History of Transportation

The history of the world is largely the history of movement. We speak of ancient cultures as though they were immobile, often forgetting that the greatest empires were often comprised primarily of displaced peoples. Genghis Khan uprooted entire populations and put them elsewhere in order to encourage homogeneity within his realm. How did he get them from place to place?

In the age of Learjets and bullet trains, the invention of the wheel seems distant and almost inconsequential. Riding horses is a little more immediate (oddly) because people still do that, but unless you're Amish or Mennonite Brethren living in the eastern United States, carts, wagons and buggies are mere images flickering against the faded screen of the past.

Still, the wheel is one of the building blocks of civilization. Things like wagons, trains, and cars would never have been developed without the wheel, and by extension we probably wouldn't have airplanes either. Boats and ships are a slightly different story, but the technology that allowed early civilizations to put to sea is as foundational as that used to make wheels.

Man has always been fascinated with movement of all kinds, not least the modes of conveyance used to get people and things around. It's important for Christians to remember that God's will is ultimately what allows advances in transportation technology, which (rather than ending the discussion) is the best reason to study it in the first place. To that end, we offer a variety of resources covering a variety of vehicles and inventions.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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143 Items found Print
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Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
by Chester G. Hearn
from US Naval Institute Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Air War
by Edward Jablonski
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Fishermen
by Albert Cook Church (photography), text by James B. Connolly
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic
by Paul C. Morris, foreword by Edouard Stackpole
1979 Reprint from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Ship Models and How to Build Them
by V. R. Grimwood, foreword by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Beechcraft: Pursuit of Perfection
by Edward H. Phillips
from Flying Books
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Boatbuilding
by Howard I. Chapelle
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Old Ships
by Henry B. Culver, illustrated by Gordon Grant
from Dover Publications
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
British and European Combat Aircraft
Combat Aircraft Library
by Paul A. Jackson
from Crescent Books
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Cook
by Alistair MacLean
from Doubleday & Company
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Captain Marryat
by Tom Pocock
from Stackpole Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Chapman Piloting
by Elbert S. Maloney
57th edition from Hearst Marine Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Clear for Action
by Foster Hailey and Milton Lancelot
Printing D from Bonanza Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Clipper Ship Men
by Alexander Laing, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
1st edition from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Clipper Ships
by David R. MacGregor
from Argus Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Count Luckner, the Sea Devil
by Lowell Thomas
from Garden City Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Decorative Arts of the Mariner
by Gervis Frere-Cook (editor)
from Little, Brown & Company
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in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Deep-Water Sail
by Harold A. Underhill
from Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Design Line: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
by Chris Oxlade, Edited by Jenny Broom, Illustrated by Mike Lemanski
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Destroyers for Great Britain
by Arnold Hague
Revised & Expanded from Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Disasters at Sea
by Milton H. Watson, foreword by Frank O. Braynard
from Patrick Stephens
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dynamite Johnny O'Brien
by Milton A. Dalby
from Lowman & Hanford Co.
for Adult
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$25.00 (1 in stock)
Eagle Squadrons
by Vern Haugland
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Early Oregon Days
by Edwin D. Culp
1St Edition from Caxton Press
for 6th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Echoes of the Whistle
by Gerald Rushton, introduction by Leonard G. McCann
from Douglas & McIntyre, Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Embarcadero
by Richard H. Dillon, foreword by William Hogan
from Coward McCann
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Experts' Book of Boating
by Ruth Brindze (editor), illustrated by Fred Wellbrock
from Prentice Hall
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Famous Ocean Liners
by William H. Miller
from Patrick Stephens
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Fighting Jets
from Time-Life Medical
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in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Fighting Sail
by Oliver Warner
from Cassell
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Flyboys
by James Bradley
2nd edition from Back Bay Books
for 10th grade-adult
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Full Fathom Five
by Frank H. Shaw
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Getting There
by Suzanne Hilton
from Westminster Press
for 5th-Adult
in Things That Go (Location: SCI-TTGO)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Age of Sail
by Amy Handy
from Todtri Productions Limited
for 7th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Great Trains of All Time
by Freeman Hubbard; illustrated by Herb Mott
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Great Waters
by Creston Donald Ketchum
from Hutchinson & Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Guns Off Cape Ann
by Kenneth Poolman
from Evans Brothers Limited
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
History of Aviation
by John W.R. Taylor & Kenneth Munson
from Crown Publishers
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
History of Pirates
by Nigel Cawthorne
from Chartwell Books
for 8th-Adult
