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Title: Great information, maps and tables would be good
Review: The information presented in the book is exactly what you would expect - it is a thorough history of the promotion of rails and canals by government. "Government" is meant in a general sense: the author tracks promotion by municipal, state, and federal government.However, following the information and comparing it state by state would have been made a lot easier had there been more than one map. The only map in the book is located at the front to illustrate Gallatin's findings. As Goodrich delves into the details, and as the tale progresses past the Alleghenies, the map is nearly useless. Unless you have memorized all of the towns, rivers, and mountains of the Eastern Seaboard, you may have to resort to another resource. Also, it would have been nice to have the data tabulated geographically and/or chronologically for ease of comparison.
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