The Mid Wales Line ran from 60 miles, from Moat Lane Junction near Caersws to Brecon, passing through the old counties of Montgomery, Radnorshire and Brecknock. It followed the river valleys of the Upper Severn, the Dulas, the Marteg and the Wye, serving the towns and villages along its route for just short of 100 years. This classic Welsh rural railway is recalled in a delightful selection of nostalgic photographs of its trains and stations.

She was bred to be lovely. She turned out lethal. After escaping an evil king bent on reviving an extinct, magical line, Roya promised to dedicate her life to ridding the world of abusive tyrants. But when her mentor, Thorn, flunks her out of the Assassins Guild, she flees her humiliation and runs straight into danger. Now kings and warlords hunt her, somehow privy to her deepest secret-that she is one of the legendary line. Thorn is her only ally, until Roya's magical lure inadvertently draws more than one dangerous protector to her side. Roya wants to be known for her skills as a poisoner, not mysterious powers. But when Thorn teams up with a prince, a warrior-scholar, and a pirate, there may not be enough poison in the world to kill the pull she feels to all four, though these men may not be who they say they are. And some may want to lock her away for themselves. Maybe it's time for her to cook up a deadly plan of her own. The Assassin's Promise is a 108,000-word fantasy in The Lost Lines Series, with multiple love interests, some spicy scenes, violence, and a guaranteed HEA (Happily Ever After). All books in the series are written as standalones, but they might be more fun to read in order. Content warnings are in the Author's Note just inside the book. Please read before deciding if this book is for you!

Take a nostalgic steam-powered journey back in time on the long-closed line from Abergavenny to Merthyr. This was one of the steepest gradients in Britain, offering spectacular views of mountains and gorges as it meandered across the wind-swept heads of the south Wales Valleys. The line was also built to capitalise on the rich coal mining and ironworks that sprang up during the Industrial Revolution, the birthplace of the railways that became famous throughout the world. Includes an essay on the history of the line and fascinating photography of its locomotives, trains and stations.

The Yatton to Witham line was one of the prettiest and beat-loved railways in Somerset and is remembered with great affection by locals and railway enthusiasts alike. It ran along the edge of the Mendip Hills through Cheddar, Wells and Shepton Mallet. Today, walkers and cyclists enjoy stretches of it as the Cheddar Valley path. This nostalgic journey along its tracks uses many previously unseen photographs and will bring back memories of the line in its heyday, picturing the trains that once ran on it.

Here we recall the Ryde to Cowes railway line, a route that joined the two principal Isle of Wight steamer ports with the county town. Taking a rather circuitous and hilly route from Ryde to Newport, it then turned north along the west bank of the River Medina to reach its Cowes destination. With rural stations some distances from their villages, continual green landscapes and vintage trains, the line possessed an ever increasing charm as the years progressed.

“Shines a floodlight on a topic that has been cloaked in obscurity . . . a landmark work in both intellectual history and political theory” (The Wall Street Journal). Philosophical esotericism—the practice of communicating one’s unorthodox thoughts “between the lines”—was a common practice until the end of the eighteenth century. Despite its long and well-documented history, however, esotericism is often dismissed today as a rare occurrence. But by ignoring esotericism, we risk cutting ourselves off from a full understanding of Western philosophical thought. Walking readers through both an ancient (Plato) and a modern (Machiavelli) esoteric work, Arthur M. Melzer explains what esotericism is—and is not. It relies not on secret codes, but simply on a more intensive use of familiar rhetorical techniques like metaphor, irony, and insinuation. Melzer explores the various motives that led thinkers in different times and places to engage in this strange practice, while also exploring the motives that lead more recent thinkers not only to dislike and avoid this practice but to deny its very existence. In the book’s final section, “A Beginner’s Guide to Esoteric Reading,” Melzer turns to how we might once again cultivate the long-forgotten art of reading esoteric works. The first comprehensive, book-length study of the history and theoretical basis of philosophical esotericism, Philosophy Between the Lines is “a treasure-house of insight and learning. It is that rare thing: an eye-opening book . . . By making the world before Enlightenment appear as strange as it truly was, [Melzer] makes our world stranger than we think it is” (George Kateb, Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University). “Brilliant, pellucid, and meticulously researched.” —City Journal

Having covered the southern section of the Central Wales Line and its branches in Swansea to Llandovery, this volume traces the line from Llandovery to Craven Arms, where it met the North & West line, taking its traffic on to Shrewsbury. This takes in the remarkable feats of engineering the Victorians undertook to forge this line across the Welsh hills, as we take a nostalgic look at a railway lost; its country stations, signal boxes and heavy goods and express trains largely replaced by simple request stops and single-car diesel units.