This book is divided into two parts, nicely balanced with four chapters each. The first part, “Competing Railway Imperialisms,” with contributions from S.C.M. Paine, Y. Tak Matsusaka, Bruce E. Elleman and Felix Patrikeeff, outlines Imperial Russia's, Japan's and Soviet Russia's intentions vis-à-vis the railways and the frictions over them starting from the First Sino-Japanese War. The second part, “Competing Railway Nationalisms,” written by Chang Jui-te, Elisabeth Köll, Harold M. Tanner and Zhang Shengfu, proves that the civil war in Manchuria revolved around the railway lines and that the Chinese Communists used its control over railway links with North and Central China to dominate all of mainland China. Manchuria was to become an integral part of China and railway imperialism became railway nationalism. The epilogue leaves readers with the intriguing question: might the phenomenon of Russian “railway imperialism” one day be reversed in China's favour?

In all, the book spans a period of 60 years. Over this period, Chinese government, private and foreign interests all recognized that the railways were fundamental to economic growth, connecting natural resources, key commodities, people and technologies among commercial, industrial and transport hubs.

The Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), connecting Chita and the Russian Far East, was the main cause of the Russo-Japanese War. It was constructed in Manchuria by Russia in the late 19th century. China gained use of the line following the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). After two years, Russia and China agreed to extend the line from Harbin to the coastal towns of Port Arthur (Lüshun) and Dairen (Dalian). In the wake of the Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), this section was transferred to Japan. This South Manchurian Railway (SMR) Company was established in 1906. The Japanese constructed a branch line to Mukden (Shenyang). When a Manchurian warlord attempted to build a competing Chinese railway network and port facilities, the Japanese army staged the Manchurian Incident (1931) and transferred it to the puppet state of Manchukuo soon after. In 1945, the Soviets stole rolling stock and portable equipment from Manchukuo. Some was returned when the Chinese Communist government came to power.

All of the chapters make for fascinating reading. The writers clearly love their subject area and have enthusiastically dug deep into various archives to together merge the political, military, economic, social and technological histories surrounding the construction, coveting and use of these railways. This reviewer was particularly interested in the technical aspects of the construction and operation of the railways and their economic importance, especially their use in the hauling of energy products. My only complaint with this book is that the index did not capture many of the sub-topics I would like to have cross-referenced across the book as a whole.

The railways were built by British, French, Belgian, German and Japanese interests and each country used its own engineers and brought in its own materials and equipment. Several chapters allude to the lack of standardization, in terms of both hardware and software, as being the source of enormous frustration and cost. The gauges differed and far more different types of railway cars had to be used than if the system had been designed and built by one country. Concomitantly, as noted by Chang Jui-te, in his chapter on technology transfer, the numerous managing administrations necessitated many more mechanical shops and supply depots than would otherwise have been the case.

Another key theme running through the book is the strong economic leverage of the railroad companies. According to Elisabeth Köll, they employed large numbers of people, and in many places accompanying the construction of the actual lines was extensive investment in subsidiary businesses and industries, financial and commercial institutions, port and road infrastructure, public utilities, warehouses, hotels for travellers, and housing, healthcare and education services for the families of the railway men. The SMR also stimulated the rapid expansion of agriculture. Huge tracts of land were brought under cultivation and Manchuria became the world's largest source of soybeans and soy products.

Coal was one of the main cargoes shipped on the Manchurian railways. The area had very rich reserves. The railways could not operate without coal. Thus, as mentioned by S.C.M. Paine, taking over a railway often meant also taking possession of coal mines along the route. Coal was also indispensable in metallurgy, generating electricity, cement and key chemical industries, water and space heating, and cooking. China still relies very heavily on coal to generate electricity, and decades later, huge amounts of coal are still shipped on these railways.

In the preface, Stephen Kotkin, one of the volume's editors, points out that the railways have been key in helping sate China's thirst for crude oil following the peaking of its own oil production in the early 1980s. In 2009, about 306,000 barrels were daily shipped from Siberia to China by rail. This point is picked up again by the other editor of the volume, Bruce A. Elleman, in the epilogue which hints at potential developments with respect to the transfer of oil to China. Indeed, soon after this book was published, the first oil pipeline between Russia and China became operational after many years of discussion. Bringing the oil by pipeline is cheaper and more efficient than by rail. Oil cargoes will drop sharply but the rail capacity will no doubt be used to carry other key commodities and goods.