Acclaimed travel writer and essayist writes with wit and historical appreciation about what he sees, hears, and reads on his trans-continental train journeys along some of the most celebrated routes in the world but also on branch lines in Kosovo, Greece, Poland, and Transnistria (" "). In China, goes in search of Port Arthur and the 1904 Russo-Japanese War (" "). From Prague to Berlin, he writes about the origins of World War II (" "). On Amtrak across the United States, he despairs over the collapse of American passenger rail service (" ?"). Neither a travel book nor a conventional railroad history, captures not just the romance of trains but also the politics, history, books, and tragedies that went along these great lines.The writing blends Stevenson's sense of irony and keen eye with his essayist s touch for events and historical passages.