Sometimes you come across a lofty railway viaduct, marooned in the middle of a remote country landscape. Or a crumbling platform from some once-bustling junction buried under the buddleia. If you are lucky you might be able to follow some rusting tracks, or explore an old tunnel leading to...well, who knows where? Listen hard. Is that the wind in the undergrowth? Or the spectre of a train from a golden era of the past panting up the embankment? These are the ghosts of The Trains Now Departed. They are the railway lines, & services that ran on them that have disappeared & gone forever. Our lost legacy

Includes:: lines prematurely axed, often with a gripping & colourful tale of their own, as well as marvels of locomotive engineering sent to the scrapyard, & grand termini felled by the wrecker`s ball. Then there are the lost delights of train travel, such as haute cuisine in the dining car, the grand expresses with their evocative names, & continental boat trains to romantic far-off places. The Trains Now Departed tells the stories of some of the most fascinating lost trains of Britain, vividly evoking the glories of a bygone age. In his personal odyssey around Britain Michael Williams tells the tales of the pioneers who built the tracks, the yarns of the men & women who operated them & the colourful trains that ran on them. It is a journey into the soul of our railways, summoning up a magic which, although mired in time, is fortunately not lost for ever.

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Fascist. Strongman. Thief. Traitors. September 1939. For years now Britain has been rudderless, divided & grievously unequal. Successive governments have floundered as they struggled to cope with economic misery at home & machinations abroad. Many of the country`s citizens are seduced by fascism; others are simply left alienated by leaders who seem unwilling or unable to take the decisive action that is so desperately needed. When war breaks out the imperiled nation achieves the unity & purpose that has eluded it for more than a decade. It is a time of heroism & sacrifice in which many thousands of soldiers & civilians give their lives. But some Britons choose a different path, renegades who will fight for the Third Reich until its gruesome collapse in 1945. The Traitors tells the stories of four such men: the chaotic, tragic John Amery; the idealistic but hate-filled William Joyce; the cynical, murderous conman Harold Cole; & Eric Pleasants, an iron-willed pacifist & bodybuilder who wants no part in this war. Drawing on recently declassified MI6 files, as well as diaries, letters & memoirs, The Traitors is a book about disordered lives in turbulent times; idealism twisted out of shape; of torn consciences & abandoned loyalties; of murder, deceit, temptation & loss. It shows how a man might come to desert his country`s cause, & the tragic consequences that treachery brings in its wake. ...

At the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the main square of Constantinople, a niche is carved into ancient stone. Here, the sultan displays the severed heads of his adversaries. Tundj Hata, the imperial courier, is charged with transporting heads to the capital – a task he relishes & performs with fervour. But as he travels through obscure & impoverished territories, he makes money from illicit side-shows, offering villagers the spectacle of death. The head of the rebellious Albanian governor would fetch a very high price. A surreal tale of rebellion & tyranny from the master of European literature. ...

At the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the main square of Constantinople, a niche is carved into ancient stone. Here, the sultan displays the severed heads of his adversaries. People flock to see the latest head & gossip about the state of the empire: the province of Albania is demanding independence again, & the niche awaits a new trophy... Tundj Hata, the imperial courier, is charged with transporting heads to the capital
- a task he relishes & performs with fervour. But as he travels through obscure & impoverished territories, he makes money from illicit side-shows, offering villagers the spectacle of death. The head of the rebellious Albanian governor would fetch a very high price. The Traitor`s Niche is a surreal tale of rebellion & tyranny, in a land where armies carry scarecrows, state officials ban entire languages, & the act of forgetting is more complicated than remembering.
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In The Trans-Siberian Railway – A traveller’s Anthology Deborah Manley blends her personal account of this fascinating rail trip with excerpts of works from a variety of writers of the like of Newby & Theroux but also Sir Henry Norman, Peter Fleming, Lindon Bates Jr, Lesley Blanch; each offering a different perspective on the experience, Russia, its people & culture. This fascinating book is the result of the author’s research & thirst to know anything about the Trans-Siberian from its early planning & building to the people, the landscape & the culture encountered on the journey as well as the experiences lived by earlier travellers. It imaginatively captures the magic of this trip. As you read Manley’s contemporary experience & perceptions you will be able to live the same journey through the eyes & minds of those who have been there before. The pages will whizz you to distant times & places as far back as 1891 as you read Over the Urals by George Kennan to 2007 with Chris Moss’s Trans-Siberian Excess. The Trans-Siberian Railway – A Traveller’s Anthology is an extremely enjoyable read for anyone interested in this region, planning this trip by train or from a comfortable armchair. ...

