AND INTERNATIONAL TENSIONSChapter 7. France, 1890–1914Recovery and ControversyThe Companies Face NationalizationPrivate Enterprise or Public Service?The Long StagnationFrance Prepares for WarChapter 8. Germany, 1890–1914The Specter of PrussificationFlirting with UnificationLow Expectations and High FinanceRailroads and the German Take-OffThe Consequences of EscalationChapter 9. Comparisons, 1890–1914Administrative OrganizationEconomic CompetitionMilitary StrategyEpilogue: From Trains to TrenchesList of AbbreviationsNotesBibliographyName IndexSubject Index