“This new history title belongs in any collection strong in lively, accessible surveys of women’s roles in American social, political, and economic development.
Chris Enss’s Iron Women: The Ladies Who Helped Build the Railroad (9781493037759, $19.95 PB, $14.49) follows the contributions women made to the expansion of the railroad across country even as an authoritative report claimed that “no woman had laid a rail and no woman had made a survey.” So, what did they do? Plenty. Women have been connected with railroading efforts from 1838 to modern times, and this book considers their roles, their influence in how the rail lines were created, and their largely unheralded position that should be as central to American rail history as any man’s. These biographical sketches of women who made a different blend into overall rail history to provide an illustrated and specific review of women who were architects, designers, hospitality ambassadors, engineers, and more.”
