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I am interested to see research on the development of transportation costs over the centuries. I realize the difficulty with researching this topic so I am interested in anything, which can enlighten me on the subject. The research will possibly be focused on types of transportation like over-land transportation, passenger transportation, transportation of letters and so on. The important thing is that the research enables a quantitative comparison over several hundred years. The research should show the impact of innovations and building of infrastructure so I can develop an understanding of the impact these these have had.

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I voted to close as "not constructive" - the way this is asked the expected answer would be a link to a study. This adds no value to this site, you should be asking questions that can be answered here. – Wladimir Palant Oct 18 '11 at 14:50
Could you narrow down your question to something that can be answered here? Which centuries? Which continents? Which method of transport? ... As it stands the question is too vast – Sardathrion Oct 18 '11 at 15:34

closed as not constructive by Wladimir Palant, Steven Drennon♦, Louis Rhys, Luke, Tom Au Aug 15 '12 at 13:46

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1 Answer

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Tim Blanning The Pursuit of Glory has a whole chapter dedicated to this covering Europe between 1648 and 1815. It covers costs, travel times, and road availability as well as water ways.

However, that is just a narrow part in time and local.

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Is this then a quantitative comparison? I just want to be sure before buying the book. – David Oct 23 '11 at 8:22
Yes it does. It has a lot of details. You should be able to find the book in a book store first if you wanted to check but I can recommend the book to anyone interested in the time period as a really good source. – Sardathrion Oct 23 '11 at 13:52

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