'A lifetime of railway love distilled into a most beautiful volume' Lucy Worsley 'The most attractive, comprehensive and easily digestible history of the oldest railway system in the world' Michael Palin In 1825 the Stockton & Darlington company strode into history with the opening of the world's first public steam railway. What the S&DR had pioneered soon picked up speed, transforming lives and landscapes, connecting far-flung corners of the nation and creating its own distinctive environments and working worlds. This ambitious and lavishly illustrated volume brings the story of Britain's railways to life, spanning two centuries of achievement and change. Full of colour and incident, it is an exhilarating journey through time and space, revisiting favourite themes and introducing unfamiliar stories and places. With original and engaging entries on everything from dining saloons to collecting dogs, wartime salvage efforts and the iconic Rail Alphabet, Simon Bradley gives George Bradshaw's famous 19th century guide a run for its money in this fresh and distinctive chronicle of the making of Britain's railways.

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.

Simon Bradley traces the history of the station, introducing us to the men behind the architecture and looks at its new international status. This fine new edition includes a fascinating chapter on the new hotel and some timely revisions bringing it fully up to date. 'A marvellous piece of social, aesthetic and technological history... it is impossible to praise Bradley's book too highly' A. N. Wilson, Daily Telegraph 'Brilliantly and with deft hand, Simon Bradley makes sense of it all ... fabulous' Sunday Telegraph 'A masterpiece of historical context ... immensely readable' Sunday Times 'This fine book examines the history of both the church that gave the station its name and the railway terminus ... unexpectedly compelling' Daily Mail

"A guide to the press of the United Kingdom and to the principal publications of Europe, Australia, the Far East, Gulf States, and the U.S.A.

The first biography of Henry Bradley Plant, the entrepreneur and business magnate considered the father of modern Florida In this landmark biography, Canter Brown Jr. makes evident the extent of Henry Bradley Plant’s influences throughout North, Central, and South America as well as his role in the emergence of integrated transportation and a national tourism system. One of the preeminent historians of Florida, Brown brings this important but understudied figure in American history to the foreground. Henry Bradley Plant: Gilded Age Dreams for Florida and a New South carefully examines the complicated years of adventure and activity that marked Plant’s existence, from his birth in Connecticut in 1819 to his somewhat mysterious death in New York City in 1899. Brown illuminates Plant’s vision and perspectives for the state of Florida and the country as a whole and traces many of his influences back to events from his childhood and early adulthood. The book also elaborates on Plant’s controversial Civil War relationships and his utilization of wartime earnings in the postwar era to invest in the bankrupt Southern rail lines. With the success of his businesses such as the Southern Express Company and the Tampa Bay Hotel, Plant transformed Florida into a hub for trade and tourism—traits we still recognize in the Florida of today. This thoroughly researched biography fills important gaps in Florida’s social and economic history and sheds light on a historical figure to an extent never previously undertaken or sufficiently appreciated. Both informative and innovative, Brown’s volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and general readers interested in Southern history, business history, Civil War–era history, and transportation history.