Who better to discuss the origins and problems of late 19th century railroads than witty, erudite, Charles Francis Adams, Jr.? As a railroad executive, he knew the business intimately. As an Adams, he understood the politics and men of his time and could write about them in the most entertaining and enlightening manner possible. Charles Adams had been a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War. At that time, his father was Lincoln's Minister to England and his young brother was the future author of what is still regarded as one of the great nonfiction books of the 20th century, "The Education of Henry Adams." Those three men also had two U.S. Presidents in their lineage. Altogether a fascinating and entertaining book.