On the Fast Track - by Jacob Meunier (Hardcover)

About the Book

For much of the postwar era, French society had a contradictory view of passenger trains, scorning them as quaint anachronisms on the one hand, yet also fearing their economic and social impact. All this changed with the introduction of the famed Train á Grande Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon in the early 1980s. In vivid detail, Meunier describes the political, economic, and social factors that both helped and hindered the development of the world's fastest, most technologically advanced train.

The present-day enthusiasm in France for high-speed rail travel dates only to the successful launch of the now-famous TGV in 1981. Until now, most published accounts of French high-speed rail have been of a technical nature and have ignored or minimized the historical, political, economic, and social context. Historians have been left with detailed descriptions of locomotives and experimental test runs, but there has been scant information cercerning why the machines were built and why the tests were carried out in the first place. This book is the first full-length treatment of high-speed rail travel and the bibliography is one of the most complete on the subject.

Book Synopsis

For much of the postwar era, French society had a contradictory view of passenger trains, scorning them as quaint anachronisms on the one hand, yet also fearing their economic and social impact. All this changed with the introduction of the famed Train á Grande Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon in the early 1980s. In vivid detail, Meunier describes the political, economic, and social factors that both helped and hindered the development of the world's fastest, most technologically advanced train.

The present-day enthusiasm in France for high-speed rail travel dates only to the successful launch of the now-famous TGV in 1981. Until now, most published accounts of French high-speed rail have been of a technical nature and have ignored or minimized the historical, political, economic, and social context. Historians have been left with detailed descriptions of locomotives and experimental test runs, but there has been scant information cercerning why the machines were built and why the tests were carried out in the first place. This book is the first full-length treatment of high-speed rail travel and the bibliography is one of the most complete on the subject.

Review Quotes

?[A]s a readable, informed, and engaged account of the political and technological development of high-speed passenger train travel in postwar France, this book is to be warmly recommended.?-Economic History Review

?{M}eunier's is a very well-researched and brilliantly written historical account. While several authors have published good studies on the TGV for French readers, his is the first aimed at an English-speaking audience.It can be highly recommended to anyone interested in railway history, large technological systems, or French history of technology.?-Technology and Culture

?Other histories have described the building of the system from engineering standpoint or as occuring largely in a political and social vacuum. In this important book, Jacob Meunier seeks to set the record straight and provide a complete picture of the political controversies and technical contingencies that surrounds the french drive toward high-speed rail....Meunier succeeds admirably at his task.?-RailRoad History

"ÝA¨s a readable, informed, and engaged account of the political and technological development of high-speed passenger train travel in postwar France, this book is to be warmly recommended."-Economic History Review

"[A]s a readable, informed, and engaged account of the political and technological development of high-speed passenger train travel in postwar France, this book is to be warmly recommended."-Economic History Review

"{M}eunier's is a very well-researched and brilliantly written historical account. While several authors have published good studies on the TGV for French readers, his is the first aimed at an English-speaking audience.It can be highly recommended to anyone interested in railway history, large technological systems, or French history of technology."-Technology and Culture

"Other histories have described the building of the system from engineering standpoint or as occuring largely in a political and social vacuum. In this important book, Jacob Meunier seeks to set the record straight and provide a complete picture of the political controversies and technical contingencies that surrounds the french drive toward high-speed rail....Meunier succeeds admirably at his task."-RailRoad History

About the Author

JACOB MEUNIER is a transportation analyst at Cambridge Systematics, Inc., a nationally-recognized consulting firm specializing in transportation planning, policy, and management. In the past, Dr. Meunier has worked as a research assistant for a member of the European Parliament in Brussels, and has taught economics, French, and European history at independent schools near Boston. He is co-author of Bridges and Barriers: The European Union's Mediterranean Policy, 1961-1998.