{"product_id":"fast-track","title":"Fast Track","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePre-order this global history of high speed rail, from the railways' \"wisest, most detailed historian\" (\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Observer)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e'The greatest expert on British trains'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e'The high priest of railway studies'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eLITERARY REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e'Our most eminent transport journalist'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSPECTATOR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e'If you love the hum of the wheels and of history, then Christian Wolmar is your man'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eOBSERVER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSleek, comfortable, accessible, and sustainable, high-speed rail is the future.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Since \u003cb\u003eJapan's Bullet Train\u003c\/b\u003e first sped down the track in the sixties, it has become a global icon, as famous for its punctuality as for its speed.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe French TGV\u003c\/b\u003e, or Train à Grande Vitesse, established a template that was soon followed across Europe, in Italy, Germany and Spain\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e But with a remarkable \u003cb\u003e30,000 miles of track built in fewer than twenty years China\u003c\/b\u003e has become the world leader.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Now with lines built or planned in over twenty countries, \u003cb\u003ehigh speed rail has changed the world\u003c\/b\u003e and, faced with the environmental cost of cars and air travel, might help save it.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Two countries, both pioneers of rail travel, have been conspicuously left behind, though. The UK, which before the Second World War built record-breaking high-speed trains, has just sixty-eight miles of high-speed line and the \u003cb\u003eunfolding embarrassment of HS2\u003c\/b\u003e, while the United States has no genuine high-speed line at all. How can this be?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eFast Track\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003eChristian Wolmar, our leading railway writer\u003c\/b\u003e, tells the story of the irresistible rise of high-speed rail around the world for the first time. \u003cb\u003eFrom the magnificence of Britain's steam-engined \u003ci\u003eMallard\u003c\/i\u003e to a 250 mile per hour future\u003c\/b\u003e, this is a story of big personalities, bold decisions, cutting edge technology, and soaring ambition.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eAll aboard!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unity Books","offers":[{"title":"Fast Track","offer_id":46616559190213,"sku":null,"price":90.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0625\/6679\/3413\/files\/978-0-241-77551-6.jpg?v=1785219669","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.myshopify.com\/products\/fast-track","provider":"Unity Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}