British Rail: A New History

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Their main replacements were diesel locomotives, with electrification proceeding painfully slowly (still today, when rail is heralded as a green alternative, only some 40 per cent of lines are electrified). Whichever one, his videos of passing locomotives (or more often of himself, with the odd snort of a diesel engine in the background) have garnered tens of millions of views.

The terminology would appeal to people with a knowledge but otherwise large parts are opaque but you get the jist.Wolmar holds up some hope for the planned formation of Great British Railways, an oversight body taking in most of Britain's railways - but since the book was written, that too seems to be suffering from government mishandling. Similarly, the London-centric management never properly handled what was dismissively referred to as the 'Provincial' region. Wolmar takes up the story from nationalisation and examines how successive governments failed to understand or appreciate the true potential of the railways. Even successes, such as the development in the 1970s of the High Speed Train (HST), the fastest diesel-powered train in the world, must be seen in the round. A signed paperback copy of British Rail: A new history - published by Penguin is Christian Wolmar's latest book and an account of the 50-year history of the organisation, both good and bad.

If you are already well familiar with the history of British rail, this book will do little to enhance or challenge your understanding. The book cover has no visible wear, and the dust jacket (if applicable) is included for hard covers. If I had to make any criticism at all of this hyper focused, expertly authored book it would be that - sometimes - it is too concentrated a dose of British Rail to swallow up in one sitting.As he reveals, BR managed to overcome organisational confusion and political sabotage to become a remarkably forward-looking and efficient network before its breakup in 1997. I would have appreciated more statistics and graphs (there are no graphs at all in the book) and in general a more skeptical outlook. By signing up, you are accepting our terms and conditions and our privacy policy and cookie policy *exclusions apply.