By the mid to late 1800s major cities had become extremely congested. There were several ideas to help ease that problem. From our vantage point today, we see the subway as a fairly obvious solution. But it wasn’t so obvious then.

This is a history of how we came to see the subway as a solution and some of the interesting personalities involved. London was the first city to try the underground solution. But their solution involved coal-fired steam engines running underground. As you might imagine, the riders got around quickly but the underground air got very dirty and riding was not a pleasant experience.

A pneumatic-propulsion system was tried in New York City. The story of this secret subway introduces us to the political dimensions on this problem. This system solved the dirty air problem but for various reasons, including Boss Tweed, this system was not the final answer for an underground railway.

The solution seems obvious to us now. Why not just power the underground railway with electricity? But that solution was not yet ready. How an electric engine suitable for the subway developed is an interesting story. And it is told well by Doug Most.

About all I’ll say here is that it involves Thomas Edison and a young engineer named Frank Sprague.. And for me it was an unexpected bonus that an important part of this story takes place in Richmond, VA. (I had lived in Richmond for several years and not far from where a critical part of the story takes place.)

The action switches to Boston and New York City which I guess is what attracted you to this book. But the ground-work needed to be developed well to give you an understanding of the technology and political issues that are important to the subway system and this story. Doug Most tells both stories well.

The book goes on sale February 4. That is the day this is posted so check out Amazon (see my link above) or your local bookstore. You’ll be glad you did!