An unashamedly nostalgic look back to the Golden Age of railways, with rare, never before seen railway ephemera featured on every entry.

“Reads like an extravagant time travel through Britain’s opulence era where train travel was just as stylish and fanciful as the elite class themselves.” —Manhattan with a Twist Martyn Pring has carried out considerable research tracing the evolution of British luxury train travel weaving railway, social and travel history threads around a number of Britain’s mainline routes traditionally associated with glamorous trains. Drawing on contemporary coverage, he chronicles the luxury products and services shaped by railway companies and hospitality businesses for Britain’s burgeoning upper and middle classes and wealthy overseas visitors, particularly Americans, who demanded more civilized and comfortable rail travel. By Edwardian times, a pleasure-palace industry emerged as entrepreneurs, hotel proprietors, local authorities and railway companies all collaborated developing upscale destinations, building civic amenities, creating sightseeing and leisure pursuits and in place-making initiatives to attract prosperous patrons. Luxury named trains delivered sophisticated and fashionable settings encouraging a golden age of civilized business and leisure travel. Harkening back to the inter-war years, modern luxury train operators now redefine and capture the allure and excitement of dining and train travel experiences. “Martyn’s extraordinarily beautiful book is more than a collection of classic railway posters—it describes a way of life that’s now lost in the mists of the twentieth century . . . As a piece of social history, this book is faultless, and a precious reminder of luxury and class distinction . . . [a] fabulous book. Exceptional.” —Books Monthly “A comprehensive account of luxury ‘hotel trains,’ dining trains and the presentations of heritage railways brings the story to its unexpected conclusion . . . this is a lively take on a neglected topic.” —BackTrack

An A-Z of Modern America is a comprehensive cultural dictionary which defines contemporary America through its history and civilization. The book includes entries on: key people from presidents to Babe Ruth American life, customs, clothing and education legal, religious and governmental practices multiculturalism, minorities and civil rights An A-Z of Modern America offers accessible and lively definitions of over 3,000 separate items. The book is cross-referenced and thus provides associated links and cultural connections while the appendices contain essential extra information on American institutions, structures and traditions.

The acclaimed author recounts his epic journey across Europe and Asia in this international bestselling classic of travel literature: “Compulsive reading” (Graham Greene). In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on a four-month journey by train from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In The Great Railway Bazaar, he records in vivid detail and penetrating insight the many fascinating incidents, adventures, and encounters of his grand, intercontinental tour. Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair traveler.

Late on Christmas Eve, after the town has gone to sleep, a boy boards a mysterious train that waits for him: the Polar Express bound for the North Pole. When he arrives there, Santa offers him any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell from the reindeer's harness. It turns out to be a very special gift, for only believers in Santa can hear it ring. "Magical glowing double spread pictures . . . an original and memorable book." - Guardian "Evocative, realist pastels and atmospheric text." - Sunday Times "A thrilling tale." - Independent

The Polar Express train visits the North Pole and passengers find out what the first gift of the season is going to be from Santa Claus.