At the end of 2007, St Pancras became the new London terminus for the high speed channel tunnel rail link to continental Europe, taking over from Waterloo International. Central to this change, the entire structure & area around St Pancras have been renovated & transformed as one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe. This book looks at the history & process of the project & shows how the old St Pancras one of London`s finest Victorian stations has been both restored to its original glory & extended for the demands of 21st-century rail travel. Packed full of specially commissioned photography & written by those intimately involved in the project, ” The Transformation of St Pancras Station” tells the remarkable story of how the original building was renovated & expanded with major new additions & how the surrounding area has been regenerated to become a desirable destination in its own right. ...

A monumental history of the nineteenth century, The Transformation of the World offers a panoramic & multifaceted portrait of a world in transition. Jurgen Osterhammel, an eminent scholar who has been called the Braudel of the nineteenth century, moves beyond conventional Eurocentric & chronological accounts of the era, presenting instead a truly global history of breathtaking scope & towering erudition. He examines the powerful & complex forces that drove global change during the ”long nineteenth century, ” taking readers from New York to New Delhi, from the Latin American revolutions to the Taiping Rebellion, from the perils & promise of Europe`s transatlantic labor markets to the hardships endured by nomadic, tribal peoples across the planet. Osterhammel describes a world increasingly networked by the telegraph, the steamship, & the railways. He explores the changing relationship between human beings & nature, looks at the importance of cities, explains the role slavery & its abolition played in the emergence of new nations, challenges the widely held belief that the nineteenth century witnessed the triumph of the nation-state, & much more. This is the highly anticipated English edition of the spectacularly successful & critically acclaimed German book, which is also being translated into Chinese, Polish, Russian, & French. Indispensable for any historian, The Transformation of the World sheds important new light on this momentous epoch, showing how the nineteenth century paved the way for the global catastrophes of the twentieth century, yet how it also gave rise to pacifism, liberalism, the trade union, & a host of other crucial developments. ...

A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME What`s standing between you & success? What do you do with a generation who`ve had everything, but still can`t grow up? Welcome to The Transition. While taking part in The Transition you & your partner will spend six months living under the supervision of your mentors, two successful adults of a slightly older generation. Freed from your financial responsibilities, you will be coached through the key areas of the scheme
- Employment, Nutrition, Responsibility, Relationship, Finances & Self-Respect
- until you are ready to be reintegrated into adult society. At the end of your six months
- who knows what discoveries you`ll have made about yourself? The `friends` you no longer need. The talents you`ll have found time to nurture. The business you might have kick-started. Who knows where you`ll be? `A fresh, funny & gripping vision of the near future that rings frighteningly true` Joe Dunthorne, author of Submarine ` Terrific. Clever & funny & a total page-turner to boot` Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall ` Utterly vital` Paul Murray, author of Skippy Dies ` Essential reading for generation rent` Jenn Ashworth, author of Fell


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Black Mirror meets David Nicholls in this dark & funny novel about love in dystopian times LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE FOR FICTION Karl has let his debts get wildly out of control &, in desperation, has sort of semi-accidentally committed credit-card fraud. Now he could have to go to prison, so when he & his wife Genevieve are instead offered a place on a mysterious self-improvement scheme called The Transition, they agree. It`s only six months, after all, & at first all it requires is that they give up their credit cards & move into the spare room of their `mentors`, Janna & Stu, who seem perfectly lovely... `A total page-turner` Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall ` The sort of book that has you walking blindly through seven lanes of traffic with your face pressed obliviously to the page` The Times ` Very funny, compassionate & scathing. Just the ticket for fans of Jonathan Coe` Laline Paull, author of The Bees ` Richly enjoyable, tenderly devastating` Guardian ...

During the American occupation, the citizens of Japan were encouraged to apply directly to General Mac Arthur
- ”if you have a
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