In the thirty years following the end of the Second World War Leicester underwent some of the most dramatic changes in its history. Along with the rest of Britain it saw the austerity of the late 1940s and '50s, the shortages and rationing, followed by the boom period of the '60s, when full employment brought an interlude of prosperity. During these postwar decades sweeping changes were made to the physical structure of Leicester: areas of bomb damage and slum housing were...

Britain's rail privatisation was one of the greatest political failures of recent history. A well-functioning industry was torn apart to satisfy political dogma and privatised in a way that not only compromised safety and wrecked performance but also resulted in financial melt-down.In this acclaimed book, an update to his earlier work Broken Rails, Christian Wolmar reveals the causes of the collapse of the railway system, following the Hatfield accident, barely five years after Joh...

Discover the fascinating history of this coastal English city from its Medieval origins to its status today as a world-renowned cultural destination.In The Making of Liverpool, Mike Fletcher tells the story of this historic city and highlights the significant changes that have made it what it is today. It all begins with King John's 1207 charter and the construction of Liverpool castle to protect this new town. Liverpool's development throughout the medieva...

Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest (definitely) and the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are deeply embedded in the national psyche and folklore - yet it is considered uncool to care about them.For Matthew Engel the railway system is the ultimate expression of Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence, nostalgia, corruption, humour, capacity for suffering and even sexual repression. To uncover its mysteries, En...

The First World War profoundly changed British society. The armed forces' need for mass recruitment saw the workforce severely depleted, with women stepping up to shoulder the burden; but nobody could ignore the social upheaval or the strains put upon daily life. With poverty a major issue at the outbreak of war, the extra wages put more food on the table for many families, in spite of rationing and shortages, and away from the front the nation prospered. The war intervened in all aspects ...

A charming history of one of the long closed rural branch lines on the Great Western Railway. The Lambourn Valley was one of the most quintessentially English branch lines in the days of steam.The Lambourn Valley Railway was born as an independent little railway that ran from Newbury up Berkshire's scenic Lambourn Valley to Lambourn. On the way it passed through 9 rural stations and ran through beautiful countryside.In this book we learn when the line was built and why. The...

A fascinating account of how the railways came to Surrey and the impact they had on the people who lived in the countyThe book the great days of the steam railways in the county. It shows how and why the lines were built, giving an account of the people who laid the lines and built the stations.

'BR rebel chairman resigns' The Guardian.'Rebel rail chief in row' Daily Mail.'I don't take it back says sacked rail chief' Daily Express.This is the notorious book that got Gerard Fiennes sacked from British Railways while he was Chairman and General Manager of the Eastern Region in 1968.Fiennes became a railwayman by accident, joining the L.N.E.R as a Traffic Apprentice in 1928. Over the next four decades he worked himself up to ...

"The debate about Dr Richard Beeching will rage until the Second Coming – and probably beyond. But in Charles Loft's careful examination of the Beeching Report, we have as fine a study as we are going to possess in the meantime." – Peter Hennessy"Loft's great strength is his judiciousness. He understands the political processes and assesses them fair-mindedly. And his verdict will, I suspect, hold up better than any of Beeching's judgements." – Mat...

British industry at the start of the New Elizabethan Age was a world leader. The first - British - jet airliner was taking to the skies, the first nuclear power station was under construction at Calder Hall and British firms were pioneering the computer. Our shipyards reigned almost supreme, and from Britain's factories came cars, lorries, buses, heavy machinery, aircraft and locomotives, exported all over the world. Sixty years on, many of these industries and millions of jobs have disapp...

A glorious insight into the history, landscape and people of Britain, from The Sunday Times bestseller.Robert Stephenson’s stunning Royal Border Bridge at Berwick is the starting point for this journey, which also features his High Level Bridge at Newcastle. As the line ploughs through heather and bracken from Newcastle to Carlisle, Michael Portillo learns about the railway speculation which gripped the country in the Victorian Era, with disastrous results for many. Further along t...

Railways played a key role in Britain's social, economic and industrial history. These companies have long since gone, but all over the country relics remain to remind us of that pioneering age. David Wragg's Historical Dictionary of Railways in the British Isles is a comprehensive, single-volume reference guide to the old railway companies and their heritage. He provides brief histories of the companies and their many-sided activities, and he gives biographies of the men who created the r...