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Sapling.info Bookstore (10)
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Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo (Foreword), Charlie Bunce
(2011)
Hardcover - 320 pages
Collins
ISBN: 0007394764
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
A glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years - its history, landscape and people - from the window of Britain's many and magnificent railway journeys.
Inspired by George Bradshaw, a 19th-century cartographer who mapped Britain's railways as they sprung up around him, Charlie Bunce and Michael Portillo take a journey along nine classic British railway routes and surround themselves with the history, the charm and the people at the heart of the railways.
More than just a practical mode of transport, Britain's railways are richly representative and evocative of British society and how it has developed over the last 150 years. Symbols of progress and change, they tell of remarkable breakthroughs in technology, industry and travel. Iconic in their design they have both made a distinctive impact on Britain's landscape and opened it up to millions of people who, through train journeys alone, became acquainted with wonderful new places and sights. And as fond staples of childhood experiences they evoke deep, memorable feelings of nostalgia, of holidays and home.
Great British Train Journeys is a passionate, charming and insightful look at Britain from a window seat: a compelling read for all who look forward to travelling by train.
Check Amazon.co.uk for pricing and availability
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Eleven Minutes Late: A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain
Matthew Engel
(2010)
Paperback - 336 pages
Pan
ISBN: 0330512374
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest (definitely) and the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are deeply embedded in the national psyche and folklore - yet it is considered uncool to care about them.
For Matthew Engel the railway system is the ultimate expression of Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence, nostalgia, corruption, humour, capacity for suffering and even sexual repression. To uncover its mysteries, Engel has travelled the system from Penzance to Thurso, exploring its history and talking to people from politicians to platform staff.
Along the way Engel ('half-John Betjeman, half-Victor Meldrew') finds the most charmingly bizarre train in Britain, the most beautiful branch line, the rudest railwayman, and - after a quest lasting decades - an Individual Pot of Strawberry Jam. Eleven Minutes Late is both a polemic and a paean, and it is also very funny.
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Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape
B. Hayes
(2005)
Hardcover - 500 pages
W W Norton & Co Ltd
ISBN: 0393059979
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
Replete with the author's striking photographs, Infrastructure is a unique and spectacular guide, exploring all the major "ecosystems" of our modern industrial world, revealing what the structures are and why they are there, and uncovering beauty in unexpected places. Covering agriculture, resources, energy, communication, transportation, manufacturing and waste, this is the perfect companion to the industrial landscape. The objects that fill our everyday environment, such as streetlights, railway tracks, antenna towers, motorway overpasses, satellite dishes and thousands of other manufactured items, are so familiar they have become so familiar we hardly notice them. Larger and more exotic facilities have transformed vast tracts of the landscape: coal mines, nuclear power plants, oil refineries and steel mills, to name a few. This book is a compelling and clear guide for those who want to explore and understand this mysterious world created by man.
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Great British Bus Journeys: Travels Through Unfamous Places
David McKie
(2006)
Hardcover - 352 pages
Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1843541327
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
Great British Bus Journeys travels to Britain's most unfashionable towns (using the least reliable method of transport) to uncover the nation's secret history. Starting on a green bus in Leeds, the city of his birth, and culminating atop the number 94 as it swooshes past Trafalgar Square in London, David McKie reclaims British towns from the embarrassment and neglect for which they are famed. From Frinton-on-Sea to Bradwell-juxta-Mare, McKie rescues cities and villages from the condescension of snobbish urbanites.
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Turning the Corner?: A Reader in Contemporary Transport Policy
Terry Francis (Editor)
(2004)
Hardcover - 220 pages
Blackwell Publishing
ISBN: 1405119152
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
This Reader provides a critical review of British transport policy since the Labour Government came into office in 1997 and looks at possible solutions to Britain's ongoing transport problems. It brings together the best recent articles on transport from the quarterly Public Money Management, now revised and updated, with specially-written additional studies. The readings are a source of well-informed opinion and ideas on topics such as private-public partnerships, delivering a sustainable transport policy, new opportunities for the railways, and evaluating the Government's Ten Year Plan for transport. They are written by leading practitioners and academics, and contain much original research material. Throughout, the emphasis is on critical discussion of how policies are being delivered in practice, and on constructive ideas for improvement.
