Would a developing nation have emerged as an economic powerhouse if Teddy Roosevelt hadn't reignited the Panama Canal project? How close did the railroads come to eliminating the Bison and what would it have meant for trade? Could a successful maiden voyage for the Titanic have cost more lives than its failure?

The development of transport and travel has leapt forward more in the last two centuries than it had in the millennia before it. We went from horse and cart to Concorde and high-speed 'bullet' trains in the blink of an eye. The side-effects of a more efficient, globalised and at times dangerous transport network have been varied and numerous, creating a vastly different society.