The book “Railways in Latvia”, which was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Latvijas dzelzceļš (LDz) and published by LDz in cooperation with a publishing house Jumava earned appreciation from critics and readers.
On 3 November a culture journalist Arno Jundze in the book review of Neatkarīgā Rīta avīze wrote that this book is the most interesting original book published in Latvia in 2009 and emphasized its encyclopedic character. He points: “It would be good if Latvijas dzelzceļš continued to support publishing of such studies that focus on railway personalities, equipment and technical buildings, because this information would be useful later for preparation of Latvian Railway encyclopedia, which would be great contribution not only for railwaymen. Not without reason Umberto Eco in his book History of Beauty devoted several pages to railway art and literature, because the image of railway in the 19thcentury and at the beginning of the 20th century occupied a very important role in culture.”
The famous art and cultural critic highly appreciates also the unique photos and other information on railway industrial heritage.
Evija Veide, Editor-in-Chief of a publishing house Jumava points that there are good reviews about this book. “Taking into account the current purchasing power of people and the fact that the book is big and expensive, people buy it and now in the store only few copies are left,” comments E.Veide.
Supporting rural libraries, this book was given to Latvian libraries by Latvijas dzelzceļš and several copies were given to Riga central library.
The authors of this book are LDz employees – Latvian Railway History museum expert Toms Altbergs, Director of the museum Ieva Pētersone, and a museum employee Karīna Augustāne.
The book is available at Latvian bookstores, as well as in Latvian Railway History museum. The book in English and Russian will be available next year in the first half.
Prepared by LDz Public Relations Division