A Review By Frances Smith

The subtitle of this book is “A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain” and it is a fascinating read.  Lovers of trains and railways will be in turn enchanted and incensed, students of politics will be dismayed and other readers will just be fascinated.  Although obviously a railway enthusiast, Engel is no anorak, and this history of the development of the railway system in Britain and its slow demise is a fascinating and enjoyable book.  Thoroughly to be recommended for Father’s Day, but also to anyone who uses the rail network or who is interested in British social history, it is every bit as easy to read as a good novel!