George Hudson - the eponymous Railway King - started his career with a stroke of luck, inheriting £27,000 (a fortune in 1827) from a distant relative. He invested successfully in the North Midland Railway, then formed his own Midland Railway, raising £5 million and bribing MPs along the way. But from his glory in 1845 he fell into disgrace, admitting corruption and selling land he did not own. He was eventually imprisoned in York Castle and died a broken man in 1871. His story provides an excellent insight into nineteenth-century politics and industrial progress, full of moral dilemmas and a testimony to the growth of the railways in Britain - a timely subject.

George Hudson was the greatest British railway entrepreneur of the 19th century. In 1848, he controlled over 1,000 miles of railway and, when it came to railway promotion, it seemed he could do no wrong. However, in early 1849 it came to light that some of his business methods had been less than ethical and he was forced to relinquish the chairmanship of each of his companies. His fall from grace was spectacular and his detractors, of whom there were many, were quick to denounce him as a fraudster, a charlatan and a crook. Even today, when the name George Hudson is mentioned, these same insults are often levelled at him. This new biography takes a fresh look at Hudson’s extraordinary life, from his humble beginnings as a farmer’s boy, to becoming Lord Mayor of York before catching the railway bug. He was MP for Sunderland between 1845 and 1859. After his fall from grace, Hudson endured a 20-year court battle with the York and North Midland Railway (subsequently the North Eastern Railway) for outstanding debts. Hudson made many mistakes in creating his railway empire, but did he deserve all the vitriol that still accompanies his reputation? In seeking to answer this question, Matthew Wells looks at the evidence, including what was said about Hudson during his lifetime and what Hudson himself had to say about the actions he took.

The riveting untold story of the fight for the Hudson River Valley, the decisive campaign of the Revolutionary War. No part of the country was more contested during the American Revolution than New York City and its surroundings. Military leaders of the time—and generations of scholars since—believed that the Hudson River Valley was America’s geographic jugular, which, if cut, would quickly bleed the rebellion to death. In Revolution on the Hudson, prize-winning historian George C. Daughan makes the daring new argument that this strategy would never have worked, and that dogged pursuit of dominance over the Hudson ultimately cost Britain the war. This groundbreaking naval history offers a thrilling response to one of our most vexing historical questions: How could a fledgling nation have defeated the most powerful war machine of the era?

A skull discovered in a lake leads FBI investigators Bryan Langston and Joe Mallory on a dangerous search for answers to a thirty-year-old unsolved murder. What they don't know is that there is someone still alive who will do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried, even if that means killing again.

City of Gabriels presents St. Louis's jazz history from 1895 to 1973. Highlighted with striking images from each era, this book describes the lively world of jazz from talents and personalities like Tom Turpin, Frank Trumbrauer, Singleton Palmer, Clark Terry, Jeanne Trevor, Willie Akins, Miles Davis, and countless others. City of Gabriels, written by St. Louis radio host Dennis Owsley, is a must for lovers of jazz. The book gives a needed insight into an enduring culture in St. Louis. Published in cooperation with The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries.

In his seventh book in The Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper explores the lives of Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, and George Müller. Each of these men was known for extraordinary faith in God and untiring service to others. Each of them continues to motivate and inspire God’s people even today. Rooted in their nineteenth-century British context, these three giants encouraged one another in their ministries—Spurgeon in the church, Müller in orphan care, and Taylor in world missions. Even through intense adversity, the lives of each of these men display their shared confidence in the power of God and their love for his glory and goodness. As you read these stories, may you be inspired to hold fast to the promises of God as you press on in commitment to Christ's mission. Part of the The Swans Are Not Silent series.

Britain's rise to global dominance from the 16th century owed as much to the vision and creativity of traders, industrialists and bankers as it did to wars of conquest fought by military men. DRAGONS tells the story of British business endeavour through the lives of ten titans of commerce. Beginning with the Tudor merchants who transformed England's economy via trade with the New World, Liam Byrne traces an entrepreneurial golden line through men such as Thomas Pitt, saviour of the East India Company; financier Nathan Rothschild, creator of the modern bond market; William Lever, brand-builder, philanthropist, and creator of Britain's first great multinational; and John Spedan Lewis, founder of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership. At the start of the 21st century Britain remains a major economic power. DRAGONS is both a rousing celebration of British business genius and a fascinatingly informative narrative of a neglected but essential strand of our island's story.

A brilliant, perceptive biography of the father and son who initiated the age of the railway.