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London's Disused Underground Stations
J.C.Connor
(2001)
Hardcover - 128 pages
Capital Transport Publishing
ISBN: 185414250X
Review by Sapling Editor:
As the book itself suggests, "closed Underground stations hold a unique fascination... a street level building that recognisably was once an Underground station or a break in tube tunnelling that hints at a disused platform attracts our curiosity." Written by Jim Connor, one of the foremost authorities on the subject, 'London's Disused Underground Stations' does not disappoint, and the thoroughness of Connor's research is apparent throughout. The book provides an enthralling, chronological account of the stations, buildings and platforms which have closed, Connor drawing attention to the numerous traces which remain visible today, as well as explaining the circumstances leading to closure. Indeed, while obviously of interest to public transport aficionados, the book also offers a fascinating insight into the richness and changing styles of London Underground on-street architecture, many examples of which survive. In hardback format with over 100 photographs, the book's splendid content is complemented by its beautiful presentation, making it an essential read for anyone interested in the transport and architectural history of London -- Graham Soult
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The Politics of Mobility: Transport, Environmental Politics and Public Policy
Geoff Vigar
(2001)
Paperback - 256 pages
Spon Press
ISBN: 0415259177
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
This book examines the idea that a "predict and provide" approach is being displaced by an emergent "new realism" in transport planning. This shift entails the development of demand management as a potential new discourse for the discipline with implications for the relevance of this discourse in wider governance contexts. The book presents case studies of local transport policy-making and in-depth analysis of UK national transport policy in the period 1987-2000 to highlight how policy was promoted and resisted. Unlike other contemporary studies of transport policy-making, it does this through pioneering a detailed methodological and theoretical framework derived from the social and political sciences.
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London Orbital: A Walk Around the M25
Iain Sinclair
(2003)
Paperback - 592 pages
Penguin Books
ISBN: 0141014741
Review by Amazon.co.uk:
One might be forgiven for thinking that the only thing more boring than spending a year walking around the M25 would be reading a large book about walking around the M25. Yet Iain Sinclair's London Orbital is a fascinating and curiously haunting read. Part of the reason is that Sinclair brings to the project an immense literary talent, an intense and lifelong interest in the history of London and some extremely interesting travelling companions.
The walk was taken in several stages, from Waltham Abbey to Shenley, Abbots Langley to Staines, Staines to Epsom and Epsom to Westerham before going on to Dartford, the river and Carfax and arriving back at Waltham Abbey. Each stage fills a chapter and the reader is advised to take a leaf out of Sinclair's own book by taking one stage, one chapter at a time. This is a large book of 450-odd pages and by the time the journey gets under way - about 60 pages in - even Sinclair's dazzling prose is not enough to offset the gloomy prospect of taking a second-hand trip around the London Orbital. And yet after the first trip one finds oneself being sucked in and thinking about some of the grey, ugly images, or being angered by the grasping and philistine approach of developers and copywriters and the cynicism and hypocrisy of government.
The history of London has long been Sinclair's great passion but he populates this strange excursion with flesh-and-blood people as well as literary and mythic figures: there's John Clare watching Byron's funeral procession before embarking on his epic three-day journey back to Northborough, "chewing tobacco and gnawing grass torn up from the roadside"; then there are tales of Dracula, of lost lunatic asylums, of passionate political activists crying out against toxic land and of meetings with ex-members of London's criminal underworld.
London Orbital gets under the skin. What looks at first like a dull and deeply unappealing journey is actually a multi-layered, lyrical, ugly, mythical, engaged and engaging excursion from the present into the past and back again. --Larry Brown
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Crossing the Tyne
Frank Manders and Richard Potts
(2001)
Paperback - 152 pages
Tyne Bridge Publishing
ISBN: 1857951212
Synopsis by publisher:
The Tyne's river crossings lie at the heart of our region, not only as pivotal parts of the road, rail, cycle and footpath networks which link our communities, but also as potent symbols of the North East, held in great affection by its inhabitants.
Crossing the Tyne explores the history of the bridges, tunnels, ferries and fords on the tidal reaches of the Tyne, from Ryton to the river mouth. The research spans almost 2000 years of human ingenuity, from the Roman Pons Aelius, to the hi-tech, cutting-edge Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It records some of the more daring methods of crossing the river: intrepid journeys by hot air balloon and airship. Crossing the Tyne also describes some of the innovative schemes which never got past the planning stage, like the mighty bridge, 210ft high, intended to link North and South Shields.
Superbly illustrated with contemporary colour photography by Graeme Peacock and archive material, Crossing the Tyne is a celebration one of the North's great rivers and the people who live beside it.
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Bridges That Changed the World
Bernhard Graf
(2002)
Hardcover - 127 pages
Prestel Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 3791327011
Synopsis by Amazon.co.uk:
Whether they span rivers or harbours, cultures or countries, bridges have long been a symbol of man's ingenuity, perseverance, and thirst for exploration. Starting with ancient bridges built by the Mongol and Roman Empires through future bridges that exist only in blueprints, this newest addition to Prestel's highly successful "Changed the World" series travels the globe to examine fifty of the world's most important bridges and the history, legends, and people behind them.
In stunning two-page spreads filled with photographs, plans, drawings, and accessible, informative text, this colorful architectural and historical journey explains why bridges continue to fascinate us, both as examples of engineering genius and artistic vision. It reveals little-known facts that deepen our appreciation of the science and technology of bridge-building, introduces historic events in which bridges have played a central role, and offers surprising reexaminations of some of the world's most familiar bridges. From the glory of the Golden Gate to the grace of the Ponte Vecchio, the imposing presence of London's Tower Bridge to a stone structure in Afghanistan's Quala Panji that is still used today, Bridges That Changed the World is a celebration of our steadfast desire to connect with and discover the world around us.
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