From the author of Mauve comes a dramatic and hugely readable account of the day which saw the dawning of the railway age - and the first railway accident

The advent of mass railroad travel in the 1800s saw the extension of a system of global transport that developed various national styles of construction, operation, administration, and passenger experiences. Drawing on travel narratives and a broad range of other contemporary sources, this history contrasts the railroad cultures of 19th century England and America, with a focus on the differing social structures and value systems of each nation, and how the railroad fit into the wider industrial landscape.

This new history reveals the previously untold story of why and how trains have been used to transport the dead, enabling their burial in a place of significance to the bereaved. Profusely illustrated with many images, some never previously published, Nicolas Wheatley's work details how the mainline railways carried out this important yet often hidden work from the Victorian age to the 1980s, as well as how ceremonial funeral transport continues on heritage railways today. From royalty, aristocrats and other VIPs (including Sir Winston Churchill and the Unknown Warrior) to victims of accidents and ordinary people, Final Journey explores the way in which these people travelled for the last time by train before being laid to rest.

In 1926, Tom Rolt who was then sixteen years old, abandoned his public school education. Having taken a job with a small firm of agricultural engineers, he realized that he had found his life’s calling. But the way ahead was neither smooth nor easy. Having secured a premium apprenticeship, the firm which took him on foundered and although he eventually qualified as a mechanical engineer, the 1930s depression made it almost impossible to find regular employment. Nothing daunted, with the encouragement of his mysterious companion ‘Cara’, he turned to writing. His literary career flourished alongside his association with the Vintage Sports Car Club, the Inland Waterways Association and the Talyllyn Railway. Between his Inland Waterways Association and Talyllyn phases, Angela, his first wife, left him to join Billy Smart’s Circus, and Sonia –an actress-turned-boatwoman – would become his second wife. Over the course of his life, he produced over thirty books, their subject matters ranging from canals and railways to engineering biography; company histories; a collection of accomplished ghost stories and a topographical survey of Worcestershire. He also wrote polemics about the plight of the craftsman in a world which relied increasingly upon mass production. In this book, the first full-length biography of Tom Rolt and a complement to his auto-biographical Landscape trilogy, Victoria Owens draws upon his surviving letters and unpublished manuscripts to tell the story of the engineer-turned-writer who made Britain’s industrial past the stuff of enduring literature.

TIMES BRITISH SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2013 25th June 1926. Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club is hosting the world's oldest and most prestigious golf tournament - The Open Championship. A stellar field of players has assembled from both sides of the Atlantic hoping to claim victory, including Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon and a rising young amateur from the USA, Bobby Jones. Already a winner of the US Open and US Amateur Championship, Jones has yet to win a Major event on British soil. To do so now would set him on a path of unrivalled achievement and into the history books as the greatest amateur golfer the world has ever known. As the competition boils down to the penultimate hole on the final day, Bobby must hold his nerve to pull off a miracle recovery shot that will fire his reputation - and that of the golf course - around the world. Bobby's Open is the inspirational story of a golfing legend and one of the game's defining contests. Steven Reid blends social history with sporting biography to portray the most famous sportsman of his time, examining why Jones was so adored and the cruel price he ultimately paid for his genius.

This journey through the world of birdwatchers is “a wonderful book. . . . fascinating, often hilarious anecdotes and information” (Daily Mail, Critic’s Choice). Scholarly, authoritative, and above all supremely readable, Stephen Moss’s book is the first to trace the fascinating history of how and why people have watched birds for pleasure, from the beginnings with Gilbert White in the eighteenth century through World War II POWs watching birds from inside their prison camp and all the way to today’s “twitchers” with their bleeping pagers, driving hundreds of miles for a rare bird. “Proves that birdwatchers can be as instructive to watch as birds.” —Sunday Times “Thoroughly researched and well-written.” —The Guardian “Moss knows his subject intimately and writes about it with just the right mixture of affection and occasional quizzicality.” —Sunday Telegraph “It would be difficult to imagine anyone producing a more comprehensive, thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining examination of how people have watched birds at each point in history. In fact, it is one of the few books which might prove such compulsive reading that even a dedicated twitcher might forgo a day in the field to stay at home to finish it.” —Birding World

How 7 Transformational Events in 1776 Paved the Way for Today's Post-Christian West With dizzying social transformations in everything from gender to social justice, it may seem like there's never been a more tumultuous period in history. But a single year in the late 18th century saw a number of influential transformations—or even revolutions—that changed the social trajectory of the Western world. By understanding how those events influenced today's cultural landscape, Christians can more effectively bear witness to God's truth in a post-Christian age. In Remaking the World, Andrew Wilson highlights 7 major developments from the year 1776—globalization, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the Great Enrichment, the American Revolution, the rise of post-Christianity, and the dawn of Romanticism—and explains their relevance to social changes happening today. Carefully examining key documents and historical figures, Wilson demonstrates how a monumental number of political, philosophical, economical, and industrial changes in the year of America's founding shaped the modern West into a "WEIRDER" society: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian, and Romantic. This thoroughly researched yet accessible book offers a unique historical perspective on modern views of family, government, religion, and morality—giving Christians the historical lens they need to understand today's post-Christian trends and respond accordingly. Relevant Cultural and Historical Analysis: Skillfully connects key ideas and events from the past to the present Comprehensive: Examines important developments from 1776, including the American Revolution, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; James Watt's steam engine; Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations; and Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason Informative: Covers key historical figures, including John Adams, Edmund Burke, and David Hume Biblical: Equips and encourages readers to share the gospel in a post-Christian world A Great Resource for Pastors, Scholars, and Readers of Carl Trueman's The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

Jonathan Mountfort looks at some of the notable and disastrous accidents and incidents that have taken place in the history of the British rail network.

We live in a bewildering world of change, which splits naturally into steady progress punctuated by sudden disruptions - the two speed world. Steady progress ensures the survival of our species, but it is the disruptions that move us to a new level. Both types of change, slow and rapid, are important, because they mould and shape our lives, but because of their widely divergent characteristics it is sometimes difficult to recognise a major life-changer until it is too late. Even if we do spot the upheaval, we cannot deal with a change unless we understand it. Examining leading edge ideas and examples from history, this book gets to the heart of this dilemma. How do we recognise the type and importance of the changes that we face? What pitfalls must we avoid in order to keep to the correct path? What tools are available and when are they applicable? How can we avoid the temptation to redefine a change in order to make it fit our favourite tool? The past masters of change were mavericks who pushed against the prevailing wisdom of the day in order to give us answers to these questions. Theirs' are fascinating stories. Key topics include: - Steady advances and abrupt changes - Statistically predictable developments and unforeseeable events - The brain's two modes of perceiving the world - The need for people both inside and outside 'the box' - Planning for alternatives, or making a plan to secure a single outcome - The entrepreneur's approach - The environment needed to support the innovator Ranging across a wide sweep of history, management thinking and ideas from science and engineering, the authors distil a simple but effective approach to understanding change; showing how to improve decision-making and risk-taking for more successful and profitable outcomes. www.twospeedworld.com

The Muspratt family form a fascinating dynasty in the history of British commerce and manufacturing. Associated principally with the development of the chemical industry in Liverpool - James Muspratt (1793-1884) was the first person to make alkali on a large scale using the Leblanc Process - the three generations of the family also contributed to wider Victorian and Edwardian culture through their interests in politics, education (founding the Liverpool College of Chemistry in 1848), art, literature and theatre. This is the first study to present the history of the Muspratts as a family group and to consider the entrepreneurial spirit they brought to chemical manufacture in Britain and to their many other ventures.