Robin Jones' history of the Great Western Railway line and its founding father.

A celebration of the life and engineering achievements of Isambard Kingdom Brunel by two of the world's foremost authorities. In his lifetime, Isambard Kingdom Brunel towered over his profession. Today, he remains the most famous engineer in history, the epitome of the volcanic creative forces which brought about the Industrial Revolution - and brought modern society into being. Brunel's extraordinary talents were drawn out by some remarkable opportunities - above all his appointment as engineer to the new Great Western Railway at the age of 26 - but it was his nature to take nothing for granted, and to look at every project, whether it was the longest railway yet planned, or the largest ship ever imagined, from first principles. A hard taskmaster to those who served him, he ultimately sacrificed his own life to his work in his tragically early death at the age of 53. His legacy, though, is all around us, in the railways and bridges that he personally designed, and in his wider influence. This fascinating new book draws on Brunel's own diaries, letters and sketchbooks to understand his life, times, and work.

A lavishly illustrated survey of a wide range of GWR stations.

The new puzzle book from the National Railway Museum in York! Have you got what it takes to travel around Britain solving these 100 train-based brainteasers, word games, number crunchers and puzzles? Escape from your home and put your puzzle-solving skills to the test with these captivating conundrums that will take you on a whirlwind ride through the nation's most extraordinary past and present railway journeys. From the first journeys of legendary locomotives such as The Flying Scotsman and the Penydarren, to record-breaking routes and trips that changed our world, this is the perfect gift for puzzle book fanatics, train and travel enthusiasts, and history buffs! Inspired by the museum's archives this book is jam-packed with a variety of puzzles, from anagrams, crosswords and wordsearches to logic and mathematical challenges. Alongside puzzles to suit all levels, each section also includes an introduction that covers the most fascinating trivia, facts and figures behind the history of our railways, written by Chris Valkoinen from the National Railway Museum's Search Engine. There's a treasure trove of puzzles to be solved - are you ready to climb aboard?

Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2015 Currently filming for BBC programme Full Steam Ahead Britain's railways have been a vital part of national life for nearly 200 years. Transforming lives and landscapes, they have left their mark on everything from timekeeping to tourism. As a self-contained world governed by distinctive rules and traditions, the network also exerts a fascination all its own. From the classical grandeur of Newcastle station to the ceaseless traffic of Clapham Junction, from the mysteries of Brunel's atmospheric railway to the lost routines of the great marshalling yards, Simon Bradley explores the world of Britain's railways, the evolution of the trains, and the changing experiences of passengers and workers. The Victorians' private compartments, railway rugs and footwarmers have made way for air-conditioned carriages with airline-type seating, but the railways remain a giant and diverse anthology of structures from every period, and parts of the system are the oldest in the world. Using fresh research, keen observation and a wealth of cultural references, Bradley weaves from this network a remarkable story of technological achievement, of architecture and engineering, of shifting social classes and gender relations, of safety and crime, of tourism and the changing world of work. The Railways shows us that to travel through Britain by train is to journey through time as well as space.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1913.