First published in 2007 as a volume in the NASA "Monograph in Aerospace History" series. This study contains photographs and illustrations.

The Shelf2Life Trains & Railroads Collection provides a unique opportunity for researchers and railroad enthusiasts to easily access and explore pre-1923 titles focusing on the history, culture and experience of railroading. From the revolution of the ste

First published in 2001 as a volume in the NASA "Monograph in Aerospace History" series. This study contains photographs and illustrations.

Government regulation of the railroads is probably the most important example of federal intervention in the economy from the Civil War to World War I. It is also a key to an assessment of the impulses and motives behind Progressivism. In Railroads and Regulation, Gabriel Kolko presents a case study of the relationship of the economy to the political process in the United States during the years from 1877 to 1916.

The author discusses the extent to which the railroad industry encouraged and relied on national political solutions--such as the creation of the first significant federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission, in 1887--to its economic problems. He shows how this reliance created a pattern of interdependence between economic and political power that set a precedent for government regulation of the economy in the twentieth century. Drawing on new material and manuscript sources, Dr. Kolko describes the roles of the railroad men in the movement for federal regulation. The attitudes of the railroads toward regulation are placed in the broader context of the determination of governmental economic policies--policies frequently formulated in response to railroad pressure.

Dr. Kolko traces the continuity in governmental regulation between 1877 and 1900 and during the administration of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, with fresh material of Progressive leaders in the period from 1910 to 1916. He analyzes the origin of each major federal railroad act and the contending forces trying to shape the legislation, and gives an illuminating discussion of the relationship of the state and federal regulation.

Railroads and Regulation, 1877-1916 was awarded the Transportation History Prize of the Organization of American Historians.

Flying is sometimes defined as "hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of stark panic." In HANGER FLYING, Lt/Col Alfred J. D'Amario shares many of those "moments of stark panic" that punctuated the 5,000 or so flying hours he accumulated during his twenty years in the Air Force. The author, who much prefers to be called Joe, takes the reader through Basic and Advanced pilot training, transition to jets, fighter gunnery and fighter bomber training and real combat in Korea. Then there are six years of "peace time" flying in Training Command followed by eleven years of Cold War missions in the six engine B-47 and eight engine B-52. But, Hanger Flying is about in-flight emergencies and hair-raising experiences, not about the hours and hours of just boring holes in the sky. Hanger Flying (the practice, not the book) is what assembled pilots do when they aren't flying. It is a "Can you top this?" exercise in story telling. And that is what the author does in this easy reading, fast paced account of many of the close calls he had both in and out of combat.

W. Heath Robinson is best known for his hilarious drawings of zany contraptions, though his work ranged across a wide variety of topics covering many aspects of British life in the decades following the First World War. Starting out as a watercolour artist, he quickly turned to the more lucrative field of book illustration and developed his forte in satirical drawings and cartoons. He was regularly commissioned by the editors of Tatler and The Sketch and in great demand from advertising companies. Collections of his drawings were subsequently published in many different editions and became so successful as to transform Heath Robinson into a household name, celebrated for his eccentric brand of British humour. Presenting such innovations as the 'Zip-Opening Bonnet', the 'Duo-car for the Incompatible' and the handy 'New Rear Wheel Gear for Turning the Car in One Movement', this volume of Heath Robinson illustrations with commentary by K.R.G. Browne will appeal to 'everybody who is ever likely to drive, be driven in, or get run over by a mechanically propelled vehicle'.

The universally themed book titled, 'The Karmic Car Cycles', is a hilarious romp of car related misadventures by the author/protagonist Cliff R. Livingstone. The book hits the ground running and is still running at the end. Having led one of the wackiest, most unusual, and so far unlikely lives on the planet, the author romps through these awesome and oftentimes unbelievable Karmic Car adventures at the rate of about ten laughs a second. The author proposes that his car misadventures occurred because he had a Karmic Car Cycle going on. He then builds the case though a series of hilarious 'vignettes' that work in their right own over and above the narrative. In writing it is hard to find an approach that stands out from the crowd. But this is what Livingstone has done with this distinctive work which lives up to its billing as a 'non-stop romp, morning, noon and night'. The writing style is uproariously funny, conversational, wry, even whimsical at times and is never less than totally entertaining. The book is anything but your standard bowl of cornflakes. Writing is about addressing other people. Mr. Livingstone has accurately identified the things about his life's experiences which could be of interest to others. This gives the 'Karmic Car Cycles' a more universal appeal than an average straight forward narrative novel might offer. The book also has a universal appeal which everyone can enjoy, in the sense that while located mainly in Canada, the misadventures could just as easily have happened to anybody, anywhere in the world whether rich, poor, male, female, sane, zany or just plain still in their boots. Likewise, the author's self-imposed criterion that all included material be entertaining and/or thought provoking for the benefit of others is a rule from which many writers could benefit.