The Necropolis Railway

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571252222
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
' A brilliant murder mystery set in Edwardian London about a railway line that runs only to a massive cemetery.' Daily Mirror When railwayman Jim Stringer moves to the garish and tawdry London of 1903, he finds his duties are confined to a mysterious graveyard line. The men he works alongside have formed an instant loathing for him - and his predecessor has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Can Jim work out what is going on before he too is travelling on a one-way coffin ticket aboard the Necropolis Railway? 'Guaranteed to make the flesh creep and the skin crawl, a masterful novel about a mad, clanking, fog-bound world.' Simon Winchester 'A murderous conspiracy of a plot graced with style, wit and the sharp, true taste of a time gone by ... So beautifully nuanced and so effortlessly pleasurable to read that you almost want to keep it a personal secret.' Independent on Sunday

London's Necropolis

Author: John M. Clarke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781840337334
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description

The Baghdad Railway Club

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571282024
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
Baghdad 1917. Captain Jim Stringer, invalided from the Western Front, has been dispatched to investigate what looks like a nasty case of treason. He arrives to find a city on the point of insurrection, his cover apparently blown - and his only contact lying dead with flies in his eyes. As Baghdad swelters in a particularly torrid summer, the heat alone threatens the lives of the British soldiers who occupy the city. The recently ejected Turks are still a danger - and many of the local Arabs are none too friendly either. For Jim, who is not particularly good in warm weather, the situation grows pricklier by the day. Aside from his investigation, he is working on the railways around the city. His boss is the charming, enigmatic Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, who presides over the gracious dining society called The Baghdad Railway Club - and who may or may not be a Turkish agent. Jim's search for the truth brings him up against murderous violence in a heat-dazed, labyrinthine city where an enemy awaits around every corner.

Underground, Overground

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847658075
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Why is the Victoria Line so hot? What is an Electrical Multiple Unit? Is it really possible to ride from King's Cross to King's Cross on the Circle line? The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch-jobs and improvisations.Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year - and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure. Blending reportage, humour and personal encounters, Andrew Martin embarks on a wonderfully engaging social history of London's underground railway system (which despite its name, is in fact fifty-five per cent overground). Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube.

Steam Trains Today

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782834893
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
'A delightful book ... the perfect companion as you wait for the 8.10 from Hove' Observer After the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, many railways were gradually shut down. Rural communities were isolated and steam trains slowly gave way to diesel and electric traction. But some people were not prepared to let the romance of train travel die. Thanks to their efforts, many lines passed into community ownership and are now booming with new armies of dedicated volunteers. Andrew Martin meets these volunteer enthusiasts, finding out just what it is about preserved railways that makes people so devoted. From the inspiration for Thomas the Tank Engine to John Betjeman's battle against encroaching modernity, Steam Trains Today will take you on a heart-warming journey across Britain from Aviemore to Epping.

Unprepared To Die

Author: Paul Slade
Publisher: Soundcheck Books
ISBN: 099294807X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 151

Book Description
The Gory Stories Behind The Murder Ballads Cheerfully vulgar, revelling in gore, and always with an eye on the main chance, murder ballads are tabloid newspapers set to music, carrying word of the latest ‘orrible murders to an insatiable public. Victims are bludgeoned, stabbed or shot in every verse and killers often hanged, but the songs themselves never die. Instead, they mutate – morphing to suit local place names as they criss cross the Atlantic and continue to fascinate each generation’s biggest musical stars. Paul Slade traces this fascinating genre’s history through eight of its greatest songs. Stagger Lee’s “biographers” alone include Duke Ellington, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Dr John, The Clash and Nick Cave. No two tell his story in quite the same way. Covering eight classic murder ballads, including “Knoxville Girl”, “Tom Dooley” and “Frankie & Johnny”, Slade investigates the real-life murder which inspired each song and traces its musical development down the decades. Billy Bragg, The Bad Seeds’ Mick Harvey, Laura Cantrell, Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family and a host of other leading musicians add their own insights.

Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester

Author: active 1825 James Drake
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 138

Book Description
James Drake's 'Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester' is a comprehensive guide to the newest mode of transportation in the early 19th century. The book not only provides practical information for travelers, such as distances and landmarks along the railway route, but also includes detailed descriptions of the towns and cities connected by the railway. Drake's writing style is straightforward and informative, catering to the practical needs of travelers. This book is a valuable resource for understanding the impact of the railway on society and commerce during the Industrial Revolution. Drake's detailed observations and meticulous descriptions offer a glimpse into the rapidly changing landscape of Britain in the 19th century. Historians and enthusiasts of railway history will find this book an essential addition to their collection. James Drake's expertise as a cartographer and travel writer is evident in this meticulously researched and well-presented guide, making it a must-read for those interested in the history of transportation and urban development.

Necropolis

Author: Basil Copper
Publisher: 20th Century
ISBN: 9781939140500
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"A feverish gaslight gothic that's as rich in Sherlock Holmes-like atmosphere as it is in ghoulish doings." - Kirkus Reviews "A dark, exotic Gothic thriller . . . Excellent!" - Booklist "A gothic mystery in the truest sense. . . . Copper has written in the grand tradition of A. Conan Doyle and created a spellbinding narrative of mystery and suspense." - The Press-Courier Set in an alternate Victorian London, where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are not just fictional characters, Basil Copper's Necropolis (1980) is a tale of mystery and intrigue worthy of Arthur Conan Doyle or Wilkie Collins. Private detective Clyde Beatty, a rival of the great Holmes, has been hired by the lovely Angela Meredith to inquire into her father's suspicious death. As Beatty's investigation unfolds, the danger intensifies: more murders ensue, and attempts are made on his life. It is clear there is more to Mr. Meredith's death than meets the eye, and it may have something to do with the brazen robbery of a fortune in gold bullion. The clues lead Beatty to the eerie Brookwood Cemetery, where fatal secrets lie hidden in the catacombs beneath a city of the dead. . . . This edition of Copper's chilling Victorian Gothic mystery is the first in more than three decades and includes the original illustrations by Stephen E. Fabian and a new introduction by Stephen Jones. Copper's tale of Lovecraftian horror, The Great White Space (1974) is also available from Valancourt Books.

The Blackpool Highflyer

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571252230
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
'A steamy whodunnit . . . This may well be the best fiction about the railways since Dickens.' Independent on Sunday 'Genuinely gripping . . . The sort of thing D. H. Lawrence might have written had he been less verbose or been blessed with a sense of humour.' Peter Parker, Evening Standard (Books of the Year) A superbly atmospheric thriller of sabotage, suspicion and steam, The Blackpool Highflyer brings a new twist to tales of Edwardian England and amateur sleuthing. Assigned to drive holidaymakers to the seaside resort of Blackpool in the hot summer of 1905, Jim Stringer is happy to have left behind the grime and danger of life in London. But his dreams of beer and pretty women are soon shattered - when his high-speed train meets a huge millstone on the line . . . 'A clear winner in literary crime writing . . . Dazzling attention to detail and quality writing from one of our best contemporary male novelists.' Daily Express

War on the Line

Author: Bernard Darwin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Southern railway company (Gt. Brit.)
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Book Description