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
History of the American Sailing Navy
by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How the Merrimac Won
by R.W. Daly
from Thomas Crowell
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Illustrated History of Ships and Boats
by Lionel Casson
from Doubleday & Company
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
by Owen Chase
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
In Quest of the Sun
The Mariners Library #30
by Alain Gerbault
from Rupert Hart-Davis
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in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
John Paul Jones
by Samuel Eliot Morison
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th-Adult
1960 Biography Pulitzer Prize
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joshua Barney
by Ralph D. Paine
from Century Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Kid on the River
by Dean Nichols
1st edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Lafayette Flying Corps
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lafayette Flying Corps Volume 1
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Leonaur, Ltd.
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$24.00
Lafayette Flying Corps Volume 2
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Leonaur, Ltd.
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$21.00
Last Grain Race
by Eric Newby
1st Printing from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$32.00 (1 in stock)
Leading Edge
by Walter J. Boyne
from Stewart, Tabori, & Chang
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Lexington Goes Down
by A. A. Hoehling
from Prentice Hall
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Ships
by John Gorley Bunker
from Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Log of "Bob" Bartlett
by Captain Robert A. Bartlett
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Log of Christopher Columbus
by Christopher Columbus, translated by Robert Fuson
1992 Printing from International Marine / McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Lonely Sea and the Sky
by Francis Chichester
First American Edition from Coward McCann
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking Age
by Frans G. Bengtsson, translated from the Swedish by Michael Meyer
7th Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Long Voyage
by H.C. de Mierre
1968 American Edition from Walker and Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Longitude
by Dava Sobel
1st edition from Walker and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Longitude
by Dava Sobel
1st edition from Penguin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost at Sea
by Ronald Pearsall
from Smithmark Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Lost Ships and Lonely Seas
by Ralph D. Paine
from Century Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Luftwaffe
1st edition from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Manual of Celestial Navigation
by Arthur A. Ageton
from D. Van Nostrand Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Mariner of the North
by George Palmer Putnam
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Maximum Effort
The 449th Bomb Group History #4
from 449th Bomb Group Assoc.
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Medley of Mast and Sail 2
by Alex A. Hurst
from Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Milestones of Aviation
by John T. Greenwood, editor
Beaux Arts Edition from Beaux Arts Editions
for Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
Mr Bligh's Bad Language
by Greg Dening
from Cambridge University
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Mustang at War
by Roger A. Freeman
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mutiny of the Bounty
by Sir John Barrow
1st U.S. ed from David R. Godine
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Nothing Like It in the World
by Stephen E. Ambrose
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Of Yachts and Men
by William Atkin, illustrations by Charles G. Davis, introduction by Charles F. Chapman
from Sheridan House
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Shipwrecks
by Don Marshall
1st edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pacific Lumber Ships
by Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson
1st edition from Superior Publishing Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Paddle-Wheel Days in California
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pathfinder of the Seas
by John W. Wayland
from Garrett & Massie
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pathfinders
by David Nevin
1st edition from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Pearl Harbor
by Dan Van Der Vat, introduction by Senator John McCain, paintings by Tom Freeman
from Basic Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Pictorial History of American Ships
by John & Alice Durant
from A.S. Barnes and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of Outboard Motors
by W.J. Webb with Robert W. Carrick
from Renaissance Editions
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling
by Charles F. Chapman
from Motor Boating
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Posted Missing
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Principles of Warship Construction and Damage Control
by G.C. Manning and T.L. Schumacher
4th edition from United States Naval Institute
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast
by R.C. Anderson
from Marine Research Society
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Road to Kitty Hawk
by Valerie Moolman
Unknown from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing Ships
by Simon Goodenough
from Galahad Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Sailing-Ship
by Romola & R. C. Anderson
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Scott's Voyage of the Discovery
by Captain Robert F. Scott
from John Murray
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Sea and River Pilots
by Nancy Martin
from Terence Dalton Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Life in Nelson's Time
by John Masefield
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Rogues' Gallery
by Gordon Newell
from Superior Publishing Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Sea Trip in Clipper Ship Days
by Mary Matthews Bray
from Gorham Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Seafaring America
by Alexander Laing
from McGraw-Hill
for 6th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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